When it comes to music streaming, Apple Music is my weapon of choice. Cheaper than Spotify, it features a much nicer interface and, most importantly, provides greatly improved audio quality with access to Dolby Atmos.
That's why I've stuck with it for more than 12 months now, despite being a serial switcher of streaming services. Overall, I have very few complaints as I find the service is constantly improving; there is one feature, however, that I wish Apple would borrow from Spotify.
Now, I should preface all this by saying that I am deep into the Apple ecosystem. I have an iPhone, iPad, Apple TV 4K and an Apple Watch, and generally speaking, I'm a huge fan of how everything is interconnected.
That being said, I feel as though I am hitting a roadblock when it comes to controlling my music on multiple devices. For example, I often use my iPad or Apple TV 4K to stream music, but sometimes I need to skip or pause the track, often when I'm busy doing something else.
This is where I often think of whipping my phone out to pause, or tapping my watch to skip to the next track instead of rummaging around for my Apple TV remote – only then to remember that Apple Music doesn't sync playback across all my devices.
In times like this, I am reminded why Spotify Connect is truly one of the best music streaming features around.
The synced cross-platform playback that shows universal media controls on the Spotify app, regardless of which device you're streaming on, is something I wish every music streaming app had, especially Apple Music.
The ability to play music on my streaming device, wireless speaker or even my PlayStation 5 and pause, skip or adjust the volume using my phone makes things so simple and easy.
Considering Apple puts such an emphasis on its connected ecosystem, I'm surprised that AirPlay hasn't seen progression similar to Spotify Connect. Admittedly, it is capable of streaming video, which is a huge bonus, but controlling AirPlay still feels a bit clunky compared to the slick and cohesive experience of swapping tracks on Spotify Connect.
Apple Music is set to get a handful of upgrades with the upcoming iOS 26 update coming to iPhones and iPads very soon, but no such feature was mentioned at WWDC earlier this year.
Spotify still remains on the back foot due to the lack of high-resolution music streaming, but when it comes to a slick wireless streaming experience, it takes the upper hand compared with Apple Music.
MORE:
Read our full Apple Music review
And check out our picks for the best music streaming services
As well as our list of the best wireless speakers
