Slacker radio, is a service which allows users access via the web, through mobile apps or via multiple smartphones, for the purpose of creating and sharing customized music stations, starting with either Slacker’s presets or a list of artists.
Ever since the software first hit the App Store in January of this year, the app has never had to ability to take music offline for on-the-road listening … and users, well, they’ve been craving it.
After all, other services such as Sweden-based music on demand service @Spotify offer this on its mobile client, so many have come to believe Slacker .. is lacking.
Today, technology blog @Engadget is reporting that an upcoming update to the software, version 2.0, will bring station caching, meaning users will be able to take and store full stations offline, for later listening on the plane, train or in an area where you perhaps don’t have Wi-Fi or 3G access.
Exactly how many stations (and for how long) you can store is currently a mystery, although the reviewer said it took about 20 minutes to cache six stations, with each one being good for at least a couple hours playback.
And, as with any music on demand service which makes it through the App Store gates, there’ll be a small fee to pay for the privilege. In order to use this new feature by Slacker you’ll have to first have a Slacker Radio Plus Package.
According to Engadget, the update has already been submitted to the store and is expected to be ready for sale in “a few days” — Heh, we’ll see how that goes.
[via @Engadget]
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