News for hackers. Stuff that matters.
Re:Apple Watch Series 5 by selectodude on Tuesday September 10, 2019 @02:09PM (#20931291)
You can stream Apple Music over WiFi/cellular without the phone. Not sure if that will include Spotify at some point but I do know the new watchOS has opened up a lot of those APIs.
Re:Apple Watch Series 5 by Nextgrid on Tuesday September 10, 2019 @02:26PM (#20931539)
Apple Music is a disaster when it comes to music discovery, and frankly their app is very much behind compared to Spotify. Even on iOS it feels like a web app, something I didn’t think I’d ever say about Apple’s own, built-in app.
Re:Apple Watch Series 5 by EugeneOZ on Tuesday September 10, 2019 @03:31PM (#20932529)
I feel strongly opposite - Spotify UI is a reason why I cancelled subscription. Queue management is just awful, other elements are much less intuitive than in Apple Music.
Re:Apple Watch Series 5 by homonculus1 on Wednesday September 11, 2019 @01:48PM (#20942800)
Even just navigating to an album or browsing songs saved on your device are awful. Everything I want to do in their app requires far too many clicks or endless scrolling through a list that's only sorted alphabetically, and the pages are stuffed with features that push their algorithmic promotions. You're not gonna have a good time unless you're the most mindless, passive consumer and you don't want to bother with managing your library or making any choices of your own.

Saving songs is spotty too, some of the "saved" songs on my phone don't actually have the data and won't play when I'm offline. I can't figure out how to force them to redownload short of maybe uninstalling the app, so sucks to be me I guess. Spotify's mobile app is so bad that I'm constantly reconsidering my subscription. I'd go so far as to say that being able to explore new artists and save their discography for later when I'm commuting is a meaningful improvement to my quality of life, but Spotify has managed to make the experience so shitty that I usually just turn on the radio instead.

Re:Apple Watch Series 5 by stronglikedan on Tuesday September 10, 2019 @03:58PM (#20932956)
Seems like you two use the apps in different ways. Spotify is acceptable for picking a couple songs and discovering similar music, but sucks at just queuing up the music you already know about. I prefer Pandora for discovery, but it sucks at connecting to external devices. Since device integration is my most important feature, I settle for Spotify's discovery.
Re:Apple Watch Series 5 by cltsang on Tuesday September 10, 2019 @11:21PM (#20936304)
It's the opposite for me. Spotify kept repeating a small collection of recommended songs to me, until I react to the song by stating whether I like or dislike the song. It takes active effort from me which is bothering. Apple Music's recommendations on the other hand updates every week. And the recommendations have been quite good.
Re:Apple Watch Series 5 by flurdy on Tuesday September 10, 2019 @04:16PM (#20933180)
Re:Apple Watch Series 5 by ashelmire on Tuesday September 10, 2019 @02:19PM (#20931417)
That's nice, but I already pay for spotify and use it on my non-Apple devices. Does Apple Music let me stream any song in their library?
Re:Apple Watch Series 5 by balboah on Tuesday September 10, 2019 @02:23PM (#20931492)
Don't fall for it. I tried switching for a trial period but Spotify owns iTunes in so many ways. Especially the discover weekly list
Re:Apple Watch Series 5 by threeseed on Tuesday September 10, 2019 @02:21PM (#20931436)
Yes. Apple Music is just like Spotify.
Re:Apple Watch Series 5 by ashelmire on Tuesday September 10, 2019 @02:23PM (#20931484)
Oh, huh. Thanks for the info, might open up the watch for me.
Re:Apple Watch Series 5 by frio on Tuesday September 10, 2019 @06:05PM (#20934335)
Yes, Apple Music is just Spotify by Apple -- but, if you're outside of the USA, you might find less obscure music available. Regional restrictions here in NZ are frustrating.
Re:Apple Watch Series 5 by Marsymars on Tuesday September 10, 2019 @07:27PM (#20934981)
Or certain integrations won't work outside of the USA. (e.g. Apple Music doesn't work with Alexa in Canada.)
Re:Apple Watch Series 5 by bognition on Tuesday September 10, 2019 @02:21PM (#20931446)
yes, think of it as a spotify clone by apple
Re:Apple Watch Series 5 by saagarjha on Tuesday September 10, 2019 @02:21PM (#20931441)
Yes.