SoundCloud has big ambitions — the company wants to leverage new partnerships with artists to become the leading destination for users to connect with musicians they're interested in. To that end, the company's releasing new iOS and Android apps today that add a few key features as well as a nice visual refresh (iOS only). The biggest new feature is the integration of sets, which are essentially SoundCloud's version of a playlist. Any song on the site can now be added to sets directly from the mobile app. Sets have been available on SoundCloud's site for some time now, but now they'll show up in the "stream" of updates from people you follow in the app, as well. You can start sets from scratch, add songs to existing sets, and share these via Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, or old-fashioned email. The addition of sets is really a no-brainer feature given SoundCloud's focus, and one we're glad to see finally come to its apps.

Somewhat surprisingly, SoundCloud has also de-emphasized the "record" feature in the app — on iOS, it is now buried in the "more" menu, while Android users can find it in the side menu. SoundCloud said it made the change to let users "discover and hear more within the app." It sounds like this change is just part of the efforts to get users playing and sharing music rather than using it to record sounds, a change of pace from the last major update this past September, which emphasized recording and editing audio. The update is available now in the App Store and on Google Play, but unfortunately the iPad version doesn't have access to the new sets features yet — SoundCloud says that'll happen "in the coming weeks."