This peice of software is a brilliantly simple execution of a great idea, that being to create a dedicated radio for expertly curated music from brilliant artists beyond the mainstream. It is incredibly easy to use; one needs only to launch the app, from which point music will immediately begin playing. I was slightly jarred by the odd choice of color initially, and I won’t say it was the best choice. I think a simple black/white scheme would have perhaps been slightly more friendly. But I’m sure there was reasoning behind the color, and honestly that’s nowhere near enough of a gripe to even come close to ruining it for me. And perhaps there are those to whom the color scheme is perfectly suited, but I cannot help by it think of refrigerators from old sitcoms and Manila folders. Again, not in any way a problem, as most of the time in the app is not spent staring at a Home Screen, but maybe a simple patch with some kind of color selector might be nice. Before I continue, please note I am using the free version; I have not used the features that come with the paid subscription. I love the app though, and am certainly considering it. Continuing on, I think perhaps my biggest suggestion would be simply to offer one or two more channels. I realize that this opens up an exponentially increased maintenance and logistics worm can, but nevertheless, it would be nice to choose between ambient, techno, etc. Of course, when it comes to these genres, it’s hard to tell anyway… The only major issue I’ve actually experienced was drops in signal; but I think that can be attributed more to my wireless out in the boondocks than the app. If you’ve got 5g or consistent 4g, you should be just fine; my wireless sometimes just can’t handle the bitrate. Maybe a feature in settings to reduce stream quality would make it a little more accessible, but I don’t know the logistics for that either. When it is running properly, which is 99.9% of the time, I am treated to a wide selection of assorted works all of the highest quality. I may have stopped listening to a song because I didn’t like it, but I never disliked one of their songs for being a bad song. I love that someone is trying to give these smaller artists some love, and hope to see more and more like it in the future. Great app Ryan, hoping for more great stuff from ASIP for years to come! P.S. If all my critiques seemed overly critical, I apologize. Really, I have nothing against the app, hence the five star rating. If you love ambient, are just dipping your toe in, or love to support smaller labels and artists, then there is virtually no reason not to download it.
