Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Music
  3. News

Apple Music goes live for Android users on Google Play store

By
Apple Music has taken its next big step in becoming a head-to-head Spotify competitor, now officially available to millions of Android users via an app on the Google Play store.
Recommended Videos

The move to offer Apple’s paid streaming music service to mobile devices for users outside the Cupertino cult is something that was promised at the company’s World Wide Developers Conference which launched Apple Music last June.

Related

Everything about the Android app experience is meant to be virtually indistinguishable from the iOS version, and the service will be available in the same 100 countries for both Apple and non-Apple devices alike. The company will also offer free three-month trials to Android users who have yet to sign up for the service.

That said, Apple did adjust the look and feel of the Android app to conform to what native Android users are used to — everything from the look of icons to the location of the menu has been slightly adjusted for Google’s mobile OS.

“We’ve always wanted to do things for everyone when it came down to music,” said Eddie Cue, Apple’s head of internet software and services, in an interview with Techcrunch. “Part of that was letting you enjoy your music no matter where you were and what products you were using.”

Though the Android version of Apple Music is technically in beta right now, the only features unavailable to non-iPhone users at present are the ability to start a family membership via the phone (which users can still do online or via other Apple devices), and Apple Connect’s music video selection.

Subscribers who have another device with Apple Music already installed simply need to log into the service using their Apple ID and password, and all their saved playlists, songs, and other media will be accessible via the cloud.

While Apple Music has drawn some criticism for being cluttered — especially from Spotify fans, and those unimpressed by Apple’s offerings — the $10/month streaming service is hoping to hook at least a few new subscribers via the rollout. 6.5 million paid subscribers presently use Apple Music as their music software of choice, while 8.5 million or so are still enjoying Apple’s lengthy free trial.

Those numbers put the company in a strong position in the on-demand streaming market, second only to Spotify, which currently has approximately 20 million paid subscribers via apps for both iOS and Android.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Parker Hall
Parker Hall
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Parker Hall is a writer and musician from Portland, OR. He is a graduate of the Oberlin Conservatory of Music in Oberlin…
Google is launching a powerful new AI app for your Android phone
Google Gemini app on Android.

Remember Bard, Google’s answer to ChatGPT? Well, it is now officially called Gemini. Also, all those fancy AI features that previously went by the name Duet AI have been folded under the Gemini branding. In case you haven’t been following up all the AI development flood, the name is derived from the multi-modal large language model of the same name.

To go with the renaming efforts, Google has launched a standalone Gemini app on Android. Moreover, the Gemini experience is also being made available to iPhone users within the Google app on iOS. But wait, there’s more.

Read more
What is Amazon Music: everything you need to know
Amazon Music

It's a jungle of music streaming platforms out there, so it stands to reason that Amazon would have one among its massive kingdom of services. And while Amazon Music might not be top of mind among the Spotifys and Apple Musics of the world, you might be surprised by its 100-million-song library, high-resolution and spatial audio offerings, podcast library, Alexa voice control, and a pretty amiable user interface that makes finding music pretty easy.

Amazon Music's subscriptions range from free to its premium Music Unlimited tier, which can be added for $10 per month on top of a subscription to Amazon Prime. But they all come with some quirks and features. We're going to break them all down for you to help you choose which, if any, Amazon Music plan is right for you.

Read more
How much is Apple Music, and how can you get it for free?
Apple Music with lossless audio music track playing on OnePlus 11 along with the OnePlus Buds Pro 2 in black color on top of a green cloth surface.

If you're in the market for a music streaming service, you can't really go wrong with Apple Music. With a catalog of more than 100 million songs, all in high-quality lossless audio at no additional cost, Apple's been a contender in this space for nearly as long as music streaming has been a thing.

Here's how much each Apple Music plan costs:

Read more