The most notable feature in the new release is that it makes it much easier to purchase and download the music you hear in mixes. From the now playing screen tapping on the album artwork will take you to the relevant page in the Nokia Music Store. This is indicated by the presence of a download icon that is shown on top of the album artwork (in a clever touch the download icon fades out after a few seconds giving an unobstructed view of the artwork).
This change is especially important for consumers with Nokia Music Unlimited subscription (available in India) because the music tracks can be downloaded for free. Previously, music could only be downloaded in a round-about way by using MixRadio's search functionality. Downloaded music is stored on your phone and automatically becomes available in the My Music section of Nokia MixRadio.
The most obvious visual change in the new version of the app is a tweak to the way mixes are listed. Previously, the available mix categories (groupings) were listed in one long list. This has now been divided into a three page pivot view. The first page shows featured mixes as thumbnails; the second page, categories, shows a list of mixes by descriptive type (e.g. christmas, daily mixes, and new releases); and the third page, genre, shows a list of mixes by music type. The result of this change is that it easier and faster to find the mix you want. Nokia also hope that it will encourage users to discover new mixes that they might not otherwise listen to.
The navigation of the MixRadio favourites and My Music section has also been improved. The former of these, which is used to collate favourite artists and thus fine tune your personal music profile, introduces an A-Z jump list, similar to that in the standard app launcher, when you have added more than 25 favourites.
The change log for the app also notes that the new version has enhanced downloading of offline mixes and simplified search behaviour for markets where no gig information is available. In addition there are the usual bug fixes and performance improvements.
From the Windows Phone Store description:
Introducing the next generation of Nokia Music, Nokia MixRadio, bringing you free, personalized music with no advertising.
Listen to the music you want to hear with Play Me, a constant stream of music created just for you. Use Thumbs up and Thumbs down to tell us what you like so that your mix gets better and better every time you play. It’s like having your own personal radio station.Also includes the features you know and love – my music, mp3 store, create a mix, gigs and offline playback – so that you can store your favorite mixes on your phone and enjoy anywhere, even without a connection. Feature availability varies by country, which is determined from your SIM.
New features in this version:
- Improved navigation of mixes, my music and favorites.
- Enhanced downloading of offline mixes.
- Simplified search behavior for countries with no gigs information.
- Bug fixes.
Nokia MixRadio is a free download from the Windows Phone Store. It is exclusive to Nokia's Lumia devices. The new version is for Windows Phone 8 only. An earlier version continues to be available for Windows Phone 7.8 devices.
Note that Nokia MixRadio is currently only supported in the following countries:
Australia; Austria; Brazil; Canada; China; Finland; France; Germany; India; Indonesia; Ireland; Italy; Malaysia; Mexico; Netherlands; Norway; Poland; Portugal; Russia; Saudi Arabia; Singapore; South Africa; Spain; Sweden; Switzerland; Thailand; Turkey; United Arab Emirates; United Kingdom; United States of America; Vietnam.
Here's a video from Nokia talking about how music featured in mixes can now be downloaded more easily: