Apple Music subscribers can now summon tunes via the Alexa voice assistant on Amazon Echo speakers after the planned support arrived a whole weekend early.
The Apple Music Alexa skill can now be enabled from within the Alexa app, well ahead of the scheduled December 17 release date. Once installed, Echo users will be able to say “Alexa play Today’s Hits on Apple Music” along with other voice commands pertaining to artists, songs, albums, playlists and stations.
The best part of the integration is the ability to set Apple Music as a default music service, meaning they won’t have to say “…on Apple Music” every time they make a vocal request after doing so.
Related: Which Amazon Echo should you buy?
Unfortunately, the integration is limited to official Amazon Echo devices right now, so owners of third-party devices offering Alexa support face a longer wait. Sorry, Sonos One owners.
How to set up Apple Music with Alexa
However, if you’re an Echo owner and an Apple Music subscriber, you can can head to the Alexa app and browse to Skills. Search for Apple Music, enable the skill and then sign in using your Apple ID. The app will then ask off you want Alexa to access Apple Music. Hit “Allow” and you’re good to go.
In order to set Apple Music as your default music provider, open the Alexa app and browse to Music Settings. Head to the “Default Music Library” section and select Apple Music.
Apple’s streaming platform joins other supported services like Spotify, Tidal, Deezer, Pandora, iHeartRadio and TuneIn and it marks the first time Apple has launched a skill for the Amazon-powered devices.
It comes as Apple looks for a boost in its battle with Spotify in the music streaming realm and could be a sign that Apple is placing this goal above sales of its HomePod smart speaker. Previously, if Apple Music subscribers had wished to command tunes with their voice, they required the expensive HomePod speaker.
However, sales are thought to be sagging amid mixed reviews and a lack of smart skills compared to the Echo and Google Home speakers.
Are you surprised to see Apple allow Alexa to play its tunes? Drop us a line @TrustedReviews on Twitter.
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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.
