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Apple Music Classical App Complaints & User Negative Comments 2024
Apple Music Classical app received 102 complaints, negative comments and reviews by users. Have you ever had a bad experience using Apple Music Classical? Can you share your negative thoughts about apple music classical?
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Apple Music Classical for Negative User Reviews
✓ No iPad app and I can’t listen offlineAfter all this time and Primephonic is replaced by this!?.Version: 1.0.1
✓ Good app, minor issuesI really like the app so far. It’s much better navigating classical music in this way than on the other app. After using the app for a few days I noticed some things: 1. UI. AirPods/Headphones icon does not appear on the AirPlay icon like it would on Apple Music. This makes it harder to tell if you’re connected to headphones, or if the music will play full blast through the speaker. 2. Lack of support. It’s surprising from Apple considering their tight knit ecosystem that only the iPhone is supported. I’m sure there are plans to make iPad, Mac, CarPlay, Watch, and HomePod compatible, but it honestly should have been from launch. This isn’t a soft launch, and from the amount of ads I’ve seen I’m guessing it’s not in beta either. Support should have been taken care of from the get go and since it’s not, the whole thing feels kind of rushed. Overall, it’s good. Minor things that always get fixed and will get fixed for sure in the near future. Thanks for reading!.Version: 1.0.1
✓ Lots of potentialNever been compelled to write an app review but this is so far off the mark despite my initial enthusiasm (because a classical music app is so badly needed). What’s the point of extensive metadata if we can’t use it!? (1) I want to be able to shuffle across works (vs tracks). This seems obvious. Or search results (eg, all Bernstein conducted symphonies…) (2) I want to be able to shuffle across subgenre or even subgenre and further category/instrument (search tags -> play results??). Eg, baroque violin concerto or romantic minor symphony (3) where is all the music I’ve already saved? Only in album view?! Why not in the other sort categories? (4) recently played/added would be nice (5) works should save where you left off. I often listen to entire operas and want to return to the same spot later, even if I interrupt myself with another piece, which is often since one can’t just listen to opera all the time. (6) what does star mean? Am I saving it? Downloading it (evidently not, since I couldn’t use the app on the subway)? (7) downloading Only being detailed (I’m sorry for any inadvertent snark) because I care deeply about this team getting it right. I’m sure they have lots of competing priorities and feedback, but hopefully this is useful and resonates with what they’re hearing or experiencing themselves..Version: 1.0.1
✓ Glitchy!So I searched my work, amazing, but when you click on a movement it doesn’t do anything. You have to click it like 3 times to actually work! Now go back to the music app and type the same park it plays instantly. Come on Apple it can’t be hard to sort it out! Other than that works fine and is a great app to see individual works. Not sure how different languages work? Like my favourite work is the Rite of Spring, but it’s also know as Le scare printemps and la sagra della primavera. That’s just 3 languages. I see another reviewer saying you can’t download in this app but you can in music app 🤷♂️ a little update?.Version: 1.0.1
✓ A disappointing start given the waitHaving waited a long time for the fruits of the Primephonic takeover nearly two years ago, it’s disappointing that when it finally arrives Apple Classical only comes in an iPhone version, doesn’t give access to booklets (at least I couldn’t easily find them), and doesn’t allow downloads for offline listening. It’s a pity that the lovely canvas of the iPad screen is totally wasted. Tempted to look elsewhere… UPDATE: I did and found Presto Music, and I have to say that’s how it should be done. It’s like owning the CD. You can see who the performers are and their roles in operas. Easy to download the liner notes too. With Apple’s resources, they surely could have matched Presto’s offering..Version: 1.0.1
✓ Great for browsing - lots of playback issues thoughGreat app built for browsing classical pieces, how they fit together and are compiled & performed. Many issues with the app regarding playback though. Playback stopping and starting or skipping to the next track midway through another, the now playing track either being wrong or showing the incorrect playback time (or not being able to navigate through a track) as well as the app crashing altogether..Version: 1.1.1
✓ Very basic!Over ten years and my music library has 30,000+ tracks categorised by composer. I’ve got hundreds of playlists, all hierarchically organised into folders and playlists. And I’ve got my own naming standards for presenting composer information so that I can find anything easily and logically. Let’s just say Apple Music Classical has a long way to go..Version: 1.0.1
✓ No IPad supportI am looking forward to this..Version: 1.0.1
✓ Doesn’t integrate existing libraryI have a large collection of classical music in my library - both sourced from Apple Music and CD rips/downloads etc uploaded over iCloud Music Library - but none of this appears in the ‘library’ section in this app. Otherwise, seems like a good improvement. Love the ability to see full track titles, artist details and better demarcation of works etc., would just love to use this with my existing music!! Once again this app, like Apple Music and most streaming platforms, is heavily biased towards ‘discovery’ and constantly finding new music with no interest in rediscovery and innovative ways to explore your existing collection.Version: 1.0.1
✓ Great idea, bad executionI love the concept of this app. However, the music doesn’t load more than half the time. I have access to some music but I can’t listen to so many of the pieces that are supposed to be available. I don’t understand why it doesn’t work. And it’s not my internet connection, I’ve tried on multiple wifis.Version: 1.0.2
✓ A good start but….It’s great that Apple are now taking classical music seriously and the initial curation looks good but (& its a big but…) there is still an audible “blip” between tracks/ movements that are meant to segue into each other. It really wrecks the experience of a large number of works when this happens and should be fixable - some other specialist classical apps manage this. But again, well done Apple for doing this and bringing classical/ orchestral music to the fore.Version: 1.0.1
✓ PointlessI have some classical music downloaded to my phone from my own CD collection, but can’t find a way of listening to it with the classical app so it is pretty pointless. The regular music app works just as well if not better..Version: 1.1.1
✓ Good but could be betterWas very excited when Apple released this app, but would prefer if i could stack albums to play like in the music app. I’d also love if you could elect if it linked to the music app, I’d prefer they didn’t do would be good if you could adjust a setting..Version: 1.0.1
✓ Buggy AppThe app is very slow and constantly crashes..Version: 1.3
