One of the biggest limitations of Apple’s long-awaited classical music app (namely the fact that it was only available for iPhone and Android) has been solved (well, at least partially), now that an iPad version of Apple Music Classical is available on the Apple app store.
You can download the Apple Music Classical update now, and it brings what classical music lovers have long been asking for: a version of the app formatted for larger iPad screens.
While you could previously install the iOS version of the Classical app on an iPad, the interface was only formatted for smaller iPhone screens, making for an annoyingly cramped experience on Apple tablets.
With the roomier interface, the Classical app on iPad offers larger album art, significantly improved browsing, and (if you wish) a persistent sidebar with tabs for albums, songs, artists, works, composers, and search.
In addition to the new made-for-iPad interface, version 1.1 of Apple Music Classical appears unchanged from the previous version, which means most of my complaints about the app (including the inability to download songs, works and albums, queue post or play automatically). are still there.
We’re also still waiting for Apple Music Classical to add native support for HomePod, tvOS, and CarPlay, though there is a version for Android devices.
Available free to Apple Music subscribers, Apple Music Classical returned in late March, giving classical music lovers a better way to find, search for, and otherwise enjoy classic songs on Apple Music.
Apple Music Classical, a product of Apple’s 2021 acquisition of the Primephonic classical music streaming service, organizes classical songs using more detailed metadata tailored to the classical genre. So instead of just the usual artist, album, track and genre fields, you can also browse recordings, words and composers.
Apple Music Classical supports lossless and high-resolution songs (up to 24-bit/192 kHz in some cases), as well as Dolby Atmos.
Our reviewer called Apple Music Classical “the best available source for streaming classical music” and praised its “excellent” curation, especially when it comes to playlists aimed at beginners.
