What’s happening in the app industry right now? 

In our app news roundup last week (you can find it here if you missed it) we touched on the importance of keeping on top of app industry news to help you ensure your new business app is as good as it can be. This week, two additional news stories have emerged which anyone planning to develop an app should know about so read on to get completely up-to-date…

YouTube Music to Replace Google Play Music App on Android Devices

The next edition of the Android operating system which has been simply named Android 10 since Google appears to have dropped the creative naming themes, will come pre-installed with the YouTube music app. This replaces Google’s unsuccessful Google Play Music app. While YouTube is undoubtedly a force to be reckoned with, the choice of YouTube music does raise a few doubts.

YouTube has an astounding 2 billion monthly active users with music one of its primary and most popular categories. Many of those 2 billion users will use the service for music on a regular basis. Yet despite this, the brand’s dedicated music streaming service has only managed to rack up 15million users as of Q2 this year (2019). That figure is less that 1% of the overall YouTube user base.

To put these figures into perspective, Spotify has over 223 million users and Apple Music over 60 million users. So, there is a significant difference in active users despite the benefit of the substantial YouTube advertising and regular user pool. Underperforming probably isn’t a strong enough word.

YouTube’s free version of its music app, much like YouTube itself, doesn’t allow for audio to continue streaming and playing while the app runs in the background if the mobile device is locked. This user experience bug bear is no doubt contributing to the slow up take and poor user numbers achieved so far which means it will be interesting to see if or how this changes with Android 10.

Apple launches its News+ Service in the UK for £9.99 a Month

Apple has launched its News+ service in the UK with over 150 news and magazine publications accessible digitally across your devices for £9.99 per month. The service has also launched in Australia.

Apple has teamed up with several publishers to bring News+ to life. It is being produced in partnership with The Times and Sunday Times and includes many popular UK titles. Examples include Esquire, Empire, Hello!, Cyclist and Grazia. UK subscribers will also get access to US publications such as The Wall Street Journal. In Australia, Apple is highlighting publications like The Australian, The Daily Telegraph, Herald Sun, The Courier Mail and The Advertiser.

The new subscription service is accessed through the Apple News app so naturally you’ll need an iPhone, iPad, or Mac to be able to sign up. The service is being referred to as Netflix for the news.