Good news – choosing Siri's default music player is back on the iOS 14.5 menu

Apple brings back one of the best features of iOS 14.5
(Image credit: Spotify)

Three weeks ago we told you how a new Siri setting in iOS 14.5 beta gave users the option to ditch Apple Music in favour of their preferred music streaming service. Apple later disabled the feature but, good news, it seems to have risen phoenix-like from the ashes (via 9to5Mac).

The newly-released third version of iOS 14.5 beta – available to software developers only – once again allows users to set the default music player used for Siri commands, just as HomePod users can.

So, the first time you ask Siri to play a song, you're  given the option to select a third-party default music service. That's excellent news for Apple fans who are wedded to the likes of Spotify, Amazon Music, Deezer, Pandora, YouTube Music and others.

Just as it did three weeks ago, Siri will default to your chosen music-streaming service thereafter. In essence the feature means you can say, "Hey Siri, play song X by band X" – without having to add "...on Spotify" each time.

So why the change of heart? Back in early February, when Apple debuted the feature, several developers noted that it had a tendency to revert back to Apple Music. It's possible Apple disabled the feature in order to fix a few bugs.

The California-based tech giant is set to roll out iOS 14.5 to the public later this month. The new operating system's said to bring a slew of upgrades, including the ability to unlock your iPhone using an Apple Watch when wearing a mask, and the ability to use the latest PlayStation 5 DualSense and Xbox Series X controllers with the iPhone/iPad.

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