✓ It’s a good start, but…After using it for about two weeks, I can say that Apple Music Classical is absolutely essential for perusing classical music on a streaming platform. No other mainstream music streaming service does it this well. That being said, the app still feels empty. A few features that I would consider essential to any app like this are missing: no macOS support, no ability to directly download music from within the app (you have to add it to your library then switch back to regular Apple Music to download), no CarPlay support, and no real-time lyrics for operas. That last one is a particular pain point for me— the fact that I always need to have a separate app open to follow the lyrics (and lyrical translations) is really annoying, and I feel it should be baked in to Apple Music Classical. I really hope that these features will be added in the near future. But until then, my review will top out at 3 stars..Version: 1.0.1
✓ What a disappointmentIt’s nice Apple is trying to address the classical music audience, but it’s discouraging to see what an amateurish job they’ve made of it. Among other annoyances, the app doesn’t list recording dates. It only shows release dates, so a 1955 performance on a cd released in 2017 is regarded as a 2017 work. In keeping with this, the app lists “recent albums” which seems not exactly the right term when you’re searching for something by Bach or Handel. Then there is the app’s reluctance to add new cds. (I keep trying to add Carlos Kleiber’s classic album of Beethoven’s fifth and seven symphonies, but the app crashes when I hit the add button.) I could go on but my overwhelming impression is that this is a clunky, glitch-prone app designed by someone who knows nothing about classical music..Version: 1.1
✓ No offline mode?!I really don’t get it: it’s the same Apple Music library, the two apps are obviously connected, but for some reason Classical cannot play files downloaded in the Music app..Version: 1.0.2
✓ Great polished classical music app but no opt iPad yet.This is great classical music app. I love it so much from the Day 1. However, no iPad optimised app yet… it shows iPhone app size, no multi-task screen. I certainly know apple will release new version with iPad full support. Apple Music app for iPad is still works perfectly to listen the same tracks..Version: 1.0.1
✓ Better beats than Apple Music for ClassicalWill provide a more considered review in a few months. What I’ve listen to already has me scrolling to obtain a better sound system. Although I visually better app for the iPad would be brilliant future feature..Version: 1.0.1
✓ Not inclusive of all the classical genres.Lack some of the most loved features in Apple Music aside, barely any selection from the Indian classical genre. Not worthy of installing this app on any of my devices until the selection gets more inclusive..Version: 1.0.2
✓ Very deceivingNot comparable to PrimePhonic, that was unfortunately purchased by Apple and from which, it was supposed to derive. Much less info on composers, albums, contributors. Harder to browse and discover interesting music..Version: 1.1
✓ DisappointingOverall, this has proven to be a disappointing release of a much-anticipated app. Amongst many disappointments, I at least expected it to automatically transfer my vast library of Apple Music files over that matched the *Classical* criteria, let alone simultaneously releasing an app for iPad. How could Apple get this so awkwardly wrong?.Version: 1.0.1
✓ Useful, but give us better sound quality, pleaseGetting there….Version: 1.0.1
✓ ConfusedI love the idea of a dedicated classical music app. But why is the library all messed up with the Apple Music library? They should be separate. If I have two apps I obviously don’t want to scroll through all my classical music when I want to listen to pop music. Also I want to see more biographical stuff and contextual write ups about individual pieces of music, it could be a really great resource but it’s very patchy..Version: 1.3
✓ Buggy and frustrating to useTracks don’t play when I tap them. Come on..Version: 1.0.2
✓ Quite IntruguingGood in concept, except, there are some concerns, in an ever expanding online social aspect: 1) the lack of forum, post, or chat capability, and 2) not having some linkage to places such as The Met or other venues to provide updates of Classical Concerts that will be soon / in the coming months. I gauge Classical Music (really extends to all forms) as something social going, in the end. Separating into this set and “stand alone” app could in fact become a trend, with more offshoots (yes, this is more than theory, given automatons) of separate *geared mainly for such music lovers / concert goers* apps will develop. Congrats for creating such an app, even though is preliminary. Classical Music can really only really be enjoyed, continued, and have dialogue when having that in person concert going occurring, and then, since the original Dot Com times with MySpace and Facebook did happen and so on, the sense of online community for electronic communication bridging. And while I am doing what best possible to avoid some dubious concerns on why and how this app came to be, I think that this being offered does allow for some enhancements in the long run for ALL that are musically talented, hope for their sounds &or voices to be heard, whether all together and varied &Or each on their own, and on, and on, and on..Version: 1.0.1
✓ No idea why there are so many positive reviewsMost specific compositions are mislabeled. Terrible filter options in the music library. No shuffle play on tracks in your library. Glitchy to the point where it will play the wrong track when you click on it. Use over time causes your music to be unplayable until you restart the app. Can’t choose specific songs to download. The search is not super user-friendly as it is hard to find certain compositions by certain composers with certain performers. All in all, the app is in its newest state and I’m sure many of these issues will be fixed soon. One positive, however, is the pure amount of music that is offered. I have yet to try any curated playlists or use any of the advanced features but the app looks beautiful and seems high quality. That being said, I give it two stars cause I know it could be and will be better in the future. Update: it’s been a while since this app was made and it’s an absolute joke. There’s more classical albums on “Apple Music” than in this app and EVERYTHING is mislabeled it’s insane. Please don’t waste your time and just use Apple Music instead to generate your classical music catalog.Version: 1.2.1
✓ Misleading dates are infuriatingThere is a very cynical practice of labelling very old recordings as having being ‘released’ in the last few years. It’s incredibly annoying going through endless albums that say ‘2015’ or something only to find out they’ve been ‘remastered’ from a 1952 recording. Massive waste of time. I would be rating this far higher if they cracked down on this practice as otherwise it’s quite good. The selection of music is fine, once you can find the more recent stuff, although the library seems to be consistently missing some of the more cutting edge recordings. Please just label things honestly and this app would be fine..Version: 1.3
✓ Needs lots of work. Come on, Apple.I am reviewing the app itself, not the extensive collection of music. First, the app is iPhone-only. Seriously, they did not have the people-power to design it work as an iPad app? Are we in 2010? Second, the app quit working and would not play music. I quit it many times and restarted it, but I resorted to playing music from the Music app. At some point during the night it decided to work again. Third, if you are playing a playlist and exit the song view, you’ll see a list of songs and somewhere there is your song, with controls at the bottom. It is not obvious which piece you are playing. Finally, it seems like the Music app is just better all around. Maybe Apple decided they needed to design a new app from scratch rather than porting the Music app. I like having all the music in one spot, but the app should have been a better product. Please improve it and get an iPad version..Version: 1.0.1
