You've perhaps noticed a few bricks being removed from Apple's so-called walled garden—in other words, the apps and services that Apple runs are no longer available only on Apple hardware like iPhones, iPads, and Macs.
It's perhaps not a huge surprise at this point: As Apple looks to squeeze as much revenue as possible from these services, it knows that users are going to want to listen to their Apple Music playlists on Chromebooks, watch their Apple TV+ shows without buying an actual Apple TV, and so on.
While Apple devices still offer the best experience for Apple services, and not every Apple service can be accessed on non-Apple hardware, here's what you can do in terms of getting at these apps on devices not made by Apple. It's particularly handy if you're sharing Apple subscriptions with family members who aren't using Apple devices exclusively.
Apple's Spotify competitor had the honor of being the first Apple app to appear on Android, if you don't count a Beats companion app and an Android-to-iOS switcher. If you're an Apple Music subscriber and you have an Android device, you can install Apple Music for Android to get all that streaming goodness.
It's important to note, however, that you need to be an Apple Music subscriber: The app will show tracks you've bought from the iTunes Store and tracks you've imported into the Music app on macOS (or iTunes on Windows), but you can't run the app at all unless you're paying the $10-a-month subscription.
For now, the sprawling iTunes media player has morphed into a dedicated Music app on macOS, but it’s still available on Windows. That may change soon, but iTunes for Windows (or whatever ends up replacing it) remains the best way to get Apple Music on Windows. You can access all your imported and purchased tunes with or without an Apple Music subscription and add the streaming on top if you need to.
Apple Music on the web is also now available—it's a very useful option if you're trying to get at your playlists from a Chromebook or from a computer where you can't get at your music library from a desktop application. You don't get advanced features like offline syncing, but it's another way to access Apple Music from any computer, Mac or otherwise.
Speaking of Chromebooks, the Android app will run on these laptops if you need offline syncing and various other features. The app won't run on Android TV (or Google TV), but you can use the Android app to Chromecast your tunes over to any device with Android TV onboard. It's also worth mentioning that there's no native Apple Music app for Amazon Fire tablets or TV devices, though you can use Apple Music through Alexa.
The Apple TV app covers movies and shows you've bought from Apple (through the iTunes Store) and everything on the Apple TV+ streaming service. What's more, the app is different from the physical Apple TV, which remains perhaps the best way to get your Apple videos up on a big screen. It's a little confusing, but if you can run the app you can get at everything.
As with music, iTunes for Windows is the best way of getting at Apple TV on computers running Microsoft's operating system. iTunes has been replaced by dedicated Music and TV programs on macOS, which will eventually happen on Windows too—but Apple hasn't made the switch yet.
You can also get at Apple TV+ shows and movies—though not iTunes Store shows and movies—through your web browser, which is handy for both Windows and Chrome OS. If you head to the Apple TV+ website, then click Sign In, you should be able to access Ted Lasso, Greyhound, and everything else (assuming you're an active subscriber).
So far, Apple hasn't released an Apple TV app for Android, but you can use the Apple TV+ web interface inside your mobile browser. Based on our testing, it's not a great experience, but it works. In fact the web interface is pretty bare-bones no matter what device you're using (with clunky navigation options and no search tool), but it is technically an option.
You will also find a native Apple TV app if you search for it on your Roku, Amazon Fire TV, or Google TV device. There's no Android TV app, so you need a device with the Google TV interface on top—like the Chromecast with Google TV or a newer television set—to be able to enjoy everything that Apple TV+ has to offer. Chromecasting from another device isn't an option, as there's no Android app.
A growing number of smart TVs now either have a dedicated Apple TV app, support AirPlay streaming from a nearby Apple device, or both—Apple keeps an updated list of these smart TVs. If your set is on the list, you can watch Apple TV+ content and anything you've purchased from iTunes on your television without getting an Apple TV box or any other set-top box or dongle. If you're shopping for a new TV set, it might be worth checking that it has this functionality.
Your first port of call for using iCloud from Windows computers and Chromebooks should be iCloud on the web. Everything from your Apple inbox to online versions of Pages, Numbers, and Keynote is available, and you just need to sign in with your Apple credentials to get up and running.
If you're on Windows, you can also download and install the iCloud for Windows client, which will sync iCloud Drive files, photos, videos from Apple Photos, and more to your computer. What's more, you can also sync your iCloud passwords and your Safari bookmarks to Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge as well, if needed.
The integration isn't quite as tight as it is on macOS of course, but it does mean you can get images and videos from your Windows PC up into your iCloud locker, and transfer files in the other direction too. After the initial sign-in process, everything should work automatically in the background, and you can also get your Apple email and calendars set up in Outlook on Windows too if required.
Your Apple emails can actually be accessed from any email client you like, even Gmail. To set this up, you need the instructions Apple has provided here: They give you all the details you need to use into your email client of choice alongside Mail on Macs, iPhones, and iPads.
Despite the recent improvements that we've covered, you're not going to be able to get at every Apple service from any non-Apple device—at least, not yet. The Apple Arcade games subscription package, for example, is only supported on macOS, iOS, iPadOS, and tvOS, because it requires access to the Apple App Store. That's something you won't get on your Chromecast or Windows tablet.
Apple News is another service that's also locked into Apple devices, while Apple Fitness+ requires an Apple Watch to work properly—so unless you have one of the Apple smartwatches on your wrist, you can't sign up. This may change in the future, but for now, it's mostly the music and the movies that Apple is pushing on other devices.
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