Apple Music Classical for iOS and iPadOS has been updated with some new features, including curated stations and listening guides that are synchronized to the timings of popular classical works.
Users of Apple Music Classical will be familiar with how the app provides a lot of information about pieces of music, such as including thousands of album booklets for users to read. In Tuesday’s app update, the app is offering more ways to enjoy the well-known compositions.
The release notes for version 2.2 of Apple Music Classical in the App Store states that users can “dive deeper with time-synced listening guides,” which are being offered for more than 150 popular works. By being time-synchronized, users can read the guides in time to the relevant parts of the works themselves.
This will include highlights of details and explanations of the work in real-time, such as the drama of a concerto or instrument identification, depending on the musical phase being played. This will take the form of text appearing onscreen as users listen.
At launch, the listening guide will be available in English, French, German, Japanese, Korean, and Simplified Chinese, with more to be added in the future.
The same update also brings with it some elements from the main Apple Music app. Now, Apple Music Classical will offer curated Editorial Stations, collecting together works on a theme that users can fill their day with.
These will be compiled by Apple Music Classical’s editors, and will cover topics such as music arranged by instrument, composer, genre, and period.
A change to the Home screen adds in personalized recommendations, which will update daily with new suggestions for what the user could listen to, based on their previous choices.
“The features in this update are the most significant additions to Apple Music Classical since launch,” said Apple Music Classical Global Director Anjali Malhotra. “They each turn a normal listening experience into a wonderful journey that enhances the listener’s experience, catering to curiosity and creating new interactive ways to learn about favorite pieces of music.”
Apple Music Classical is a free app for Apple Music subscribers, geared towards listening to classical music. The app differs from Apple Music by providing easier access to albums and tracks in its catalog of over 5 million classical music pieces.
Earlier in March, Apple Music Classical expanded to the browser, allowing subscribers to listen without needing to use an app. The browser version at least brings Apple Music Classical to the Mac, albeit not through an actual native app.
This story originally appeared on Appleinsider
