Apple just launched its first MAJOR Android application

Apple has built a native Android app for its new music streaming service, Apple Music

APPLE has rolled out its first major Android app – Apple Music – to the UK Google Play Store.

 

Apple has launched a native Android app for its music streaming service, Apple Music.

The Android app rolled out to the UK Google Play Store earlier today.

All the headline features from the iOS Music app have made the transition to Android, including Beats 1 and Connect.

Curated playlists from the Apple Music curation team and branded partners like NME and Rolling Stones have also made the cut.

 

However music videos and the ability to sign-up for the discounted iCloud Family Plan are not yet available on the Android app.

Missing functionality is to be expected – after all, Apple says its first major Android app is still in “beta”.

The US technology giant believes it has fully-embraced the Android eco-system with its Apple Music app.

“It’s a full native app, so it will look and feel like an Android app,” said Eddy Cue, Apple Senior Vice President of Internet Software and Services.

“The menus will look like Android, you know the little hamburger they use on the top. It’ll definitely feel very much like an Android app.”

 



Apple has adapted its own design language so that Android users feel at home with Apple Music



Mr Cue said the decision to embrace Android’s stylistic quirks was made so that Android customers would feel at home with the Apple app.

He said: “We wanted customers on Android to naturally be able to use it – what they’ve learned and how they interact is common. 

“Things as simple as [that] the share icon looks like an Android share icon; the menu structure being where it is; these are things that most Android customers are familiar with. We wanted to make sure that they felt very familiar with Apple Music when they sat down to use it.”

Apple Music is not the firm’s first Android app – although it is Apple’s biggest bet on the rival mobile operating system to date.

Apple Senior Vice President Eddy Cue equates the new Android app to the launch of iTunes on Windows.

 

“We did this with iTunes very early on when we did it for Windows,” he told TechCrunch.

“It’s really important for artists to get as broad an audience as possible, and for us it’s really important because it gives us an opportunity to interact with customers who may not have experienced any of our products before.”

The music streaming app’s presence in the Google Play Store will allow existing Apple Music subscribers greater flexibility with their devices.

And with a generous three-month free trial period for new subscribers, Apple Music is likely to entice a fair few new sign-ups, too.

But there is work to be done.

 

All the headline features of the iOS Music App have made the transition to Android

The Android Apple Music App does yet support Chromecast or Chromecast Audio and there’s no sign of any Android Wear functionality either.

Apple has also optimised the app to work with smartphones, although a stretched version of the software will work with most Android tablets running version 4.3 or higher.

But Eddy Cue appears open about the improvements which could be made to the Android app.

“We’ll be getting feedback from customers and seeing where they’d like us to go,” reassured Mr Cue.

“One of the things is that we obviously don’t know a lot of these Android customers and we’re excited to hear what they’d like us to go do.

“This is our first true user app … we’ll see what kind of feedback we get.

“We’ve tried really hard to make a great app for Android. We’ll see what customers have to say.”

 

To emphasise this point, Apple has included a prominent feedback button inside the Apple Music app menu to solicit responses from its new Android-based customers.

Apple Music on Android carries the same £9.99 per month price tag as it does on iOS and Mac.

iTunes purchases made with your Apple ID will sync across to Android devices, although the latter does not allow customers to purchase any additional music from the iTunes Store.

iCloud Music Library also syncs between the two rival mobile operating systems.

Android users will get the option to upgrade their free trial to a paid Apple Music subscription at the end of the third month.

Interestingly, upgrading to a paid Apple Music subscription via an in-app Android purchase means Google will get its traditional 30 per cent cut of the fee.