What Makes Apple Music’s Web Player Different and When Should You Use It?

Some time ago, Apple released the MusicKit application programming interface, which helps third-party enthusiasts create their own Apple Music web player. I’ve come across absolute gems like Musish, ThinMusic, and FeverTunes that make great use of the API. And after a long beta phase, Apple has released its own web player.

You can now use the Apple Music web player accessible via music.apple.com to stream music comfortably from any device. But does it do anything different from the native Music app on iPhone and Mac or iTunes on PC? And when should you use it? Let’s find the answers to these questions below.

What Makes Apple Music Web Player Different?

When you launch the Apple Music web player, you can immediately start playing 30-second previews of over 60 million songs. If you already have an Apple Music subscription, you can listen to full-length songs and albums by signing in with your Apple ID.

When you sign in to the web player, you get access to all your songs, albums and playlists that you’ve added or created using the Music app, iTunes, or the Apple Music app on iPhone, Mac, PC. or Android.

If you access the Apple Music web player from a desktop, it should be strikingly similar to the Music app on the Mac and, to a slightly lesser degree, iTunes on the PC. On the left side of the screen are the For You, Browse, and Radio tabs, as well as a familiar sidebar of your library and playlists.

The web player lets you manage your library by adding or deleting albums and tracks, although it lacks the ability to create playlists. You can also like or dislike songs, which helps you adjust the Apple Music recommendations algorithm to your taste.

The playback controls look the same as in the Music app and iTunes, where you can shuffle and repeat songs, skip forward or backward between tracks, adjust the volume, and more. However, you cannot convert the UI into a mini player. The web player also does not support live lyrics, which is an insult.

In mobile browsers, the Apple Music web player lets you access your library and playlists via a hamburger menu instead of the tabbed navigation controls in the Music and Apple Music apps on iPhone and Android. However, as with real mobile apps, playback controls appear at the bottom of the screen.

The mobile version of the web player also suffers from the same limitations as the desktop version; you cannot create playlists or view live lyrics. And it goes without saying; You cannot download tracks in both desktop and mobile versions.

What about sound quality? I’m not the biggest audiophile out there, but the tracks I play through the Apple Music web player sound a little lower. By default, the native Music app and iTunes play songs at 256 kbps; therefore, it is possible that the web player will stream them at 128 kbps or less.

Maybe it’s because Apple wants songs to load faster in the web player. But still, the option to manually change the audio quality on faster connections would be better. Third-party Apple Music players like FeverTunes allow you to stream at 256 kbps.

When Should You Use Apple Music Web Player?

To Apple’s credit, the Apple Music web player works fine. But since it’s a web app, it weighs more than native Music apps on iPhone and Mac. However, it works almost on par with iTunes on Windows. I’ve also found it works better than the clunky Apple Music app on Android.

The biggest advantage of using the web player is the freedom to listen to music on any device that supports the Internet browser. This means you can also use it on devices you don’t have; simply log in to the web browser, start streaming, and log out when you’re done. It’s also a great way to stream music on platforms that don’t support a native Apple Music app (like Linux).

However, it is difficult to recommend Apple Music web player or even iTunes on Windows over native Music apps. It can’t create playlists, has no live lyrics support, and the streaming-only feature makes it impractical to use it on the go over cellular data. And to make things worse, tracks also sound lower without the option to adjust the audio quality.

If you don’t have serious issues playing your music with platform-specific Apple Music apps, or just want to stream it quickly on someone else’s device, I see no reason to use the web player. If you want a better experience playing tracks from the browser, try third-party Apple Music players like Musish and ThinMusic. Compared to Apple’s web player, they are much better at what they do.

Next: Was your Apple Music subscription sufficient? Click on the next link to learn how to cancel on any platform.