Apple Music’s Cheapest Plan Has Been Discontinued
It’s been a big week of change for Apple, which recently unveiled new chips and computers and rolled out its Apple Pay Later feature that had previously been in beta. Another big change is to Apple Music, because Apple has discontinued its cheapest tier: the Apple Music Voice Plan. The low-cost tier of Apple Music had previously allowed budget-conscious Apple Music subscribers to access the platform’s full catalog for $5 per month, without ads. The catch was right in the name: users could only play songs by using their voice, through Apple’s smart assistant — Siri.
In addition to being an affordable way to stream music, Apple Music Voice Plan was ideal for users who primarily used the app through HomePod — Apple’s voice-controlled smart speaker — as well as other Siri-enabled devices like Apple TV, Apple Watch, iPhone, and iPad. But SlashGear has noted several ways the plan was far inferior to higher-priced Apple Music tiers. Besides being limited to how you could control the app and select music, users were also unable to create custom playlists or even add songs to their libraries. Plus, songs were only available in standard quality, unlike other tiers which provided lossless and Dolby Atmos tracks. Siri could also struggle with songs and artists with unusual or hard-to-pronounce names.
With all these drawbacks, Apple Music Voice Plan may not be missed by many, though users might not be thrilled to have to switch to a more expensive tier. Subscribing to the plan has been discontinued as an option, and current subscriptions will likely be ended by Apple in the near future.