WeTunes: A Social Music Service for Android

Written Android App Review

WeTunes is a music player for Android with fun rating, sharing and status options that turn listening to music into a truly social experience. This musical social experiment comes from Techfest Appsurd, and we definitely applaud their ingenuity. WeTunes is a fresh take on two tired app categories.

Features

Reviewed by Valerie Lauer

To start your socio-music adventure you’ll need to register your email address and name. WeTunes will assign you a user PIN. Use this number to connect with friends through WeTunes. More about that later. Once you’re registered you can use the app to explore your Android’s file system. Tapping a file launches it in the app, where you can listen to the track, rate it for your friends and share your thoughts in a wall-style stream. This smarty pants app even identifies the tune and gives you a link to view the lyrics if they’re out there.

We did have a few concerns, like the fact that you can only play one track at a time. So every time a song is done you have to go search through your file menu again to find another track you’d like to play. That’s a lot of work, especially if you’re used to using playlist or play-all functions. Also, the app does not support album or artist artwork, which would be a nice touch.

Other social features help flesh out this app, such as the suggest option (and suggestions board) where you can recommend tracks and receive recommendations, and the top songs section that lets you know what awesome music is going through the app today.

Layout & Design

WeTunes

WeTunes could definitely use a bit of a facelift. Not only are the controls blocky and antiquated, some of the coolest features like the top songs tab are hidden in sections with other labels. Reorganizing the app to include a navigation bar or the option to navigate through the sections via the menu bar might be nice.

There is no design to the app per say. All of the backgrounds are black and all of the buttons are utilitarian. And, as we mentioned earlier, there’s no album or artist artwork to freshen up the scene. The result is a bit drab and lacks the polish we can find in other music apps.

Overall Value

One of this app’s saving graces is its price tag. WeTunes is completely free to download and share music through. It could be a lot of fun, especially if you have friends who get the app and can enjoy the awesome social features with you. We really like the concept here, but wish the app was better executed. It’s a good first effort, especially since this program was part of a student project. Can’t wait to see what’s next for WeTunes.

Android Apps Review Details: WeTunes Android app is free. This app requires Android 2.2 and up. You may download WeTunes from the Android Market. A small expedite fee was paid by the developer to speed up the publication of this review.

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