✓ Defective, immature, wrong, incompletePoorly designed, confusing and slow to use. Big disappointment. I still usually revert to the Music app instead of Classical. Navigating Classical is not intuitive. Sometimes it plays the wrong tracks when tapped. Many classical tracks show the wrong information. Missing features like Love and Rating. Lacks integration with Music app during playback..Version: 1.2.1
✓ A sad effortThe 1.2 update FINALLY added CarPlay support except it didn’t work and got pulled the next day. Fix it!.Version: 1.2.1
✓ Does not work offline.The app doesn’t work offline, even though music is downloaded on your phone. When you add an album to your library, the same album shows up on your Apple Music library. So even when the music is downloaded, you still can’t use the app to browse music downloaded locally on your phone which is silly. I’d still have to navigate to my Apple Music app to listen to downloaded music. I can’t also download music via wifi through the app so that I can listen on the road without needing to use my limited mobile data. I have to do that through Apple Music app. Bit pointless really - it’s just a UI/ catalogue at this point, don’t really understand the point of this app. Hopefully there’ll be offline support in the future and I can keep my classical and non classics libraries separated, instead of still needing to use my Apple Music app to browse locally downloaded songs..Version: 1.0.1
✓ Close but no cigar!This is an apple piece of software made to just work on Apple devices. As much as I love Apple, I think this is a fail. Was so looking forward to this but there are a few key features that are missing and I feel it was rushed out the door given these are key components of todays Apple echosystem. There appears to be no native iPad app… looks terrible on an iPad. Also there is no CarPlay feature, which is disappointing. Whilst I love the enhanced search facility tailored for classical, I would have preferred this to have been integrated into a classical tab, much in the same way iTunes used to work having pod casts, music, audiobooks, books, movies and to shows in the one place back in the day. Hopefully it will improve over time… but for now I’m on the fence..Version: 1.0.1
✓ Feels like a high-fidelity prototype we are asked to testA needed product, however not in this rather poor incomplete form. It’s as if a relational database didn’t exist that could be leveraged. Every variation of a work by a given artist needs a search unlike the regular app which instantly shows complementary album. This product as it stands has major UX issues, but there absolutely is worth in polishing it. (Much as I adore him, I am quite certain all my John Lennon music should not be listed here.).Version: 1.0.2
✓ Doesn’t workCan’t listen to a thing. I press on the track, the album cover and piece title loads, and no music plays. The scrub bar for skipping through the piece is stuck, and shows an amount of time greater than the piece. I re-downloaded, I checked my IOS was up to date, I turned my phone off and on, nothing works. Buggy app out the gate, one I would use my whole life long if it actually worked.Version: 1.0.2
✓ Good, hope it gets even betterLove the idea of a music app which curates classical music and has a taxonomy and classification which is designed for classical. And I really like the recommendations for the editor’s choice of any particular work - really brilliant idea. Could improve: - it crashes a lot! - please could we have an Apple Watch app? I often control the volume from my watch rather than fiddling with headphones..Version: 1.0.1
✓ App crashes and causes iPhone to crashI was so pleased when this app came out. Unfortunately I’ve been disappointed with the way it operates. It is sadly lacking many of the features needed. It’s not anywhere near as good as the Apple Music app in the way it operates or its stability, which leaves a lot to be desired. Besides being rather user unfriendly - unlike Apple Music, it periodically crashes and, in the process, sometimes causes the whole phone to crash and need a complete hard restart. Lift your game with this app, Apple. There’s no point putting it out there half baked. It’s been out for some time now and the issues have still not been sorted out..Version: 1.1
✓ A promising start with the usual issuesI like all sorts of music, including classical, so was looking forward to a proper “just classical” app. Apple have the resources and technology to create amazing apps as well as the biggest music library possible, but still fail on the basics. The classical and ordinary music apps are similar to use but the classical version doesn’t allow downloads and hasn’t removed the classical music from the general app which does allow downloading. So what’s the point of the classical version. The continued omission of a proper customisable graphic equaliser has been a bug bear for many many years. If I want to tune the sound to suit my taste, I have to use another app anyway. While Apple are market leaders in streaming music, they lag far behind the rest in terms of allowing users to tweak the sound in the way we want. Third party equalisation apps, like Boom 3D, are blocked from working with Apple Music and Classical. It is a shame as users have to pay to access Apple Music, as long as Apple control how we listen to it. The classical version of the music app is nothing more than a gimmick at the moment and rather pointless. There seems to be no real reason for a whole app which could have been another screen in Apple Music..Version: 1.0.1
✓ Buggy and inconsistentGreat idea, but lots of issues at the moment. I recommend Concertino until there are improvements. - Tracks don’t always play correctly (eg choosing third track in an album makes the first first track play) - Full titles are still truncated in the player, although they’re now untruncated in the album list, which is at least one improvement over Apple Music - There’s no way I can find to start a radio station like you can on Apple Music or Concertino. This is a shame because one of the main points of having tracks organised by work in this app (i.e. different movements of a symphony organised as one work) is that you can play lots of works in secrets as a radio station.Version: 1.0.1
✓ Audio still reflects track focus of iTunesMy first album played on the app was not a rousing success. Carmina Burana, Eugene Ormandy, Philadelphia Orchestra, Rutgers Choir, 1960 extended edition is a recording that I knew would challenge this new app and I was not overly surprised at the results. Track separations were erratic and did not conform to the original recording. There were long gaps between some tracks even in places where no gap should be. Especially annoying was during the dramatic conclusion of the work. The last three “tracks” should blend from one to the next with no gaps at all. Inexplicably, a 10 second or more gap of total silence was placed between the plaintive soprano solo of “Dulcissime” and the ensuing chorus of “Blanzifor Et Helena”. But it did get the transition from that chorus to the reprise of “O Fortuna” right without a gap. Here’s hoping Apple can get the wrinkles out in the near future..Version: 1.0.1
