After announcing Apple Music for Android at WWDC earlier this year, Apple has finally launched their music service for Android with an app now available to download from Google Play.
The Apple Music service which launched for Apple users at the end of June, is now available for Android users, though the app description in Google Play lists it as a ‘Beta’ – but it seems pretty polished.
Apple Music is an Apple service so you’ll need an Apple ID to use it, but once you’re signed up (and it’s a fairly convoluted process even with an active Apple ID), you can access a 3-month free trial with access to over 30 million songs. For Australian users you’ll pay $11.99 per month after the trial ends, and if you were thinking of that family plan, you can get it, but you’ll need access to an iOS or MAC to upgrade.
There’s some decent features included, including access to their hand-curated radio stations, including the most well known of them all: Beats 1. Features include:
- Start your 3-month free trial to play from over 30 million songs in the Apple Music catalog.
- For You: Get handpicked recommendations by music experts based on what you already listen to and love.
- New: Browse and play the latest, greatest new music available—curated by our editors.
- Radio: Tune in to music, interviews, and exclusive radio shows on Beats 1 or play radio stations created by our editors.
- Connect: Get a closer look at your favorite artists’ work, inspirations, and world with photos, music, and videos.
- Playlists: Keep all your favorite Apple Music playlists together with your own mixes.
- My Music: Find all of your iTunes purchases and saved music from Apple Music in one place.
- Availability and features may vary by country.
If you’re so inclined, you can head over to Google Play and grab the app, sign up for the service and give it a go.
I was hoping I could use this to replace Google Play music but the mp3’s stored on my phone don’t show up.
Poo, won’t install on my tablet (says phone only) : /
However it’s working great on my phone. I’m excited because I’ve got 90 gig of tunes up in Apple’s ‘music match’ service, and this app let’s you access them on Android! And the other features are cool too I guess.
I’ve been an rdio subscriber for years but I’m seriously considering making the switch, mainly because you’d have to assume Apple will generally have the best track selection.
I wouldn’t say it’s a “convoluted process” at all. Actually quite simple.
Convoluted in that you enter your Apple ID, then it asks for confirmation of all your details associated with that ID, then asks you to confirm twice that you want to sign up on the $11.99/month plan before taking you to a page to confirm payment details.
I’ve tried out Rdio, Spotify and Mog, but those were relatively simple in comparison.
Plus, add in the terribly presented Terms and Conditions page, which as usual is in a small font and massive.
I’ve only got Spotify to compare to. Which was definitely simple in comparison to Apple Music. But I can see where you are coming from in all the confirmation steps being a but unnecessary.
Apart from that (and once it finally acknowledged my payment details) the app is surprisingly good looking. Trying it out for the 3-months, but it looks pretty decent.
Yeah, I’m going to do the same. It’s hard to get used to coming from Spotify though. A few things I don’t like such as when I follow an artist, it’s not appearing in ‘My Music’ until I actually follow/add an album/song of theirs. Is this the same for you? This is something Spotify would let me do which was handy.
What is ‘Following’ an artist? Like you get notifications of new music? News? Or you just get all their music added to your library or whatever?
Following an artist on Spotify would add the artist into ‘My Music’ and also give you notification of when the artist releases new music etc. Following an artist on Apple Music only seems to notify me of new music and news. It may also add to the app learning the type of music I listen to.