Wow! So many misinformations on one, admittedly long, post. I won't bother to correct all of them but just this one for example:
Yes. There is. Click the More button and click the song name on the top. You'll be right there on the album page.
You were right about accessing the album, but that is a really poor design. When a somewhat tech savvy person can so easily overlook what should be a basic navigation feature, that's a fail in my book. I'm certainly not the only one who feels this way.
I eagerly await any corrections on the rest of my post.
For example, where can I browse all songs from an artist on a single page? The only option I can find is to search for the artist's name and then click on the "SONGS>" link without clicking through to the artist's page. However the resulting list is sorted alphabetically, with no option to, say, sort by release date or segment the list by album.
You were right about accessing the album, but that is a really poor design. When a somewhat tech savvy person can so easily overlook what should be a basic navigation feature, that's a fail in my book. I'm certainly not the only one who feels this way.
I eagerly await any corrections on the rest of my post.
But you don't said that. You said there is no way, which is wrong.
Really I won't bother. It seems your mind has already set. Beat 1 plays only top R&B and Rap? Really? I wonder where those 50s music I was hearing coming from?
Music doesn't use a tone of Data. One of the great things using T-Mobile, Music streaming from a list list of places doesn't count against your Data usage at all.
T-Mobile’s Unlimited Music Streaming Is the Worst for Net Neutrality
"Music freedom" looks like a benefit for subscribers, and that's the most dangerous part.
But you don't said that. You said there is no way, which is wrong.
I already admitted I overlooked that, but apparently you're just interested in rubbing in the one point I missed in my extensive critique of Apple Music's usability.
This is an interesting, thought provoking article. Pretty good analysis.
I find the comments kind of interesting. I simply don't use iTunes and music in the way that most people apparently do. I've purchased quite a bit of music, but I simply don't need access to it all the time, and I'm not the kind of person that goes on "discovery" trails. I'm thrilled the company is taking the business and technology seriously, and is evolving a great product. But...the streaming, personalized music streaming and curation just are uninteresting to me. The iTunes Match at $25/yr fits me perfectly.
I don't see any Fandroids using Apple music, but I'm sure there are a few Android users that will give it a try and even pay. I think it'll be a fraction of the users, but that could also lead to them jumping ship form Android to the iPhone later on. Getting on more platforms I think will be a good thing. Lots of Apple and Beats1 mentioned is free Advertising. Give Apple Music a chance and hear how much better it sounds and how better overall the service is to Google Music.
I think including Android was necessary from a PR perspective, since it was included with Beats. Also some families may have a mix of devices, so this would make sense there as well.
Having said that, the Android user base isn't exactly known for their propensity to pay for services and content, so I'm not expecting it to make a big contribution to Apple's bottom line.
Yep. It seems like engineers said Apple Music needs to have all these features and then the UI designers were forced to come up with something to house all these features. And instead of taking the time to rebuild iTunes from the ground up leadership just decided to bolt Apple Music on top of an already bloated and sometimes confusing app. I see a lot of people blaming the UI designers but really I think they were faced with a very difficult situation when being asked to incorporate so many different features into an app.
In my mind the ellipses in Apple Music are just like the hamburger menu buttons that Apple UX evangelists have argued against. Below are a couple snippets from a 2014 WWDC session with Apple UX evangelist Mike Stern where he argued against the use of the hamburger menu. Click the link to read the whole thing. Everything he said applies 100% to Apple Music. Especially the last sentence: Look, drawers of any kind have a nasty tendency to fill with junk.
I couldn't agree more. The majority of what Apple does is positive and a small minority negative. I run into bugs and complications too but not enough to warrant a post. Apple always fixes, improves or completely abandons whatever it does. Wish I could say the competition is as good at that as Apple.
Oh, Google is quite excellent at completely abandoning things — generally the things that they have working really well, and that people have come to depend upon.
Is that a surprise to you? A family plan is for parents and children too young to have their own credit card. They probably expect adult children to have flown the nest.