✓ Good in theory, poor in practiceThe biggest let down for me (which I haven't seen mentioned in any other reviews) is when I click a piece if music, and entirely different piece from the same playlist plays. I'm not sure if this is a problem unique to my phone. And, as has already been mentioned, the lack of separation between "Classical", and Apple Music. Upon downloading the app, other playlists were automatically saved, with other pieces of classical music. It would be great to see "classical" appear as a playlist in apple music, and have it as an extension to apple music. Currently, there's nothing this app does that couldn't be done through apple music..Version: 1.0.2
✓ Cannot search in albums or playlistsWhen I try to search for a particular playlist among my hundreds all I get is a white screen with the word Loading! Same thing happens in Albums! This makes the app pretty useless as far as I’m concerned. I’ll be sticking with Apple Music for now..Version: 1.0.2
✓ No iPad app?? 😵I can’t think of any good reason why this service launched without an iPad app. C’mon Apple!.Version: 1.0.2
✓ Okay, but could be betterI was really excited about this app. I like instrumental music but I struggle to find good songs, and the recommendation playlists they give are great. I do wish it was a separate library from Apple Music, though. But that’s not horrible either. The main problem is some of the instrument playlists are a bit broken. The violin playlist, for example; it just stops after the first song and you can’t click on any of the others. (Note that all other playlists I’ve tried have worked fine, so I don’t think it’s an issue on my end). It’s a little irritating because I got the app to listen to new songs like those and it’s too broken to listen to them. Overall, it’s a great idea, it’s just not as well executed as I’d hoped..Version: 1.0.1
✓ Great Idea, App is Buggy as can beLove this app and am so thankful that there now exits a platform dedicated to classical music (especially one created by such a respectable company). Beautiful portraits for the composers and wonderful organization of their works (biographies are also included on the profiles of many composers and a lot of popular works even have summaries which describe how they came to be). I love this app. BUT—the app itself performs terribly. It is buggy as can be and I cannot believe they would launch the application in such a state. 30% of the time you open the app you will first run into issues even getting a piece to play. Closing process and opening again does NOT work. It’s a shame and becomes really irritating when you try to play a song for 5+ minutes. Worst part is, no update yet. If it is not fixed, I cannot say I will continue my subscription—a shame, considering this is a beautiful application..Version: 1.0.2
✓ Tracks aren’t being played correctlyI will click on a song and just a completely unrelated song will play. It seems to default to Bach. Incredibly frustrating and confusing..Version: 1.2.1
✓ Do not affect y recommendations in music appI hope this classical app does not affect my station in music app. I am a fan of both classical and pop but I just don’t want my listening to classical music to affect my station recommendations in the normal Apple Music app. It seems strange to listen to pop music and suddenly play a symphony next. I hope the recommendations are dedicated to within this classical app only. And Apple Music app is dedicated to other music.Version: 1.3
✓ No Roon integrationI like the idea of Apple’s classical music service more than I like the implementation. I prefer to listen to classical music using the streaming features on my amplifier and controlled by Roon rather than using my phone and streaming via Bluetooth, as the sound quality is significantly better and I don’t need to worry about running the battery down on my phone or iPad, as often happens when they are used for streaming music over Bluetooth. If Apple’s classical music library could be accessed through Roon, I would be more interested in using their classical music service. As it is, when I want to listen to classical, it looks like I’ll have to continue to rely on my collection of SACDs and on streaming Qobuz’s excellent classical library through Roon. With regards to the app itself, as other reviewers have noted, the app would benefit from improvements to the search function, the addition of a shuffle function, and a dedicated iPad version of the app..Version: 1.0.1
✓ Good start, could do betterFirst off, it would be churlish not to thank you for creating this app; it a great addition. So, thank you! I think you could improve it; especially it’s search capability. For example, you have a category ‘chamber music’ and that takes you to…everything. But what about a sub menu that includes: string quartets; string trios; piano trios; wind ensembles, etc. That would help listeners drill down into the catalog more easily. I think this sort of definition to your landing pages would help users better exploit the power of your archive. Best wishes and thanks for introducing this app..Version: 1.0.1
✓ Why no iPad version…! Inexplicable for Apple?!How can Apple develop this, which have to say I love having a dedicated Classical Apple Music app, know they bought another developer to do it and not an iPad version. Especially as on the ww developer conference, explain how simple it is to format for their various OS?! Have just bought a new iPad Pro and my Birthday on 27th yet have only iPhone version on my iPad Pro feels broken at launch… Thanks Apple keep up the great work but dear Craig please put the team to work finishing the iPad version. With very best wishes SiFi.Version: 1.0.1
✓ Missing basic functionality & buggyThis app is great, but it seems to be missing some basic functionality when compared with the Apple Music app. I know classical music needs to be treated differently, that’s he whole point of this app. But adding a track to play next, play last etc. is there. Creating playlists is buggy. I’m using the app on the iPad and there isn’t even a bespoke iPad version. also, no function to love a track..Version: 1.0.2
✓ No iPad app, from the maker of the iPad‽It’s absolutely shameful that the company that makes the iPad would ship an app like this without building it for iPad. Instead we get an iPhone app that we can blow up to show on our iPad. Hopeless. Sad that I can’t rate this app zero stars..Version: 1.0.1
✓ Good ideaBut comparing to the main Music app is full of glitches. 1. Constantly failing to load album artwork when playing from the playlist 2. Refusing to start playing music again after a pause..Version: 1.1
✓ Messes with Apple Music listening historyDespite being two separate apps, their listening history of Music Classical is linked with the main Apple Music app with no option to disconnect. As you listen to more classical in this app, Apple Music will start to suggest classical over there too, defeating the whole purpose of letting a dedicated classical app to handle the classical..Version: 1.1
✓ Like a beta releaseIt is really strange that Apple with all the creativity and resource available can’t adapt a version to iPad in the first release. Need more work….Version: 1.0.1
✓ Library Function Is UnuseablePretty good but the library function is amazingly bad. It only loads 20 library titles at a time which means endlessly scrolling through 20 titles then pausing while the next 20 load. Fine if you only have 19 titles saved to your library and they’re all Bach! I’ve saved a few hundred titles and scrolling through from Bach just as far as Mozart genuinely takes several minutes. If that wasn’t bad enough… If you have the nerve to select a title from the library, click into it to have a look, then go back…guess what?! Yep, it sends you all the way back to the top of your library!! There’s something uniquely infuriating about working your way through your own library to, say, Mahler then being fired all the way back up to Bach when you decide that actually you’d rather listen to Mahler 9 than to Mahler 4. The app isn’t all bad - there are in fact lots of things I prefer to every other classical streaming app - but the library function is so unbelievably bad it does need to be highlighted..Version: 1.0.1
