Pandora ups the ante with its iOS and Android updates

Pandora, one of the darlings of the music streaming industry, has been around for some time. But the old dog can still learn new tricks, and the service proves that by continuing to improve its offering. It's also one of the best priced services, if you care to get the premium subscription.

The latest update benefits iOS and Android users -- two of its biggest customer bases. "The design of this latest update is part of our ongoing dedication to innovate the UX and UI across platforms, and as a result, provide effortless music discovery and listening for more than 75 million listeners each month", Pandora announces.

What's included in this refresh? Well, for starters, there are new transitions and animations, in which Pandora promises a new Now Playing screen with more prominent station name and station list. It also includes a new personalization icon at the top right. This is designed to take the user to a new station details screen.

Pandora has also enhanced the "visual recognition" of thumbs, as in up or down, for songs. This includes a feature that has long been needed -- "Accidentally thumb down a song? Just swipe back to view that song and change your thumb down to a thumb up. Want to dig into information about the song you’re listening to? Simply tap the song/artist name or swipe up to reveal song details".

The service concludes by promising further updates to benefit all parties, including the most important one -- the artists. No details about those future plans are given.