RichL, she NEEDS to find a flaw so she can bitch about it. She knows she is trying to cheat the system, so she tries to claim it is Apple's fault she cannot cheat the system. Now get this... If she could cheat the system, she would bitch about the flaw in Apple's system. Some people just need to complain about something. Shake her off!
Interesting article. But i have to say, even as an avid Apple fan, shareholder, and voracious user of my iPad mini for everything under the sun, you are being very unfair to Google Play Music. It's a great service, robust and easy to use, and the iOS app is awesomely good. Further, Uploading my entire iTunes library to the Google music locker puts my music on any web browser, and for free. I can listen with No iTunes software needed (not allowed on work computer), plus no wear and tear on my now-irreplaceable iPods. Eventually i subscribed to the paid service with on-demand service as well as Sonza playlists, and intend to keep it. My Mini is so indispensible in part because of how excellent many of the Google apps on it are: Maps, Music, Search, as well as the productivity apps. I want nothing to do with Android, but for Apple users Google should stop being the enemy on a knee-jerk basis. It makes Apple hardware more complete and more desirable.
Interesting article. But i have to say, even as an avid Apple fan, shareholder, and voracious user of my iPad mini for everything under the sun, you are being very unfair to Google Play Music. It's a great service, robust and easy to use, and the iOS app is awesomely good. Further, Uploading my entire iTunes library to the Google music locker puts my music on any web browser, and for free. I can listen with No iTunes software needed (not allowed on work computer), plus no wear and tear on my now-irreplaceable iPods. Eventually i subscribed to the paid service with on-demand service as well as Sonza playlists, and intend to keep it. My Mini is so indispensible in part because of how excellent many of the Google apps on it are: Maps, Music, Search, as well as the productivity apps. I want nothing to do with Android, but for Apple users Google should stop being the enemy on a knee-jerk basis. It makes Apple hardware more complete and more desirable.
Interesting article. But i have to say, even as an avid Apple fan, shareholder, and voracious user of my iPad mini for everything under the sun, you are being very unfair to Google Play Music. It's a great service, robust and easy to use, and the iOS app is awesomely good. Further, Uploading my entire iTunes library to the Google music locker puts my music on any web browser, and for free. I can listen with No iTunes software needed (not allowed on work computer), plus no wear and tear on my now-irreplaceable iPods. Eventually i subscribed to the paid service with on-demand service as well as Sonza playlists, and intend to keep it. My Mini is so indispensible in part because of how excellent many of the Google apps on it are: Maps, Music, Search, as well as the productivity apps. I want nothing to do with Android, but for Apple users Google should stop being the enemy on a knee-jerk basis. It makes Apple hardware more complete and more desirable.
You are looking at Google from a very narrow and shortsighted perspective. Their business model is in direct competition with Apple's. Their aim is to commoditize hardware while making online services essential - and paid for with their users' personal data. This comes at the cost of quality, security, privacy, and user experience. The last time a consumer-hostile company was allowed to gain wide popularity, we ended up with the Windows monopoly.
Vastly overblown and simplistic. google and Apple have as many or more synergies as Apple does with arch-rival Samsung, which produces key components for Apple. Google produces software that provides advertising platforms, targeted advertising, yes. Apple is a hardware company that exercises integration merely as a means of selling high margin hardware. The consumer benefits from the competition that exists between them as well while each courts consumers with their ecosystem. Apple hardware is definitly better as a result of competition. It is oremium hardware but it also does play catchup on functionality and ultimately brings a superior experience to their users as a result.
I rarely agree with you on anything, as you generally bash Apple at every opportunity. But this particular post is spot on.
Honestly the only things I "bash" Apple on are being stingy with RAM and storage. So I take issue with your assertion that I bash Apple every chance I get.
You are looking at Google from a very narrow and shortsighted perspective. Their business model is in direct competition with Apple's. Their aim is to commoditize hardware while making online services essential - and paid for with their users' personal data. This comes at the cost of quality, security, privacy, and user experience. The last time a consumer-hostile company was allowed to gain wide popularity, we ended up with the Windows monopoly.
So why doesn't Apple reject Google apps from the AppStore since Apple is all about privacy and Google apparently just wants to sell anything and everything about you to the highest bidder? Perhaps if Apple developed a web version of Apple Music people wouldn't even think about using Google Play Music.
