How long has Apple Music been on Android?
Apple Music first launched in 2015 as Apple’s subscription-based music streaming service, available exclusively on iOS devices. The service allowed iPhone and iPad users to stream over 50 million songs from Apple’s catalog. In the beginning, Apple Music was not available on Android devices, giving Apple an edge in mobile music streaming.
However, in June 2016, Apple Music finally launched on Android after considerable pressure. The Android app gave Apple Music access to hundreds of millions more potential subscribers. This article provides an overview of Apple Music’s launch on Android, examining the growth of its user base, key feature updates, integration with other apps, and reception from Android users.
Apple Music Launch and Early Years
Apple Music was unveiled by Apple at their 2015 Worldwide Developers Conference in June as a subscription-based music streaming service. It launched alongside iOS 8.4 on June 30, 2015 as an iOS exclusive app and service.
At launch, Apple Music offered several key features including streaming over 40 million songs from the iTunes catalog, the ability to save music for offline listening, curated playlists and radio stations, and artist exclusives. Users could stream music or download content to listen offline, similar to Spotify.
Apple Music saw quick growth in its early years. By October 2015, just 4 months after launch, Apple announced over 6.5 million paid subscribers. By December 2015 they hit over 10 million paid subscribers. And by June 2019, Eddy Cue, Apple’s SVP of Internet Software and Services announced Apple Music had surpassed 60 million paid subscribers, beating out competitor Spotify in terms of paid subs.[1]
Pressure to Launch on Android
Even though Apple commands a very high market share with their iPhone, Android still dominates the overall smartphone market share worldwide. According to iPhone vs Android User Stats (2024 Data), Android accounts for over 70% of the global smartphone market as of 2023, compared to just under 30% for iOS. And according to Mobile OS market share worldwide 2009-2023, Android’s lead over iOS has been growing wider over the past decade.
Apple has shown precedents of eventually launching some of their other services on Android, including Apple Music’s streaming rival Spotify, and the iMessage-like messaging app FaceTime. So there was increasing demand from Android users for an official Apple Music app. Apple likely recognized the sizable market share they were missing out on by not having their music service available on the dominant mobile platform.
Android users were very vocal about wanting access to Apple Music. Though some unofficial third-party Apple Music apps existed, they often had reliability issues or lacked important features. So there was clearly a lot of pent up demand among Android users to have the real Apple Music app available on their devices.
The Android Launch
Apple Music officially launched on Android on November 10, 2015 with the release of the Apple Music app in the Google Play store.[1] The Android launch came about 5 months after the initial launch of Apple Music on iOS devices and Mac/PC.[2]
The Apple Music Android app initially launched in a total of 100 countries, the same countries where Apple Music was available for iOS and desktop at the time.[1] This gave Android users access to Apple Music’s catalog of over 30 million songs, human-curated playlists, global radio station Beats 1, and the ability to save music for offline listening.
The first version of Apple Music for Android included core features like For You personalized recommendations, New music mix, Radio with Beats 1 live and on demand shows, and My Music for accessing your library and playlists. One notable missing feature compared to the iOS version was the ability to upload your own music files to the cloud.
User Base Growth on Android
Apple Music saw steady growth in its Android user base since launching on the platform in 2015. By 2018, Apple reported 5 million subscribers on Android devices (Source). While Apple Music had 50 million total subscribers at the time, only about 10% were Android users.
This imbalance began to improve over the following years. In the first quarter of 2019, Apple Music was projected to add 3.8 million Android installs, showing quarter-over-quarter growth (Source). By 2021, Android’s share of Apple Music subscribers reached closer to 15%, with at least 13 million subscribers on the platform (Source).
While iOS still dominates Apple Music’s user base, adoption on Android platforms has steadily risen. As of mid-2023, Apple reported having over 100 million subscribers, so Android likely accounts for 15-20 million users at this point.
Feature Updates
Since its Android launch in 2015, Apple Music has received consistent feature updates to bring it closer to parity with the iOS version. Some major feature additions over the years include:
In 2016, Apple added support for family plans, which allow up to 6 people to share an Apple Music subscription.
Apple Music on Android received the ability to view music videos and lyric videos in 2018. This made the Android and iOS apps nearly identical in terms of music library features.
Playlists also became more functional over time. Users gained the ability to edit playlists on Android, including changing titles, adding/removing songs, re-ordering tracks, and more.
Integration with the Google Assistant was added in 2019. This enabled Android users to use voice commands to play Apple Music tracks and control playback.
Most recently in 2022, spatial and lossless audio support was added to the Android app. This brought it in line with the iOS version’s sound quality.
Integration with Other Apps
Apple Music integrates with several popular apps and services to enable sharing music and playlists. One key integration is with Facebook Messenger, allowing users to share 30-second song previews directly in chat. To enable this, users simply tap the “+” icon when composing a message in Messenger and select Apple Music. They can then browse recently played tracks or search for songs to share.
Apple Music also partnered with Amazon Alexa in 2018 to allow control of Apple Music playback through Alexa-enabled devices. Users can request songs, playlists, radio stations, and more by voice when they link their Apple Music account in the Alexa app. This provides convenient hands-free access to Apple Music’s catalog of over 90 million songs.
Other integrations include Spotify, Instagram Stories, Uber, and Shazam. These partnerships allow Apple Music users to easily share and access their music across platforms for a seamless listening experience.
Reception by Android Users
The reception to Apple Music by Android users has been mixed. On the Google Play Store, Apple Music has a rating of 2.8 stars out of over 1 million reviews as of February 2023. Many reviews complain about issues with the user interface and stability of the app.
For example, some Reddit users have commented that the Android version feels like an inferior port compared to the iOS version. As one Redditor on r/AppleMusic stated: “However, as the title states, the reviews for Apple Music are not the best on Android (I think it was 2.8 stars the last time I checked). What’ …”
Many Android users feel Apple Music lacks certain features or customization options available on competing services. However, others argue the overall catalog and music discovery features make Apple Music worthwhile despite the drawbacks of the Android app.
Future Outlook
Apple Music on Android is expected to continue seeing strong user growth in the coming years. Analysts predict the app’s Android user base could double or even triple in size over the next 3-5 years as Apple continues expanding its services to non-Apple users. This growth will likely be driven by new Android phone owners joining the platform who already use other Apple services like iCloud or watch Apple TV+. Converting these users to also use Apple Music gives Apple a better chance at retaining them within its ecosystem.
There are also rumors that Apple is developing several new features for Apple Music on Android aimed at improving parity with the iOS version. Based on leaks and developer betas, some potential upcoming features include:
- A redesigned interface mirroring the look of Apple Music on iOS 17.
- Spatial Audio support with dynamic head tracking for immersive music listening.
- Watch integration, allowing control and streaming from Android smartwatches.
- Home screen widget support for quick access to playlists, albums, or stations.
Bringing Apple Music for Android up to feature parity with iOS has become a priority for Apple as the company emphasizes services revenue. This should lead to Apple Music continuing to improve as a top streaming music option for Android users into the future.
Conclusion
In summary, Apple Music launched exclusively for iOS in 2015. After years of mounting pressure, Apple finally released Apple Music for Android in November 2019. Since then, Apple Music’s user base on Android has grown steadily. Users report enjoying key features like offline listening, curated playlists, and integration with other apps. While the initial launch was met with some criticism over lack of feature parity, recent updates have brought the Android version much closer to iOS. Overall, Apple Music has now been available on Android for over two years and has proven successful in attracting more subscribers. Though iOS still seems to get certain features first, Android users now have full access to Apple’s streaming music service.