Future DJ, Primitive Review

It's alright for $1.99

 I stumbled across this new entry into the iOS DJ game and it is coming at it from a new angle so I thought I would give it a once over. Turns out it really isn't that bad, but is missing one key feature. This seems to sort of be the way all iOS music apps are. They all do a lot right but it is tiny omissions that make them relatively useless for real world application. Anyway, if you want a spoiler, this one is missing timestretching and only allows you to pitch tracks to beatmatch them. Other than that it is pretty intuitive and simple.

This app features stacked waveforms which I really think is the way to go. It can most closely be compared to Touch DJ, one of my previous faves. But Touch DJ edges Future DJ out due to some key features. However since Future DJ is coming in at just $1.99 as compared to Touch DJ's $9.99 it may fit someone's budget and deliver similar experience.

Looks kinda familiar,
but does it beatmatch Journey?

Importing tracks from the iTunes library was painless and the tracks even start playing during the first-time-only waveform analysis the app performs. This allows you to immediately play a track without waiting for the BPM analysis. Scratching and seeking on the waveform worked well and the looping system is actually really cool for quick loops and doing progressive stutter looping and getting out quick and on beat. The app seems to track dance music beats pretty well and even held up well under some older tracks that weren't necessarily synced to a beat. It also has the requisite split headphone option which is a must for any real beatmatching, looping or matching. It has some simple effects, delay and beatjump and allows a cue point. Still, all pretty elementary

The coolest feature this app offers is one I haven't even tried since I don't have the required iPhone4 or iPad2. It is called "Motion Playing" and basically allows you to put the iDevice on a real turntable and manipulate the platter to seek and scratch within a track. Pretty gimmicky, but no one else has done it so cheers to the Devs at Xylio, you get an A for creativity.

Just like just about every other iOS DJ app, this isn't going to replace Serato or Traktor yet, but maybe with iPad 2 we will see some DJ apps that push limits and deliver a full DJ experience...

Ok, probably not...