Apple Music Voice Plan: everything we know (and what we dont)

Date:
Tue, 19 Oct 2021 00:24:16 +0000

Description:
Half the price, but do you get half the Apple Music fun with only Siri to control things?

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Apple kicked off its Apple Unleashed Event coverage by letting the world know that a new Apple Music plan was coming the Voice Plan.

Half the price of the standard Apple Music plan, its designed for those that like to use Siri to command their Apple devices (although how many people
that really is remains to be seen).

However, contained within that description is something rather mysterious what does Voice Plan really mean? What music can you listen to? What are you losing by skipping half the price? Want some new AirPods? Well, read all
about the new AirPods 3 Apple Music Voice Plan how will it work?

So what will you get? Basically, Siri is your own personal DJ, allowing you
to ask it to play you things wherever you can talk to the personal assistant.

Youll be able to ask for more things in terms of the types of music youre after not just hit music or country songs, but dinner party playlist or
music for hiking will be enabled.

Youll be able to skip through songs using Siri, and the artwork used suggests youll be able to tap the screen to jump through although weve not had that last point confirmed by Apple.

The key thing revolves around whats meant by Siri: we all interpret that as the voice assistant only, but youre also able to see the songs that have been played recently, as well as listener recommendations. This sounds like there will be more functionality within the Apple Music app, but its yet to be confirmed.

What is clear though, is that the Apple Music Voice Plan is not designed for those that like to spend hours curating their own playlists, using all the advanced features of the streaming service its designed for you to ask Siri to play a certain category of music, and let the virtual assistant do the
hard work for you. How is the Apple Music Voice Plan different from the standard subscription? (Image credit: Apple)

Well, this is where it gets a little confusing. The features youre losing are pretty clear: no lyrics, ability to download songs for offline playback, no downloading of Apple Radio shows, Spatial Audio and Lossless playback are
both missing... and you wont be able to see what your friends are listening to.

You also cant create your own playlists to listen to later, which makes sense if you cant actually type anything into the app itself its all done by
voice. You could, in theory, have said Hey Siri, add this song to my Dead
Good Jamz playlist but thats not on offer here. Apple Music Voice Plan on the left, compared to the Apple Music standard (middle) and Apple Music Family (right). (Image credit: Apple) Apple Music Voice Plan release date (Image credit: Apple)

When will you be able to sign up to the Apple Music Voice Plan? Well, the website currently says Coming soon, and weve not been able to get a more definitive answer than later this fall.

Wed expect that to mean some time in November which, coincidentally, is when the new colors for the HomePod Mini will be released.

It will land in 17 countries, which are: Australia, Austria, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, New
Zealand, Spain, Taiwan, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Apple
Music Voice Plan price

This ones a little simpler: it will cost $4.99 / 4.99 / AU$5.99 per month, which is half the price of the standard Apple Music plan, and a third of the cost of the Family plan.

If you want to sign up, youll need to do it through the Apple Music App, or you can just ask Hey Siri, start my Apple Music Voice trial, where youll get seven days music without it automatically renewing. Apple Music Voice plan which devices will it work on?

While the new plan will work on any Siri-enabled device, its really meant for those walking with a pair of AirPods or Beats headphones connected to an iPhone , or for anyone buying a HomePod Mini.

It just halved the tax on that latter product, with it now costing 50% less
to get the most out of the tiny speaker by combining it with Apple Music although its surprising that Apple isnt bundling a large amount of its Music service with each purchase of a HomePod Mini , as that would surely be a no-brainer to continue when users are in the habit of regularly playing new music with their voices. Macbooks, Airpods and more: everything Apple
unveiled at Unleashed



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Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/news/apple-music-voice-plan-everything-we-know-and-w hat-we-dont/


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