FluxTunes

I don't usually download many apps that play music because, well, the iPod feature on my iPhone is pretty darn good. It does everything that my real iPod does, along with some fairly innovative controls to help you navigate through songs quickly. Features like double-tapping the home button to bring up the iPod control panel are innovative features that help keep the iPod feature standing as the best player on the device.

I did run into an issue though. On a road trip to Vegas, I realized that I really don't want to be staring at the screen while driving 80 on the freeway to change my song. Sure, I could double tap and then click on the forward button, but being an iPhone user, I wanted something simpler... something a bit more sexy. Fortunately, there is an app for that.

Somehow I came across FluxTunes in my search and it turned out to be a winner. The innovative thing about FluxTunes is that once you open the app, you have complete touch/swipe control over your iTunes list. The controls are fairly simple too... just swipe forward for next song, back for back, tap to pause, and swipe up and down to change the volume. There are a few more controls, and they are easily discovered by holding your finger on the screen.

The minute details of the app are quite nice too. The graphics in the app are fairly simple, showing you the name and the title of the song while displaying the album art in a quick, large window. One detail that is odd, but nice, is that the app seems to override the iPhones dimmer settings, making it to where you never have to unlock your phone to change the song. If you do want to lock the phone in-app, just tap four fingers onto the screen and you will see a lock appear, letting you know that your screen is safe. I am concerned though that battery life could be an issue with the actual screen not dimming, just the app, but it seemed to be fine on my trip.

I did have one real issue with the app, although the issue is quite minute. My issue is that the app is automatically set to shuffle, which is usually fine, but to turn shuffle off is a bit of a struggle. Instead of just being able to hit the shuffle button, you have to go into the settings menu and change the option to 'Off'.

Overall, I'd definitely recommend this app if you are looking for a great iTunes app to use in your car. It really does make for a better car experience when you don't have to look at the screen at all to change your song. For less than a dollar, I'd definitely recommend this app for all of you iDevice car listeners.