Hey DJ! (Version 2.1)
Diego Carlomagno
$1.49 / Free
$1.49 / Free
The smartphone is becoming more and more integrated into the car driving experience nowadays as many people use it as their main media player or navigation tool with your basic hard-wired connection via cable or wireless Bluetooth connectivity. As such, there are plenty of apps designed to make the smartphone experience while driving easier and safer. Hey DJ! is one of these apps which uses voice commands to control your music.
As soon as you open the app you are greeted with a large on-screen button which when tapped activates the voice command mode. From here, you are able to voice several commands to control your music with more than adequate accuracy. Basic commands include, "Play Artist", "Play Song", "Play List", "Play Album", and "Play Genre" with the final words spoken being the artist, song, playlist, album or genre you wish to play. This of course means that you'll need to make sure all your songs are properly tagged. Extra commands include "Play All", "Surprise Me" which plays a random song, and "What's this Song?" which names the current song playing.
Once your song is playing you can swipe left to reveal a list of songs which are based on your latest search; so if you search for an artist, it'll list all songs from that artist. The large tab on top which displays the name of the current song playing stays present at all times and can be tapped to quickly skip to the next track, or if you prefer you can use the scrolling list to select a specific song. Your basic rewind, stop, and forward buttons are located at the bottom. The last on-screen menu which you can swipe to displays the history of your most recently played items.
But, the main feature of this app is using your voice to control your music playing and it performs better than I expected. My music collection consists mainly of electronic and Japanese genres and 99% of the time, the app will accurately understand which song or artist I dictate. Of course, for my Japanese music it needs to be written in English characters but I was surprised by the accuracy of which it understood the Japanese names.
The app directs you to say "Hey DJ" before the voice commands but I found that it's not necessary and you can just say "Play Song", etc. However, if you make use of the "Home" button mode (which I cover below), in rare cases it may mistake your voice command for a basic search so it's better to say "Hey DJ" in the beginning.
Further adding to the ease of use for this app is a landscape mode (for all you drivers out there), Home button integration, and one-touch voice activation tile. Only available on WP8 and the paid version, the Home button integration allows you to hold down the Home button and directly use the Hey DJ! feature. If you prefer to use tiles, you can also pin a one-touch tile which immediately activates the voice command mode.
One feature which I found useful is an automatic app-closing feature which closes the app once you use the voice command. This is extremely useful if you're using another app, such as navigation, which you prefer to be front and center. You can easily activate Hey DJ! via the various methods, voice what you wish to play, and the app will automatically close and take you back to your previous app.
Another app I mainly use for music while driving is CarTunes and the combination of both of these apps make the music playing experience in the car extremely easy and hassle-free. No need for unnecessary menu navigation. If you're an active user of smartphone integration in the car for music, Hey DJ! is an essential app to own.
Pros : Great accuracy, multiple ways to activate app
Cons : If it included swipe/voice controls for rewind/forward it would be the only app I need for car integration
No comments:
Post a Comment