Articles about Apple Music

Apple has announced a new color, midnight, for its HomePod mini smart speaker. This replaces the very similar (almost identical) Space Gray variant. This color is the only one made from 100 percent recycled mesh fabric. The midnight color option joins the existing palette which includes yellow, orange, blue, and white. It features an acoustically transparent mesh exterior and a backlit touch surface.

The HomePod mini is designed to deliver a comprehensive audio experience, allowing users to access a catalog of over 100 million songs through Apple Music. It can be used as a single speaker, in a stereo pair, or as part of a multiroom audio setup. Additionally, it can enhance audio for home theater setups when used with Apple TV 4K.

Continue reading →

The hitherto cheapest means of accessing Apple Music is no more. Apple has announced that it is killing off the $4.99 per month Apple Music Voice Plan.

Introduced back in 2021, this tier allowed for access to the entire Apple Music catalog, but only via Siri, and the discontinuation of this plan means that the cheapest generally available Apple Music subscription is now $10.99 (although students have a $5.99 option). So, what does this means for anyone currently on the Apple Music Voice Plan?

Continue reading →

Today, with a special video by female rapper Cardi B (seen below), Apple launches the all-new Beats Studio Buds +. These wireless earbuds offer an exceptional true wireless experience, catering to both iOS and Android users. With a sleek and transparent design, these buds not only look stunning but also come packed with major improvements in features like Active Noise Cancellation (ANC), Transparency, call performance, and battery life.

Oliver Schusser, the Vice President of Beats and Apple Music, expressed his enthusiasm for the product, stating, "As our fastest-selling product ever since its launch, Beats Studio Buds are beloved earphones for so many people around the world, and we're thrilled to be taking them to the next level."

Continue reading →

They have been a very long time coming, but there are finally Apple TV and Apple Music apps available for Windows 11, meaning that PC users now have an alternative to the web versions of the services.

Both apps are listed as being "preview" versions -- essentially betas -- so what you see now is not necessarily the finished product. Apple has also launched a preview of the Apple Devices app, which can be used to manage iPhones and iPads from Windows 11.

Continue reading →

If you have ever driven a car and needed directions, there's a good chance you have tried Waze. The Google-owned service is very popular thanks to its crowdsourced traffic information -- any user can report traffic jams, police speed traps, and more. It really is a useful app that can reduce travel times.

One of the coolest features of Waze is the ability to integrate with music-streaming services, such as Spotify, so you don't have to exit the navigation app to interact with music controls. This isn't just for convenience, but for safety purposes too. Sadly, the wildly popular Apple Music has not been compatible with the aforementioned Waze feature, but today, this finally changes.

Continue reading →

Apple Music is the best streaming music service. Yes, it is much better than Spotify. This is fact. I know this to be true, as I have used both and found Apple's offering to be superior. Apple Music isn't limited to the company's own devices like iPhone, iPad, or Apple TV either -- it can also be accessed on Android and the web, for instance.

Today, Apple Music comes to yet another platform -- Roku. Yes, whether you have a Roku media box or TV with Roku integrated, you can now access Apple Music with it. How cool is that?

Continue reading →

I’m a big fan of Apple Music, and the good news for myself and other users of the service is the sound quality it offers is about to improve significantly.

Starting next month -- and for no extra cost -- Apple Music subscribers will be able to listen to more than 75 million songs in lossless audio (using ALAC -- Apple Lossless Audio Codec). The company will also be adding spatial audio with support for Dolby Atmos to the service, so you can enjoy improved clarity and multidimensional sound on thousands of songs from popular artists.

Continue reading →

Believe it or not, you really can use just some Apple devices without buying into the ecosystem entirely. Using myself as an example, I own an iPhone and iPad, but I don't own a Mac -- I instead use Linux and Windows on the desktop. I also don't have an Apple Watch or AirPods. I do, however, own a couple of Apple TV boxes for media.

For smart home assistants, I chose Google rather than the Siri-enabled HomePod. The problem, however, is I am a hardcore Apple Music user, and while I can use that service on pretty much any platform, it has not been available on Google Assistant-enabled devices such as the Nest Audio or Nest Hub. This means I haven't been able to call upon Google with my voice to play my favorite tunes from Apple Music. Thankfully, this finally changes today!