So if I want to split the service with my parents and siblings that's not considered family? We would totally do it but I'm not paying for my siblings or parents AppStore and iBooks purchases. I guess when they call it the family plan they really mean the parents with young children plan.
Yep. It seems like engineers said Apple Music needs to have all these features and then the UI designers were forced to come up with something to house all these features. And instead of taking the time to rebuild iTunes from the ground up leadership just decided to bolt Apple Music on top of an already bloated and sometimes confusing app. I see a lot of people blaming the UI designers but really I think they were faced with a very difficult situation when being asked to incorporate so many different features into an app.
In my mind the ellipses in Apple Music are just like the hamburger menu buttons that Apple UX evangelists have argued against. Below are a couple snippets from a 2014 WWDC session with Apple UX evangelist Mike Stern where he argued against the use of the hamburger menu. Click the link to read the whole thing. Everything he said applies 100% to Apple Music. Especially the last sentence: Look, drawers of any kind have a nasty tendency to fill with junk.
Below is an example of what you get when you tap on the ellipse next to a song in a playlist:
How could any Apple UX evangelist defend this?
Sometimes you have to see all the options so people won't get confused if some of these options are missing. It looks ugly but it's not going to be static forever.
I personally have found the UI to be very good for my needs. There is a bit of a learning curve to find where things are but its all there. Any way you wish to listen to music is all within a few taps. I can understand the frustration with moving to a different UI but how can one ever make a switch into a different paradigm and not experience a little growing pangs? I personally am finding it difficult to think of another way to display nearly all the worlds music into an app that makes it easy to get to a particular artist, album, or song (search), music for your taste, new and playlists, radio, or personal music collections. The app focuses on providing you with the initial selection of how you want to listen to music and then you dig down deeper. What are the other solutions that would do this job better while avoiding any limitations or learning curves?
Comments
Wow! So many misinformations on one, admittedly long, post. I won't bother to correct all of them but just this one for example:
Yes. There is. Click the More button and click the song name on the top. You'll be right there on the album page.
You were right about accessing the album, but that is a really poor design. When a somewhat tech savvy person can so easily overlook what should be a basic navigation feature, that's a fail in my book. I'm certainly not the only one who feels this way.
I eagerly await any corrections on the rest of my post.
For example, where can I browse all songs from an artist on a single page? The only option I can find is to search for the artist's name and then click on the "SONGS>" link without clicking through to the artist's page. However the resulting list is sorted alphabetically, with no option to, say, sort by release date or segment the list by album.
You were right about accessing the album, but that is a really poor design. When a somewhat tech savvy person can so easily overlook what should be a basic navigation feature, that's a fail in my book. I'm certainly not the only one who feels this way.
I eagerly await any corrections on the rest of my post.
But you don't said that. You said there is no way, which is wrong.
Really I won't bother. It seems your mind has already set. Beat 1 plays only top R&B and Rap? Really? I wonder where those 50s music I was hearing coming from?
Music doesn't use a tone of Data. One of the great things using T-Mobile, Music streaming from a list list of places doesn't count against your Data usage at all.
T-Mobile’s Unlimited Music Streaming Is the Worst for Net Neutrality
"Music freedom" looks like a benefit for subscribers, and that's the most dangerous part.
http://time.com/2901142/t-mobile-unlimited-music-net-neutrality/
But you don't said that. You said there is no way, which is wrong.
I already admitted I overlooked that, but apparently you're just interested in rubbing in the one point I missed in my extensive critique of Apple Music's usability.
This is an interesting, thought provoking article. Pretty good analysis.
I find the comments kind of interesting. I simply don't use iTunes and music in the way that most people apparently do. I've purchased quite a bit of music, but I simply don't need access to it all the time, and I'm not the kind of person that goes on "discovery" trails. I'm thrilled the company is taking the business and technology seriously, and is evolving a great product. But...the streaming, personalized music streaming and curation just are uninteresting to me. The iTunes Match at $25/yr fits me perfectly.
