Apple Music Classical app is now available globally
The long-awaited Apple Music Classical app is finally here. The entire library is free for users who have an active Apple Music subscription.
The Cupertino company had acquired the classical musical streaming service, Primephonic, in 2021. Apple had been working on providing an independent app to access its library without the clutter of the regular Apple Music app. Speaking of which, the layout of the main screen is similar in both apps, except for the fact that the Apple Music Classical does not have a Radio option.
The app's description states that its catalog comprises 5 million tracks, ranging from new releases to masterpieces. You may access them from the Listen Now tab which has several sections such as Composer Essentials, Instrument Playlists, and collections that created by experts. There are essential playlists that may be helpful for beginners to the genre. It also has thousands of exclusive albums that can be accessed from a dedicated section. Dolby Atmos is supported in thousands of recordings for spatial audio.
The Browse tab has more sections from Composers, Genres, Conductors, Orchestras, etc. Want to learn more about a composer? Tap on their name and scroll down to read their biography.
The highlight of Apple Music Classical lies in its search feature, it takes full advantage of Primephonic's accurate metadata, and can help you find the work that you want to listen to. Its specialty is that it contains hundreds of versions of the same track for you to choose from, including popular recordings. You can also search by composer, conductor, and even the catalog number.
The Now Playing section in the app has an information button that displays details about the composer, conductors, orchestra or choir who worked on the piece. Tap the AirPlay button to play the audio via a supported device. The service supports up to 192 kHz/24 bit Hi-Res Lossless quality.
You can add tracks to your library or playlist, these also show up in the Library tab of the regular Apple Music app. One important thing to note is that Apple Music Classical requires a working internet connection to stream the music, i.e. it does not support offline playback, this can be a drawback for some users.
If you had pre-ordered the app, it should have been installed automatically. But if you didn't, that's fine, you can download Apple Music Classical from the App Store. If you are not into Classical Music, then you can just ignore the app, as it is an optional download.
Apple Music Classical is only available for iPhone users, it is compatible with iOS 15.4 or later. It is included in the following Apple Music subscriptions: Individual, Student, Family and Apple One. So the only subscription that does not include Apple Music Classical is the Voice Plan. Apple says that its new app is not available in China, Japan, Korea, Russia, Taiwan and Turkey.
iOS 16.4 update is now available for all users. Read more about it here.
A previous report said that Apple is working on bringing Apple Music Classical to Android devices. Have you tried the app on your iPhone?
