Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
A nice step, but how would this work for people who just like to BUY music off of iTunes and not subscribe to Apple Music?

For example, I tried to login to Apple Music on my work Android phone and it would not show me ANY of my purchased music :(

I have a good sized library of music I bought from Apple and I'm not interested in renting music every month.

I feel like people like me are being left out in the lurch...
 
Except you wouldn’t want to listen to music on the Dot anyway. It’s not like it sounds that great.
You don't have listen to music through the Dot's speaker.
connect_dot_to_any_speaker.jpg
 
Neat. So now I can buy a device that lets me listen to Apple Music and lets Jeff Bezos listen to me listening to Apple Music.
 
This partnership creates so many questions for me.

Will there be future integrations with Alexa and other iCloud services?
Will Apple abandon Siri or work collaboratively with Amazon to make Alexa the default assistant?
What does this mean for the future of the HomePod line, or for the future of an entry level HomePod line?
Does this mean Apple may integrate with Google Home as well?
Could this be the beginning of the end of HomeKit?

The HomePod, while a great piece of hardware, leaves so much to be desired as a smart home speaker. The largest glaring issue is the lack of multi-user support. My wife can't access her calendar, her messages, her reminders, her contacts, her siri-shortcuts. I mean the speaker is fine for one person, but that's where it's usefulness ends. I would love some communication from Apple on a feature roadmap for the HomePod... If there even is one.
 
Such good news. I’m an Apple Music subscriber and have Echo Dots around the house connected to various external speakers.
 
This is awesome and quite unexpected! Until Apple makes that mythical HomePod 2 with a much improved Siri, the ability to run apps (skills) and a lower price this will do just fine.
 
This partnership creates so many questions for me.

Will there be future integrations with Alexa and other iCloud services?
Will Apple abandon Siri or work collaboratively with Amazon to make Alexa the default assistant?
What does this mean for the future of the HomePod line, or for the future of an entry level HomePod line?
Does this mean Apple may integrate with Google Home as well?
Could this be the beginning of the end of HomeKit?

The HomePod, while a great piece of hardware, leaves so much to be desired as a smart home speaker. The largest glaring issue is the lack of multi-user support. My wife can't access her calendar, her messages, her reminders, her contacts, her siri-shortcuts. I mean the speaker is fine for one person, but that's where it's usefulness ends. I would love some communication from Apple on a feature roadmap for the HomePod... If there even is one.
Why you assuming Apple is giving up on everything? I wouldn’t read too much into allowing Apple Music on Amazon.
 
Yeah. I find my Alexa products to do much better in controlling my home automation better than Siri. And if those same Alexa products can also play back Apple Music. That’s a def plus.
I find it to be the other way around especially when it comes to scene controls with smart lights
 
Now it's time for HomePod to gain Spotify support. That and the lack of a line-in are my only complaints. Otherwise, HP is amazing
As someone completely in on apples eco system I don’t feel the need for any of those things. This move shows Apple is giving costumers options without having to build a device or features they don’t want to make.
 
Why you assuming Apple is giving up on everything? I wouldn’t read too much into allowing Apple Music on Amazon.

I’m not saying that it is on their product roadmap to give up on these things, but it could be cause and effect. The only reason I bought HomePods was for Apple Music. In fact I ended up purchasing a home mini to supplement the homepods short comings. If Apple Music on Alexa would have been available when I bought my homepods I may have bought Echos.
 
This partnership creates so many questions for me.

Will there be future integrations with Alexa and other iCloud services?

No.

Will Apple abandon Siri or work collaboratively with Amazon to make Alexa the default assistant?

No.

What does this mean for the future of the HomePod line, or for the future of an entry level HomePod line?

Nothing.

Does this mean Apple may integrate with Google Home as well?

Possibly, yes.

Could this be the beginning of the end of HomeKit?

Probably not.

The HomePod, while a great piece of hardware, leaves so much to be desired as a smart home speaker. The largest glaring issue is the lack of multi-user support. My wife can't access her calendar, her messages, her reminders, her contacts, her siri-shortcuts. I mean the speaker is fine for one person, but that's where it's usefulness ends. I would love some communication from Apple on a feature roadmap for the HomePod... If there even is one.

