You may have only just updated your iPhone to iOS 8.3, but Apple has just released the first developer preview of iOS 8.4, and it comes with a revamped Music app.
The changes to the iOS 8.4 Music app are largely cosmetic at this stage, and there’s no sign of the heavily rumoured (most would say inevitable) Beats Music integration.
Still, we were always unlikely to see anything official on that front before the next WWDC in June.
9to5Mac has posted the release notes for the iOS 8.4 beta. Chief among the improvements is an all-new design that lets you personalise your playlists with custom art and descriptions.
It appears as if Now Playing has received a lot of attention, with an improved representation of album art and the ability to start streaming music over AirPlay from directly within it.
Elsewhere, newly added albums and playlists now appear at the top of your library, making them easier to find. There’s also a new miniplayer to control playback while you’re browsing through your music collection.
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It’ll also be possible to see which tracks are coming next during playback, and there’s a new global search function accessible from anywhere in the Music app.
The iPad app also gets a new split-screen view.
Expect there to be several beta releases before iOS 8.4 is made public. We probably won’t see it too long before that aforementioned WWDC event in June.
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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.
