Apple’s iOS 14.5 beta lets you set third-party music apps as default player for Siri

Apple’s iOS 14.5 beta enabled users to unlock their iPhones with Face ID with a mask on (provided they are wearing an Apple Watch). Almost a week has passed and a number of users using the beta have discovered another change that arrived with the update.

When users ask Siri to play a track, Siri will now ask you which app you want to play it on. In addition, you can Siri to always play queries to a third-party app that you set as the default. This was never possible on iOS before, and it was part of the reason that Apple Music competitors (like Spotify) were upset about Apple prioritizing its own services above third-party ones.

The feature is still in beta, so users on Reddit are reporting that the feature is occasionally being buggy. Users are also reporting that CarPlay will also ask which app to use. Some are noticing that the app will play a specified track on Spotify and prompt for permission to access data from Spotify, but when saying “play some music” Siri defaults to Apple Music.

There’s no menu option to access the feature, some are being asked to choose an app and other times Siri defaults to Apple Music. Some users have even reported that Siri defaulted to Spotify after asking them just one time, even with Apple Music installed and an active account.

With iOS 14, Apple began offering users to select default third-party mail and browser apps. These changes appear to be a result of Apple’s anti-trust investigations that sparked over the last couple of years. Apple was accused of using its App Store rules and fees to monopolize Apple Apps and services over those from third parties to its user base.

Source • Via