Apple Music will soon work on third-party Alexa devices, too - Ars Technica

Apple

Apple's music streaming service will soon be available to even more people with smart home devices. An Amazon spokesperson confirmed to Mashable that Apple Music integration will come to "other Alexa-enabled devices soon." This means that those who have Alexa-enabled devices that are not Amazon's own Echo speakers will be able to listen to and control tracks and playlists from Apple Music.

Apple Music started rolling out on Echo speakers this week. The integration allows users with paid Apple Music subscriptions to connect their accounts to the Alexa mobile app and use it as their default music service. Apple Music joined Spotify, Amazon Music, iHeartRadio, and others already available on Echo speakers.

Setup takes only a few taps in the Alexa app: navigate to the Music page within the Settings page and then tap on Link New Service. Select Apple Music from the given options and then enable the Apple Music skill and sign in to your account using your Apple ID. Once signed in, set Apple Music as your default music service.

You can then ask Alexa on your Echo to control music playback from Apple Music. All of the usual voice commands apply, letting you play, pause, and skip tracks, listen to playlists and radio stations, and search for new music. You can even set a song from Apple Music as your alarm tone.

The expansion to non-Echo devices will excite many—likely audiophiles the most. Echo speakers are not consistent in their sound quality because different Echo models are designed for different needs (some users want to save space and go for an Echo Dot, while others care a bit more about the audio quality of the speaker and go for the standard Echo). But there are plenty of Alexa-enabled speakers made by audio companies, like the Sonos One, that audiophiles have already invested in. Those who also subscribe to Apple Music will soon be able to use Alexa on their preferred speakers to control their music.

It's unclear which Alexa-enabled devices will get this integration first and how quickly we can expect the feature to roll out. Regardless, bringing voice controls for Apple Music to more devices helps Amazon gain more regular Alexa users. It could also help Apple convince more people to subscribe to its streaming service thanks to increased accessibility.

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