Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by derefr 2333 days ago
I feel like Music.app is a pair of similar apps squished together, when they share no common frontend functionality and work far better apart:

• Apple Music (the subscription service)

• iTunes (the library with syncing and an optional digital music locker subscription-service)

Each of the two has its own obvious top-level navigation. Each of the two has its own independent backend services (e.g. the recommendations in Apple Music; the iTunes Store and the cloud music locker in the iTunes app.) They would also share some backend services (e.g. the object storage of songs that are streamed in Apple Music vs. “matched“ in iTunes) but other iOS apps share these services too (e.g. Apple Podcasts, Apple TV.)

Why are they the same app?
2 comments
chipotle_coyote 2332 days ago
Well, for one possible answer: I personally don't want "music that I have added to my library by ripping or buying digital files of" and "music that I have added to my library by clicking 'favorite' in a streaming music service" to be separate libraries. "Okay, I want to listen to a song or two from the most recent album by The Black Keys, so I'll go to this app, but now I'd like to listen to ELO's Greatest Hits, so I'll go to that app." I just want to say "I would like to listen to my music."
link
derefr 2332 days ago
That's nice if you actually subscribe to Apple Music. As it stands, searching your library in Music.app returns results from Apple Music, with ~3 extra taps required to see the results from your own library, and often the inability to even navigate to a result in your own library if it matches the name of a title that's been delicensed from Apple Music.
link
chipotle_coyote 2330 days ago
Did you try turning off Apple Music in Settings? I just did that, and all mention of Apple Music goes away from the Music app, including in the search results.
link
bryanmgreen 2333 days ago
Was looking for this comment.

I can see a world where they exist together in one universal library, but if they can't figure that out through good UI and UX, they 100% should be two.

Unfortunately they want to pressure everyone into buying a music subscription, so that won't happen.

link