Apple Music Voice plan decoded: What is it and who is it for?

The Apple Music Voice plan the Cupertino-based company announced during Monday’s Unleashed event has caused some confusion among users. The new, cheaper Apple Music plan is a voice control-only access to the 90 million songs in Apple Music catalogue.

Arriving later this year, the Apple Music Voice can play everything – individual songs, full albums, Apple playlists. The caveat is that it is voice controlled and the music would have to be played through a Siri-enabled device, such as AirPods, an iPhone or the HomePod Mini.

However, tracks already purchased through or stored on iTunes can still be played with the Apple Music app and controlled by voice as before. Paying for the new service only adds access to Apple’s streaming catalogue for a lower fee than Individual or Family plans.

| The top-of-the-line 2021 MacBook Pro will set you back by almost 6 lakhs in India

Apple has devised the Music Voice service for casual listeners who don’t want to spend long hours curating their favourite playlists but want to listen to music on the go. The service will also enable access to Apple Radio.

The pricing gap aside — one is available for Rs 49 and the other for Rs 99 per month — the only significant difference is the access to Apple’s Music app. The Voice plan doesn’t allow users to open Apple Music and search for artists or songs. Instead, Siri will play the song the listener wants.

| Everything you need to know about Apple’s 2021 MacBook Pro 14-, 16-inch ‘game-changing’ laptops

There are also suggestions based on the user’s preferences, including limited content playback through the app.

The cheaper plan also doesn’t enable personal playlists, manage playback queue, download songs, scrolling for lyrics on iPhone or iPad, or stream from third-party speakers. It will also not support some higher-quality audio formats, such as spatial and lossless audio.

Apple Play Voice will support Apple AirPlay.

| AirPods 3 launched with AirPods Pro-like features; HomePod Mini gets all-new colours

Quick recap: Apple has a total of three Apple Music subscription plans now — Apple Music Voice for Rs 49/month, Apple Music for individuals at Rs 99/month, and Apple Music Family for up to six accounts at Rs 149/month.

Originally appeared on: TheSpuzz