Pandora arrives on Windows Phone 8

Back when Microsoft launched Windows Phone 8, in late-October last year, the company promised that Pandora would arrive on the smartphone operating system sometime in early 2013, bringing along with it a year's worth of free music with no ads.

Today, Microsoft has kept its promise and delivered the popular app on the Windows Phone store. On Twitter, Microsoft's Joe Belfiore announced: "Oh heck, been dying to share PANDORA! Totally free, no ads through 2013. Best Pandora on any phone, IMO".

And the app, indeed, touts "no ads and no monthly streaming limit...for FREE". On Windows Phone 8, Pandora allows users to pin favorite stations on the homescreen and see what is playing by looking at the Pandora live tile. Other exclusive features include filtering explicit content using Kid's Corner to keep the youngsters away from sensitive music and the ability to access a recent stations page and look at the current favorites.

Upon starting the app, Pandora allows users to sign in using an existing account or sign up for a new one, create and manage a maximum of 100 stations, personalize shuffle settings, fine tune stations by moving tracks up and down, buy albums and songs, filter explicit content and listen to high-quality playback content.

Pandora is available to download from the Windows Phone Store. Market restrictions apply.