Case study · Client name withheld

Spiritual Songs Archive App

A collection of traditional spiritual songs to browse, search and play

The client holds a collection of traditional spiritual songs recorded for early television programmes, in both studio and field performances. Our team developed the mobile app that makes the collection available on the phone: listeners browse the songs, search by song, performer or album, and play them.

Recreated screens of the song archive app: the player for Lanterns at Evening by Cedar Voices, with lantern artwork, a progress bar and playback controls, shown with the song list of seven songs, each with square artwork, performer and duration
Screens recreated from the delivered app with neutral naming and invented songs and performers.
Client
Media and cultural heritage
Platforms
Mobile
Our scope
Mobile app development

The product

What it does, and for whom

The project set out to preserve these recordings digitally and make them easy to reach, including for listening without an internet connection. The app keeps things simple: one list of songs with their performers and durations, a search field for song, performer or album, and a player with the usual controls.

Scope The recordings and the collection are the client's. Our work was the mobile app described here. To keep the client confidential, the screens on this page are recreated from the delivered app with neutral naming, invented song titles and performers, and illustrations in place of the original photographs.

Our contribution

What our team built

  1. Mobile app development

    The listener app: the song list, search by song, performer or album, and the player with shuffle and repeat.

User flow

Finding and playing a song

Browse the archive, search it, then listen.

Recreated screens of the app in order, left to right: browse the archive; search; listen
Screens recreated from the delivered app, in the order of the steps below. Numbered markers match the steps below.
  1. Browse the archive

    Songs with their performers and length.

  2. Search

    By title or performer.

  3. Listen

    The player with artwork, progress and controls.

The product in use

Inside the app

  1. Browse and search the collection

    Every song appears in one list with its performer, its duration and a menu button. The search field looks through songs, performers and albums, so a listener can find a performer and every recording they made.

    Recreated Songs screen with 128 recordings and a search field for song, performer or album, and an enlarged panel of its list: seven songs, each with square artwork, title, performer, duration and a menu button, the playing song, Lanterns at Evening, highlighted
    The song list. Close-ups on phones: tap any image for the full screen.
  2. Listening

    The player shows the song's artwork, title and performer, a progress bar with elapsed and total time, and controls for shuffle, previous, play and pause, next and repeat.

    Recreated Now Playing screen, and an enlarged panel of the player for Lanterns at Evening by Cedar Voices, a studio recording, with lantern artwork, a progress bar at 1:36 of 4:12 and shuffle, previous, pause, next and repeat buttons
    The player. Close-ups on phones: tap any image for the full screen.

About these images: the screens are recreated from the delivered app for this case study, with neutral naming, invented songs and performers, and illustrations in place of the client's branding and photographs. They follow the app's real screens and functions, but they are not screenshots of it.

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