In 20212 Apple acquired the classical music streaming service Primephonic. Earlier this year, the company announced a standalone Apple Music Classical app. The app is part of Apple Music subscription and was available only on iPhone and Android. Today, Apple has extended the Apple Music Classical app to iPad.
If you are a classical music connoisseur, check the iPad App Store. Apple says it has started rolling out the v1.1 update that is tailor-made for the larger display on iPad. The user interface should quickly adapt to the large iPad display, and the music controls will be more prominent.
Apple Music subscribers can stream timeless classics up to 192 kHz Hi-Ress Lossless. Version 1.1 is a significant update since the app was launched a few months ago. Meanwhile, the other updates mostly address minor bugs. With the update, Apple Classical Music is available across iPhones, iPads, and Android. Sadly, the app still misses out on the offline download feature. Yes, Apple Music Classical only supports streaming.
Why Apple Launched A Classical Music App?
I have been wondering out loud. Why did Apple trouble itself with a separate music app? Especially since nearly all of the classical music collection is already available on the Apple Music main app. Why did Apple take the trouble of creating and maintaining two separate Music apps.
The answer is metadata. Unlike new-age songs, classical songs have a longer descriptive title. It includes information such as scale and symphony numbers. In fact, symphonies rarely have titles. Instead, they feature the Name of the Work, Key, Catalogue Number, Movement Number, and Movement titles. Furthermore, the title keeps changing for every variation.
Unlike modern music, classical music is often recorded by several Artists. It isn’t easy to spot the original version amidst the renditions. Apple Music Classical attempts to solve this issue. You can search for music based on conductor, scale, artists, and other details. Or search an artist’s name and access their lifetime work in a single playlist.