Today, Pandora users got a bunch of new goodies. If you’re using the $US5 ($7)/month paid service, you can now listen to music offline, with unlimited skips and replays. Free users can also trade watching a video ad for more skips and replays.
Offline playback works using a predictive engine that stores your thumbprint radio station, as well as the last three stations you listened to. If you lose signal, Pandora will revert to one of these stations saved on your device. The predictive engine will try to guess which of those stations most closely matches what you were last listening to, in order to not disrupt your groove too much.
The new Pandora Plus (formerly Pandora One) still retains all the old features as well, including no ads and higher quality streams. If you’re already a subscriber, you’ll be moved over to the new Plus plans in the next few months with no change to your bill.
Free users aren’t left out in the cold, either. Now you’ll have the option of watching a video ad in exchange for more skips and replays. This new feature should be available to everyone today.
Pandora launches Pandora Plus, an improved version of its $5 subscription service [The Verge]
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