Apple Promotes New Apple Music API Introduced in iOS 9.3 - MacRumors
Skip to Content

Apple Promotes New Apple Music API Introduced in iOS 9.3

by

With the launch of iOS 9.3, Apple introduced a new Apple Music API, which is today being promoted through Apple's Affiliate Program Newsletter. The Apple Music API gives developers the resources to expand Apple Music functionality in their apps, through the following features:

- Developers can see if a user is currently a member
- Developers can see which country the users account is based
- Developers can queue up the next song or songs based on a song ID for playback
- Developers can inspect playlists already in My Music or create a new playlists with a title and description (see App Store Review Guidelines for limitation)

The iOS 9.3 Apple Music API has already been built into several music-related apps, such as Shazam. The API is what enables Shazam and other music apps to do things like add songs to Apple Music playlists from directly within the Shazam app.

shazamapplemusic
As noted by MacStories, Apple has also launched a new Apple Music Best Practices webpage for app developers and expanded App Store Review Guidelines for Apple Music. According to Apple's guidelines, apps using the Apple Music API are subject to the following restrictions:

- Apps using the Apple Music API that trigger playback without explicit user action will be rejected
- Apps using the Apple Music API must expose and respect standard media controls such as "play," pause," and "skip"
- Apps using the Apple Music API may not require payment or otherwise monetize access to the Apple Music service (e.g. in-app purchase, advertising, requesting user info)

Apple's developer page on Apple Music also includes technical documentation on using the new Apple Music APIs, a link to the Apple Music Toolbox for finding embeddable widgets, and guidelines on how to refer to Apple Music and portray the Apple Music service within apps.

Tag: Apple Music Guide

Popular Stories

iOS 26

iOS 26.4 Adds Two New Features to CarPlay

Tuesday March 24, 2026 1:55 pm PDT by
iOS 26.4 was released today, and it includes a couple of new features for CarPlay: an Ambient Music widget and support for voice-based chatbot apps. To update your iPhone 11 or newer to iOS 26.4, open the Settings app and tap on General → Software Update. CarPlay will automatically offer the new features so long as the iPhone connected to your vehicle is running iOS 26.4 or later....
Read Full Article • 25 comments
Apple Business hero

Apple Unveils 'Apple Business' All-in-One Platform

Tuesday March 24, 2026 8:53 am PDT by
Apple today announced Apple Business, a new all-in-one platform that unifies device management, productivity tools, and customer outreach features. The service is designed to be a consolidated replacement for several of Apple's existing business-focused offerings, including Apple Business Essentials, Apple Business Manager, and Apple Business Connect. It provides organizations with a single...
Read Full Article • 46 comments
AirPods Pro Firmware Feature

Apple Releases New Firmware for AirPods Pro 3, AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods 4

Tuesday March 24, 2026 12:31 pm PDT by
Apple today released new firmware for the AirPods Pro 2, AirPods Pro 3, and the AirPods 4. The firmware has a version number of 8B39, up from 8B34 on the AirPods Pro 3, 8B28 on the AirPods Pro 2, and 8B21 on the AirPods 4. There is no word on what's included in the firmware, but Apple has a support document with limited notes. Most updates are limited to bug fixes and performance...
Read Full Article • 87 comments

Top Rated Comments

SpectatorHere Avatar
SpectatorHere
129 months ago
Apple's own music player is so god awful. Unintuitive, terrible UI...it's almost unusable. Itunes is
Would like to see them make a simple MP3 player that doesn't require a degree to use.
There current one is god awful. I don't, for the life of me, understand why they think it's close to ok. It's unintuitive, the UI sucks...half my music is now in the cloud for some reason and not natively on my phone (can't say if that's the app's fault). When advancing through a song it is very annoying to accidentally click the share button. It's soooo bad.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Saucesome2000 Avatar
Saucesome2000
129 months ago
Would like to see them make a simple MP3 player that doesn't require a degree to use.
I'm not trying to be a smartass, but am I missing something? Sure, there is room for improvement, but I use the music app daily and never had to "figure anything out". It's pretty cut and dry. Hell, I can now not even touch my phone and just say, "Hey Siri, play Deftones" from across the room.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
A
abrasbr
129 months ago
They need to add a notification system and add collaborative playlists
Any improvements with Connect?
I used these APIs inside my app and will release it next week. It's called SoundShare. It's a Social Music Network that allows every single Apple Music user to see and play what their friends are listening to, like their songs, add a comment, mention another friend, and of course, the most important feature, build collaborative playlists. But it won't stop there. SoundShare will also allow cross platform collaboration and interaction. Meaning that an Apple Music user can collaborate on a playlist with a Spotify user and a Deezer user. It's incredibly powerful.

It's so deeply integrated that you can simply replace the Apple Music app with SoundShare. You'll still have access to all your playlists, will be able to add songs to them, save songs to your library, plus all the benefits I described above.

Below are the two teasers for the app:

Apple Music User:
[MEDIA=vimeo]164294611[/MEDIA]

Spotify User:
[MEDIA=vimeo]164338765[/MEDIA]


Matt
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ericgtr12 Avatar
ericgtr12
129 months ago
I'm not trying to be a smartass, but am I missing something? Sure, there is room for improvement, but I use the music app daily and never had to "figure anything out". It's pretty cut and dry. Hell, I can now not even touch my phone and just say, "Hey Siri, play Deftones" from across the room.
Copying songs, playing songs from from my library without all the store integration, etc. Frankly, it's very convoluted and forces you to use a bunch of functions that are overkill for a basic player. Glad it's worked out so well for you but read through the boards here, on Apple and elsewhere, I'm not the only one with this complaint. I downloaded a simple player for $5 and it works like a charm without having to jump through a bunch of unnecessary hoops. IMO they've made this app useless for the average user.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
MacFrag Avatar
MacFrag
129 months ago
To much Apple Music/Radio clutter on my iPhone6s trying to play my own (paid) tracks.

I just want to play my own (payed) songs in Music app :mad:
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Juicy Box Avatar
Juicy Box
129 months ago
These people are just whiners.
It is sad that valid complaints get these responses.

I find myself using the music app less and less. I really don't like the new UI on it. I barely use it now that iTunes Radio is gone.


Why is the place button so tiny on the music app? It is impossible to press it quickly if you are moving.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Read All Comments