Apple Music Classical was updated on the App Store today and extends the service's availability beyond iPhone and Android to bring it to iPads for the first time (via 9to5Mac). Apple released Apple Music Classical on the Google Play Store in March.
Version 1.1 of Apple's app includes an interface designed specifically for the larger iPad display, with a navigation sidebar and media playback controls along the bottom of the screen.
In 2021, Apple announced that it had purchased the classical music streaming service Primephonic and would be folding it into Apple Music via a new app dedicated to the genre. Apple launched Apple Music Classical in March, offering a standalone experience for discovering and listening to classical music.
The Apple Music Classical app offers Apple Music subscribers access to over five million classical music tracks, including new high-quality releases, in addition to hundreds of curated playlists, thousands of exclusive albums, and other features like composer bios and deep dives on key works.
The app offers a simpler interface for interacting with classical music specifically. Unlike the existing Apple Music app, Apple Music Classical allows users to search by composer, work, conductor, catalog number, and more. Users can get more detailed information from editorial notes and descriptions.
Apple commissioned high-resolution digital portraits of famous composers like Ludwig van Beethoven, Frédéric Chopin, and Johann Sebastian Bach for the app, using color palettes and artistic references from the relevant classical period, with more unique artwork to be added over time. Apple works with classical music artists and institutions to offer exclusive content and recordings.