Yes, that's all true, but it has absolutely nothing to do with this story any more than Apple Music being available on Android has to do with any failure of iPhones or iPads.

The story, quite simply, is this:

  1. Apple Music is its own subscription service.
  2. For good publicity and wholesale licensing deals, it needs to have as many users as possible.
  3. This sometimes means porting it to non-Apple platforms.*

This means nothing for HomePod, it means nothing for whether Apple also ports iMessage to Android, and it means nothing for iCloud.

*) Yes, I know Apple Music's predecessors MOG and Beats Music already ran on Android. That's interesting on a technical level, but the reason Apple Music exists on Android is strategic, not technical.
 
This partnership creates so many questions for me.

Will there be future integrations with Alexa and other iCloud services? Probably not
Will Apple abandon Siri or work collaboratively with Amazon to make Alexa the default assistant? No. Creating an Alexa skill does not signal abandonment of Siri.
What does this mean for the future of the HomePod line, or for the future of an entry level HomePod line? It means that now Apple Music works on homepod (present and future versions) AND other speakers.
Does this mean Apple may integrate with Google Home as well? Certainly could.
Could this be the beginning of the end of HomeKit? No. Creating an Alexa skill for a music streaming service does not signal the abandonment of an entire smart home platform.

The HomePod, while a great piece of hardware, leaves so much to be desired as a smart home speaker. The largest glaring issue is the lack of multi-user support. My wife can't access her calendar, her messages, her reminders, her contacts, her siri-shortcuts. I mean the speaker is fine for one person, but that's where it's usefulness ends. I would love some communication from Apple on a feature roadmap for the HomePod... If there even is one. It would be great if the homepod was more capable. There's a lot of potential to unlock there. I hope we see some commitment from Apple to the Siri + homepod platform.
 
"Steve would never have done that" etc. Smart and user-friendly move, though, from Tim's Apple.
Although the Alexa Music Service API doesn't do all the advanced stuff that you can get natively with Amazon Music ("Play the song that goes abcdefg") and Apple Musis on Alexa won;t benefit from the multi-language capability that Siri provides ("Hey dingus, play <insert song title in French>")
 
So someone easdropping on your personal life in general is ok with you? There are far more implications with the device than one being concerned with criminal behavior being revealed. :apple:
Here's the thing. They do not 'eavesdrop" on your personal life. Or they at least say and provide a reason to believe them that they don't. In the end It all comes down to trust. Your iPhone has the same ability with hey siri - no one seem to worry much about that. Maybe that's because they trust Apple. And they believe that Apple has reasons ($$) to not abuse that trust. I feel the same way about Amazon. So I have echo's. And that is what makes today's news so great. Another way to merge my Apple ecosystem and my home control system -Alexa.
 
Last edited:
Apple gets to possibly sell more music subscriptions in the deal, and Amazon gets to possibly collect new customer data.

I get the feeling that this deal is more about privacy loopholes, and trading customer data than anything else.
 
Here's the thing. They do not 'eavesdrop" on your personal life. Or they at least say and provide a reason to believe them that they don't. In the end It all comes down to trust. Your iPhone has the same ability with hey siri - no one seem to worry much about that. Maybe that's because they trust Apple. And they believe that Apple has reasons ($$) to abuse that trust. I feel the same way about Amazon. So I have echo's. And that is what makes today's news so great. Another way to merge my Apple ecosystem and my home control system -Alexa.

I have Hey Siri disabled. :apple:
 
Makes me feel that Apple is beginning to feel some pressure on their end to expand services. I would expect this trend to continue over the next few years with a variety of products and services. It's time to open the gates a bit. I gave away all my Echo devices for HomePod's earlier this year, but this is good for Amazon users.


I think you’re right. Hardware improvements on any brands phones/computers/electronics have been just incremental for 4-5 years but the price for those items keep going up. Apple has primarily been a hardware company for years. Branching out their services is probably a good idea at least right now.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.