Here’s what’s going on with Apple Music and Google Home (GOOG, GOOGL, AAPL)
- Earlier on Wednesday, Business Insider reported that Apple Music was coming to Google Home smart speakers — an integration that had been revealed by a “bug” in the rollout of a new feature in the Google Home app for smartphones.
- However, later on Wednesday, Business Insider learned that this was a misunderstanding, and that the “bug” in question does not mean that Apple Music is imminently coming to Google Home, as originally reported.
- A person familiar with the matter told us that Google Assistant and Google Home apps share various settings for music services, and due to a bug, the Apple Music setting was opened up more broadly than intended, making it visible to Google Home users.
- For Apple, bringing its music streaming service to Google Home devices would make sense, as the company appears to be doubling down on its service offerings, like music, video, and news streaming.
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story contained inaccurate claims that a future integration between Apple Music and Google Home was imminent, and had been spoiled by a software glitch. We have since learned that the glitch in question hinged on existing features, and doesn’t mean that an Apple Music integration is coming. A corrected version of the story is below.
Earlier on Wednesday, Business Insider reported that Apple Music was coming to Google Home smart speakers — an integration that had been revealed by a “bug” in the rollout of a new feature in the Google Home app for smartphones.
However, later on Wednesday, Business Insider learned that this was a misunderstanding, and that the “bug” in question does not mean that Apple Music is imminently coming to Google Home, as originally reported.
Today, users can already use Google Assistant to help pull up songs in Apple Music. A person familiar with the matter told us that Google Assistant and Google Home apps share various settings for music services, and due to a bug, the Apple Music setting was opened up more broadly than intended, making it visible to Google Home users.
It is still unclear what was being rolled out by Google that would have caused this “bug” in the first place.
MacRumors first discovered on Monday that Google Home users were able to see Apple Music as a pairing option. The option seemed strange, however, given that there was no formal announcement by either company.
By Tuesday afternoon, Apple Music was no longer available within the Google Home app, and the mix-up reportedly had to do with a "software bug." At the time, it was not immediately clear how a bug would have resulted in the Apple Music name and logo showing up in the Google Home app.
Read more: It looked like Apple Music was coming to Google Home speakers, but Google says it was only a glitch
For Apple, bringing its music streaming service to Google Home devices would make sense. As iPhone sales have tapered off, the company's focus may need to shift towards new product innovation and on doubling down on service offerings like music, video, and news streaming.
Last December, Apple announced a deal with Amazon, making Apple Music available on smart speakers with Amazon's Alexa voice assistant built in. Apple Music is also available on the company's own HomePod smart speaker, which doesn't support any other music streaming service apart from its own.
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