Apple has made its first homescreen widget for the Apple Music Android app.
One of the core philosophical differences between iOS and Android is their treatment of the homescreen. Apple believes in keeping things stripped back and simple, with basic icons. Google, on the other hand, gives you the option of widgets that grant you additional information and control shortcuts right there on your homescreen.
Perhaps surprisingly, Apple has just bridged that divide with an update to its first ever Android app. Apple Music now contains a homescreen widget.
It’s not a particularly special widget, we should note. It grants simple access to the usual play, pause, and skip controls, as well as Apple’s heart endorsement system, alongside a piece of album artwork.
As the Google Play app listing mentions, the update also allows you to “add songs from the Apple Music catalog to playlists without having to add it to your library,” which was a rather silly requirement in the first place. At least that’s sorted now.
Related: Best music streaming service
You can also now see what’s playing on Beats 1 directly from the Radio tab, rather than having to tune in specifically, and you can also redeem gift cards in settings to renew your membership using iTunes credit.
It should be noted that this is still actually a beat version of Apple Music, and there’ll be more improvements along soon.
(apester:56c447a3b6c51fb652db929e)
What do you think of Apple Music on Android? Still weird? Let us know in the comments.
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
