I spent about a good 30 minutes trying this app out with the free trial and shortly after being greatly disappointed I canceled the free trial and gladly went back to Spotify. Google Play Music doesn't seem like something id be happy paying for every month, especially since there isn't a dedicated desktop app that can hold up to spotify nor does the iOS app seem as welcoming and ready to go as the Spotify app does.
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Google Play Subscription Music Service Finally Arrives on iPhone
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So far, Google is the only one that integrates discovery/radio, my own cloud music, and an all you can eat subscription (all of which are very important to me). I'm really happy with Google as a cloud music vault. I especially like the ability to upload my own album art images when I prefer a different version. I still like Spotify a bit better for the subscription service, but I'm keeping both for the time being since I got in at the $7.99/month price. They both do certain things very well. For me, Apple falls short on the music software and services side of things, but I love listening on the iPad via USB headphone DAC/Amp. So I'm looking forward to trying the official Google Play Music app (especially when a native iPad app is released). The 3rd party Google Music iPad apps have been buggy and inconsistent at best.
You completely ignored his point.
Just because it's Apple's computing platform does not mean they are entitled to a cut of every transaction that occurs. Do you think Windows should operate this way? Why is Microsoft not getting a cut of everything bought in iTunes? Do you realize how much of Apple's success was built on the back of iTunes on Windows? It's simply a stupid policy.
Download this app if you want to give your data about your music tastes away to an advertising company, and probably the NSA. Down with Google and crappy spyware that works better on Android phones. And long live the Mighty Apple!
Am I doing it right?
Yeah, unless you are listening to Nazi rock or terrorist trance, I wouldn't worry about NSA giving a rats ass what you listen to.
It's actually a very smart policy for Apple. Just bad for consumers. That's why Apple fans shouldn't be so anti-Android or Windows Phone. If those platforms put more pressure on, Apple might have to consider relaxing some of these restrictions that hurt our experience with Kindle, Google Music, etc. Competition helps!
Yeah, being able to stream 20,000 of my own songs where ever I go for free seems really lame.
i have my library on both too, I have always noticed a slight difference with my google music... i remember reading at one point that google was going to start matching music to be able to provide higher quailty music, but I thought they only did that to music that was uploaded after the date they turned that on. even on my computer I noticed that music off of google play was somehow of lower quality, then I read up why...
Google Play's upload service converts everything to MP3 for playback, where my iTunes Match Library is AAC :-/ so i get transcoded music, I don't care that they do a 320kb transcode, there is still some loss of audio, but for the most part it's not too noticable, and I like the idea that my music is available on two different providers in case iTunes service go down (or vice versa).
at some point I'm thinking that Google will force your google play music to be tied to your Google+ account so Google can match you into circles that have similar music tastes... :-/
Sure smart for Apple because they can maximize their revenue while engaging in anti consumer business practices. I don't care what's good for Apple though. As a user of both iOS and Android, iOS just feels backwards in so many ways in this day and age.
So far I'm not that impressed with iTunes Radio as it replays too many songs over and over. Hopefully it will improve. I joined Google all access this summer for $7.99 a month and so far I am impressed. Will probably drop iTunes Match next year.
As consumers we all have a lot of choice which means we all win.
As consumers we all have a lot of choice which means we all win.
I couldn't actually get that to work. The player just told me I needed to go to the web site and sign up for an account. I already have my whole MP3 library uploaded, but it seems I'm required to sign up for the 9.99/mo plan in order to even use the player on the iPhone.
I'm already using Spotify Premium and I don't need multiple music services!
If it's anything Samsung or Google that appears to be superior to Apple, then of course it can't be a good product.
My reply will probably get lost in the flood here, just wanted to say I'm glad I held out with the $7.99/month plan. The app is just as sweet as I expected. In particular, it has the critical feature to either (1) stream only over wifi, or (2) stream over data at low/medium/high quality levels.
The one thing that's not working is offline access for the albums. Not sure if that's due to the servers being overloaded or some other reason.
The one thing that's not working is offline access for the albums. Not sure if that's due to the servers being overloaded or some other reason.
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If it's anything Samsung or Google that appears to be superior to Apple, then of course it can't be a good product.
These are DIFFERENT products.
If you have a small music collection, like less than 100 songs, the free Google play is pretty much meaningless.
If you have a large music collection, 10,000 plus, the free Google play is awesome.
If you like to FIND music, in addition to your large music collection, Google Play All Access ($120/year), is the one you want.
If you like to LISTEN to music uninterrupted, and either have a small or large music collection, iTunes Music Match ($25/year) is the one to go for.
I'm mostly a iTunes/Remote/Airplay and Spotify user. Google Music is far from replacing either of those for my uses, but Chromecast support compels me to add it to my options. I tried the Google Music iOS app with my Chromecast and worked very nicely, and the UI is nicer than Spotify. In my TV/receiver setup, Chromecast is about the quickest way to get a video or song playing (thanks to HDMI-CEC support which means it will turn on my TV and switch to the input the Chromecast is on). I wish the Apple TV supported HDMI-CEC in the same way.
The interface in this is so much easier and nicer to use than iOS7 Music App.
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Works fine for me without any payments.
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Works fine for me without any payments.
When will Google lose their grey shadows on their iOS icons?
When will Google lose their grey shadows on their iOS icons? It looks terrible in iOS 7.
When will Google lose their grey shadows on their iOS icons? It looks terrible in iOS 7.
Still doesn't excuse that horrible UI... is that a search field or just some grey text on a white background?
You must have missed the part where Apple flat out said they have no interest in tracking their users private information, which is exactly Google's entire business model.
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I can handle that limitation when it's the difference between $25 a year and $120 a year.
You must have missed the part where Apple flat out said they have no interest in tracking their users private information, which is exactly Google's entire business model.
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I can handle that limitation when it's the difference between $25 a year and $120 a year.
Apple doesn't have services as vast as Google that everyone uses, to track for information. All they have is an App/Music Store.
Many people fail to realize that Google is not making money on Android (it is licensed for free). Android is just a means to get google services to as many people as possibe. Google makes money from ads/services.
So it makes total sense for google to offer Music on iOS. When you subscribe to Google Music they get the same amount of money from you regardless if you are using Android or iOS.
So it makes total sense for google to offer Music on iOS. When you subscribe to Google Music they get the same amount of money from you regardless if you are using Android or iOS.