Although iOS comes with a native Apple Music app, some third-party apps offer even better experiences for those who subscribe to Apple’s streaming service. If you’re an Apple Music subscriber and want to learn how to better enjoy your music library, check out some of the best iOS apps with Apple Music integration.
SongCapsule
Instead of functioning as an alternative player to Apple Music, SongCapsule (formerly known as Next DJ) brings features that will help you rediscover your current music library. The app uses algorithms to generate smart playlists and Magic DJs, which feature a mix of songs from your favorite artists and genres.
While it’s always a good thing to discover new songs, sometimes we have great songs in our library that end up being forgotten after a while. That’s why one of my favorite features of SongCapsule is the Forgotten Songs playlist, which does exactly what the name suggests. It brings together all your favorite songs from the past in one place.
You’ll also find other smart playlists with the most played songs from specific artists and genres, not to mention the playlist with songs you’ve added to your library but never listened to. Playlists are automatically generated based on your Apple Music data and updated every time you open the app.
SongCapsule is available on the App Store for $4.99 as a one-time purchase. The app offers versions for iPhone, iPad and Mac.
Quiz SongCapsule
Created by the same developers as SongCapsule, SongCapsule Quiz is a game inspired by the iPod’s Music Quiz, but now with a “fresh, modern approach” designed for the streaming era. As the name suggests, the player had to guess the name of the song being played.
Once you’re ready to play, simply tap Start Quiz and the game will start playing the songs. To make things more interesting, you can score up to 1,000 points per round. The faster you choose the right song, the more points you get. The game shows you all the songs you guessed correctly with their respective points, as well as the ones you got wrong.
You can share your score with your friends on social networks. But even more, the game integrates with Apple’s Game Center.
SongCapsule Quiz is available on the App Store. You can try it for free, although there is a Deluxe version available via subscription or lifetime purchase.
Marvis
Maybe you subscribe to Apple Music but don’t like the official Music app. The Marvis app is a great alternative to the official Apple Music app because it brings all the features you expect to let you explore your music library by albums, playlists, genres and more.
The app’s home screen can be customized with only the sections you need and how you want. For example, you can choose from recently played songs, most played songs, favorite songs, top charts, new releases, radio stations and much more to make your Home experience unique within the app.
Another nice feature of the Marvis app is a side menu accessible with gestures, which is ideal for when you need to use the phone with one hand. You’ll also find a great and intuitive interface that works in both portrait and landscape mode.
Marvis is available on the App Store for $9.99 as a one-time purchase – and it offers additional integration with Last.fm that can be unlocked with a $5.99 in-app purchase. The application works with iPhone and iPad.
SO
Just like Marvis, Soor is another alternative to the official Apple Music app for iOS – and it also brings some cool features for users who aren’t happy with the default iPhone Music app. Soor’s interface is highly customizable, with options to change home sections, set a light or dark theme, rearrange playlists, and more.
In addition to sections from your local music library like albums and playlists, you can also add For You, New Songs, Hot Tracks, and other sections directly from Apple Music. With a feature called Magic Mix, you can create Genius-like playlists with filters for artists, albums, genres, composer, play counts and more.
The app also comes with several widgets for the iOS home screen, which is great for personalizing your iPhone while making it easier to access your favorite songs. This includes the Now Playing, Magic Mix, and Music Collection widgets. It even has Cover Flow.
So it is available on the App Store for $6.99 as a one-time purchase. The application is compatible with iPhone and iPad. Don’t forget to read Soor’s full review here on 9to5Mac.
MusicPort
Apple Music doesn’t offer a way to follow your favorite artists to keep up with their most recent and upcoming albums and songs, but MusicHarbor does just that. Instead of offering suggestions or functioning as an alternative player to Apple Music, MusicHarbor is designed for users who know exactly who they want to follow.
Just open the app, search for artists and start following them – and MusicHarbor does the rest. The app features a list of all albums released by each artist and also displays any upcoming content, such as singles and music videos. You can also enable push notifications to be notified every time one of the artists you follow releases a new song.
Additionally, MusicHarbor has a button that redirects you to a web page with the latest artist news and a dedicated tab to view scheduled concerts. Widgets, iCloud data sync, and theme options are also available to users.
You can try MusicHarbor for free on the App Storebut some features require unlocking in-app purchases. You can use it on iPhone, iPad and Mac.
Long lasting
Longplay is also an interesting app that was introduced this year to allow users to rediscover their music library. Unlike every other app on this list, Longplay focuses on exploring entire albums and playlists you own, excluding those where you’ve only added some of its songs to the playlist. Apple Music library.
Once you open the app, it only displays artwork from your albums and playlists. You can rearrange the main app view by selecting only albums or playlists, or using one of the smart “Sort by” options. There are no additional options or anything to make you think about where to start. All you have to do is navigate to an album or playlist and start listening to it.
By long-pressing albums, Longplay offers options to play it in shuffle mode or to use AirPlay. It’s a fun app and Apple Music users should try it.
The long game is available on the App Store for $5.99 as a one-time purchase. The app offers versions for iPhone, iPad and even Apple Vision Pro.
Now playing
Now playing helps you discover the stories behind the songs and albums you listen to. You can see at a glance when the album was released, its chart ranking, and even how many versions of the album have been released. All in a super nice interface.
More recently, the developers launched a version of the NowPlaying app for Apple TV, which focuses exclusively on albums and encourages users to explore music as “complete works rather than isolated pieces.”
NowPlaying is also available for iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch and even Apple Vision Pro. You can try the app for freealthough there is a Gold version that can be unlocked through in-app purchases.
Conclude
With these apps, you can definitely have a whole new experience with Apple Music. You can replace the official Music app or rediscover songs you don’t even remember right now.
It’s worth mentioning that while these apps work best with an Apple Music subscription, they also work with songs purchased from the iTunes Store or synced from a computer with the Music app.
