Apple Music 2.0 Release Date, Features and Rumors: Fixing the Failures From Apple's First Try at Streaming
Apparently feeling the stream of underwhelming reactions to Apple Music, the Cupertino giant has decided to overhaul and reboot the streaming app just in time for an unveiling at the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) 2016, which takes place just weeks away, in June.
Apple Music Underwhelmed
Apple launched Apple Music, its take on subscription music streaming that was first dominated by software companies like Pandora and Spotify, at the last WWDC in 2015. The service first launched as a standalone app on iOS exclusively for mobile, though the service was also available on computers as a new section of Apple's long-running iTunes software.
In a rare move for Apple, known for mostly supporting only its own ecosystem of software and hardware, Apple Music later came to Android in the fall. Latin Post reviewed the Android app, and like other reviewers, found it to be a useful alternative to services like Spotify, but also buggy and a bit unintuitive.
Subscriptions Growing, But Still Behind
Despite critical reviews, millions of customers lined up for the service and the flow of subscribers still grows: last week, Apple announced it had 13 million subscribers, up from 11 million in February and 6.5 million users in November.
But that impressive subscriber base still pales in comparison with Spotify, which has around 30 million subscribers. So it appears Apple wants to make some major adjustments to Apple Music to better appeal to digital music lovers, a market that the company used to dominate with digital purchases through iTunes, before users began to shift to streaming.
Changes in Apple Music 2.0
According to details first reported by Bloomberg based on unnamed insider sources, the new Apple Music will have a redesigned interface that will reportedly make features and navigation more intuitive.
In addition, the new rebooted Apple Music is designed to integrate the (relatively) new streaming aspect more closely with the purchase and downloading side first established in the iTunes store.
That would be a big step for the service, since one of the most awkward elements of Apple Music isn't the new streaming service, but the app's haphazard integration of that with the iTunes store and users' personal iTunes collections.
On the surface, gone will be the translucent, multicolored pastel of the Apple Music UI, which changed background colors based on album art of the current song. That will be replaced in favor of a much simpler, black and white design, though album art will be blown up and displayed much larger in the app, in order to provide color and variety.
The new Apple Music will also take advantage of more 3D Touch interactions, with the hope of promoting social sharing of songs using the (mostly untouched) "Connect" feature.
And instead of the "New" tab, there will be a "Browse" tab that will reportedly organize featured albums and playlists better. The "For You" tab, meanwhile, will still use similar algorithms to pick out suggested tunes based on your listening habits, but will also be simplified and better organized.
Finally, Apple Music is reportedly going to include a song lyrics feature, after working with music labels on integrating the feature. As such, availability of lyrics will likely happen in stages, but reportedly a decent selection of songs will include the feature right at launch.
Apple Music 2.0 Release Date
Expect the improved Apple Music to be featured on stage at WWDC 2016, which starts with the company's big opening keynote on June 13.
As for the actual release date, Apple Music 2.0 will probably only be fully launched as part of iOS 10 in the fall, after months of incremental releases of developer and public betas through the summer. For computers, the new Apple Music will probably be released in a minor iTunes update around the same time.
There's still no word when the Android app could get the update, but if Apple follows the same schedule as last year, it will happen at some point before the end of 2016.