In early February there were reports of Apple finally allowing users to change their default music app on iPhone. Sadly it isn’t actually true.
iPhone users have complained for years about Apple Music being the default music player on the device. And don’t even get me started on that time U2’s Songs of Innocence suddenly appeared in everyone’s libraries.
But last month it seemed like there would be a reprieve. Some users began to notice that the iOS 14.5 beta brought some music-related changes.
It seemed like you were able to change the default music app on your device through Siri. All you had to do was ask Siri to play a song of your choice and she would ask which app you wanted to use via a handy menu.
The device would then continue to use that app next time you asked for a song.
But as it turns out, this wasn’t actually the same thing as changing the default. At least according to Apple.
TechCrunch reports that Apple doesn’t consider this to be selecting a new default music app. In fact, the company says that there is no setting in iOS to select a default.
If you think that Siri asking you for your preferred app and then using it sure sounds like a default, you’re probably not the only one.
But according to Apple, what’s happening here is a feature that is based on Siri Intelligence which clocks your listening habits and delivers based on them.
Interestingly, this is all coming out after the aforementioned menu disappeared in the second version of the beta.
If this still seems like weird semantics, TechCrunch makes a good point as to why this might be happening.
Apple is involved in several antitrust cases at the moment over the App Store and the general Apple Ecosystem. Spotify is one of the companies that has raised significant complaints against Apple.
Spotify claims that Apple has created an anti-competitive ecosystem that favours its own products, but then also takes 30 per cent commission of all in-app purchases.
This is a similar complaint to what Epic Games, the creators of Fortnite, have levelled against the company in lawsuits across multiple countries.
So throwing an app-shaped bone to users could be an easy way for Apple to make like its playing ball. But that’s just a theory.
Still, while there is apparently no default to change here, it’s at least useful to know that iPhones are more likely to use your listening app of choice in the future.
Disclosure: the author owns shares in Apple.