When Apple Music was launched, it was meant to aggressively take on competitors like Spotify and Pandora. Fast forward almost one year and the company is no closer to realising that dream!
Known for their simplistic and intuitive design style, Apple has really messed up the UI and navigation of Apple Music. “Nightmarish” is the word that comes to our mind (and we’re being polite here!). It’s hardly any wonder that this service received so many negative reviews right from the moment it was launch in June last year.
Life Hacker called it “a confusing mess of new options and weirdness”. The Wall Street Journal, however, was more specific, saying the app “is so crammed with items, lists and menus that it’s hard to find things initially, harder still to remember where they are later”.
Apple, however, is looking to put all such bad reviews to rest once and for all. They are planning to launch a completely redesigned version of Apple Music at the WWDC next month.
The key features we can look forward to will be:
- A supposedly “clean and more intuitive to use” user interface
- Better integration of streaming and download processes
- Expansion of the online radio services
Better design and more functionality are by themselves desirable features, no doubt. However, this time, it’s more than just a UI upgrade.
Apple is already a latecomer to the streaming game. The delay was complicated by a series of issues, including, but not limited to:
- Failing to effectively incorporate Beats into its overall scheme of things
- Top artists (like Adele) refusing to participate
- Chartbusters ( Kanye’s “Life of Pablo”) weren’t available at the time of release
Keeping in view Apple’s recent problem with iPhone sales, it’s become imperative for secondary services like Apple Music to do well. The iPhone has been Apple’s cash cow for the longest time, but they cannot ignore other services that could potentially bring in more money. It’s high time Apple Music got its due credit.
For us, it’s all good news. We would definitely love to see Apple services getting revamped. The industry leaders in music streaming are miles ahead and Apple has a lot of catching up to do, if it hopes to make a dent in the industry. Streamlining the product interface is a good start. At least that way, we get a half decent service that doesn’t give you a brain aneurysm every time you want to search for some music.
Whether or not this gambit will work is nearly impossible to tell. The market behaves in mysterious ways and only the arrogant (or the delusional) assume they can predict the future with certainty.
All that we’re certain about for now is our excitement to see the new design. It’s going to be public later this summer, and we just can’t wait for it to be unveiled!!