✓ Needs a lot more workI desperately wanted this app to be good, but it really falls too far short to be worth paying for. The good: - Content (obviously) - Nice curation of guided content (great introductions to classical music) - Lossless fidelity and Dolby Atmos The bad: - The main complaint I have is that the play button on tracks regularly doesn’t work; almost 70% of the time it does nothing even on Wi-Fi - The guides to classical music regularly lose your place; I have to make a mental note of the time stamp as it will be lost when I return to it - The indexes for those guides are confusing, lack bookmarks for sections, and seem to miss tracks - In a guide, clicking on a featured work doesn’t play it in the context of that guide; instead, it take you a list of that work played by different orchestras etc. Given I was in a guide, it should play the track version that was part of the guide. - Overall the UI is really confusing, with no logical home button (you can expect to make 5-6 clicks if you’re deep in content) and excessive use of cards that slide over content (rather than simpler UI)… it’s just heavy on gimmicky affordances and is worse for it..Version: 1.0.2
✓ Woefully UnderdevelopedThe Apple Classical music app is like a 1.0 app. Missing so many features. Biggest issue is not being able to listen offline and download music to your device. Also needs an iPad and Apple TV app. Overall Apple Classical streaming music is damaged by weak app..Version: 1.0.2
✓ A Great Idea That Needs ImprovementThe idea of a dedicated classical music streaming app is intriguing. Engaging with classical is a very different process than engaging with pop music, so some optimized functionality could go a long way. And by and large, this app is pretty successful. Being able to search for composers, players, and pieces makes finding recordings a lot easier. The app syncing with my regular music app helps a lot too. But there’s some problems. I won’t talk about the shuffle issue as everyone else already has. Instead I’ll talk about the jankiness of the sync function. For whatever reason, not all of my classical recordings from the main music app transfer over. When I try to add the recordings to the classical app, they don’t show up in my classical library. Similarly, certain recording I add to my main library don’t sync with my classical library but others do. I find this very frustrating, as it makes it more convenient to just use the main app to listen to classical..Version: 1.1
✓ A First StepI listen to music primarily on my AppleTV or iPad, or otherwise on a competing smart speaker that is linked to my Apple Music account. I suspect that those form factors would have been a better initial target for this app. I also prefer watching the concerts over just listening, which isn’t yet an option in this app. I‘ll likely probably stick with Arte or YouTube until the next edition and look in again to see if it better satisfies my interests..Version: 1.0.1
✓ Classical music and its impactSo many people feed off classical music! I know I do! Actually there is a lot of classical music in animated kids movies and these kids are fascinated but don’t know it’s actually classical!!.Version: 1.0.1
✓ Privacy?Could you capture any more data about me? Financial info, browser history, whether I sing in the shower? Oh, and the lack of an iPad app is disappointing..Version: 1.0.1
✓ 1.0.2 bug - can no longer play recordingI just upgraded the app to 1.0.2 and I can no longer play a “recording”. This is the main way I would listen to a particular work. Let me explain. An album often has multiple works on it (two or three symphonies, for example, by Haydn). So I tap the three dots to the right of one of the movements and I pick “show recording“ which isolates the one symphony that I want, showing only that work. I then hit the play button to listen to it. This worked fine until I upgraded to 1.0.2. Now when I hit the play button, nothing happens. I have powered down the phone and powered up again, but that has not fixed it. So I can no longer listen to one specific work on an album as before. Please look into this and correct it..Version: 1.0.2
✓ No native iPad app from Apple’s own?Was surprised to see a prompt to download Apple Music Classical on iPad Pro, but it came as as an iPhone app. Would have thought Apple does better QC on their own apps given the importance of this ecosystem? Hope this can be resolved by iOS 17.Version: 1.0.1
✓ Poor connectivityI have been looking forward to this app and at first it looks great. However, now I have come to start using it I have found problems with its connectivity, particularly with Apple CarPlay, which is one of the main ways I use it. Apple CarPlay doesn’t seem to recognise the app properly, doesn’t read information from it consistently, and the app often fails to load. I have more or less gone back to using the Apple Music app, which is annoying because all the work that has gone into the Classical app has gone to waste, at least as far as my normal music listening is concerned. Improve connectivity, especially with Apple CarPlay and I may give it four or more stars..Version: 1.0.1
✓ Not Supported on Most of Apple’s HardwareAfter waiting almost two years for the Apple Classical app to come out there was much disappointment to find that it is not supported by most of Apple’s hardware, including their premium audio hardware, the HomePod. There is no app for iPad, AppleTV, and others have had trouble getting it to work on CarPlay. As a result, I can’t use the service..Version: 1.0.1
✓ Broken and lacks featureThe app doesn’t have a shuffle feature, lacks a lot of the control Apple Music comes with such as playlist editing en masse, swipe to remove, etc. And for larger playlists you can’t always select a song. I selected one lower in my playlist and it started playing a piece 20+ up the playlist. Impossible to select songs on the back half so I click and then have to skip a ton of recordings to get to the one I want. Furthermore, the amount of times that I have “added” something to my playlist and am adding lots at a time to find out that the last 15 additions were not added is insufferably high. One would think that because Apple made this and has Apple Music that it would have the bare functionality that Apple Music has and yet somehow it doesn’t. Oh and if you, like me, want to segregate your musical preferences so that on long drives your listening to the songs you like and not classical say goodbye. I get 14+ straight recommendations of classical when I’m in the Apple Music app because of this app. The good features, such as grouping all pieces together in a playlist and giving them a large title is a nice touch. IMHO, this app is too broken to be in the released state..Version: 1.0.1
✓ Unfortunate Requirement of Apple Music SubscriptionI understand Apple wants to get into the subscription based platform that everyone has gone to now, but this app is only that. Even for pieces that I have already purchased on the iTunes store, there is literally no point to this app without an Apple Music subscription. There is no option to purchase an individual song or album (by the way, same is true for the Music app, which should be an option), and not even an option to hear a sample of the song without the stupid subscription. You would think I could play a piece that is ALREADY DOWNLOADED and purchased in the music app, just on the Apple Music Classical app instead. I think if I had known this would be the end result of an app like this, I would rather Apple just incorporated it into the pre-existing Music app. Great idea of an app, but extremely poor execution in terms of connecting with other Apple based apps. Very disappointing..Version: 1.0.1
