I have been actively using Apple Music for several years – almost from the very launch of the service, both on iPhone and Mac. There is not much to tell, everything is completely satisfied so far, but sometimes, for the sake of variety, I tried alternatives from other eminent developers. Spotify somehow didn’t suit me, although the sound quality there is interesting, YouTube Music is quite specific, but I’ve been eyeing Yandex.Music for a long time. The transition was delayed for a very long time, mostly just hands did not reach. Now, perhaps, the most ideal time has come. And I did it.
Well, I quietly migrated to Yandex.Music. It took about half an hour. I transferred my favorite playlists through the official tool and, since I have Yandex.Station Mini 2, listening to music has become even more convenient. What are your impressions after Apple Music? How are things going with Yandex.Music in 2022? Now I will answer everything.
- To the point: Where to listen to music. Comparison of streaming services by features and prices
Interface: strange and has flaws that are very annoying
For a long time in the past, I tried to establish relations with Yandex.Music, but the weak and ill-conceived interface was too annoying, so I soon returned to Apple Music. For although a short, but acquaintance, I managed to accumulate some experience, and it is sad to realize that since that moment the Russian service has not changed globally. The opinion about the design remains the same – the company definitely needs to reconsider the accents and redesign. Yandex.Music looks too minimalistic, so much so that minimalism does not flaunt dignity, but rather plays a cruel joke.
The first thing I want to pay special attention to is “My Wave”. I’m not going to deny the usefulness of the function and the deep insight of its algorithms. It really works flawlessly, at least for me. The last time I found more than a dozen interesting tracks that are really comparable to my tastes. Happy to add them to my playlists. I want to scold you for pulling the “blanket” over yourself and deliberately imposing it, because “My wave” literally occupies the entire main screen. I categorically do not understand why it rises above the interface in an absolute sense. The fact is that Yandex.Music mostly has excellent music selections by genre/mood/weather – now they are overshadowed by My Wave and remain in the background. In the end, the unbearable huge button irritates me corny. Can’t you find a balance?
The next complaint is the general illogicality of the interface. The navigation bar includes Podcasts & Books and Kids tabs. I don’t listen to podcasts at all, I’m not interested in books, and I don’t have kids – why would I? You can only remove the children’s section. And yet, when did kid-friendly content on a music service take up an entire tab? It seems to me that in this case the priority is inappropriate at all. In fact, there are two main tabs: recommendations from editors, where “My Wave” is completely an eyesore, and your own collection. The search button also takes out the location on top – probably the most inconvenient place, like in YouTube Music. In Apple Music, Spotify and VK Music, the search is highlighted in a separate tab below, I think the solution is the most correct. By the way, earlier Yandex.Music also had a search from below (!), why it was moved is completely incomprehensible.
I also noticed a bunch of various flaws that annoy me specifically:
- the profile is duplicated on the main screen and in the library tab;
- on iOS, a large “Subscribe Plus” advert displays on the profile even when the subscription is subscribed;
- the application settings button is not obvious and for some reason placed in the collection, it would be more logical to see it on the main screen;
- you cannot edit and sort the list of sections in the library tab;
- you can not remove a song from the playlist you are listening to from the player menu;
- there is no internal search in playlists, you have to search manually;
- when adding a song to the playlist, no notification is shown;
- when re-adding a song to the playlist, there is no warning.
Cool tricks: what makes Yandex.Music good against the background of foreign services
Despite problems with the interface, on the functional side, Yandex.Music, on the contrary, is well developed. For those who like to fall asleep to calm music or sounds of nature, the application offers a built-in sleep timer that allows you to set the shutdown after a certain time. Instead of static covers, when playing music, a part of the clip can be shown in video format – the background of the player comes to life and becomes animated, which is generally unusual. If you search for the artist’s name using the Yandex.Music recognition technology, the track will appear in the special “Recognized” album. Similarly with music, including from movies and TV shows: Kinopoisk on a computer and TV itself recognizes it, from there it is also possible to add it to a similar album.
In conjunction with Yandex smart speakers, the real magic of the ecosystem is revealed, like Apple. Turn on the music with the help of Alice at the Station, and then go to the application on your smartphone, you will see the name of the song and its artist on the screen. Moreover, the developers have implemented the ability to control playback and speaker volume remotely from a smartphone. Pairing mode is activated invisibly in the background within the same Wi-Fi network, you don’t need to do anything (the only thing is, don’t forget to turn on the “Music continues” item in the settings). And the best part is that no Bluetooth connection is required. AirPlay support here, by the way, is available.
After Apple Music, it is unusual that the Yandex.Music mini-player does not have a button to switch to the next song. I don’t think I’m the only one who’s had trouble. Here’s a little life hack for you: rewinding between tracks works by gesture. Just swipe right or left on the mini-player and playback will go forward or backward.
Not a trifle and super pleasant: I buy music, I get a bunch of cashbacks
By purchasing a subscription to Yandex.Music, at the same time you become the owner of many bonuses from Yandex. Plus is the key and coolest trump card in the context of a music service. At your disposal is adored music and additional benefits: a huge database of films and exclusives in Kinopoisk, free delivery of goods on the Market, +10 GB of disk space, cashback with points up to 20% in the company’s services.
For example, the same points can be used to cover the cost of a subscription, pay for taxi rides, buy movies, or anything else in the popular Yandex marketplace. Payment in the amount of 100% points is supported. In addition, the increase in memory in the cloud will certainly not be superfluous.
Strength is in profit and, you see, here Yandex lures in a big way.
The result – I did not regret at all, definitely not worse than competitors
Apart from personal accusations, Yandex.Music in no way lags behind its competitors, an objective fact. More than 40 million tracks, excellent adaptation to the Russian market, light and dark themes, web version for PC, offline listening, high sound quality, competent algorithms – the service is able to provide the classic music lover with modern functions.
Of course, compared to Apple Music (Apple guidelines) and Spotify (corporate identity, fonts), Yandex.Music on iPhone looks like a child’s craft. The mediocre appearance for me, as an avid perfectionist, is a serious minus – many others will probably not pay such close attention. But, in fairness, it does not interfere with comfortable listening to music. I hope the Yandex.Music designers will come up with options for how to radically improve the interface in order to radically change the current look. If you are wondering why I didn’t switch to Spotify, then the answer is simple – I didn’t experience euphoria, because of some features I didn’t like the service, it’s difficult to perceive and the algorithms didn’t take into account preferences.
Given the unavailability of the usual payment on Google Play, the App Store in modern realities and the temporary shutdown of Spotify Premium in Russia, Yandex.Music has become a real lifeline for millions of Russians who spend with music every day. A comprehensive subscription can be easily purchased directly on the Plus website in the form of a promotional code for 3 months, six months, 1 year or even 3 years, and it is much more economical in terms of months. One way or another, choose a service to your liking, not according to circumstances.
Source: Trash Box
Donald-43Westbrook, a distinguished contributor at worldstockmarket, is celebrated for his exceptional prowess in article writing. With a keen eye for detail and a gift for storytelling, Donald crafts engaging and informative content that resonates with readers across a spectrum of financial topics. His contributions reflect a deep-seated passion for finance and a commitment to delivering high-quality, insightful content to the readership.
