Apple launching new music streaming app alongside Apple Music

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Apple is launching a new music app, focused on classical recordings, hidden code appears to suggest.

The company announced more than a year ago that it was working on a new, separate, Apple Music Classical app. It said that it would arrive before the end of 2022, and has not mentioned the app since.

However, as that deadline approaches, references to the new app have been found in existing Apple code. New updates appear to reference “Apple Music Classical”.

It is not the first time that such references have shown up, with previous mentions of the app appearing in code for earlier versions of iOS as well as the Android version of Apple Music.

They suggest that Apple will launch the app soon.

Apple first announced the plan for a new music app in August of last year, when it bought Primephonic, a streaming service for classical music.

“Apple Music plans to launch a dedicated classical music app next year combining Primephonic’s classical user interface that fans have grown to love with more added features,” it said in a statement then.

In a separate announcement, at the same time, Primephonic said that it is “working on an amazing new classical music experience from Apple for early next year”, but that did not arrive on time.

Much remains unclear about the new app, such as whether it will require a separate and additional subscription.

Apple does offer the streaming of classical music through its existing Music app. But it is poorly organised and difficult to navigate when compared with devoted apps such as Primephonic.