✓ Initial thoughts - some disappointmentsI was a big fan of Primephonic and it is disappointing to see that some of the best features of that app have not been carried over e.g. ability to view album booklets, personalised recommendations for further listening. Good points of the new app: - sound quality - the search facility looks promising - artist / composer bios Improvements needed: - search results can lead to duplications where albums have multiple indexes. Chinese language results are displayed when searching in English (when you click on them it says not available in your area). - display is optimised for mobile phones and doesn’t display full screen when using an iPad. Hopefully the next release will have bug fixes resolved..Version: 1.0.1
✓ Great for finding recordingsFind recording is good, can add to library but honestly just use regular app from there..Version: 1.3
✓ Why no native iPad appNeeds a few things to be able to catch up to the music quality. Remote use from another device. Bluetooth and airplay do not transmit hi res quality files ( air play could potentially), have to use a third party cable to plug phone in to DAC to get best quality..Version: 1.0.1
✓ Not device friendlyAfter a parallel evaluation of Spotify, Tidal, and Apple Music including Classic I've decided to go with Spotify because I could easily start playing music on my iPhone and then transfer that to Amazon Alexa, Google TV, Windows laptop, or my hifi music rig. I can use voice commands to navigate Spotify on Alexa or Google TV. Apple Music (Classics) needs to open up and adjust to how people listen music, not the other way around..Version: 1.0.1
✓ Underwhelming as serves no purpose without important featuresI was waiting for this to come out the moment it got announced. As someone who shuffles their whole library on apple music which I use for non classical music, it can get annoying when a 2 hour classical piece comes on every other song and I have to manually skip so I was hoping there’d be a separate library on the app which there isn’t,, eliminating any major purpose of the app. If it doesn’t set up a whole different library for classical music, what is the point? Maybe I’ve had the wrong idea but the fact it also doesn’t work or allow you to download over Wi-Fi to listen offline, when the same albums/ recordings were available on Apple Music and you can download them there, makes this app even more pointless. Until those issues are fixed there’s really no difference between having the Apple Music classical app and just Apple Music :(.Version: 1.0.1
✓ Lacking iPad supportWhat, a iPhone form factor for iPad? I mean… come on! It’s not really working..Version: 1.0.1
✓ Great idea but why another app? And why not iPad?First, there is no excuse for the fact that the normal Music app can not do the right thing when listening to classical music. Note that the same could be said of jazz or other musical styles. Are we going to need an app for each genre? Then, to top it off, it is a phone app that does not adapt to the iPad well at all. Wasting space and just generally a bad experience. Why do I talk about the iPad? Well, when reading a book, I like to listen to music. I don’t do this on my iPhone but rather my iPad. It is far better for this task. So, not only do I need a second Apple Music app but it is not even well done with respect to the iPad. Oh, and it glitched a few times while playing my word game - a game that has no sound and I have always played music while playing the game. (Then again, Apple Music sometimes glitches while reading a book… have not tried that with Apple Classical yet) I was hoping for something far better but it barely is worth the frustration to address some serious weaknesses in the Apple Music app. It really should have been just adding those features to Apple Music. At least it would have been iPad optimized that way. Very disappointed in Apple - especially since they normally deliver a much better user experience..Version: 1.0.1
✓ Beautiful idea badly executedThe app is beautiful. But the app itself is terribly bad executed. Playlists don't work. Up next doesn't work. Synchronization with the apple music does not exist! Bad user experience was not an apple thing years ago.Version: 1.0.1
✓ A noticeable improvement, but I was expecting so much betterThere is a nice layout here and certainly more detail. We get a better picture having separate data points for ensemble, soloists and conductor, and composer and work. While accuracy is improved, there are still outright errors (the list of albums by the Philadelphia Orchestra starts with an album NOT by them) and more importantly this has not done anything to solve the correct dating problem. (The years these recordings were made are often wrong) This app does nothing to solve the reissue problem or compilation problem. To make things easy to find each recording should have only one entry. Apple worked on this app for 2 years and with a bit more ambition could have owned this space resulting in numerous people in Europe and Asia switching from competitors. Instead we get a pretty but ultimately half baked experience..Version: 1.0.1
✓ Algorithmic Bias?I’ve been listening to soundtracks by Nicholas Britell on the regular music app. I would classify most (if not all) of his work as contemporary classical. Yet when I switched to the Apple Music Classical app, I noticed a concerning similarity to which of Nicholas Britell’s very classical-sounding soundtracks did not appear on the classical app. They were the soundtracks for works with predominantly Black (African-American) casts, and dealing with Black themes Namely “Moonlight”, “If Beale Street Could Talk”, and “The Underground Railroad” . I want to assume that poorly programmed algorithms edited out these albums. Regardless of how this came to be, this should be looked into because obviously some human biases were programmed into the selection process. I would posit that Britell’s soundtracks for “Succession” are far less “classical” than the soundtracks that I mentioned above; however, they appear on the Classical app. While all of his soundtracks do not appear on the Classical App, it is very suspicious all three of his work for films and series focused on Black/African American experiences have been omitted. With the exception of “The Free State of Jones” which deals with the topic of slavery in America, however, Matthew McConaughey, a White man, is the only face on the album art..Version: 1.0.1
✓ Getting better but issues remainMy first impressions of the app were not good but it does seem to be improving. At last there is an iOS version. And when searching say new releases you can do so by a filter - really good idea. BUT the filter option does not carry through to that areas (eg my own library!) Strangely inconsistent for Apple. Also still no option to offline music in the classical app. So it still has a feeling of being merely a front end for the “real” music app. There is an option in the music app to open an album in Apple Classical……maybe it should be the other way round!!.Version: 1.1
