Apple Music coming to Amazon Echo Dec 17th

transmaster

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Just reading in 9 to 5 Mac that Apple Music will be added as a skill to Amazon Echo devices. You will be able to access your exsisting Apple Music account once you set up the skill on your Echo. Looking forward to this my Echo Dots are set up with seperate audio amp’s and much better speakers.

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Just reading in 9 to 5 Mac that Apple Music will be added as a skill to Amazon Echo devices. You will be able to access your exsisting Apple Music account once you set up the skill on your Echo. Looking forward to this my Echo Dots are set up with seperate audio amp’s and much better speakers.

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Wow! That is surprising for sure. I will definitely like having this feature since I have Echos all over the house.
 
Never saw that coming. Apple’s extreme hubris finally being tempered somewhat. Maybe the prospect of SCOTUS breaking their extortionary practices via their App Store has them rethinking things.
 
I am all for the an exclusive Apple curated App store. If you want complete freedom to add any app and have the real chance to load malware onto your device then get an Android Phone.
 
Never saw that coming. Apple’s extreme hubris finally being tempered somewhat. Maybe the prospect of SCOTUS breaking their extortionary practices via their App Store has them rethinking things.
This does seem out of character. That app store situation could have wide ranging effects is they lose an actual lawsuit. SCOTUS, from my understanding just said that the plaintiff has standing for a lawsuit. Sony, Nintendo, XBox, etc.. all have app stores that are exclusive to that company. I believe Windows 10 S also has something similar. Will definitely spur on a bunch of lawsuits if Apple actually loses... and we are a long, long way for that to be settled.

Still not sure this situation was decided because of it. They may not be selling HomePod like they thought and they don't want to make low margin alternatives, so this is the next best way to get into that market and compete with Spotify. But that is all just a guess... just glad they are doing it. I need to read that article to see if there is some reasoning for it.

Note: They are saying it will be implemented on 12/17 for those wanting it.

TechCrunch says this is because they want to grow their services....pretty much what I said above.
 
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Good news. And the most of the speaker are still on sale for those who are still interested. I bought a dot for my stereo to replace an old Sirius radio. Thinking about getting another for my other setup now.
 
I am all for the an exclusive Apple curated App store. If you want complete freedom to add any app and have the real chance to load malware onto your device then get an Android Phone.
Personally, it wouldn't hurt my feelings if they had a separate app store (like Cydia) for those that want to take that risk. I doubt that many people would use it, to be honest. However, one issue with older iPads/iPhones is that once Apple moved the App store to 32 bit, for example, you can no longer update your apps. Would be nice to have access to an alternative app store that will still work with those old iPads.

I personally would never install this stuff on my main phone or iPad, but I wouldn't mind the option.
 
I am all for the an exclusive Apple curated App store. If you want complete freedom to add any app and have the real chance to load malware onto your device then get an Android Phone.
Yes, of course app stores are great things. The lawsuit isn’t about the App Store per se, but about certain business practices Apple employs therein. For example, disallowing app providers like Spotify from advertising alternative billing methods for their monthly billing means some (rather ignorant) folks are paying a big monthly premium for Spotify, etc. Pure extortion in my book. YMMV.
 
Yes, of course app stores are great things. The lawsuit isn’t about the App Store per se, but about certain business practices Apple employs therein. For example, disallowing app providers like Spotify from advertising alternative billing methods for their monthly billing means some (rather ignorant) folks are paying a big monthly premium for Spotify, etc. Pure extortion in my book. YMMV.
So Apple should just pay for all the development of the store, APIs, the payment system, etc. and not earn a cent on it? I have mentioned this before, but I don't walk into Dillard's and expect them to tell me that TJ Max has the exact same sweater for half the price. It isn't their responsibility to account for the customer's stupidity or laziness.

