I led a team of four engineers as iOS tech lead to develop the companion app for Cone, Aether’s first product—a beautifully designed “thinking music player” that learned user preferences and delivered music and other audio content through the Rdio streaming service. The Cone could also be used through AirPlay.

Key contributions

• Core architecture: Designed and built the foundational iOS framework to tackle Cone’s toughest challenges—maintaining high-reliability connectivity across peer devices, backend services, and streaming platforms while ensuring instant loading and smooth playback of text and media.
• Team leadership: Planned and coordinated development using agile practices, aligning engineers and designers to deliver iterative updates on a fast-moving hardware/software integration project.
• Design collaboration: Worked closely with a team of designers who set exceptionally high standards for quality and polish, ensuring the app met their ambitious vision while balancing technical feasibility and performance constraints.

The Cone

The App

About Aether

Aether combined hardware, software, and services to create products that made everyday life simpler and more delightful. Cone, launched in 2014, stood out for its striking industrial design and ambitious machine-learning algorithm that adapted to a user’s listening habits, aiming to anticipate “what you want to hear before you do.”

Aftermath

Aether Things shut down in September 2015, following the shutdown of the Rdio streaming service—which had been central to Cone’s original functionality and exclusivity deal—later that year. The product is no longer available, but Cone remains a notable early attempt at blending machine learning, streaming, and elegant hardware design into a seamless consumer experience.