✓ Oh Well, Good First Effort, But…There are many features here for those of us with a love of classical music. Others have commented on how one can explore by instrument, genre, and period of music. But… Why can’t I stack recordings and lists for playback and then randomize them. I nightly select quiet, gentle music, randomize, and then sleep with my headphones on masking background sounds (helped by noise canceling headphones). I’ll select, let’s say, guitar adagio albums (all the music isn’t actually adagio but still slow) and set up 6 hours or more randomized (these are single movements) and then the whole set repeats. This is NOT available on this new classical app. Oh well. Update (4-7-23): I love their groupings by composer, genre, period of music, etc. It’s amazing to see 435 recordings of “The Rite of Spring”. I love it! However, surely Anton Webern cannot remotely be categorized as a Romantic era composer!! Apple, please have someone with more knowledge go over your lists again. And you might want to consider having a Post-Romantic classification for the likes of Mahler and Bruckner..Version: 1.0.1
✓ DisapointingWhile it is true that classical music has some specific features, having a separate app is not needed. Especially when it integrates so poorly with the rest of Apple Music and Apple’s ecosystem. Full of poor decisions. For example, when selecting to display “all” playlists from Apple Music, only some are shown. It turned out there is some misguided “logic”: it shows some songs in some playlist that the app thinks are classical. Very poor approach, coupled with a bad recognition algorithm… Besides some good additions like options to browse by composer, instrument, orchestra, it is not a major improvement of the Music app. Finally an iPad version is available but still no appleTv one to play it on a proper audio system. I expect that this app will disappear in a year or so. It is a nice display of the declining standards of a company that was once known for good integration, polished interfaces, and solid engineering..Version: 1.1
✓ No iPad app? Seriously?Oh come on Apple Music we classical music lovers love to consume our music whilst reading and learning about it. It’s why we love collecting box sets, with liner notes, and booklets. The majority of us are not teenagers, easing down the road glued to our iPhones. I really don’t know how you could launch a serious classical music service without a dedicated iPad app. If it’s good enough for iTunes surely it’s good enough for the classical music service.,.Version: 1.0.1
✓ Can be betterJust a layer on Apple Music. The library view is bland. Adding music on this app also adds music to your Apple Music app and there’s no way to keep them separate. Why bother having an app if you merge libraries between apps. absence of an iPad app is sloppy. having iPad Pro devices displaying a crappy scaled version of this app is not the experience I want..Version: 1.0.3
✓ Ehh this app needs a big rethinkI like the idea of this app. Classical music is a different ballgame and in terms of library organisation relies on different categories and search terms etc. I can’t understand then why there’s so much overlap with my regular Apple Music library. Why is the entire Hamilton album in Apple Music Classical? Why is a Take That song? A Coldplay song? When I add a song to my library on Classical it clutters up my tracks on the regular app. Given that the Classical app is included in an Apple Music subscription it makes no sense why Apple can’t just direct all classical stuff over to the Classical app. The way I would fix one aspect is by looking at playlists in the Apple Music library, take all the playlists where 95% of the tracks or higher are classical tracks and move them (not copy them) over to Apple Music Classical. Leave any playlists where one out of 10 tracks say is a classical piece where they are in Apple Music. Right now we have the buzzard state of affairs where certain playlists are listed in Apple Music Classical or where one classical track is listed. So a playlist shows up with one track in it. This is completely bonkers. It’s so unintuitive this app that I don’t use it..Version: 1.0.2
✓ .Great concept and content but the app never seems to work as well as normal Apple Music app. Album graphics never appear and regularly crashes..Version: 1.2.1
✓ Uh? UpdatedApple Music Classical was released as an iPhone App only. It seemed owners of much of the rest of the Apple ecosystem could either go whistle or put up with ugly compromises. Why would I do that? Today, following a wait long enough for me to know that it was hardly a priority, I hear there’s now a dedicated iPad version. Purely out of charity, l added a stat to my review. After a wait long enough for Apple to know that fixing the bleeding obvious isn’t a cause for celebration, I may do a proper review. Am I still angry? Not really. Disappointed? Very..Version: 1.1
✓ Lovely idea, needs work in practiceAbsolutely love the idea of this app as the classical music library has never really fit with the streaming service model, due to the endless numbers of ‘opuses’ and ‘works’. This is the first real attempt at trying to create an intuitive way to search for and listen to different recordings and compositions by a big player in the music industry, which is admirable but it doesn’t take long to quickly get lost in the endless menu dialogues, or where the app just freezes on you (I repeated the same action multiple times and every single time it crashed!). That being said, PLEASE don’t give up on this app! It is such a good idea and just needs a bit of rethink in how it can be a truly intuitive way to navigate a huge collection of classical music. I’ve always thought that orchestral music wasn’t suited for MP3s, lossy compression because of the amount of information being lost and it 100% benefits from the lossless format! So many good ideas - just needs a bit more polish for basic functionality..Version: 1.3
✓ WhyI thought they made a new app to attract new audiences to Apple Music (because why would they make a separate app otherwise if they have a functioning music listening app—although, maybe it’s all about having better structures for classical music) but it doesn’t even let me listen to a second of tracks because im not subscribed to Apple Music. I mean it’s fine that it’s an app for subscribers only but when I think about how you can listen to snippets of music on Apple Music via genius and the like, all I can think of,,, why.Version: 1.0.1
✓ Long awaited and not readyLike many of Apple’s native apps the idea is great, execution and design are clean but do not live up to the full potential. Not all works carry over seamlessly as they should. There needs to be a fine tuning to import soundtracks and movie scores as well, which suffer the same fate as classical music in the main Apple Music app. There needs to be an option to manually select titles to import, playlists to share between apps and an option to hide titles that are incorrectly shared between the two apps. Adding and removing titles from your library should give an option to add/remove from either or both apps. Options to edit your music meta data to avoid weird listings or incorrect or duplicate albums is missing in all mobile apps and sends users back to Mac versions. Like many modern Apple apps options to customize design, functionality and even to make use of the glaring empty space on screen would go the extra mile to make this or any app a must have and industry leading solution for creators, curators and consumers. Finally, the absence of an iPad or Mac equivalent is embarrassing at launch..Version: 1.0.2
