In what feels like a surprising but logical next step in its bid to become the music powerhouse of the smart speaker world, Google has added Apple Music compatibility to Google Assistant speakers and displays. You can now ask Google Assistant to play music through Apple Music — a thrilling development for the Apple Music lovers out there that don’t want to pay the $100 for a HomePod Mini. Apple Music had long been solely available only on iOS and HomePod.
You will need to be a subscriber to Apple Music, but if you are, you can search through more than 70 million songs with just your voice. The feature is rolling out today on devices like the Nest Audio, Nest Hub Max, Nest Mini, and others like it. The music is ad-free, just as you would expect.
To begin using this feature, link your Apple Music account to your Google Home app. While doing this, you can also choose Apple Music as the default music app. Once you’ve done this, you can request any playlist, genre, or artist on Apple Music by name to instantly stream it over your speakers.
You can even ask Google to play your liked songs by saying, “Hey Google, play my songs,” or “Hey Google, play my library.” Apple Music works with Google’s dynamic music feature, allowing you to move the song from one speaker to another without missing a beat — literally. You can also play your favorite jams from all of the speakers simultaneously.
Apple Music joins an impressive lineup of streaming services with Google Assistant capability, including Spotify, YouTube Music, Pandory, iHeart Radio, and more. Google has long placed an emphasis on audio power, adding multispeaker support to its devices, as well as large subwoofers in the Google Home Max. With the recent launch of the Nest Audio, it’s clear the company wants to focus on not only functionality and performance within the smart home, but also impressive audio quality.
If you’re interested in giving Apple Music a shot, it’s available for $10 per month — but new users can try the first three months for free and decided whether they like it or not. If your Google Assistant device isn’t compatible yet, give it a few hours or perform an update and try again.
