Apple Music received a major upgrade yesterday with a revamped web interface that allows subscribers to listen to live music directly from their web browsers without any need for installing a separate app or iTunes.
At the moment, it’s still in beta phase and subscribers can access it at beta.music.apple.com.
Except for the fact that it loads from within a web browser, the interface is quite similar to Apple’s latest Music app, which will be launched with macOS Catalina before the end of the year.
According to the company, it should work in all operating systems, including Chrome OS, Windows 10 and Android.
It should also work in just about any browser, including Google’s Chrome.
Once logged in, the website provides access to the full Apple Music catalogue, as well as any tracks that are not on Apple Music but that the particular user has synced to their libraries.
The beta also includes Apple Music’s radio stations and Playlists – for example, Apple’s customised ‘For You’ recommendations.
However, the beta does not have smart playlists and Beats 1 live broadcast.
The full selection of Apple’s original music videos will also not be available for now.
Apple promised to expand the site in future – for example, eventually people will be able to register for Apple Music right there.
This move makes a lot of sense, since it enables the Cupertino-based company to introduce Apple Music to new platforms such as Linus and Chrome without the need to develop individual apps for every platform.
It also means that Apple has finally caught up with Spotify in one major respect.
The latter, which became the first-ever music platform to surpass 100 million paid subscribers earlier in 2019, has for many years been offering a web player that enables subscribers to listen to music without the need to install a separate app.