Apple Music has improved since its initial release in 2015, but there’s still a long way to go. In 2023, there are two long-awaited features that I hope Apple will add to Apple Music – both of which are already offered by Spotify.
Crossfade for Apple Music on iPhone and iPad
One of the glaring omissions from Apple Music on the iPhone and iPad is support for crossfading. This feature has been around for years, even dating back to the days of the iPod. For some strange reason, however, crossfading has yet to make its way to the Apple Music experience on the iPhone.
Crossfading, for those unfamiliar, is a feature that allows a song to fade out (gradually increase its volume) while the previous song fades out. This avoids gaps of silence between songs. Apps usually also allow you to adjust the crossfade duration of songs. For example, on Mac, you can set the crossfade between one second and 12 seconds.
What makes the omission even weirder is that crossfading for Apple Music is available on both Mac and Android devices. Why didn’t Apple extend this feature to iPhone and iPad? Who knows. I just hope it’s something that will finally be offered in 2023.
A Spotify Connect-style feature
Spotify Connect is a feature that Spotify has offered for years that lets you use one device to remotely control listening on another. For example, you can listen on your Mac and use your iPhone to control playback.
Apple Music offers similar functionality for HomePod playback, but there’s currently no charging price for a feature like this on other devices. In an ideal world, you’d be able to control Apple Music on all devices, regardless of where the playback actually takes place.
For example, I imagine a world where Apple Music can play on your Mac and you can control that playback from your Apple Watch or iPhone. Currently this is not possible. If you’re listening on your Mac, the only way to control that playback is from your Mac.
The foundations for a feature like this already seem to exist with Apple’s Handoff and AirPlay technologies. Sadly, we just haven’t seen this extend further into the Apple Music experience.
What’s on your Apple Music wishlist?
There are a number of other ways to improve the Apple Music experience. Most notably, this includes significant upgrades to the performance, reliability, and navigation of the Music app across all of Apple’s platforms.
We’re also still waiting for the release of the Apple Music Classical app, which Apple promised to launch before the end of 2022.
What’s on your Apple Music wishlist for 2023? Let us know on our social networks.
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