this is the best music service for iOS

Are you going for Spotify? Or do you choose Apple Music to enjoy some nice music during your workout or train journey? Both music services have expanded considerably in recent years. We pit the two music giants against each other in this Apple Music vs Spotify comparison.

Apple Music vs Spotify

To compare Apple Music and Spotify, we have compared the two music services on a number of points. We have considered, among other things, the range of music, the design and the costs of the subscription.

1. Music offer

Let’s start with the most important part: the music offering. Both services have a huge collection of music. New albums appear almost simultaneously and you can easily find music from well-known artists on both Apple Music and Spotify. It becomes different when you look for obscure music. Then you usually have better luck on Spotify than on Apple Music.

In most cases you can therefore assume that you will find the music you are looking for on both music services. Both Apple Music and Spotify have a huge bulk of songs that you will always find something to your liking. The offer will therefore make no difference for many people in making their choice.

2. Subscription Options

Of course you don’t want to spend too much money, so you will quickly see which music service is the cheapest. Spotify has the great advantage that there is a free version available. So nice to try it out. There are, however, a number of limitations to this. For example, it is not possible to save music offline.

Unfortunately, Apple Music doesn’t have a free version, but you often get one, two or three months for free if you haven’t been a member yet. The monthly prices of Spotify and Apple Music are the same. For 9.99 euros you can listen to unlimited music.

Both Spotify and Apple Music have multiple subscriptions. There is a cheaper subscription (4.99 euros) for students. If you want to use Spotify or Apple Music with your whole family, there are also special rates. Spotify Premium Family costs 14.99 euros per month and you can use six different accounts. The same applies to Apple Music: the family subscription is 14.99 euros for six people.

Spotify

• Free to use (limited)
• Students: 4.99 per month
• Individual: 9.99 per month
• Duo: 12.99 per month (2 persons)
• Spotify Family: 14.99 per month (6 people)

Apple Music

• Students: 4.99 per month
• Individual: 9.99 per month
• Family: 14.99 per month (6 people)

3. Sound Quality Apple Music vs Spotify

The sound quality of both music services is fine. With the free version of Spotify you get a slightly lower sound quality than with the paid version (160 versus 320 kbps). This is the maximum sound quality. Spotify can adjust the sound quality depending on the bandwidth. Apple Music will stream the highest possible quality over Wi-Fi, but opt ​​for a lower sound quality with mobile data by default.

Better sound quality for Apple Music

However, there is more. Since June, Apple Music has improved sound quality with the introduction of spatial audio with support for Dolby Atmos. Spatial audio gives you access to multidimensional sound.

This can be listened to with any headphones, but sometimes you have to turn the option on first in your iPhone’s Settings app. In addition, most music tracks are offered in Lossless audio. Music is then saved without compression and you get the highest possible quality.

Spotify HiFi is coming

Spotify also plans to offer music in very high quality. The music service calls this Spotify HiFi, but has still not released the function to date. According to the latest reports from Spotify, this should really happen later this year.

4. Design and Use

If you have an iPhone, the appearance of the Apple Music app fits perfectly with that. The app looks very tidy and ‘clean’. However, searching for songs or albums works just that little bit better in Spotify. When you have entered the name of an artist, you can immediately refine the results in Spotify with the buttons below the search window. You then quickly have a list with all the music tracks by the artist or a list with only the albums.

With Apple Music, this choice only appears in the search results themselves. This is not a problem with well-known artists, but when you search for lesser-known music, you sometimes don’t get the option.

Spotify opts for a strong contrast of the white-colored design of Apple Music. The music service is colored black with green, which makes the colored album covers stand out extra well.

5. Stream to speakers and wearables

Of course you also want to send music to, for example, your television, console or other players. Spotify is a lot more versatile in this regard. The music service often has its own app on equipment, while with Apple Music you have to have it from Airplay. New televisions often have support for this, but if you want to stream to an older device, it often becomes a bit more difficult with Apple Music.

Listen to music with Siri and Apple Watch

In the beginning, it was not possible to control Siri with Spotify. Today, both music services have full support for Siri. And do you have an Apple Watch? Like Apple Music, Spotify has its own Watch app. With both Spotify and Apple Music it is possible to store your music offline on the Watch. Then you don’t even have to carry your iPhone with you to enjoy your music.

6. (Personal) Playlists

Playlists allow you to create a collection of your favorite music. In both music services, you have more than enough options to do this. You also have the option to share a playlist with friends. It’s just a shame that your friends at Apple Music can’t add songs to a shared playlist. Because let’s face it, what could be more fun than making a playlist together during a party?

In Spotify, the different playlists are clearly arranged. For example, under the heading Charts you will see the weekly list or daily viral charts. This way you quickly have a nice playlist, if you don’t want to set up your own list. There are also plenty of playlists at Apple Music, but it sometimes takes you a little more time to find the right one. In addition, Spotify has more playlists shared by users.

Or YouTube Music

Spotify and Apple Music are the two best-known music services. However, don’t forget that you can also listen to music with YouTube Music. YouTube Music is free, but with advertising. However, if you take out a paid premium account, you have a number of useful advantages. Pay attention: YouTube also has a ‘Premium Lite’ subscription, but with that you only get YouTube without ads.

YouTube video and music without commercials

With a Premium account you will therefore no longer receive advertising breaks. In addition, you can play music in the background, so when the app is not active. You can also download music to your smartphone, so that you can also blare along with Bohemian Rhapsody offline.

Unfortunately, the music quality is not always good and the app feels a bit messy. On the other hand, the YouTube app is available on almost every device. Another advantage: you will no longer see any interruptions with videos.

Conclusion: Apple Music vs Spotify (or YouTube Music anyway)

Spotify and Apple Music are both great music services for listening to your favorite tunes. YouTube Music is nice if you watch a lot of YouTube videos, but the quality of the music service isn’t quite as good as the two competitors.

On YouTube Music you will find a lot of obscure music, such as music recordings of live concerts. It is always a (sometimes unpleasant) surprise what quality the recording has.

Which of the two?

Then the choice remains limited between Spotify and Apple Music. Apple Music has the advantage that you can listen to music with a higher sound quality. On the other hand, Spotify is better supported across devices and has more options for playlists.

So the differences are pretty minimal, but at the moment Spotify is just the better of the two. However, always keep an eye out for offers for one of the two services. You are of course free to switch regularly. You only have to take into account that you have to create your playlists in both music services, among other things.