✓ Feels half finishedI was eagerly waiting for this app ever since Apple bought out Primephonic. I do love the curation and suggested content, but it feels like a half-finished copy of a Apple Music. I drive frequently in low-service areas and have to download my albums, but with Classical I have to go back into the main Apple Music app to have that option…why? As an existing feature in one app and they’re basically carbon copy interfaces, that should be seamless. The interactive features that Primephonic specialized in and pioneered are absent as well, which Apple had promised to continue. Deep dives into compositions, rather like mini-courses, really helped one to experience the music in a whole new way. I hope they continue development, but this iteration feels rushed and incomplete. Downloading music from the app should be a priority..Version: 1.0.1
✓ Slow and incomplete appIt takes a while to play a piece after tapping on it, and creating and adding songs to a playlist is not instantaneous. Music would stop midway when playing. I’m using Beats Studio Buds with it so it could be the earphones fault. Library is pretty decent though.Version: 1.0.3
✓ Buggy and frustratingIs it just me or is this app getting worse. I’m now constantly running into issues like tracks, pieces or playlists not playing when I tap them but only in some sections of the app. Just now a playlist wouldn’t play from the browse section no. After what I tried. I had to add it to my library then play it from there. Then when I tried to AirPlay to. HomePod it just. Wouldn’t. Froze for a bit the. Showed it was playing but with no audio coming from the HomePod. This kind of nonsense along with missing features (offline listen, play queue management, or iPad app anyone?), slow and laggy performance, and just truly baffling UX design choices like splitting playlists in the my library into two seperate pages (mine and from Apple Music) forcing awkward navigation via ‘show all’ links and no playlist search across all playlist in my library, has me just going back to using the Apple Music app..Version: 1.0.2
✓ Not for iPadAstonishing that this app would be released without suitable iPad format. It takes me back to days of the first iPad where half the apps were for the iPhone form factor. Works on iPhone but I can’t figure out why it’s necessary over (as well as) the Music app. We were unable to listen to music on an iPad..Version: 1.0.1
✓ DisappointingI was really looking forward to this as iTunes and now Apple Music have always been next to useless for classical music. Tracks randomly playing difficult to find particular works etc. Most of the good points other people have mentioned I would go along with, BUT I was expecting this app to find all the classical music in my library, where I’ve uploaded, mainly from cd, my favourite versions. It has randomly found three out of maybe 30 albums. I would have thought that this would be one of the first features people downloading this app would have expected As for the workaround to use Apple Music for downloading😂😂.Version: 1.0.1
✓ No native ipad app?Apple….I expect this from third party. Not you. Apple Music has a beautiful ipad app Why doesn’t apple classical?.Version: 1.0.1
✓ Only a startThe exclusive albums are nice, but the sound quality is still not the best in the market — what was the point of buying out Primephonic, apart from an attempt at monopoly? Many albums play from the first track even if you select another. Multi-composer albums (such as Abbado Prokofiev-Ravel) STILL don’t have the composer listed in the track heading (at the top of each multi-movement piece would be fine, if not for each track) so we’re still some way from proper classical-friendly listing, searching and cataloguing. Keep at it, Apple, you may yet succeed….Version: 1.0.1
✓ Good App, Couple ConcernsThis app’s interface is very pleasing. The ability to search for pieces under a composer yields more results than if I were to be looking under a general search in regular Apple Music, which I really appreciate. I like how playlists organize pieces under composer name. The music suggestions they give may be basic, but that is mostly irrelevant. This app is much better for finding classical pieces than regular Apple Music. However, that only extends to finding. When I try to listen to the music that I put in playlists, this is where I get most of my problems. Organizing and editing playlists makes the app crash. Pressing play on a piece will actually cause the app to play a completely different piece further up in the playlist. The pieces only play in the order you set them to in the playlist. There is no shuffle option. There is also no app in Apple Car Play to control the playing of music while driving. All these aspects force me to use regular Apple Music when actually listening to music. However, I would like to use this app more often. If the glitching when pressing play was fixed, and the addition of a shuffle button was added, I would be much more happy. It would also be neat if an Apple Music Classical app were added to Apple Car Play..Version: 1.0.1
✓ LinkedI love the idea of having the music separate so when I am listening to my library I’m not jumping from heavy metal to classical. What is disappointing though is if I delete a playlist in the Apple Music app it deletes if from classical music app. Which to me defeats the purpose. I hope this gets fixed! Then it would be amazing!.Version: 1.0.1
✓ All but useless without Mac and Apple TV versionsShows great promise, but just a middle-school project without support for Mac and Apple TV. Less time spent on Nerd Goggles and more on basics, please..Version: 1.2.1
✓ Seriously? Only an iPhone app?Come on, don’t be ridiculous. For Apple to not even bother to provide a separate ipad app… Classical music is obviously very low down on their priority list. Very disappointing. The Presto Music app, from British online and physical store specializing in classical music, is a little cheaper and a whole lot better..Version: 1.0.1
✓ Very Buggy!I’ve never experienced such a buggy app from Apple. I don’t use Apple Music but wanted to give this app a try. Classical will not work unless you have Apple Music installed on your device, which implies that this app is only a skin / wrapper for Apple Music. The app will often just not pay a song. Tapping on the song, or pressing “play” on the album won’t do it. Quitting / reopening the app multiple times won’t fix it either. You’ll check if it’s a network issue by loading a video online and realize that it’s just the app not playing any songs. Just today music stopped in the middle of a song and a podcast started playing, I checked and I didn’t have any other music or podcasts apps open at the time. The way this app works (and doesn’t work) is just very strange. I hope Apple treats this app as its own rather than a facade for Apple Music, because the content is actually quite great, it’s just super buggy..Version: 1.2.1
✓ Still a way to goGreat to have a Classical music specific app but as other have said, the search capabilities are a bit hit and miss. For example John Taverna and the way his works are shown. Some pieces are shown on mixed albums with other composers’ works. This is unhelpful when trying to discover more works by a composer or conductor etc, On Apple Music, this would be displayed under ‘Also appears on’. Which would be better. Also, what defines classical music? There’s quite a lot of bland piano pieces that you’d hear in a spa. (that’s a personal opinion) All in all, a good idea, but needs refinement..Version: 1.0.1
🙂 Apple Music Classical Positive Reviews
Apple Music Classical works most of the time. If it is not working for you, we recommend you excersise some patience and retry later or contact Apple Music Classical.
⛔ Apple Music Classical Problems
