• by Chuck Martin , January 15, 2019

Streaming music provider Pandora is launching Voice Mode, a new smart assistant that allows listeners to control Pandora’s mobile app with voice commands.

Pandora is rolling out access to Voice Mode to select listeners on iOS and Android, to be followed by general availability for all mobile users.

The new mode is powered by the Houndify Voice AI platform and can be triggered by the wake phrase ‘Hey, Pandora.’

“Voice Mode combines the Houndify platform’s advanced natural language understanding technology with Pandora’s personalized machine learning search algorithms to respond to a wide array of requests,” SoundHound stated in a blog post introducing the new feature.

Types of voice requests include changing station, control volume and skip or pause music. The voice features can handle open-ended requests, such as ‘play something different’ or play something I like’ as well as respond to interactive requests, such as ‘what song is this?’ or ‘add this song to my party playlist.’