I don't see any Fandroids using Apple music, but I'm sure there are a few Android users that will give it a try and even pay. I think it'll be a fraction of the users, but that could also lead to them jumping ship form Android to the iPhone later on. Getting on more platforms I think will be a good thing. Lots of Apple and Beats1 mentioned is free Advertising. Give Apple Music a chance and hear how much better it sounds and how better overall the service is to Google Music.
I think including Android was necessary from a PR perspective, since it was included with Beats. Also some families may have a mix of devices, so this would make sense there as well.
Having said that, the Android user base isn't exactly known for their propensity to pay for services and content, so I'm not expecting it to make a big contribution to Apple's bottom line.
Yep. It seems like engineers said Apple Music needs to have all these features and then the UI designers were forced to come up with something to house all these features. And instead of taking the time to rebuild iTunes from the ground up leadership just decided to bolt Apple Music on top of an already bloated and sometimes confusing app. I see a lot of people blaming the UI designers but really I think they were faced with a very difficult situation when being asked to incorporate so many different features into an app.
In my mind the ellipses in Apple Music are just like the hamburger menu buttons that Apple UX evangelists have argued against. Below are a couple snippets from a 2014 WWDC session with Apple UX evangelist Mike Stern where he argued against the use of the hamburger menu. Click the link to read the whole thing. Everything he said applies 100% to Apple Music. Especially the last sentence: Look, drawers of any kind have a nasty tendency to fill with junk.
https://medium.com/design-philosophies/apple-and-hamburgers-a17e4099fada
I rarely agree with you on anything, as you generally bash Apple at every opportunity. But this particular post is spot on.
Oh, Google is quite excellent at completely abandoning things — generally the things that they have working really well, and that people have come to depend upon.
Is that a surprise to you? A family plan is for parents and children too young to have their own credit card. They probably expect adult children to have flown the nest.
RichL, she NEEDS to find a flaw so she can bitch about it. She knows she is trying to cheat the system, so she tries to claim it is Apple's fault she cannot cheat the system. Now get this... If she could cheat the system, she would bitch about the flaw in Apple's system. Some people just need to complain about something. Shake her off!
I'm still waiting to hear Beats 1. When I try to play it, I get:
Unable to play “Beats 1”
This station requires OS X 10.9.3 or later.
Huh? What's so special about Beats 1 that it alone out of all the world's stations requires a certain level of the operating system?
Dan's articles are not perfect, but they are the best in-depth articles related to Apple and its role in the tech world.
Interesting article. But i have to say, even as an avid Apple fan, shareholder, and voracious user of my iPad mini for everything under the sun, you are being very unfair to Google Play Music. It's a great service, robust and easy to use, and the iOS app is awesomely good. Further, Uploading my entire iTunes library to the Google music locker puts my music on any web browser, and for free. I can listen with No iTunes software needed (not allowed on work computer), plus no wear and tear on my now-irreplaceable iPods. Eventually i subscribed to the paid service with on-demand service as well as Sonza playlists, and intend to keep it. My Mini is so indispensible in part because of how excellent many of the Google apps on it are: Maps, Music, Search, as well as the productivity apps. I want nothing to do with Android, but for Apple users Google should stop being the enemy on a knee-jerk basis. It makes Apple hardware more complete and more desirable.
You are looking at Google from a very narrow and shortsighted perspective. Their business model is in direct competition with Apple's. Their aim is to commoditize hardware while making online services essential - and paid for with their users' personal data. This comes at the cost of quality, security, privacy, and user experience. The last time a consumer-hostile company was allowed to gain wide popularity, we ended up with the Windows monopoly.
Honestly the only things I "bash" Apple on are being stingy with RAM and storage. So I take issue with your assertion that I bash Apple every chance I get.
So why doesn't Apple reject Google apps from the AppStore since Apple is all about privacy and Google apparently just wants to sell anything and everything about you to the highest bidder? Perhaps if Apple developed a web version of Apple Music people wouldn't even think about using Google Play Music.
Or for people who live under one roof plan.
Sometimes you have to see all the options so people won't get confused if some of these options are missing. It looks ugly but it's not going to be static forever.