Hey Google, play Apple Music.
Google announced Monday that its fantastic, budget-friendly Nest Audio smart speakers will now have support for Apple Music, as will the Nest Hub Max and Nest Mini. The support means that users will now be able to ask the built-in Google Assistant to search Apple Music’s library and play tunes by artist, song, or playlist.
To be able to use the feature, you’ll need to link your Apple Music account in the Google Home app. If you want Google to pull songs and albums from Apple Music instead of, say, Spotify, you’ll need to also set Apple Music as your default music streaming service. With Apple Music selected as your primary service, Google Assistant will play liked songs from Apple Music with the prompts, “Hey Google, play my songs,” and, “Hey Google, play my library.”
Apple Music can be linked to a single Google Assistant-enabled device or to multiple compatible devices with Google’s multi-room control feature in the Google Home app. To prompt the assistant to play Apple Music across all compatible devices, just say, “Hey Google, play music on all my speakers.”
Previously, Apple Music users who wanted to use the service with their Nest Audio speaker had to use Bluetooth to stream music, which is kind of a pain in the butt if you’re trying to use the device hands-free (for example, when cooking). The lack of support was also a bummer for folks who are already invested in the Apple services ecosystem but prefer Google’s smart speakers to Apple’s—and who could blame them?
Now, though, the Nest Audio is making a pretty good case for itself for Apple One subscribers in the market for a new smart speaker—particularly if, and when, Fitness+ finally launches.