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Bjork Biophilia Android app
Bjork's Biophilia app has been ported from iOS to Android devices
Bjork's Biophilia app has been ported from iOS to Android devices

Björk Biophilia app now out for Android despite failed Kickstarter

This article is more than 10 years old
App released for smartphones and tablets as part of musician's Biophilia Educational Program

Björk has released her Biophilia album-app for Android, two years after its release for Apple's iPad.

The app costs £8.49 on the Google Play store, and like the iOS version contains 10 individual sections: one for each song on her Biophilia album, including mini-games, interactive art and music creation tools.

Björk is releasing the Android version as part of her Biophilia Educational Program, which uses the app as part of workshops about science and music for students in regions including South America, east Asia and Africa.

"It's had a great run so far, but in order to reach more people, we decided it was important for the apps to be available for Android phone as well," explains a blog post on Björk's website. "Björk's vision of the Biophilia app has always been for it to be available as widely as possible, and Android is an important factor for this."

Björk had hoped to fund the development of the Android Biophilia app, as well as a Windows 8 version, through a crowdfunding campaign on the Kickstarter website. It launched in January 2013 seeking £375,000 from fans, but was closed 10 days in after only raising £15,370.

After that, Björk and creative partner Snibbe Studio found a partner, mobile tech firm Apportable, to port the iOS app to Android.

"They came up with a new way of converting apps to Android that costs a whole lot less and takes far less time than previously expected. So we withdrew the Kickstarter campaign and a few short months later, they're telling us the apps are ready," explains the blog post.

"Luckily for us, technology had developed so now it is possible to do this at a fraction of the cost."

The Biophilia Educational Program began as a series of workshops for students in Iceland, before transferring to New York in 2012, as part of Björk's residency at the New York Hall of Science venue.

They have since been held in Paris, Oslo, São Paulo, Buenos Aires, Manchester, Los Angeles and San Francisco – the latter alongside Björk's latest US tour.

"We set up the Biophilia Educational Program as a non-profit project with the aim of making the ideas from Biophilia available to teachers and children around the world," explained the Kickstarter campaign page.

"In each city, the Biophilia Educational Program has worked with local school authorities to create lessons, complete with a core syllabus and curriculum topics. In dealing with these topics, it aims to bring together knowledge of nature and science, music and technology."

The app's Android release comes amid renewed interest within the music industry in delivering albums through mobile apps.

Lady Gaga announced earlier this month that her next album ARTPOP will have a companion app when it is released in November, promising "a musical and visual engineering system that combines art, fashion, and technology with a new interactive worldwide community".

Meanwhile, Jay-Z's new album Magna Carta Holy Grail was given away for free to up to 1m owners of Samsung smartphones via an app this month, three days before its official release, as part of a deal struck with the handset maker.

Data-access permissions sought by that app, along with its feature getting fans to post messages to social networks in order to view the album's lyrics, have proved controversial in the US, with privacy advocacy group the Electronic Privacy Information Centre calling for regulators to launch an investigation into the project.

More on this story

More on this story

  • Björk: 'Even venture capitalists understand our future is in nature'

  • Björk's environmental campaign goes on the timetable in Nordic schools

  • Björk: Biophilia – review

  • Björk: what inspires me

  • Bjork's best looks

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