There are several reasons someone would pay the extra money to buy the app/service from Apple and pay the extra fee...yes, ignorance is one of them, but many people don't want their credit card info spread all over the web and trust Apple with it more than say...Spotify or another less known company. Personally, I have never paid extra for that reason, but safety, convenience, and privacy are all part of that equation.
 
Google’s App Store doesn’t prevent Spotify from using its own billing system. Why should Apple get any cut for monthly billing? One-time payment for downloading the app, sure. Sorry, but Apple preventing third parties from advertising their own monthly billing is pure extortion, IMO. Use PayPal with smaller stores vs a credit card.
 
Google’s App Store doesn’t prevent Spotify from using its own billing system. Why should Apple get any cut for monthly billing? One-time payment for downloading the app, sure. Sorry, but Apple preventing third parties from advertising their own monthly billing is pure extortion, IMO. Use PayPal with smaller stores vs a credit card.
I guess we will see in court. People have the freedom to switch to Android if they are comfortable with that system. Paypal is still one more location where you information can be hacked. The uninformed people you are referring to are the same people that need protection from having their information all over the place with passwords like "password".

I believe Google still gets a cut if it is purchased from their store, so what you are talking about is just informing people too lazy to do ten seconds of research. Personally, I don't know anyone that spends more time in the app store than they spend on Chrome/Safari, so I think it is a leap to say that Apple has to let them advertise billing elsewhere when they are providing the platform and all the R&D that goes into maintaining that platform.
 
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If they do buy and integrate iHeartRadio, as the article suggests, I might move back to Apple Music, which I liked during the free trial. iHeart has some surprisingly well-curated Jazz stations. They’ve been in or near bankruptcy for years, so might be a cheap way for Apple to get a ton of new users.

With Alexa, AM would work via voice control on my Sonos, and in my car (Roav Viva, on the list for Amazon’s device). The library beats Amazon’s, which I currently use. Alexa is vastly better than Siri, IME. Still, Alexa Cast beats AirPlay 2 all to hell, so just one little issue remaining...
 
Can Alexa Cast do this? AirPlay ll streaming to my Yamaha RX-A770, this is a FLAC file on my iPhone. Airplay II is transcoding this file to ALAC in real-time. I have about 40 GB’s of FLAC files loaded on my iPhone 7+

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If they do buy and integrate iHeartRadio, as the article suggests, I might move back to Apple Music, which I liked during the free trial. iHeart has some surprisingly well-curated Jazz stations. They’ve been in or near bankruptcy for years, so might be a cheap way for Apple to get a ton of new users.

With Alexa, AM would work via voice control on my Sonos, and in my car (Roav Viva, on the list for Amazon’s device). The library beats Amazon’s, which I currently use. Alexa is vastly better than Siri, IME. Still, Alexa Cast beats AirPlay 2 all to hell, so just one little issue remaining...
Explain how Alexa Cast beats Airplay 2. I tell HomePod to play music in Den and it plays on my Main System via the AppleTV in my living room. I then tell it to play a different song in bedroom at it plays something different as instructed. I can also control every speaker independently or separate from iOS.

From iOS, Airplay 2 shows up in the Control Center for ANY app I chose for audio, Also, because it plays to my AppleTVs and one Airport Express, I get a digital out that can be sent to much better DACs than those that are built into my Dots. Also, if I am sitting at my computer, I can send audio all over the house (just like Airplay). The other upside for me is that Siri is built into the Apple Watch and the fact that it uses wifi. I can be standing in my yard without my phone, lift my wrist and say "Play Nat King Cole in sunroom" and music starts playing from speakers that blast music into my backyard.

Also, as mentioned above, does Alexa Cast work with lossless audio? I am not sure it does. Personally, I don't see any advantages to Alexa Cast other than it works in much cheaper devices. Though that has been mostly irrelevant for me, other than the HomePod purchase (which is an amazing sounding speaker for the footrprint), and I already owned compatible AppleTVs and Airport Express units.
 
