Skip to main content

Apple gets into the Android app business with Beats

AppleBeats
Image used with permission by copyright holder

The acquisition of Beats Music gives Apple a foothold into the music streaming market. Cupertino may have led the way with iTunes, but iTunes Radio was late to the music streaming party. Apple only jumped in after Spotify, Google, and others proved that there is a real demand for a monthly subscription music service. Now, Beats Music presents a chance for Cupertino to restore the balance. To sweeten the deal, Beats comes with the bonus of new hardware, a relatively sexy brand and apps on two competing platforms.

The main question on many people’s minds is this: Will Apple keep the Beats Music app on Android and Windows Phone? Well, now we know.

“It’s on Android now, and we want to keep it that way.”

There it is, straight from the horse’s mouth, or more accurately the mouth of Eddy Cue, Apple’s Senior VP of Internet Software and Services, during a speech at the Code Conference. But why is Apple keeping the Android and Windows Phone apps alive, you might ask.

Crossing the platform divide

There are many compelling reasons why Apple finally decided to spend some of its gold on an eye-catching purchase like Beats, but the deal has garnered plenty of criticism as well. Still, one of the most important implications of the purchase may have just flown under the radar. Apple is now the proud owner of Beats Music apps on Android and Windows Phone devices.

In the immediate aftermath of Apple’s $3 billion Beats acquisition, few would have raised an eyebrow if the apps on rival platforms quietly disappeared, but they’re still there – for now.

In the past, Apple moved quickly to shut down the Android versions of the apps it purchased. It eliminated the app discovery service Chomp in 2012 for that very reason. But then, Apple is in the habit of shuttering everything it buys and folding it into the ecosystem, like it did with Lala back in 2010. However, it looks as though Beats could be the exception to the rule.

And the Beats go on

Streaming music is a numbers game and Apple needs every subscriber it can get if it really expects Beats Music to compete with the likes of Spotify, which is now home to more than 10 million paying subscribers. It’s a tough space for Beats to break into and apparently the numbers have not been impressive so far. Cutting Android out wouldn’t help Apple turn that around, but that’s not the only reason why Apple is keeping the Android version of Beats around.

Beats_Android_screenshot
Image used with permission by copyright holder

“Keeping [Beats] on Android is similar to when Apple launched iTunes for Windows,” suggested Creative Strategies analyst Ben Bajarin, in an interview with Tom’s Guide. “If you think about what iTunes meant to them in terms of selling iPods, it made sense to be on Windows. With the billion-plus Android users, some of which are in smaller markets, using a service from Apple leads to a long-term line of thinking.”

Apple isn’t a complete stranger to the charms of a cross-platform service. If you’re going to be pragmatic about it, then it certainly makes sense to keep supporting the Android and Windows Phone apps, but even if Apple does keep them, there’s no guarantee it will actively develop them. The apps may be allowed to wither slowly away. As Eddy Cue also claimed at the Code Conference, “Everything is better on iOS,” and with Beats, Apple can make sure that’s true.

The times they are a-changin’

“We put iTunes on Windows in order to sell more iPods,” Jobs told his biographer Walter Isaacson. “But I don’t see the advantage of putting our own music app on Android, except to make Android users happy. And I don’t want to make Android users happy.”

We’ll never know what Jobs would have made of this deal, but Apple is moving beyond WWSJD thinking. There is actually a good reason to keep Beats Music on Android and it’s not to make Android users happy.

Bajarin expanded on his longer term thinking idea on his Techpinions blog suggesting that, “Much great research exists that points out that once a customer tries one of your products they strongly consider more in the future. What is Apple’s halo product for billions of mid-low end Android users that could sway them into the Apple ecosystem? Perhaps Beats Music, or even the headphones, are a step in that direction.”

The grass is greener

When Cook was asked about porting an iOS app to Android at D11 last year he said, “”We have no religious issue with doing that. If we thought it made sense for us to do that, we would do that.”

The interviewer was talking about iCloud, but you could apply the same logic to iMessage or other Apple apps. Putting out a version on Android could potentially tempt users to switch to Apple, but it’s a fine line to walk because you don’t want to give away the crown jewels, in terms of what makes the iOS experience good. Beats could be a chance for Apple to dip a toe in the water and see if it’s warm. There are parallels here with Microsoft’s hope that a cheap Nokia Android device with an inferior Windows Phone-like experience might encourage owners to upgrade to full-fat Windows Phone.

wwdc-2014-tim-cook
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Could a good experience with Apple-owned Beats bring people into the church of Apple? Cook certainly spent plenty of time criticizing Android in his WWDC 2014 keynote, claiming that the 50 percent of new iPhone owners in China switched from Android because “they wanted a better experience.” Let’s be honest, though, it probably had something to do with the fresh availability of the iPhone through China Mobile.

The point is still important. If there’s a natural progression from a budget phone, which is probably going to be an Android because Apple doesn’t do budget, to a premium phone, then Apple needs to get better at tempting Android users to jump ship. Beats Music could be the gateway drug it’s looking for.

Editors' Recommendations

Simon Hill
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Simon Hill is an experienced technology journalist and editor who loves all things tech. He is currently the Associate Mobile…
It looks like the iPhone 16 will get a big design upgrade
Someone holding the Natural Titanium iPhone 15 Pro Max.

Following the release of the iPhone 15 Pro series, several early adopters reported overheating issues. Apple later confirmed that the problem was caused by a software bug in iOS 17, which affected some owners of the phones. The company quickly resolved the issue with the release of iOS 17.0.3 and never acknowledged that hardware played a role in the overheating. Fast-forward to the present, and it now looks like Apple plans to make hardware changes on the iPhone 16 that would make the 2024 handsets less likely to overheat.

According to Apple prototype collector Kosutami, Apple will make two changes to the next round of iPhones. On X, formerly Twitter, they note: "Apple is actively working on graphene thermal system of iPhone 16 Series to solve the heating problem existing before. And the battery of Pro series would change to metal shell, for the same reason."

Read more
It’s finally happening — your iPhone is getting RCS in 2024
iMessage on an iPhone 14 Pro Max, plus iMessage on an Android phone using the Beeper app.

Today is a day I truly didn't expect would ever happen. On November 16, 2023, Apple officially confirmed that RCS texting is finally coming to the iPhone in 2024.

Yes, you read that correctly. Starting "later next year," Apple will add RCS support to the iPhone. In other words, if you have an Android phone and are texting someone with an iPhone, you'll be able to text each other over RCS instead of SMS. That means you'll get many iMessage-like features such as typing indicators, read receipts, higher-resolution photo/video sharing, etc.

Read more
How I use my Apple Watch and iPhone to manage my diabetes
iPhone 15 Pro showing One Drop app and kit.

It’s November, which means it’s Diabetes Awareness Month, with World Diabetes Day recently happening on November 14. According to data from the Apple Heart and Movement Study (AHMS) and Apple Women’s Health Study (AWHS), there are about 537 million adults worldwide who are currently living with diabetes, with that number potentially reaching 643 million by 2030. In the U.S. alone, about two out of five people will develop diabetes in their lifetime, and more than one in three adults have elevated glucose levels that put them in the pre-diabetes zone.

I was pre-diabetic since my college years (it runs in both sides of my family), but then my doctor officially diagnosed me with Type 2 diabetes around early 2018. However, I was told that my case was more “mild” than others and that taking some medication — while also cutting out carbs and sweets, plus daily exercise — can help me keep it under control.

Read more