Last Updated on 30/08/2019 by TDH Publishing (A)
While Apple Music might not be the most popular music streaming service on Android, the latest beta upgrade adds Chromecast support for streaming playlists, radio stations, and more.
Apple seems to be playing great with Android in this update, having just added a dedicated dark mode for the Android version of the music-streaming app in the previous beta release. While having a dedicated dark mode is nice, being able to stream desired collections to Google Home, Nest Hub, and Chromecast devices is arguably a much more notable inclusion (via Android Police).
As with all apps that provide Chromecast support, users don’t need to explicitly do anything to trigger it. The cast icon will pop up in the app and on your now playing screen if there’s a compatible Chromecast (or Chromecast built-in, Google Home, Assistant speaker) on the same network as your phone. Users can choose which unit they want to play their audio on just by tapping it, and it will seamlessly transfer over. They can still control playback from their phones.
The second addition in this beta is the radio stations sourced from TuneIn, Radio.com, and iHeartRadio. Simply search for a channel’s name or frequency and users will be able to find it.
The best thing about apps is that we don’t need to do anything to stream to our Google Home devices. The cast icon will usually just appear in the upper right of the app when we are connected to the same Wi-Fi network as a Chromecast-compatible speaker or TV. Users can just tap and choose which device they wish to stream to, and the speaker or device will take over.
Once connected, we can control all our Apple Music playlists simply from our phones, or using voice commands that utilize the Google Assistant. It’s all simple and intuitive enough for even technophobes to grasp. The ease of use is one of the core reasons to consider a Chromecast if you haven’t done so before.
Chromecast support isn’t the prime thing added in this latest Apple Music for Android beta upgrade. Over 100,000 radio stations have been added. All of these stations have been sourced from TuneIn, Radio.com, and iHeartRadio, which means users don’t need a separate radio app to enjoy live broadcasts.
It’s still unclear when this support will roll out to the full version of the app, but it is expected to come pretty soon.
