Instinctiv Shuffle? – Is It Really That Smart?

So right now I’m riding from NYC to DC on BoltBus, which happens to have free WiFi (amazing perk for a $20 bus ride!). I figure that since I have WiFi I might as well explore what’s new on Installer. I see Instinctiv Shuffle™, which I’ve read about but didn’t really expect to live up to the hype.

According to their website, Instinctiv Shuffle is application that enhances the shuffle feature by analyzing your skipping behavior and anticipating what you want to hear next. The application has an incredibly simple interface, on or off, that integrates fully with the standard music player.

So since I’m stuck in traffic and won’t be back in DC for at least 3 hours, I decided to give it a try. The setup is as simple as it looks, but is it really that "Instinctiv"?

IT IS! After listening to 3 or 4 songs (skipping a few along the way) I let Instinctive Shuffle™ work its magic. It’s been at least 30 minutes since then and I haven’t had to skip a song yet.

I know for a fact that my iPhone is filled with everything from techno to classical, even some audio books (that actually show up as music files since I didn’t buy them from the iTunes Store). But somehow this application already knows that I’m in a 90’s pop/rock mood and has been playing songs from bands like Green Day, Smashing Pumpkins and Stone Temple Pilots. Finally, as soon as I was ready for something else, I skipped the song I was listening to and Instinctiv is already trying out something new.

Two huge thumbs up to Instinctiv, who recently raised $750,000 in venture capital, for creating such a great application. My only complaint so far is that because of the limitations of the SDK, they have no intentions of releasing a version through the App Store that will work with non-jailbroken phones.
 
Note: Since we haven’t decided to include apps for jailbroken iPhones (a decision that will probably be made after we see the results of July 11), this application review was not posted in the reviews section.