Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) has released Apple Music App for Android users today. It is not the first app that Apple develops for Android, although it is the first user-centric app that will be available in the operative system.
A beta version of Apple Music is already available in all countries -except for China, where the beta version isn’t ready yet. It will come with a 3-month free trial, and the price is the same around the world. Also, it requires Android 4.3 or later to work, including all features that appear in the iOS app.
Eddy Cue, Apple’s SVS of Internet Software and Devices, stated that ever since Apple started to get in the music business, they want it to be available for everybody, regardless of the product that people uses.
Apple announced that if you got your music library in an iOS device you can access it from Android. Moreover, if you already have used iTunes and an Apple ID, it will let you use it on the Android app.
Nevertheless, since the app is in the beta stage, some features like Music Videos will not be available. Also, you won’t be able to sign up for a family membership within the app, unless you already had it purchased from an Apple device.
Eddy Cue, in an interview with TechCrunch, explained that they immersed in Android’s conventions and design guidelines, to make it look like a real Android app. Details like menus and icons are made in order to Android users to feel familiar when using the app.
When asked why they decided to build the app for Android, Cue answered that music is universal, everyone loves it, regardless of who you are. He said that they want to help artists to get as much audience as they can, and users to have the complete music experience. He believes that the “human curations” aspects of the app -such as For You- will be very important for everybody that tries the Apple Music service.
Also, he remarked the fact that Apple did something similar with iTunes for Windows, stating that it is important for artists to be listened by all the people, and that the development of their software in other platforms lets them interact with users that haven’t tried their products.
Cue added that they will be listening very carefully to recommendations, “getting feedback from customers and seeing where they’d like us to go”. He said that the company is “excited” to hear the opinion from these users for the first time.
A proof of good-will to Android users from Apple: if you pay the Apple Music subscription in the Android app, Google will get the 30 percent cut of that fee.
“This is our first true user app. We’ll see what kind of feedback we get,” Cue said on the interview to TechCrunch. “We’ve tried really hard to make a great app for Android. We’ll see what customers have to say.”
Looking to expand its domains
Apple’s CEO Tim Cook recently said that nearly 30 percent of new iPhone users were switching from Android. Showing the rest of Android users how Apple works and do things could be the way to keep attracting even more users.
Moreover, introducing the Apple Music service in Android users, that still dominates the market in some regions such as Japan, China, Germany and Spain will expand the presence of Apple. With Spotify, 8tracks and other streaming-music services, Apple could take advantage on all of them with this move.
Source: TechCrunch