Being algoriddim’s video maker, I’ve followed every single iteration of their product range. The first djay was a really smart app, but then it has evolved across multiple platforms to become djay Pro, a fully featured 4 deck app running on iPads. Now that was quite a squeeze, so when they told me that the next video I’d be making would be djay Pro for iPhone (with nothing taken out), I was a tad apprehensive. But I needn’t have worried, because as ever algoriddim has managed to pull off what I usually expect to be tricky. djay Pro for iPhone is out, and it’s really good.
DISCLOSURE: I have been algoriddim’s video guy for years now. So yes they pay me for my professional photography and video skills, but it in no way influences my opinion of their products.
So, let’s get into the meat of what djay Pro for iPhone is about:
Algoriddim Unveils djay Pro for iPhone
2016 Apple Design Award Winning App Arrives on iPhone 7 with Haptic Waveforms, 3D Touch, and Accessibility Integration
(MUNICH, Germany) – December 21, 2016 – Algoriddim, creators of the world’s best selling DJ app with over 20 million downloads, today released djay Pro for iPhone. The acclaimed music app and winner of two Apple Design Awards has been redesigned from the ground up for iPhone 7, fully leveraging its unique capabilities such as haptic feedback and 3D Touch. Seamlessly integrated with Spotify, djay Pro allows users to mix millions of songs instantly and provides a suite of sophisticated desktop-class features including 4 decks and live video mixing.
“djay Pro has been a huge hit on Mac and iPad,” said Karim Morsy, CEO of Algoriddim. “iPhone 7 has enabled us to completely transform the user experience of djay Pro by using haptic feedback and 3D Touch. It puts a fully-featured DJ system in your pocket so you can be creative no matter where you are.”
Haptic Feedback and 3D Touch
djay Pro provides unique haptic feedback on its high definition waveforms so users can literally feel the beats while scratching and scrubbing the music. And with 3D Touch, users can precisely set a cue point without having to lift up their finger while interacting with the waveforms. This innovative interaction paradigm provides a completely new workflow and user experience in music apps.
Spotify Integration
djay Pro gives users direct access to Spotify. New in djay Pro for iPhone is an extensive integration with Spotify’s Browse section so DJs can mix curated playlists and instantly find new music by mood, genre, and popularity.
Accessibility Integration
Every feature of djay Pro has been carefully adapted for accessibility, so vision impaired users can take advantage of its advanced mixing features. With VoiceOver enabled, users can tap any button or slider in djay Pro for iPhone to hear a description of what it does, its state, and how to operate it through their headphones, independent of the mix that is playing through the main speakers. On iPhone 7, djay Pro takes accessible DJing to the next level by leveraging haptic feedback and 3D touch. Visual cues such as beat markers and bars are encoded into haptic feedback so visually impaired users are able to perceive the information as if they were seeing the visual waveform of the audio.
Apple Watch Integration
djay Pro for iPhone also comes with an Apple Watch app for remote control delivering ultra-low latency using Apple’s latest technologies introduced with watchOS 3. Users can run Automix mode, browse their playlists, cue up and mix songs, all while controlling advanced audio effects, and loops in real-time – right from the wrist.
FEATURES OVERVIEW
Built for iPhone 7
- Haptic feedback
- 3D Touch
- VoiceOver
- AirPlay
- iCloud integration
Apple Watch Integration
- Control djay Pro for iPhone remotely
Video Integration
- Video mixing and scratching
- iPhone camera integration
- Transitions
- Music cisualizers
- Visual FX
- Title & image overlays
- A/V recording
- Support for external displays and AirPlay
- Video library with pre-bundled content
Spotify Integration
- Instant access to over 20 million songs
- Spotify Browse integration
- Playlists, Songs, Charts
- Match: cloud-based song recommendations
- Instant access to BPM and Key information through the cloud
- Advanced audio streaming technology: ultra-low latency, advanced effects, on-the-fly analysis
- Supports streams of up to 320 kbps bitrate
Hardware Integration
- Native support for DJ controllers including Reloop Beatpad, Reloop Beatpad 2, Pioneer DDJ- WeGO 3 and 4, Numark Mixdeck Quad
- Support for multi-channel USB audio interfaces
Official Video
https://youtu.be/RccZ8ako9J8
App Store Link
http://www.algoriddim.com/store/djay-pro-iphone
Official Website
http://www.algoriddim.com/djay-pro-iphone
Pricing
$4.99 time-limited, introductory pricing (regular $9.99).
Requirements
djay Pro for iPhone is compatible with iPhone 5 and later running iOS 10.
djay + Spotify
A Spotify Premium subscription is required to access the Spotify music catalog. A 30 day free trial of Spotify Premium is available to all djay users. To learn more about using Spotify with djay, visit http://www.algoriddim.com/spotify
So, does it work?
Four decks on an iPad works well. Algoriddim has done some clever work to get the assorted elements to sit comfortably in the UI, but I had real reservations about it all squeezing into an iPhone.
Now I can’t speak for smaller iPhones, but the appear to have achieved 4 decks and video on my iPhone 7. There’s enough space on screen to have the assorted key elements at hand. And the EQs, cues, effects, and loops are just a screen away. Obviously it’s impossible to have everything on an iPhone screen, but for me the compromises made still keep djay Pro as a very workable pocket-sized solution.
On the face of it, djay Pro for iPhone is a technical marvel. Not only does it have everything that the iPad version has, but it also makes great use of the 3D Touch and haptic features of the iPhone. It may be a small thing, but feeling the feedback when you move a fader over the centre point helps to give a more immediate feel to djay Pro in your hand, as does using 3D Touch to set a cue point. I’m looking forward to seeing where algoriddim go with this.
Standalone in your pocket
Having just completed the promo video, I borrowed a new Reloop Mixon 4 controller for a quick scratch flourish. And while the basic principle of plugging your controller into a computing device is the same, using an iPhone with the Mixon 4 really does feel like using a standalone controller. The brain of this setup is in your pocket, and that’s a pretty cool thing.
This is one of things key things that I like about apps on phones — not that they’re fully fledged DJ packages in your hand, but that they can be used to drive much larger controllers with little in the way of compromise. I’m still not entirely convinced about using an iPhone on its own for a full gig. But being the beating heart of a controller setup is definitely a preferred use case for me.
Grab it today
As with pretty much every decent music app, djay Pro for iPhone is available at a reduced rate for a while. You can nab it today for $4.99, a full 50% off, from the app store.