The Apple Music Classical app has come to Android devices – several months after the service landed on iPhone, but before either iPad or MacBook devices have received an official app (via 9to5Mac).
Apple Music Classical is a distinct app from Apple Music, focusing exclusively on (you guessed it) classical music, instead of the broader offering found in the primary Apple Music app.
The app first launched on iPhone back in March 2023, with Apple calling it “a brand-new standalone music streaming app designed to deliver the listening experience classical music lovers deserve”.
That means you get access to a massive classical music catalogue, with over five million tracks, advanced search, Spatial Audio capability (provided you have the right AirPods), and 700+ curated playlists to better experience the greatest classical works.
The interface itself is designed around the particular metadata that’s useful when engaging with classical music – such as orchestra and conductor – while enabling you to easily assemble playlists of particular composers, and sift through the innumerable recordings of classical works in an intuitive way.
There are also thousands of exclusive tracks you won’t find on any other streaming service (given classical isn’t always prioritized on an app where Taylor Swift and Ed Sheeran reign supreme).
Apple giveth, and Apple taketh away
Android users may well have been missing a dedicated classical music app, given that the Primephonic music streaming service was pulled from Android after Apple acquired it in 2021 – allowing the tech giant to repackage the app as an Apple service before releasing it back onto a competing operating system.
However, what matters now is that Apple Music Classical is available on Android – meaning you can start creating those Beethoven and Debussy playlists today.
You will, of course, need a subscription to Apple Music to gain access, and that can be either the Individual, Student, Family, or Apple One plan. We should also mention the Android version is not available in China, Japan, Korea, Russia, and Taiwan, just like on iOS. People there will have to make do with the standard Apple Music platform.
Other online reports claim devices must be running Android 9 or later in order to support the app. If this is true, it means Apple Music Classical won't be exclusive to people running the latest patch, and it can be downloaded on phones running nearly five-year-old software, greatly increasing its availability.
When will there be an official, optimized app for iPad and Mac users, though? We've asked Apple for comment, and will update if we receive a response. If we had to guess, though, they're likely to be announced at WWDC 2023, as part of the latest macOS and iPadOS operating systems.