Continue reading →

Spotify revolutionized how we consume music, and although it faces strong competition from the likes of Pandora, Apple and Amazon, it remains the number one audio streaming service by some margin, with 286 million active users a month.

That doesn’t mean it’s perfect though. Personally I’m not a lover of Spotify’s look, and I think the mobile experience could certainly be a lot better. I’m definitely not alone here.

Continue reading →

There are many music streaming services these days, such as Spotify, Tidal, and YouTube Music. My favorite, however, is Apple Music. Why? Well, besides the excellent mobile interface, it has a very large library of music. Not to mention, the human-curated playlists are second to none. Plus, Apple Music finally has a web player now -- a much desired feature.

Another cool aspect of Apple Music is time-synced lyrics. When you are listening to some songs (not all), you can have the lyrics display on your device's screen -- timed to the music. It works great, and it is even an option on Apple TV, enabling you to have a karaoke-like sing-along with friends and family. Apple Music is no longer just an Apple-only affair though, as it is available on Android devices and some smart televisions too. Today, Samsung announces that the aforementioned Apple Music time-synced lyrics feature is finally available on its smart TVs.

Continue reading →

Apple Music and Spotify are both great streaming music services, but the former is just a bit better than the latter. Apple’s offering has a much more intuitive user interface, and its curated playlists are second to none. Apple Music is now available on most platforms too, such as iOS, Android, Mac, Windows, and Linux — thanks to the new web client.

Starting today, Apple Music is now available on many newer Samsung smart televisions as well. This is quite remarkable, as Apple and Samsung are fierce competitors in the smartphone market. As Apple becomes more and more focused on services, however, the company is apparently becoming more open to working with former “enemies.”

Continue reading →

My favorite streaming music service is Apple Music. As an iPhone user, this was a match made in heaven. As a regular desktop Linux user, however, this was very problematic. You see, for the longest time, you needed iTunes to listen to Apple Music on desktop. This wasn't a problem when using Windows 10 or macOS, but as soon as I signed into, say, Ubuntu, I was out of luck, as there is no iTunes for Linux.

Thankfully, late last year, Apple finally brought its streaming music service to the web. In other words, all you needed to listen to Apple Music was a compatible web browser. This meant that users of desktop Linux could finally listen to the streaming service by simply firing up a web browser, such as Firefox. Despite being a feature Spotify offered for many years, it was still a really big deal. The problem? Apple Music for the web was merely a beta. Today, this changes.

Continue reading →

When it comes to streaming music, Spotify and Apple Music are the two services fighting for the top spot, with Amazon’s offering a distant third.

However, the retail giant is hoping to change that, with a new service that offers more than 50 million songs in HD quality, as well as millions of tracks in Ultra HD, the highest quality streaming audio available.

Continue reading →

Apple Music is the best streaming music service. Yes, it is better than Spotify. Apple's offering has a superior interface and better new music discovery. Hell, I recently discovered the best album of the year on Apple Music -- Blowing on a Marshmallow in Perpetuity by 0 Stars. Seriously, check it out, y'all.

Unfortunately, Apple Music doesn't work on traditional Linux distributions like Ubuntu or Fedora. It does, however, work on Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android. Chromebook users can take advantage of the Apple Music Android app from the Play Store. Traditional Linux users, however, are sadly left out of the party.

Continue reading →

Streaming music is all the rage these days, and for good reason. It is affordable and convenient -- long gone are the days of spending $20 for a single CD. Seriously, folks, that is what many albums were selling for before Napster and other piracy offerings leveled the playing field. Nowadays, for a paltry monthly fee, you can access more music than you can possibly listen to in your lifetime. It rules.

There are many quality services from which to choose, but my favorite is Apple Music. It works well on my iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV, but also, it is compatible with Windows, Android, and Amazon Alexa too. Sadly, there is no web version, but I digress. I happily give Apple $10 each month to be rewarded with a great music listening experience. If you are a Verizon unlimited customer, you may no longer need to pay for Apple's streaming service. You see, the cell provider will now be providing complimentary access to some of its customers.

Continue reading →