Now that apple has announced that apple music api is available, are there any plans for apple music integration into Roon as a new service
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I donāt think Roon integration is possible at this point.
Appleās FAQ states the MusicKit API is iOS only which I interpret as the playback of Apple Music will only be possible in other iOS apps (Roon Remote does not count).
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Hi,
I just read that Apple Music has got a new Web-API (still in beta) so it can be used with any browser.
Does this open the door to integrate it into ROON?
I know that AM is still ACC (so not lossless) but I expect that this will change to ALAC in the not so far future.
Cheers,
Chris
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No, Roon insists on full integration which is much more intimate than using the API.
Qobuz had a web api for years and that did not make it come to Roon any quicker. Apple will only care for a large market penetration and chosen their bed partner to achieve this with Sonos. Which is hardly surprising they are the market leader and appeals to the same demographic as Apples products.
Too bad, Apple Music is by far the most comprehensive streaming catalog. And their UI is weak. Apple Music catalog + Roon interface would be a dream come true.
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Absolutely, but with their market penetration they can afford to be less than perfect, and insist on total control of their product. I think the issue they, and Spotify had with Roon is that it effectively anonymises the provider. The crown in their jewel is the breadth and depth of their catalogue, but naturally they want to wrap that in their brand.
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Have to agree my DānāB brethren. Iām not sure if this is a stupid question, but what does a lack of āfull integrationā mean? What would we miss out on?
You wouldnāt get the Roon treatment. The presentation wrapped in the Roon UI, with the additional information that is identical to that which Roon provides with your personal rips and files. Roon makes the rips and downloads vs. streaming seamless. Breaking out into someone elseās API would disrupt that and make the experience multi-tiered.
From my understanding of it the API is just a user library metadata API, and not even a music playback API.
You can integrate playback via additional library components for iOS and Android (but I think these components are basically embeddable players) and I think there is an API to embed an apple music player in a web page also.
None of these APIs are of any use in a Roon type scenario for integrating a new music source into Roon. Maybe access to a playlist, but that is only useful if the entries can be mapped to another music source that Roon does have access to (ie can find the same on your NAS/Qobuz or Tidal).
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Thanks, that makes a lot of sense.
The announcement was for a new beta Apple Music web app. I havenāt read anything with regards to a new API.
I downloaded a bought Album with Apple Music and saved in in iTunes as a ALAC file (same as FLAC). Quit surprised about the audio quality. Did a side by side comparison with the CD rip to FLAC version.
Anyone some comments or input
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Maybe itās just me, but I will take āpartial integrationā over āno integrationā any day.
I just use Apple Music for exploratory/casual listening.
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All I want is to be able to play Apple Music files which I have already added via Apple Music App to my local library and playlists. These (DRM protected) music files and Apple Music playlists referencing those files end up automatically on my NAS and theoretically would be imported in Roon (if only Roon could play them, currently they are just skipped and do not show in playlists).
So when I use Roon to play my local music / playlists with the Apple Music songs, those should still be playable.
So I guess this basically means that Roon ājustā needs to support the DRM and player part from Apple Music. I absolutely do not care to discover/add Apple Music songs from Roon UI. I would always do that from my iPhone or Apple Music App.
Any technical reason why this is not possible with the new Apple Music Web-API?
Cheers,
Chris
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Is Apple Music on any other platform other than their own?
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They are protected for a reason nothing Roon can do about it. Apple Music is Apple Music like all things Apple is locked down to their eco system apart from Sonos, where you canāt download files. Are these files you have bought or just part of the Apple Music sub?
Sonos but you can only stream
The files are Apple Music files. Files you buy from Apple do not have any DRM.
So why canāt they be played in Roon? Or is it just playlists Roon wonāt play?