The Best Apps for Apple Music

Apple Music is a solid service, but the official app has to work for everyone, so it doesn’t go very deep in any one direction. If you listen to a lot of classical, care about new releases from specific artists or just want a different layout, there are apps that do this better.

Some of them are made by Apple, most by independent developers using Apple’s MusicKit API. These are the ones I use or think are worth knowing about.

Apple Music Classical

This should be known to the enjoyer of classical music, but still some users are surprised there is a dedicated app by Apple itself.

Just snobby music for rich people, right? Well partly, yes, that is probably why they invest in this category more. It brings high-paying customers into their service ecosystem.

The app features detailed overviews for composers, each piece is divided into its parts, and some pieces even have descriptions of the different sections, their meaning and the possible intention of the composer. The regular Apple Music app isn’t built for that kind of detail, which is why the Classical app exists. It’s included in your Apple Music subscription.

A very thought out app, even for people who want to get into this genre.

Marvis Pro

Marvis Pro is an alternative player for Apple Music. It uses your existing library and subscription, but you can set up the home screen yourself: which sections appear, how they are sorted and how they look. A user on r/AppleMusic described it as “dashboards for your music library”, which is a good way to put it.

It takes some time to set up, since very little is preconfigured, and some people give up on it for that reason. Those who stick with it usually don’t go back to the default app. It’s a one-time purchase.

BopQuiz

BopQuiz is a name-that-tune style quiz that uses your Apple Music subscription. You can play your own library, your own playlists, or any of the thousands of playlists Apple Music already has in its catalog.
There are different modes depending on how you want to play. Alone against international leaderboards, in a time-shifted duel with a friend, in a classic multiplayer mode where you all hit a big red buzzer on the same device, or in BopSesh where everyone connects their own phone via QR code.

BopSesh is probably the mode worth highlighting on a list like this, because only the host needs an Apple Music subscription. Everyone else joins with their phone and plays along, so it also works when some of your friends use Spotify.

There is also a Heardle-style daily mode. I wrote a longer piece about what happened to Heardle elsewhere on this blog if you want the backstory on why that mode exists at all.

The app is a free download with optional in-app purchases if you want to unlock everything. You can choose between a subscription or a lifetime unlock.

SongShift

SongShift moves playlists between streaming services, for example from Spotify to Apple Music. It’s useful if you are switching services, want to keep a friend’s playlist, or have old playlists somewhere else that you want back. Not every song is always found, but the app shows you which ones are missing so you can fix them by hand.

MusicHarbor

MusicHarbor keeps track of new releases from the artists in your library. Apple Music’s new releases section mostly shows bigger artists, so releases from smaller ones are easy to miss. MusicHarbor lists everything from the artists you follow, including upcoming albums, and can send you a notification when something comes out.

Airbuds

Airbuds is a home screen widget that shows what your friends are currently listening to. You can react to songs and message each other about them, and on Sundays you get a short recap of your week. It also works with Spotify and other services, so your friends don’t need Apple Music to be part of it.

Shazam

Most people know Shazam, but not everyone has connected it to Apple Music. If you do, every song you identify is added to a “My Shazam Tracks” playlist in your library. You can also use the Music Recognition button in the Control Center instead of opening the app.