September 30 is here, and after three months of testing in which Apple Music has been completely free, it is time to decide if we want to continue using it or if, on the contrary, we want to unsubscribe and continue with any of its rivals, or simply do without streaming music. My decision has been made for a long time, but now I can say that I have it even clearer, and I will continue with Apple Music leaving behind my Premium subscription to Spotify. These are my motives.
Music library for anyone
Apple was criticized for the fact that Apple Music's music library was not equivalent to that of iTunes. It is true that there are artists and / or albums that are for sale on iTunes but are not available on Apple Music, such as the entire Beatles music catalog. But after three months there is not a single artist or album that I want to have in my library and that I have not found in Apple Musicexcept the Beatles. Your library may not be bigger than Spotify's, but it's not smaller either. During this time of testing I have been very aware of which singles and albums came to Spotify and immediately looked for them in Apple Music, and I have not found any that were missing in the latter.
Library in iCloud
Any service you use synchronizes the music you have added to all your devices, but Apple Music goes further: if there is an album that you have that does not appear in its catalog as well adds it to your iCloud library and it will appear on all your devices. Your music library will be unified, both Apple Music and your own, and by enabling the iCloud option, it will appear on all the devices that you have associated with your account. Forget about using Spotify for streaming music and Music for your own, you will have a single service and a single application.
The family plan, a relief to my ears
For € 14,99 I have the possibility to add up to 6 accounts to Apple Music, and each of them with its own music library. It's over having to share my library with my wife's, and above all it's over when my iPhone stops playing music when I walk to work because my wife at home has also started listening to music. Even with a single individual account you can listen to Apple Music on several devices simultaneously, but if you also opt for the family account, the options are multiplied by six, and also with independent libraries.
Yes, Spotify has family plans, but less economically interesting: each account added has a 50% discount, which means that for the price of the Apple Music family account on Spotify you would only have two accounts (for six of Apple's service ). Google Play Music today launched an option identical to Apple's, but for me she is already late.
An application still in its infancy but that will improve
Yes, it is true that the Music application was launched with some unforgivable glitches, but it is also true that the interface has improved a lot with the arrival of iOS 9, and new functions have been added. Even so Music on iOS needs to improve a lot more, but I have no doubt that it will. Apple has bet heavily on this service and there is still a long way to go. Something that, however, is not entirely clear to me with Spotify, or at least not that it happens with the same speed. Does anyone remember how long it took to update the interface to the iPhone 6 Plus screen? Nor do we need to go so far ... we are still waiting for an app for Apple Watch that never comes and a few months have already passed.
Perfect integration with the system
It is elementary but it does not stop being important: Apple Music integration with iOS reaches a level that Spotify will not reach. In this case the fault is not Spotify but the limitations that Apple imposes, but whatever the difference exists. Siri has become a perfect way to control your music playback and now, with the new iPhone 6s and 6s Plus always listening, using Apple Music by voice is a reality. And not only Siri, but also the new smart search system, the Apple Watch, etc.
Although there are still shortcomings
Just because you've decided to continue with Apple Music doesn't mean you're not aware that Apple's streaming music service still has significant shortcomings. The musical recommendations that he makes to me at the moment are not that they are very accurate, although it is one of the characteristics that many musical experts highlight of Apple Music. I also think that the social aspect of the application is very neglected, because the Connect theme is very good, but I would like to be able to discover music lists of users that may be interesting to me and to be able to add them to my library. And we better not talk about the user experience of Apple Music in OS X through iTunes ... But as I said before, it has only been three months since its launch and the best has yet to come.
I canceled my Apple Music subscription yesterday, thanks for helping me confirm that it was a good decision.
Come on, it goes without saying that despite how bad Apple Music is, you stick with it because you feel like it.
Apple Music is awful .. or are you going to tell me that you have your playlists in order and without any setbacks? Or that it did not take you more than two weeks to get one of your songs uploaded to Icloud and that on all other devices that same song appeared in gray without being able to listen to it?