Everything New in the iOS 15.5 Beta: Apple Classical References, Apple Pay Cash Updates and More

[Poisednoise]

Nobody should be able to tell the difference between a CD and a FLAC file, because there IS no difference. That’s literally the entire point of a lossless encoder.
The vast majority of my classical library is personally ripped 16/44.1 FLAC from original CDs with .log/.cue, 100% bit for bit identical to the CDs they came from.

Apologies - my experience is that frequently when people speak of FLACs they are referring to much higher bitrate FLACs, and that's what I thought you meant. Presumably the reason Apple drags its feet here is that their M4a files are also lossless, so they feel there's little point? Apple do love a proprietary, well, anything.

 

[Mike_Trivisonno]

iOS should add to the Accessibility settings some form of tinnitus support. It would be so nice to be able to feed white, brown, violet, or other forms of tinnitus-masking sounds into the audio feed without turning off whatever it is one is listening to. As it is now, one can either choose to listen to audio or listen to masking sounds.

 

[urnotl33t]

I don't know why I do this, but I like book purchases, film rentals, and subscriptions to be paid via my AppleID, and have my AppleID reloaded automatically by my Apple Card. My subconscious self has decided this is best for some reasons, and my conscious self makes up the rationale that I have fewer transactions in Apple Card and still get the 3% Daily Cash. Humans are so funny!

I'm looking forward to having Apple Balance in the wallet app.

Friction, and the lack thereof, possibly. Humans are like water: we also take the easiest possible path.

None of that is a meant as a criticism, but merely acknowledgement of human traits.

 

[gknewell]

So… no changes in features and only hints of changes in code. I’ll stick with 15.4.1 for now.

 

[4jasontv]

Makes no sense having another music app just for one genre ?‍♂️

The problem is that classical isn’t a genre. It’s more like podcasts or audiobooks than rock or country.

 

[svish]

More references about Apple Classical. So should hear more about it soon.

 

[Stuipdboy1000]

More references about Apple Classical. So should hear more about it soon.

I'm thinking a press release in a couple of weeks with release coming in 15.5. Something similar to what they did last year with Spatial Audio/Lossless.

 

[dominiongamma]

I just want iPadOS to be more like MacOS, it's frustrating that so much power of iPad Pro goes to waste

That's why iPad os will never be a computer replacement, just use a MacBook

 

[MrRom92]

Apologies - my experience is that frequently when people speak of FLACs they are referring to much higher bitrate FLACs, and that's what I thought you meant. Presumably the reason Apple drags its feet here is that their M4a files are also lossless, so they feel there's little point? Apple do love a proprietary, well, anything.

Yeah, the ALAC encoder is lossless as well however has a few other key disadvantages relative to FLAC, so it is disappointing that their half-baked alternative format is foisted on us rather than just adding support for the one that people are actually using.

The lossy/iPod era equivalent of this would be if Apple only allowed you to use AAC and blocked people from adding MP3 files to their devices

(Unlike the ALAC/FLAC comparison, AAC *was* legitimately better than MP3 from a technical standpoint however this is besides the point that MP3 was the predominant format amongst users)

 

[jmarsh5]

Could of done something little like add batt % number back or remove home bar but nope we get small changes that no one cares about lol

I can see the battery percentage returning on the new iPhone, if the punch hole design is indeed accurate. Much more space for it.

 

[tubular]

* What about iTunes match or songs that users can upload to their library? Will the Classical app also support uploading music or will users have to split their libraries?

I tried iTunes match early on and found that (a) it had big trouble identifying movements that opened quietly and (b) it wasn't great at telling apart different recordings of the same piece. I liked the idea that my library was backed up off site, but after a few years I decided it wasn't good enough at what it did.

The vast majority of my classical library is personally ripped 16/44.1 FLAC from original CDs with .log/.cue, 100% bit for bit identical to the CDs they came from.

You’re right that this is how most classical listeners are listening these days. CD is still king if only due to the incredible amount of content that has been released over the past 40 years, but only a means to an end for modern listeners - the resultant FLAC file.

Yes. I still buy CDs, just to rip them to ALAC to send to my HomePod Pineapple-Sized. Lossless from disc to storage, and lossless from storage to air.

 

[3224932]

You forgot apple u2

No, U2 comes free with all of Apple's different subscriptions... whether you want it or not.

 

[3224932]

I just want iPadOS to be more like MacOS, it's frustrating that so much power of iPad Pro goes to waste

Agreed! I long for the day Apple adds Terminal (or an API to enable other similar apps [iTerm2]).

