Apple’s classical music app adds an iPad version

One of the biggest limitations of Apple’s long-awaited classical music app—namely, the fact that it was only available for iPhone and Android—has been fixed (well, at least partially), with an iPad version of Apple Music Classical now available on the Apple app store. 

You can download the Apple Music Classical update now, and it offers what iPad-wielding classical music lovers have long been asking for: a version of the app that’s formatted for larger iPad displays. 

While you could previously install the iOS version of the Classical app on an iPad, the interface was only formatted for smaller iPhone screens, making for an annoyingly cramped experience on Apple tablets. 

This news story is part of TechHive’s in-depth coverage of the best streaming music services.

With the roomier interface, the Classical app on iPad delivers larger cover art, greatly improved browsing, and (if you wish) a persistent sidebar with tabs for Albums, Tracks, Artists, Works, Composers, and search. 

Besides the new made-for-iPad interface, version 1.1 of Apple Music Classical appears unchanged from the previous version, which means most of my gripes about the app—including the inability to download, queue, or autoplay tracks, works, and albums–are still there. 

We’re also still waiting for Apple Music Classical to add native support for HomePod, tvOS, and CarPlay, although there is a version for Android devices. 

Available free for Apple Music subscribers, Apple Music Classical arrived back in late March, offering classical music afficionados a better way to find, browse for, and otherwise enjoy classical tracks on Apple Music. 

A product of Apple’s 2021 acquisition of the Primephonic classical music streaming service, Apple Music Classical organizes classical tracks using more granular metadata that’s been tailored for the classical genre—so, rather than just the usual artist, album, track, and genre fields, you can also browse recordings, words, and composers. 

Apple Music Classical supports lossless and high-resolution music tracks (all the way up to 24-bit/192kHz in some cases), as well as Dolby Atmos.  

Our reviewer called Apple Music Classical “the best available source of streaming classical music,” praising its “outstanding” curation, particularly when it comes to playlists geared toward beginners.