It’s not often that Apple releases a completely new app. But now the company is expanding its range of music for both iPhones and Android smartphones.
Apple has steadily expanded its music streaming offering since switching from iTunes to Apple Music. The app supports 3D audio and Dolby Atmos, lossless audio, and even karaoke with Music Sing. By purchasing a streaming subscription, users get access to more than 100 million tracks, including a wide catalog of classical music. But classical music lovers don’t always have it easy, as control and search are designed for modern music. That’s why Apple is now introducing the completely new app “Music Classical”.
New app to serve niche
In 2021, Apple bought Primephonic, a company specializing in streaming classical music. Unlike conventional music streaming services, Primephonic’s focus was on a finer search function with manually entered metadata and paying artists based on the time played and not per track. Apple shut down the service just a month after the acquisition, with plans to release its own app as early as 2022. Now the time has come and Apple Music Classical is officially available AppStore and available for download in the Google Play Store.
According to the App Store page, Apple Music Classical offers “the largest classical catalog in the world” with more than five million works. Like Primephonic, the app offers a search function adapted for classical music, which makes it easier to search for specific compositions and movements – or even for the key. The titles are available with a maximum resolution of 192 kilohertz (kHz) and a 24-bit transmission rate. They support Apple’s Lossless Audio Codec (ALAC) as well as 3D audio.
Classical included with Apple Music subscription
Apple Music Classical is currently only available for the iPhone and is installed independently of the separate Apple Music app. Classical is included with the Apple Music subscription, so there are no additional costs. The subscription starts at EUR 4.99 per month for the voice option. In order to be able to use Classical’s search function and lossless audio properly, however, at least the single subscription for 10.99 euros per month is required.