iOS 14.5 Lets You Set Spotify and Others as Siri’s Default Music Service

iOS 14.5 appears to be packed with features, including the ability to use your Apple Watch to unlock an iPhone with Face ID while wearing a mask and support for next-gen console controllers. But users who have already installed the beta have discovered another cool feature: you’ll be able to select a default third-party music service when you request to play a song using Siri – including Spotify (via MacRumors).

When you ask Siri to play a song on iOS 14.5, you may be asked to select which app you want to use to play it, according to a screenshot shared on Reddit.

Image: u / matejamm1 on Reddit

I’m on the beta of iOS 14.5, but it’s interesting that the feature worked a little differently for me. I asked Siri to play Tame Impala, and I was not presented with a list of apps to choose from, like in the screenshot above. Instead, I was shown a prompt asking for access to my Spotify data, which I allowed. After that, the song requests went through Spotify without any prompts.

Other Reddit users have also reported differences in the behavior of the feature, so there may still be some issues that Apple needs to work on ahead of the public release of iOS 14.5. As this feature is still in beta, there is still the possibility that it will be changed or removed before the release of iOS 14.5.

The ability to set a default music app follows Apple’s welcome decision to allow users to set their default email or browser clients from iOS 14. You can set the email or browser apps by default in settings, but couldn’t find a way to set a default music app in settings. Maybe Apple will add that down the line. Still, having the option to set a default music player for Siri requests in this beta is a good step forward. Hope Apple allows users to set more defaults in future updates.