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Specific to my use case: Amazon Music to any of my Sonos devices. Far more reliable than AirPlay 2, which uses 3X the bandwidth. Unlike AirPlay, phone/tablet doesn't need to be left on, doesn't even need to be connected to the WiFi, as Alexa Cast works via the cloud. AirPlay, in my use cases, is a choice of last resort, like Bluetooth. Far better options available TO ME.

I'm not stuck in Apple's walled garden, thankfully , but Apple is finally opening up to the far more open Sonos universe, and even now to Amazon's. Still far from my first choice, as many better options are available to me. It's always amusing to me just how defensive Apple fanboys get, lol.
 
Specific to my use case: Amazon Music to any of my Sonos devices. Far more reliable than AirPlay 2, which uses 3X the bandwidth. Unlike AirPlay, phone/tablet doesn't need to be left on, doesn't even need to be connected to the WiFi, as Alexa Cast works via the cloud. AirPlay, in my use cases, is a choice of last resort, like Bluetooth. Far better options available TO ME.

I'm not stuck in Apple's walled garden, thankfully , but Apple is finally opening up to the far more open Sonos universe, and even now to Amazon's. Still far from my first choice, as many better options are available to me. It's always amusing to me just how defensive Apple fanboys get, lol.
People have different use cases, but I don't need my phone on to send audio all over the house. The HomePod can do that without any effort by voice. I am not sure it is using bandwidth as you describe when it sends audio to AppleTVs, either. I think it plays from the cloud directly to them. I tested this by telling the HomePod to play Prince in Den and then after it started, I unplugged the HomePod and it continues to play in the living room. Therefore, if your wifi system is archaic, it should still work without any issues at all. Remember that Airplay 2 doesn't work with old devices. It probably requires enough RAM to buffer audio from the web so you don't have wifi bandwidth issues. It is why it can send simultaneous audio feeds to each Airplay 2 device.

If you don't own iOS devices, then Airplay obviously isn't ideal for you. However, the technology itself is superior to Alexa Cast in just about every way.

As far as the "Apple Fanboy" comment, name calling is below the discussion at hand. We are talking about the better technology. I have Casting devices (Chormecast Audio, Chromecast, TVs with Casting built in, and a Google Home Mini) and Echos (3 Dots and a Spot), so I am familiar with all the technologies you are referring to. The typical Apple hater can't have a conversation without throwing out insults. It is sad.
 
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Well, we'll just have to agree to disagree. I have an iPhone and two iPad from work. AirPlay 2 works with Sonos, but it works exactly as I've described, much less reliably than Chromecast, Alexa Cast and especially SonosNet, which is 100% reliable. I have the option of Alexa, Google or Siri to voice control my system. Siri, like Airplay, is virtually never used. When Apple Music comes to Sonos via Alexa, I'll have yet another option to consider. It's nice to have plenty of options, I would really hate being locked in to one ecosystem
 
Well, we'll just have to agree to disagree. I have an iPhone and two iPad from work. AirPlay 2 works with Sonos, but it works exactly as I've described, much less reliably than Chromecast, Alexa Cast and especially SonosNet, which is 100% reliable. I have the option of Alexa, Google or Siri to voice control my system. Siri, like Airplay, is virtually never used. When Apple Music comes to Sonos via Alexa, I'll have yet another option to consider. It's nice to have plenty of options, I would really hate being locked in to one ecosystem
Probably a bad implementation of the technology by Sonos. I am not locked into anything, As I already mentioned, I have several devices by Google and Amazon. Amazon has my music on their cloud and I have a subscription to YouTube red that has Google Play music in the package.

I should mention that I love my Echos for their skills, but as far as audio quality, they are crap compared to a digital signal coming from my AppleTVs/Airport Express devices into receivers and DAC around the house. I don't consider Sonos to even be in the ballpark because of their overpriced Connect device that is needed to get a digital signal to higher end speakers (with actual published specs),
 
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