A recent teardown of the Apple Music app on Android revealed that the iPhone-maker is working Chromecast support into its music streaming service.
As with all APK teardowns, it’s important to remember that uncovered features are often works-in-progress and may not be representative of the final product. Further, features may never see completion. With that said, let’s take a look.
Apple released Apple Music 2.8 at the beginning of the week with support for Chromebooks and a revamped ‘Browse’ tab that featured more editorial highlights. However, the company quickly released update 2.8.1 and 2.8.2 to fix a bug that caused the app to “unexpectedly close or fail after an upgrade for some users.”
9to5Google decompiled that latter APK, which rolled out on March 29th, and found four code strings related to Chromecast. These strings included two application IDs.
Developers receive these IDs when they register an application for Cast support with Google. Registering allows developers to add custom colours and branding on TV screens and smart displays. However, it’s odd that there are two different IDs.
This likely means users will be able to send music playing in the Android app to a Google Home speaker, smart display, Android TV or Chromecast. Further, depending on how Apple implements support, users should be able to control playback from Apple Music on their phone.
Earlier this year, Apple Music for Assistant briefly appeared in the Google Assistant settings page alongside YouTube Music, Google Play Music and Spotify. Google later removed Apple Music, noting the appearance was related to a software bug.
The upcoming Cast support could herald the future release of Assistant integration as well. While similar in purpose, the main difference between Cast support and Assistant integration is the latter doesn’t require the Apple Music app. Users can just ask Assistant to play a song from Apple Music.
Finally, version 2.8.2 of Apple Music does not include Cast support, just the beginnings of its integration. Users should expect that to come in a future release when Apple finishes it.
Source: 9to5Google
MobileSyrup may earn a commission from purchases made via our links, which helps fund the journalism we provide free on our website. These links do not influence our editorial content. Support us here.
