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Apple Music |OT| Apple Invents Music, Time To Party Like It's 1989!

Tomodachi

Member
Is there an obvious way to see when a "preview" album is going to release fully? Because with the new iTunes I can't see the date anywhere anymore. Jeez.
 

Sean

Banned
So what day(s) does the Discovery playlists get updated? I just re-subscribed to Apple Music a couple days ago and am waiting to get my first ones. It will just show up in the For You section right?
 
So what day(s) does the Discovery playlists get updated? I just re-subscribed to Apple Music a couple days ago and am waiting to get my first ones. It will just show up in the For You section right?

Favorites Mix every Wednesday, New Music Mix and every Friday
 

borghe

Loves the Greater Toronto Area
Is there a reason you haven't just switched to Family Sharing? You can also go into their songs (assuming they're on your login) and dislike them.
Yes we went to Family Sharing with Apple Music. (iTunes Match doesn't work with family sharing). Yeah I might just dislike them, though I usually try to stay away from dislike on services as it usually ends up being pretty destructive.
 

borghe

Loves the Greater Toronto Area
man, Apple hit it out of the park with my Favorites mix this week. not only unquestionably some of my MOST favorite songs, but ones that I haven't listened to for a few years on average.
 

Chuckl3s

Member
Does Apple Music download the music to your phone without you knowing or even clicking on the cloud to download it to your phone? Reason I ask, I was messing with my settings on Apple Music. I turned off "Use Data". So now I go into Apple Music it gives me a warning that data is turned off. BUT...it'll let me play my playlist that I've recently been playing but I haven't downloaded these songs. So I'm assuming it downloads the songs as long as you continuously play them?
 

borghe

Loves the Greater Toronto Area
it auto "temp downloads" everything you play. this is the auto sizing control in settings. so yeah, if you are playing the same playlist non-stop, then turn off data, you "should" keep the ability to play the playlist. I believe this is different than manually downloading, which it will keep until/unless you delete them from local storage.
 

Laekon

Member
I just signed up for Apple Music a little while ago and I find the "For You" section really week. One it keeps listing albums I already own. Secondly it's classification of artist seems a little odd. Today the first track on the indie play list was an r&b song. Actually nothing in the indie play list was indie music but I don't know if that's then or me getting old. Does it get better as you like more music?


I've been listening through a Sony Bluetooth speaker and i get all type of lag/breaks on a rMBP but it's totally fine on my iPad. Can't figure that out.
 
I just signed up for Apple Music a little while ago and I find the "For You" section really week. One it keeps listing albums I already own. Secondly it's classification of artist seems a little odd. Today the first track on the indie play list was an r&b song. Actually nothing in the indie play list was indie music but I don't know if that's then or me getting old. Does it get better as you like more music?

Personally find Apple Music playlists pretty weak compared to Spotify. Like surfacing a 9 song "Hip hop from 1994" playlist just seems stupid.

Even when I go into genres that aren't mainstream, like Trance (EDM), Apple Music playlists are just so far off the mark compared to Spotify.
 

Chuckl3s

Member
it auto "temp downloads" everything you play. this is the auto sizing control in settings. so yeah, if you are playing the same playlist non-stop, then turn off data, you "should" keep the ability to play the playlist. I believe this is different than manually downloading, which it will keep until/unless you delete them from local storage.

Thanks! I kinda figured that. I've been trying to save space so I can start downloading and stop using my data. But I play the same playlist almost all the time. Might as well download.
 

Ashhong

Member
I don't really listen to any of the Apple Playlists except for the customized ones on Wednesday and Friday. Those have been ace
 

Sean

Banned
Personally find Apple Music playlists pretty weak compared to Spotify. Like surfacing a 9 song "Hip hop from 1994" playlist just seems stupid.

Even when I go into genres that aren't mainstream, like Trance (EDM), Apple Music playlists are just so far off the mark compared to Spotify.

Pretty much my thoughts as well. Apple's weak playlists were the main reason I switched to Spotify. I find that most Apple Music playlists fall into like three categories:

1) Short <20 song playlists that last like an hour. Good for a car ride and not much more.
2) Overly specific to the point of being useless. Music that is limited to a single calendar year rather than a decade.
3) "Essentials" but only for super popular artists. So it's basically just a playlist of Britney Spears singles or whatever. Most of the time this is extremely similar to the "Top Songs" that you see on their artist page so it's kinda useless.

They haven't really got any better since I last used the service a year ago. I much prefer Spotify's approach of mega playlists - if I'm in the mood for 90's music just give me a playlist with 500 songs that I can listen to until I get bored. I don't wanna spend the day searching for like 10 different playlists. I also like that Spotify playlists allow you to see exactly when songs were added and give you the ability to sort by most recent additions.

However I'm just about finished with my first "New Music Mix" algorithm-based playlist and it's fantastic. Significantly better than anything Spotify's similar "Release Radar" playlist ever made me, which is really surprising. I've added like 22 of the 25 songs to my library. If they remain this good, the customized playlists would be worth subscribing to Apple Music for alone.
 
