How to set a preferred music app on iPhone using Siri

Although there are plenty of music apps available on iOS, Apple never let users choose a preferred music service while requesting playback via Siri. Of course, you could manually play music using your app of choice. However, if you were to ask Siri to play a track, it would only use Apple Music. Thankfully, Apple has changed this since the release of iOS 14.5. You can now set your preferred music app while using Siri.

In this post, we’re going to show you how to set preferred music streaming service on iPhone when requesting music via Siri.

Also see: How to change the default music service on HomePod

Set your preferred music app on iPhone

Prior to the release of iOS 14.5 for iPhone, users had to specifically mention the app they want to use while streaming music. For example, you had to say ‘Hey Siri, play this track on YouTube Music/Spotify’. If you simply asked Siri to play a song, it would stream it via Apple Music.

With iOS 14.5, Apple finally added the ability to choose a default music streaming app in Siri. Now, if you request a track on Siri, it’ll play the song via your preferred music service. Here’s how to set a preferred music streaming service on Siri.

1) Launch Siri on your iPhone and ask it play a track or songs from an artist.

2) Siri should now pop the question ‘Which app would you like to use’ with a list of all the Music streaming apps installed on your device.

3) Choose your preferred app, say Spotify or YouTube Music, and confirm your choice.

Siri may also ask access to the app so it can stream music without interruptions. Next time you request a song via Siri, it will use your selected app to play the song.

Wrapping up

Apple did all of us a favor by letting us choose our favorite music streaming service. Apple Music is excellent, but some prefer Spotify or YouTube Music. With this new addition in iOS 14.5, you can have all your songs streamed via your favorite app when requested via Siri.