Apple Music’s $5 ‘Voice Plan’, which let you use Siri to play and find new music, has been scrapped after just two years.
According to 9to5Mac, code in iOS 17.1 beta alluded to the service disappearing back in September. Now though, any mention of it has been removed from Apple’s website as recently as this week, and when you try to sign up to Apple Music, the plan is nowhere to be found.
It was a useful plan when it debuted in October 2021, especially for those with accessibility needs, and cheap too. Yet Apple’s smart assistant doesn’t have the greatest reputation for being fast, or reliable. There was also a lack of basic features that made the experience frustrating to use.
Was Siri to blame for the plan disappearing? - iMore’s take
While the loss of this plan may be disappointing to many, the fact that you had to exclusively use Siri would have taken some convincing. We’ve all been in a situation where it’s failed to tell what we’re asking, or it refuses to do basic functions, such as failing to tell me a band who was number 1 in the charts back in 1997. There were also some features that are available on other plans.
With this being the cheapest plan of Apple Music, you didn’t get access to Lossless and Spatial Audio tracks, which gives a 3D audio effect for accessories that support it, such as the AirPods Pro.
You also couldn’t use the lyrics feature, where you could turn your iPhone into a mobile karaoke machine. There was also a lack of access to the thousands of music videos or Apple Music Classical. This was the most basic of basic plans. So much so, that your hands were also lacking in order to use the service.
So now, you have three options to choose from with your Apple Music subscription. Sign up for the standard $10.99 plan, or if you’re a student, you can pay $5.99 a month. There’s also a family plan for $16.99 where six users can use the same account, and have all the benefits that Apple Music offers.
However, perhaps the main benefit is that you won’t have to use Siri anymore, and that will be a relief to many.
