MUSaIC Review

It's no secret that the stock iOS Music app is lacking in certain departments, and so, naturally, there are several replacements for it available to download from the App Store. From the Metro-styled Track 8 to the feature-packed Ecoute, there's no doubt that iOS users have choice when it comes to playing back their music. But even with all of this choice, I'd often find that locating that perfect app to playback my music with was a seemingly impossible chore; then MUSaIC came along.

MUSaIC takes a completely different approach to music than any other app I've seen before. Rather than a boring list of songs or artists that users have become accustomed to in other apps, MUSaIC instead opts to present users with a colorful and rich interface, showcasing all of their album artwork. It also opts for gesture-based input, rather than the traditional buttons. This means that users have the ability to control their music playback effortlessly without having to worry about hitting the right buttons.

My major concern when I read up on this app was how scrolling would work. I've often come across apps that allow users to activate a grid view, but once it comes to actually scrolling through this view users are presented with an almost unbearable lag. Thankfully, users of MUSaIC will never have to worry about this. Scrolling in the app is buttery-smooth and all of the album artwork appears as you scroll, alleviating any users fear of having white spaces where the artwork has yet to be loaded whilst they scroll.

Although the app presents a simple and effective tutorial when launched, certain users may find that the gesture-based interface takes a bit of getting used to. If the user is a stock Music app veteran, they may find themselves searching for the pause button sometimes. After a while, though, they'll definitely become accustomed to MUSaIC's interface.

Scrolling on the right of the screen will activate quick find, while doing so on the left will activate volume controls. This means that users can effortlessly control their music library without having to worry about buttons.

Overall MUSaIC's fresh UI, amazing and intuitive gesture-based approach to control and its great feature set is sure to capture the hearts of music lovers everywhere.