Rdio for iPad goes live, with subscriptions more expensive on iOS

US streaming music service having to charge $5 extra a month to cover Apple's revenue share.

Streaming music service Rdio has beaten rivals like Spotify and Rhapsody onto Apple's iPad, with the launch of a tablet-friendly app in the US.

The app has been redesigned from the iPhone version to take account of the iPad's larger screen, but its features are the same: streaming music, news feeds of friends' activity, offline access, charts and artist radio.

"Rdio is focused on design and access across platforms and we were meticulous with every aspect of our iPad app as it is our most requested and anticipated platform to date," says VP of product design Malthe Sigurdsson. "Albums flip over to reveal track listings, transitions between portrait and landscape orientations are gorgeously animated, and controls and lists are cleverly laid out to show off album art in high definition."

Rdio's pricing strategy on iOS is just as interesting as its app design, though. The company is sticking to Apple's new rules on iOS subscriptions, offering an in-app option rather than pointing users to its website.

However, those in-app subscribers will pay $14.99 a month, whereas they'll only pay $9.99 a month if they sign up from Rdio's website, even though the latter option includes access through the iOS apps. The extra five dollars is to cover Apple's 30% cut of iOS in-app subscription revenues.