The new tier of its music streaming service went live in 17 countries on 14 December, as part of the iOS 15.2 software update.
Tag: Siri
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Apple continues opening up with new Siri music option
As the European Commission’s team goes quietly about its work probing Apple in a Spotify-sparked investigation, the tech giant is continuing the process of opening up its devices and software […]
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Spotify app now works with Siri voice assistant on Apple Watch
We haven’t heard that much about Spotify’s European anti-competition complaint against Apple for a while, despite rumblings last year about a potential investigation. However, there have been some moves by Apple to open up its ecosystem in ways that address some of the complaints that Spotify had.
One concerns access to its Siri voice assistant, which was opened up last autumn with ‘SiriKit’ as part of the iOS 13 software. Spotify has already taken advantage on some Apple devices, and yesterday that extended to its Apple Watch app too. Small steps, but encouraging ones for these bitter rivals.
In separate Spotify news, it looks like we’ll soon be seeing the launch of its ‘Follow Feed’ feature in Spotify’s mobile app. First spotted in late February, it’s an in-app news feed of “new releases from artists you follow and more”.
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Even after Siri integration, Spotify jabs at Apple again
This week, Spotify launched an Apple TV app as well as integrating with Apple’s Siri voice assistant on iPhone, which you might think represented a rapprochement of sorts between the […]
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Spotify finally gets an Apple TV app and Siri integration
Big news from Spotify’s drive to be on as many devices as possible: it’s now available on… Armani smartwatches! Okay, that’s not *the* big news from Spotify’s drive. Yesterday saw […]
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Spotify reportedly in talks with Apple over Siri support
The Siri voice assistant is one of the points of contention in Spotify’s anticompetition complaint against Apple: “‘Siri, can you play that awesome Spotify playlist?’ Siri says no,” as Spotify’s […]
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Report: Apple is opening up Siri to other music services
One of the music-related antitrust complaints about Apple concerns how open (or not) its Siri voice-assistant is to streaming services that aren’t Apple Music. “Apple won’t allow us to be […]
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Google Assistant tops VC firm’s voice-assistant ‘IQ’ test
Mirror mirror on the wall, which is the smartest smart-speaker of them all? This is no fairytale: it’s a study by venture-capital firm Loup Ventures of the relative ‘IQs’ of the main voice assistants: Google Assistant, Apple’s Siri, Amazon’s Alexa and Microsoft’s Cortana.
And as it turns out, that’s the order its study ranks the assistants in, based on asking them the same 800 questions. The assistants were rated on whether they understood the questions first of all, and then on whether they delivered a “correct response”.
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Apple HomePod keeps Siri voice commands for Apple Music
Business Insider has chosen its words carefully in an article about Apple’s new smart speaker: ‘Spotify won’t work with Siri on Apple’s HomePod’.
It’s sparked by a message published by Apple for app developers about the SiriKit tools for HomePod: “With the intelligence of Siri, users control HomePod through natural voice interaction. And with SiriKit, users can access iOS apps for Messaging, Lists, and Notes.”
Which is to say that these are the only categories of apps that will be able to use the HomePod speaker’s voice-control features. That doesn’t mean that the device won’t be able to play music from non-Apple streaming services (like Spotify) – their iOS apps will be able to use it as an external speaker by using Apple’s AirPlay feature.
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Report claims 35.6m Americans will use smart speakers in 2017
Smart speakers like Amazon Echo speaker and its Alexa assistant have been getting plenty of music-industry people excited about its potential to provide new ways to discover and listen to music.
With the launch of Google Home (with its Google Assistant tool); with Sonos pivoting its business to focus more on voice controls; and with rumours that Apple and Spotify are getting ready to enter the market, there’s plenty of activity here.
But how popular are these smart, voice-enabled speakers already? Research firm eMarketer is putting out a report today that puts some numbers to the trend, albeit focused purely on the US.
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Apple reportedly not building Echo-style ‘Siri machine’
The tech and media industries have always been full of people with firm ideas about what Apple should build next, from smart TVs to VR headsets.
And now smart speakers, thanks to the popularity of Amazon’s Echo and its Alexa assistant. But after several rumours in the last year that Apple might make its own Echo, Time has booted that speculation into the long grass.
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Siri won’t answer chart questions without Apple Music
We’re finding it hard to get outraged about the fact that Apple’s Siri software won’t tell you who’s in the charts unless you’re an Apple Music subscriber – but it’s an interesting glimpse at the company’s marketing strategy.
Former Pandora CTO Tom Conrad discovered the issue, tweeting a screenshot of the response to his question about what the most popular song in the US is today.