While streaming audio is a mobile-first content category (over 60% of stream listening occurs in iOS and Android devices, according to Triton Digital’s Webcast Metrics), desktop listening is hardly dead. Recognizing that, iHeartRadio launched a desktop app for Apple Mac computers.
There are two types of desktop app: Browser, and client. Browser apps (such as Rhapsody’s desktop interface) operate as interactive web pages in a browser tab. Client apps (like Spotify’s desktop presence) stand apart from the browser; they are opened independently and operated with a non-browser interface.
iHeartRadio’s Mac app is a client, outside the browser. It resides in the status bar, always accessible without taking much screen space. iHeart’s announcement emphasizes the benefits of having a listening app running in parallel with whatever the user mainly occupied with: “Whether you’re answering emails, polishing your final English essay, or just cruising the Internet for the funniest cat videos, iHeartRadio sits in your status bar so you can quickly change stations, thumb or skip songs without clicking away from what you are currently doing on your Mac. That’s right, we’ve made it that much more convenient for you to listen to the songs and stations that move you while multitask!”
The company notes that this app came out of a hackathon — an intense software coding event where new ideas can be manifested and tested. The app is available to Mac users in the Apple app store.