On Monday, February 25, an observant Google Home userspotted an Apple Music optionin the app’s music services section, and we can definitely confirm, it’s there. Frustratingly, however, you can tap on that item all day long and nothing will happen. So clearlyApple Musicis indeed making its way to Google’s smart speaker and the rest of theGoogle Homeecosystem, but when it will actually work remains a mystery.
When it does finally work, Apple Music will join the ranks of a select set of music services that work on all of the major smart speaker platforms. Apple Music wasrecently added to Amazon Alexa devices. It has always been the exclusive music service on Apple’s HomePod, and Sonos speakers have supported Apple Music for years.
It’s hard not to speculate that there must be a second act to this wide rollout of support for Apple’s streaming subscription service. Given that Apple likes to keep the spotlight on its own product announcements, rather than share the attention, it’s possible that once the dust has settled, Apple will provide us with the logical follow-up — that itsHomePodwill be adding support for both Google Play Music and Amazon Music. If this were to happen, the logical timing would be on March 25. That’s the hotly rumored date that the company will supposedly take the wraps off its new services platforms: Apple News, and Apple TV.
We think it’s inevitable. HomePod sales, while not dismal, arefar behind the competition. That’s partly because of the device’s high price tag when compared to other smart speakers, but we think the lack of music service choice has also hurt it. If arecent patentis any indication, Apple’s future HomePod plans are aggressive, to say the least. To succeed, Apple will need to fill that device with as much content as possible.
