Apparently Apple has decided to bring in a lot of new features with the 14.5 update for iOS. Users can already use Apple Watch to unlock iPhone with Face ID while wearing a mask, as well as use controllers from next-generation consoles. But, in addition to this, users who have already installed the beta version have discovered another pleasant innovation: you can now choose a third-party music service by default, for cases when the user asks Siri to play music.
If you ask Siri to play a song on iOS 14.5, the user may be prompted to select the app they want to use to play it, as seen in the screenshot that was posted on Reddit.
iOS 14.5 Will Allow Siri to Set Default Third-Party Music Services
This is how the menu looks like, where it is proposed to choose one of the music services
The Verge reports that, in their case, the feature worked a little differently. In their case, there was no list of apps to choose from, as in the screenshot above. Instead, access to Spotify data was requested and permission was given. After that, song requests went through Spotify without any prompts.
Also, other Reddit users have reported some differences in the behavior of this feature, so Apple still needs to address some of the shortcomings before the public release of iOS 14.5. Since this feature is still in beta testing, it is possible that it could change or disappear altogether.
Since iOS 14, Apple has allowed users to set their email and browser clients by default, so the ability to do the same with music services looks quite natural and expected. Nevertheless, this innovation is a good step forward. Hopefully Apple will continue this trend and allow users to continue to choose third-party apps by default.