Apple Music Classical 4+

I like this app because it very nicely filters out everything that isn’t classical and gives off a lot of info on who composed it, who is conducting, and who is playing what. I like having this data so I can find music that sounds similar and have a preference. One small thing I know most people will have an issue barely staring to use this app is that there isn’t a way to shuffle. It takes kind of a learning curve since it works a little different than the Apple Music app.

One thing I wish it did have was for me to have a separate library on the classical music app. I understand you can make a playlist and only play music you want to hear, but it would be kind of annoying to have to manually add a song you like that isn’t classical or an instrumental to one playlist and then other music to another. Since there are two apps (the classical music app being just a big filter for the music), then I think it would be better to have two separate libraries.
A library that saves the music I save from the classical music app, and another library from the regular music app. I’m not saying to completely separate them, but it would be nice to have an option to choose to separate them. I like having to play my all music in the car on shuffle without my music haven’t to be interrupted my instrumentals.

It takes a while to understand how to drill down to specific recordings in search. For instance, after searching for a composer and tapping on the link to show all albums, there’s another search bar that isn’t revealed until you happen to drag down. Searching for “box sets” is difficult. Try searching for the Deutsche Grammophon set of all Chopin’s works. Until I put in the exact title of the set, “Chopin Complete Edition,” I was not able to find it by a combination of search and browse. IDAGIO remains true north for pinpoint extensive search capability. I had hoped Apple would incorporate Primephonic’s Maestro feature, where some recordings have pop-up notes throughout the recording that give interesting musical and historical tidbits about the work or specific passages within it. There is “Track by Track,” new to Apple, where an artist talks about each track of a release, but it’s not the same. You’d have to have seen Maestro in Primephonic to know how cool it is. Settings for the app are almost non-existent. Am I to assume the regular Apple Music app settings affect the Classical app too? How do I turn off spatial audio? How do I set to stream at hi-res over wifi but lower res over cellular? But yes, overall the app is a step in the right direction and search is improved over regular Apple Music. I hope it is only a first step and that there will continue to be improvements and new features.

The Apple Music Classical app is really beautiful. I would say that it’s really well organized with great artwork, images, UI. However, the lack of a “Shuffle” option in playlists is a baffling. I totally understand not allowing shuffle when listening to organized concertos and symphonies, as each movement is intentionally composed to transition to the next one. However, seldom has such intentional flow, and at that such intricate transitions. Some of the playlist on Apple Music Classical are the same playlist that existed on the standard Apple Music app, which allowed for shuffling. I listen to playlists to be exposed to variety of similar or related pieces. Sometimes I might not make it all the way through, or I might really enjoy the theme of a playlist. In that case I’d continue to return to that playlist, but when I do, I don’t want to hear the same first five songs over and over. And when I go to the Apple Music Classical FAQ, it just says that Shuffle is not available, without giving any reason. With the exception of a lack of a shuffle option, I think the app is really great. The library system is a bit confusing, but I think you can get used to it pretty quickly. The layout is smart, the artwork is evocative, and the library is plentiful.