Tap That App: Apple Music for Android Has Bugs, But is Definitely Built Just for Android
Android users know the most annoying part of the expansive Google Play Store: the best apps come out for iOS first, and often when they're finally available for Android, they don't have as many features as the iOS app and often handle like a second-hand throwaway app in comparison.
Not so with the latest addition to the Android app universe, Apple Music. Released this Tuesday, Apple Music for Android handles like it should, because Apple made sure it was built specifically for the program.
And while there are still bugs -- the Apple Music for Android app is still officially a "beta" version, even though it's available for anyone to download on Google Play -- this app is definitely worth trying out, especially if you haven't used up your free three-month trial yet.
Apple Music Features
Getting started with Apple Music on Android involves the same process that we described in our review of Apple Music for iOS and Mac OS X months ago. After signing up or logging in, Apple wants to know what your favorite genres are, and a friendly screen of floating bubbles help you narrow your musical tastes by genre, and then by artist.
This information is used to create the "For You" section of the app, which features Apple curated playlists and albums from artists you might like. The "Intro to" playlists for various artists is an especially nice feature if you're interested in discovering something new.
When you pick an artist or playlist, the album, and each song within, comes with menu options that let you play it next, add to your play queue ("Up Next"), add to a playlist, or download (for offline listening). You can also click the "heart" icon on any playlist, album, song, or artist and that information helps Apple Music refine the "For You" section even more.
Just like Apple Music for iOS, the app also comes with a "My Music" section that brings up any music you might already have on a connected iTunes account, "Playlists" (the same thing, except grouped in your iTunes playlists), and "Radio," the streaming discovery feature headlined by the live-DJed Beats 1 radio station.
There's also the social "Connect" section, where you can find and follow more artists or curators on Apple Music. Finally there's the "New" section, which is more or less like the front page of the iTunes music store, except with an Apple Music subscription, you can try before you buy.
Android-Native Navigation
Apple Music for Android is more or less the same experience you'll get on the iPhone, but Apple has smartly made sure navigation within the app is pure Android.
Swipe in from the left, or click the "hamburger menu" (those three horizontal lines) and the main menu slides in front of your current screen, just like on any other native Android app. And when you're playing a song, you can swipe up from the bottom to get details and playback options.
The aesthetics of the app manages to feel very "Androidy" (i.e., Material Design) and very Apple (font choice, clean white backgrounds) at the same time, which of course could be a bit confusing if it weren't such a nice-looking blend.
A Couple of Kinks to Work Out
And even though Apple is calling this version a "beta" out of precaution, I ran into only two bugs.
The first glitch happened while changing account and payment information. The information went through successfully but the app landed me back on the payment screen nevertheless. Confident my information had been updated, I simply backed out of the screen and found that, yes, the account actually had been updated.
The second problem was a hard crash that happened while starting up the app and simultaneously trying to connect to a Bluetooth speaker through the quick settings pane. My Moto X Pure Edition froze completely, and I had to hard reset the device. I'm not sure if it actually was Apple Music's fault, or just a coincidence of timing, but that's never happened with Spotify, Google Play Music, or Pandora.
Some users on the Google Play Store are complaining that Apple Music won't allow them to download tracks on their playlists in bulk, but this wasn't a problem for me. Other than the two glitches, Apple Music ran completely smoothly, which I can't say for Spotify, even though it's had an Android app for years now.
The main takeaway is that Apple Music -- even on Android -- is an Apple app, so expect it to run beautifully and for any bugs to get squashed in short order.
Tap That App: Apple's Ambassador to Android
Apple Music for Android is not only a great app, even in its first incarnation, but also an incredibly smart move for Apple to make.
While Apple Music already has 6.5 million paying subscribers, according to Mashable, making the service available on the platform most of the world uses will open up Apple's business to a much, much larger audience. Since it's designed for Android 4.3 or later, it will work on more than two-thirds of Android devices.
And since iTunes is already a cross-platform monster of a desktop music player, it's likely that many Android users, myself included, will be pleasantly surprised when they realize that their personal music collections are automatically available on their Android phones. That's a bridge that many music and file management apps have tried to cross, with only some level of success. With Apple Music, that problem is instantly solved.
And who knows? Perhaps through using its well-designed and beautiful music app, Apple could coax some Android users to use the only other Apple app available on the Google Play Store: "Move to iOS." Apple undoubtedly hopes so.
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