I'm strongly considering subscribing. It'll be the same price for both Spotify and Apple Music and am looking for some input as to which is better. I've tried the 3 month Apple music trial and enjoyed it.

- Apple has some neat exclusives, like Frank Ocean, which is still something I would dig listening to. What exclusives does Spotify have and is there any chance of Apple exclusives being timed?
- How are the respective apps? In terms of looks, functionality. I haven't used the new iOS 10 Apple music. Does spotify get regular iOS updates?
- Which is better for helping you discover new music?
 

neshcom

Banned
I'm strongly considering subscribing. It'll be the same price for both Spotify and Apple Music and am looking for some input as to which is better. I've tried the 3 month Apple music trial and enjoyed it.

- Apple has some neat exclusives, like Frank Ocean, which is still something I would dig listening to. What exclusives does Spotify have and is there any chance of Apple exclusives being timed?
- How are the respective apps? In terms of looks, functionality. I haven't used the new iOS 10 Apple music. Does spotify get regular iOS updates?
- Which is better for helping you discover new music?

Pretty much all music exclusives so far have been timed exclusive--usually two or three weeks.

I enjoy the Apple Music app, but other posters don't like how large some of the text and buttons have gotten. It's also still got basic features tucked away. Haven't used the Spotify phone app enough to compare them.

I like Apple Music's For You options and it's pretty smart given how much the years of iTunes Store data can connect the dots.
 

mattiewheels

And then the LORD David Bowie saith to his Son, Jonny Depp: 'Go, and spread my image amongst the cosmos. For every living thing is in anguish and only the LIGHT shall give them reprieve.'
I think about getting Apple Music over Spotify because I just got a stereo unit with CarPlay, and it seems like it has integration throughout. Anyone use CarPlay a lot with this, how much better is it?
 

Sean

Banned
I think about getting Apple Music over Spotify because I just got a stereo unit with CarPlay, and it seems like it has integration throughout. Anyone use CarPlay a lot with this, how much better is it?

I got a new Ford Fusion a couple months ago and have been using CarPlay every day. I put a lot of time into both apps. Apple Music's CarPlay app is faster, way more reliable, a lot easier to navigate, and has more features than Spotify's.

- Reliability: Apple Music seems more intelligent with how it downloads songs. I think it fetches the next song in the background or something and probably Spotify doesn't. If I'm streaming songs that weren't downloaded locally, Spotify will buffer and skip sometimes. That's never happened to me on Apple Music yet. Apple Music seems better at showing the album art consistently, Spotify often just has the placeholder images. And on Spotify CarPlay I sometimes get a "Unable to connect to Spotify" error message that says tap to Try Again.
- Siri is only on Apple Music and it makes a huge difference in your car as you now have complete hands-free navigation. You could tell it to play a song or artist, control things with voice commands (play/pause/skip), like a track, add songs to your library with your voice.

UI Differences between the CarPlay apps:
- Apple Music has a tab bar much like the iOS app (Library, For You, Browse, Radio). Makes it easier and faster to jump around sections. Spotify is just a list that you drill down.
- When in your Song view, Apple Music has letters (A-Z) on the right hand side that you could quickly jump to stuff beginning with the letter W for example. Spotify does not.
- The "Now Playing" screen on Apple Music has more features than Spotify's. You get a shuffle button and repeat button on the bottom, you can add a song to your library, you can like or dislike it, or create a radio station from the currently playing track. It also shows your current position in the playlist in the top right corner (like "49 of 97" for example). Spotify's now playing screen is a lot more basic and simply has play/pause/next/forward buttons.

That said, I don't think Spotify's CarPlay app is bad or anything. It gets the job done, it's just not as polished as Apple Music's CarPlay app.
 

borghe

Loves the Greater Toronto Area
Whoa, when did they fix adding "Show Complete Album"? This was THE MOST FRUSTRATING bug that existed in iOS 9 AND 10.

Liked a song so add it to your library.
Find the song in your library. the "download" icon is present.
Show Complete Album.
Rest of the album shows... with "download" icon...

To add the album you had to select a song, THEN click through to the album (even though you were already looking at the album), THEN the add to library would be available.

Now I've tested it on a number of songs, and as soon as you say "Show Complete Album" the download icon turns into the add icon.

woot.
 
Is anyone noticing that tracks added to a playlist still appear in your library despite having the "add playlist songs" OFF in Settings -> Music?

This bug is killing me.
 

Navi

Member
Long time Spotify user here. Recently switched over to Apple Music's Family plan for me and my dad. It's okay so far!
 

mattiewheels

And then the LORD David Bowie saith to his Son, Jonny Depp: 'Go, and spread my image amongst the cosmos. For every living thing is in anguish and only the LIGHT shall give them reprieve.'
Just as I was ready to buy the $99/year gift card...I wonder if that would just stay as is though.
 

