Performance of Pandora on an Android

Audio Performance

Pandora's audio performance is usually strong. As long as your Internet connection is at least 150 Kbps (kilobits per second), the sound should be clear and in stereo. If you have a connection speed of at least 300 Kbps, you can use high-quality audio, which sounds even better but uses more data. The quality option is available by pressing the 'Menu' button in Pandora and tapping 'Preferences.' If you're connected to a high-speed Wi-Fi network or have a 3G or 4G cellular signal, your phone can easily use normal-quality audio, and all but the slowest Wi-Fi networks will support high-quality. If you have a slow cellular network connection, like the 'edge' network, you won't be able to listen to Pandora.

Technical Performance

With only a couple of exceptions, any Android phone can run Pandora without problems, and the app's performance will be fine unless you have too many other apps open. Since Android multi-tasks, it runs numerous applications at once; with too many open, Pandora's audio could skip or Pandora may close out entirely. You can see a list of running applications by opening the 'Settings' app and tapping 'Applications,' then 'Manage applications,' then the 'Running' tab. Pandora will drain your battery faster than most apps, and you can see its battery usage on a phone by opening the 'Settings' app and tapping 'About phone,' then 'Battery use'; on a tablet open the 'Settings' app and tap 'Applications,' then 'Battery use.'

Performance Problems

The Pandora app performs well on nearly every Android device; only a few are incompatible. The Samsung Moment doesn't support the app because of the firmware installed on the phone. Also any Android netbook that doesn't support the Android Market can't run the Pandora app. If you have a phone running Android 2.2, you may hear low-quality sound in Pandora because of problems with the audio format. To check your Android version, press the 'Menu' button at the Home screen and tap 'Settings,' then 'About phone.' You can enquire about updates to fix this issue with your cellular provider or your phone's manufacturer.

Troubleshooting Pandora

If you have the right Internet connection but you're experiencing performance problems with Pandora, you have a couple of options for resolving the issue. The most basic is, of course, to simply reset your device. If the problem persists, Pandora may perform poorly because you don't have much memory left on your device. Clearing your Web browser's cache may help this. Open the 'Settings' app and tap 'Applications,' then 'Manage applications,' then the 'All' tab. Tap the app you use for your browser (the default app is 'Browser'), and then tap 'Clear cache.'