Any new word on Apple Music for Android?

[CZroe]

I'm still waiting on BASIC information, like can it play my offline music and iTunes purchases like the iPhone version or is it subscription streaming music only?

There is an article from The Verge that seems to conflate app users with service subscribers, but that could be justified if it doesn't support offline use. I don't know what to think:
http://www.theverge.com/2015/6/8/8747045/apple-music-android-release-date-wwdc-2015

Where Apple Music users on Apple devices can listen free to radio stations such as BeatsOne with limited skips, Android users of the service have no free tier, and must be paid subscribers to listen to music.

Any newer news? Since announcement, all I've heard was "this Fall" with no additional details.

I assume they still want to sell iTunes tracks/albums and iTunes Match subscriptions but they've been just fine withholding that from other platforms in the past. I just want my ALAC iTunes library on my future Android device with iTunes Match for my other purchases and downloads.

 

[ViRGE]

No further information has been released. But I'd be surprised if it did much more than access Apple's streaming functions.

 

[CZroe]

No further information has been released. But I'd be surprised if it did much more than access Apple's streaming functions.

Really? I wouldn't. I expect it to play offline media too, especially since that is exactly what they made multi-platform in the past.

iTunes is what does brings Apple Music to Mac and Windows machines while Apple Music is what brings the service on iOS and (hopefully) Android machines, but Apple has a history of making both of these apps do more than their names suggest. It isn't even labeled "Apple Music" on iOS (replaces the Music app and still just says "Music.").

I remember being TOTALLY confused when a Jailbreak app called dTunes described itself like this:

dTunes is an iTunes equivalent for playing downloaded music and video files, along with torrents. dTunes also provides direct access to music and video sites for downloading files.

Worst. Description. Ever. This is back when iOS wasn't even called iOS and the music app in iOS was still called "iPod." It seems that some users thought that their playback app was "iTunes" just because iTunes is the playback app on Windows. dTunes was just a media player for files you encountered in the browser or filesystem using Jailbreak apps.

They clearly try to put all of their Windows activities into their one Windows software product (iTunes) by even rolling in app and phone syncing/management. It was always weird having to launch a media player and music store to backup my contacts from my cellphone, but it only makes sense to make Apple Music the Android equivalent (iOS Music already is).

Yes, the way people speak of Apple Music makes it sound like a dedicated streaming app, which is why I was expecting a new app alongside the Music app in iOS 8.4. Instead, the color of the music app icon changed and it launched a redesigned music app with Apple Music functions built-in. If they want to sell iTunes and iTunes Match to Android users then they need to do the same on Android. Don't forget that Android doesn't have proper Apple Lossless support and probably won't support iTunes HD otherwise. They need to be able to sell those products to more than just Apple users.

 

[Oyeve]

Why would an android user even want this? I have a coupla hundred tunes I purchased from itunes years ago and just copy them to all my android devices. Why would I want apple sw on my android to listen to my itunes purchases? Am I missing something?

 

[ControlD]

Why would an android user even want this? I have a coupla hundred tunes I purchased from itunes years ago and just copy them to all my android devices. Why would I want apple sw on my android to listen to my itunes purchases? Am I missing something?

Well, maybe you really, really want to be able to stream Taylor Swift all day?

 

[CZroe]

Why would an android user even want this? I have a coupla hundred tunes I purchased from itunes years ago and just copy them to all my android devices. Why would I want apple sw on my android to listen to my itunes purchases? Am I missing something?

Ask DoubleTwist users.


You can't "just copy" for ALAC. I managed to find very unrefined players that could handle it when I had my Galaxy Note 3 but it was hardly optimal. The vast majority of media players on Android only support the formats Android System exposes them to. Even DoubleTwist doesn't support ALAC. I'm pretty sure the same situation will continue with iTunes HD.

Now, Google does not have anything like iTunes Match. When I rip a new CD losslessly a compressed cloud copy is instantly made available to all my devices. If I don't want to dedicate storage to it I don't have to and the contents remain accessible an in my shuffle rotation as long as there is a data connection. If I DO want to keep it then it takes one tap. If I want the lossless version of it, I'll finally have a player that can handle it appropriately.

You're also still stuck in a PC-centric view. Your "copy over" solution does not let me buy a new track from iTunes on the go, which is how it's done these days.

 

[Oyeve]

I normally buy my tunes via amazon app and use poweramp. Or I use amazon as it does cloud playback. I can see some use for itunes on android I guess. I just much prefer local copy to relying on cloud services as many just jont work right on the beach!

 

[CZroe]

I normally buy my tunes via amazon app and use poweramp. Or I use amazon as it does cloud playback. I can see some use for itunes on android I guess. I just much prefer local copy to relying on cloud services as many just jont work right on the beach!

It also has to do with my twin brother being an Apple user and we want to keep our shared library in one place. That's more than just audio (digital copies and such too).

 

[cronos]

Apple Music is a seriously great option for a big family. A friend with 4 kids (the youngest being in high school) can't wait until the Android version comes out so he could get his family subscribed (3 Android, 3 iPhones).

Why would Android users want this? Well maybe they are like me and don't care to 'own' their music anymore. With less than $3/month per person that allows everyone to stream (and download to play offline) whatever they want, they won't care about buying tracks/albums anymore.