As Jeff Benjamin noted in 9to5Mac’s video coverage, iOS 14.5 will use Siri intelligence to select music services based on listening behavior. While the feature is not enough to set up a default music service, it will open Siri for easier music control for more services without specifying which service to use. Apple has now described in more detail how they intend the new behavior to work.
TechCrunch received a statement from Apple intending to divert focus and describe the feature change as standard support for music service, but rather part of Siri intelligence:
For example, if you tell Siri to play a song, album, or artist, it may ask you what service you want to use to listen to this type of content. However, your reaction to Siri does not mean that the specific service is your ‘default’, says Apple. In fact, Siri may ask you again at some point – a request that may confuse users if they think their preferences are already set.
Apple also points out that there is no specific setting in iOS where users can set up a ‘standard’ music service, as is the case with email and browser applications.
As we noted in previous coverage, Apple’s approach with Siri for users is less clear than Amazon’s with Alexa. With Echo Smart Speakers, users can set up standard audio services for music catalogs and music radio stations, including Apple Music, via the Alexa mobile app.
With Apple, users can set up standard web browsers and email clients in iOS 14, but Apple prefers not to offer the same level of audio clients yet.
Seriously, it does not mention Apple’s standard support for music apps in iOS 14, because it’s based on Siri, which means it’s much more cumbersome than a simple setting. Actually, we can just call it that in the future: nebulous Siri sound feature.
iOS 14.5 is currently in its third beta release. We should have a clearer description through release notes when the upcoming software update is released later this month. In the meantime, you can keep standard music, audiobook and podcast apps on your wish list for iOS 15.
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