Two months after arriving on iPhones, Apple Music Classical has landed on Android devices, giving non-Apple customers a taste of high culture at 192kHz.
That gives it parity with the iOS version, with access to more than five million classical tracks without adverts — just as the composers intended.
While you can find classical music on other streaming platforms, Apple Music Classical sets itself apart via its specialised search engine. This allows you to search for recordings based on the conductor, composer, work or even catalogue number.
If that sounds a bit intense, Apple also provides more than 700 playlists to let would-be classical music enthusiasts listen to without pre-existing expertise.
Curiously, Apple Music Classical’s arrival on Android queue jumps other Apple platforms. At the time of writing, there was still no Apple Music Classical on iPad or Mac. That likely doesn’t spell a newfound friendliness towards Android, however, and is more likely down to convenience.
Apple Music Classical started out life as Primephonic — an app that was available on both iOS and Android. When Apple bought the company in 2021, it shut down the app within weeks, before it re-emerged as Apple Music Classical this year. In other words, you could see this as the return of Primephonic on Android, rather than first dibs on Apple Music Classical.
While it’s a separate app to Apple Music — which is also available on Android — it requires the same £10.99 per month subscription to run.
This is cheaper if you’re a student or share a family plan. However, the excellent value Apple One bundle is of less use to Android diehards, given the bundled Apple Arcade is redundant without an iPhone, iPad, Mac or Apple TV.
You can download Apple Music Classical for Android here, assuming your device is compatible. It apparently requires Android 9 or later — an OS that arrived in 2018.
