Apple‘s Siri recently completed 10 years. Days later, the company has unveiled a $5 Apple Music Voice plan that works only through the digital assistant — seemingly targeting HomePod owners.
At its MacBook Pro event, the company announced this new Apple Music plan “designed around the power of Siri.” At the outset, it looks like a weird move. Why would I need Siri to play music when I can control it through my iPhone or iPad?
The new music plan has plenty of caveats. You can access all 90 million+ songs on Apple Music, but only by issuing voice commands to Siri. Apple says that the company’s experts have curated special playlists such as “dinner time playlist” or “chill playlist.”
You can subscribe to this plan through the Apple Music app or by saying “Hey Siri, start my Apple Music Voice trial.”
So what will you see when you open the Apple Music app? The company says that you’ll “get a customized in-app experience with suggestions based on the listener’s music preferences.” Plus, you can see the history of the music you’ve played through Siri.
Prior to the iOS 14.5 update, Apple only let you play tracks through Siri only on Apple Music. But now, you can access apps like Spotify through voice commands.
I don’t use Siri much apart from setting an occasional reminder or asking it for the weather condition. And unless I unsubscribe from Apple Music‘s full plan, and then decide to buy a HomePod Mini, this plan doesn’t make sense to me. What’s more, I’m not entirely sure if Siri will be able to accurately identify and play titles from Indian regional languages.
This plan is for people who use Spotify (or any other service) on their iPhones, and aim to buy a HomePod Mini, which sadly works only with Apple Music. Plus, Apple Music Voice might entice the “I don’t listen to the music” crowd into casual listening while working.
The plan will be available later this fall in 17 countries including the US, UK, Germany, Australia, and India.
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