Kibbles

Member
I want a nice touchscreen interface to use on my Surface Pro but quickly found there is no Windows app... so I decided to try a bunch of Android Emulators, that should do right? Well I can't seem to get it working on any of them, always fails to install from an apk and incompatibe on the play store even when I try change the system settings to spoof a galaxy s7. Anyone in a similar situation get something working?
 

giga

Member
I want a nice touchscreen interface to use on my Surface Pro but quickly found there is no Windows app... so I decided to try a bunch of Android Emulators, that should do right? Well I can't seem to get it working on any of them, always fails to install from an apk and incompatibe on the play store even when I try change the system settings to spoof a galaxy s7. Anyone in a similar situation get something working?
I don't think iTunes is touch friendly. I guess you could use the android Apple Music app but that seems clunky.
 
10.2 beta:

apple-music-star-ratings.jpg
 
I just want to know if they're planning on adding the like/heart back in the lockscreen :(

Yeah I used to care about the star ratings but now not so much except for Genius Playlists. I really think they can add that heart on the playing screen and in the lock screen and in control center. Not that hard. Less taps and more people can feed their algorithms
 

borghe

Loves the Greater Toronto Area
lol.. this thread didn't move for weeks, and now it's bustling with news!!!

I'm paying for life.. but a price drop is obviously very welcome.. We'll see.

And YAY FOR STAR RATINGS COMING BACK!!!!!!!!!

arbitrary decision is arbitrary.

Yeah I used to care about the star ratings but now not so much except for Genius Playlists. I really think they can add that heart on the playing screen and in the lock screen and in control center. Not that hard. Less taps and more people can feed their algorithms

I mean.... I get what they were/are going for.. and honestly I don't know the answer. Basically it's potentially confusing for Star and Heart to exist together.. But only some people actually care about a five-star rating, while only some others are fine with a binary (well, actually trinary) rating system. I guess this way people can use whatever they want.. just curious how Apple Music's "we know what you like!!!" uses both systems..
 
My main issue with Apple Music is that when a song comes on I like, and I want to visit the artist / album on apple music to have a look at the rest of their stuff, I find it very cubersome, unlike spotify where you can just click on the artist / album name in now playing or wherever it appears in the app.

I know sometimes you can right click and select go to > apple music, but it's a bit of a pain in the ass, is there anything I'm missing here?
 
$7.99 would be welcome. $12.99 for a family plan is great too. I think $9.99 would work but need to give it time. Not sure why Apple or others were hoping to match Spotify in a year.
 

neshcom

Banned
My main issue with Apple Music is that when a song comes on I like, and I want to visit the artist / album on apple music to have a look at the rest of their stuff, I find it very cubersome, unlike spotify where you can just click on the artist / album name in now playing or wherever it appears in the app.

I know sometimes you can right click and select go to > apple music, but it's a bit of a pain in the ass, is there anything I'm missing here?
Yeah, the Go To menu from right-click and the three dots menus are the only way to do it and it's kind of a shame it has to be like that since iTunes is a portal for Apple Music AND iTunes Store. It's a small step better than before where you had no option for which one it took you to, but this isn't much better.
 

Ashhong

Member
My main issue with Apple Music is that when a song comes on I like, and I want to visit the artist / album on apple music to have a look at the rest of their stuff, I find it very cubersome, unlike spotify where you can just click on the artist / album name in now playing or wherever it appears in the app.

I know sometimes you can right click and select go to > apple music, but it's a bit of a pain in the ass, is there anything I'm missing here?

Are we talking from the iOS app or Windows?

In iOS you can simply click on the artist name. And like you said in iTunes, you right click and press go to Apple Music. I mean it's a click or two more, but I don't find it a pain in the ass..I like that clicking on the artist name allows me to edit it in iTunes.
 

Quasar

Member
Matching Spotify on social features would be a more important first step anyway.

All I really wanted is similar accessibility to user playlists that you have on google play and Spotify.

Though at this point I'm wedded to google as it has cast support and add free YouTube. Apple could at least offer the former on the android app.
 

Oynox

Member
Sometimes I'm really wondering what people thought when designing the app and its control elements. In iOS 9 I was wondering about this "heart" feature because it had nearly no use. Now Apple integrated it in the app so everybody can understand what it is for. It actually has a good use now since you get your weekly favorites playlist. BUT WHY did they got rid of the fast access "hearting" in lock screen and in the app?! I need to click a button first, then I can favorite it. It needs so much time with those appearing screens. Instead the button in the middle they should have put the heart there. Do you change the device the music plays on that often at all?
 

Ashhong

Member
Sometimes I'm really wondering what people thought when designing the app and its control elements. In iOS 9 I was wondering about this "heart" feature because it had nearly no use. Now Apple integrated it in the app so everybody can understand what it is for. It actually has a good use now since you get your weekly favorites playlist. BUT WHY did they got rid of the fast access "hearting" in lock screen and in the app?! I need to click a button first, then I can favorite it. It needs so much time with those appearing screens. Instead the button in the middle they should have put the heart there. Do you change the device the music plays on that often at all?

The Heart icon can easily fit anywhere on the screen without removing anything. I don't know why they moved that shit.

But I don't think the Loving necessarily controls your favorites playlist. I was under the assumption that that uses all data like what you listen to, what you have in your library, etc, as well as the hearts.
 
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