 

[backontwo]

<deleted>

 

[dysamoria]

Why do they need to have a separate app for classical music? They already have a music app and service. Integrate it, for cluttering out loud.

 

[tubular]

Why do they need to have a separate app for classical music? They already have a music app and service. Integrate it, for cluttering out loud.

It doesn't need to be an entirely separate app. It just needs to operate completely differently than the current one, which is no good for classical.

 

[Lounge vibes 05]

iOS should add to the Accessibility settings some form of tinnitus support. It would be so nice to be able to feed white, brown, violet, or other forms of tinnitus-masking sounds into the audio feed without turning off whatever it is one is listening to. As it is now, one can either choose to listen to audio or listen to masking sounds.

This already exists.
Settings>Accessibility>Audio/Visual>Background Sounds
In there, you have several sound options, The ability to play sounds while other media is playing, what volume you want it to play at with and without other media, and the ability to keep the sound playing even when your iPhone is locked

 

[johnnytravels]

You forgot apple u2

That’s the one I am looking forward to. Apple is going subscribe every account to that service without asking and automatically bill everyone for the first month. After a huge public outcry, no refunds will be issued to the users’ credit cards but everyone will get some iTunes credit added to their accounts.
Oh and I forgot: People will defend Apple on their actions.

 

[gizmogirl8919]

Does anyone know if this includes the updated carplay apple maps interface or would that be another update?

 

[tonyc46]

Yes and I won’t stop until apple do it !!!!!!

I don't understand this whole distress over the battery % on the home screen. You've got a bar that fills the battery to let you know roughly how much charge is left. If you really feel a need to see the exact %, just swipe down from the top right to open Control Center. The % is right there. I realize one swipe is quite time consuming and, likely, a strain on the finger ☝️, but we all have to make sacrifices.

 

[willie45]

As a former subscriber to Primephonic - the app Apple bought and are reputed to be basing Apple classical on - I’m excited. Primephonic was the best music app I’ve ever used and probably my favourite app of all time.

Surely even Tim Cook won’t let that get thrown away. I don’t know much about Apple and maybe I’m wrong but my instinct is also to be glad Jonny Ive has gone at this moment

I do agree Maps is massively improved. No need for any other navigation app

 

[E.Lizardo]

toggles for both of these would just be absolutely wicked.

miss having a jailbreak. there were tweaks quickly dropped for these, and having the homebar area removed was a nice removal of clutter, and screen real estate regained

I don't understand the battery % thing. It's clearly displayed in control center. I get that some people would prefer it was always on the Home Screen, but it hardly seems worth the energy people are expending complaining about it on a daily basis.

 

[Mike_Trivisonno]

This already exists.
Settings>Accessibility>Audio/Visual>Background Sounds
In there, you have several sound options, The ability to play sounds while other media is playing, what volume you want it to play at with and without other media, and the ability to keep the sound playing even when your iPhone is locked

Wow! Thank you so much! This is pretty cool!

Now if I could only set the balance and add my own sound files.

 

[Powerbooky]

I've seen this sentiment shared often on these forums; could you elaborate?

I've been using Music since the iTunes days, and while I agree it could be improved, I've never found it to be buggy in the traditional sense.

The traditional iTunes (10.7) worked fine. Some updates did damage my library sometimes, meaning a lost link to some random songs. The newer Apple Music made that worse. More tracks that I had imported from CD or downloaded from the iTunes Store lost their links in the database too. Eventually I got them fixed, but it is annoying.

The more newer Apple Music does need some more work. While I do like the Apple Music streaming service a lot, the "Listen Now" tab is slow and often contains wrong recommendations. Where the old iTunes Store based its recommendations on the local library, Apple Music recommendations are is clearly based on "geo-crowd sourcing" and music label pluggers (national and US). Totally not my taste and certainly doesn't match the Apple Music playback history. I often use Apple curated playlists on my Homepods, and hardly anything from those playlists show up in the recommendations. The recommendations don't even compare to what the rest of my family listens to.
And no matter how much press dislike on those recommendations, I still get crap like filthy hiphop/rap crap. Sometimes I even get the taste of my neighbours - Dutch folk s**t.

I can see the future...

$5/month for Apple Classical
$5/month for Apple Rap
$5/month for Apple Rock
$5/month for Apple Pop
$5/month for Apple Western

and so on...

Until...

$5/month for Apple Kanye
$5/month for Apple Beatles

etc...

Actually, I would prefer just one application, but with the option to filter/completely block certain genres, artists, groups, country of origin, etc etc.