Wavio tvOS Application.
Wavio is a live streaming, music, radio and podcast application concept for iOS and tvOS platforms, designed to offer an all-in- one listening experience.
The tvOS version is designed and optimized for "at home playback" of Live Broadcasts as well as, conventional audio streaming through either the Television speakers or the Hi-Fi surround sound systems. Each platform offers a experience unique unto itself.
The name "Wavio" comes from fusing the words "Wave" with "Stereo", and substituting the ‘e’ for an ‘i’. This is also a wordplay on the computing term “I/O” which stands for “Input/Output”.
The ‘I/O’ part of Wavio is showcased in the user being able to host their own Live video or audio broadcasts as well as, to listen or watch broadcasts from other Users and Artists. Sharing live concerts, night club events or intimate living-room performances as they are happening is now reality. Broadcasts can be saved and shared into Live library for the users who did not get a chance to experience them live.
The application allows users to steam audio online as well as, download and listen off the grid. The application features heavy use of recommendation engines and machine learning algorithms resulting in suggestions based on user listening habits and preferences.
The Wavio app allows users to upload the music files they already own into the app. Personal files can be listened to offline, stored on device, or streamed directly from the cloud.
The music service caters to both regular consumers and picky audiophiles by offering different subscription tiers based on audio quality. Standard is limited to maximum 320 kilobits per second, this gives casual listeners a great quality, low data usage and lower cost. Premium is for hardcode music fans, for whom compromised sound quality just won’t cut it! The premium tier features both compressed formats for “on-the-go” listening and lossless files with unlimited bitrates for the Hi-Fi sound systems.
The Journey.
The Paper Trail.
The tvOS user experience is drastically different from a handled device. The whole application had to be reimagined to work on the ten-foot platform. Paper prototypes for all the major screen have been created to aid the creative process.
Digital Wireframing.
The 6 Navigation Tabs.
The tvOS platform works different from iOS, on Apple TV, typically all the navigation elements are places in Tab Bar since there is no navigation bar at the top of the screen. Respecting best practices, the Search and Settings items are placed in the Tab Bar, right after the four main navigation screens.
The Home Screen is populated with most relevant content to the user.
The Browse Screen is populated by promoted and featured content based on user listening habits.
The Live Screen is featuring Curated Mixtapes, Local Radio, Local Content and Local User Content.
The Library contains saved and preferred content.
Search screen allows the user to search for content; it provides relevant and similar content in the results.
Menu Settings allow the user to see and modify their Subscription, Account and App preferences.
Live Broadcast Screen.
This is where Wavio unique magic of watching or listening to a Live Broadcast happens. The Audio or Video streamed from the iOS platform can be consumed in the comfort of a living room on a large high definition television.
The tvOS Live Broadcast screen lets the users see the live scrolling comments from others, giving the feeling of a real live audience.
The screen is split into two vertical parts, on left is the live video stream and on the right are the comments, rating and metadata. Users have the ability to rate the Live content right from the Apple TV, by selecting the stars.
Detail Screens.
These wireframes show the ten-foot flavour of the details screens. The purpose of the Detail Screens is to present all the available content for the selected media type i.e. Music, Podcasts, Artists, Albums, Songs.
The navigation here differers from the iOS platform. Tapping the ‘Menu’ button on the Apple TV remote takes the user back to the previous screen. For user experience continuity, the user cannot switch tabs from the detail screen, they must go back to one of the main tabs.
Player & Front Door.
The Player, the most important screen in a Music application, has also seen significant changes from the iOS version. The design is utilizing a lot of negative space to bring attention to the content front and centre. It has a stripped out and simplified look while retaining the same level of robust functionality.
The Login screen is almost the same as the iOS counterpart. The same way it only does two things, asks the user to enter credentials or to subscribe, if they do not have an account.
Final Designs.
Same as the iOS version, Wavio for Apple TV uses the Apple suggested typeface and text styles. The typeface is also, San Francisco. The tvOS UI elements tend to work best with it, especially for non-English characters and characters with accents. San Francisco always renders everything properly and looks great. The same goes for the icons, for usability and brand consistency, they are the same SF Symbols used on Wavio iOS.
Wavio tvOS uses the same colour scheme as the Wavio iOS app. This brings continuity to the brand. It is easy for end user to identify elements and use the app. Wavio brand is consistent on both platforms; from the Logo, to the colours, to the text styles, to the UI elements.
