It was recently reported that Apple will be revamping its music streaming service. Changes on Apple Music will include a major design overhaul, "For You" feature adjustments and the addition of lyrics support.
Connect, the social interaction feature for Apple Music, is said to be undergoing certain changes, too.
While it played a major role in the launch of the music streaming service in 2015, it is said that Connect will be undergoing demotion once the next version of Apple's mobile operating system, iOS 10, is released this fall.
Connect allows artists to share content such as pictures, videos and audio while they are on tour, with Apple Music subscribers able to make comments and like what the artists post. Apple touted the feature as a means to potentially link artists with their fans. However, compared to other features of Apple Music, Connect is being only lightly used, with some users even discovering ways to disable the feature.
In the current form of Apple Music, Connect has its own tab in the app's interface. Multiple sources are claiming that Connect will be losing its dedicated tab in iOS 10, with the feature to be moved within the service's "For You" recommendations page and in certain pages of artists.
The demotion would confirm that it has not lived up to Apple's expectations, with the feature not generating enough usage. With such a move, it should not be expected that Apple will be adding new Connect features any time soon.
According to The Information founder Jessica Lessin and New York Times tech reporter Mike Isaac, the planned revamp for Apple Music is very much needed so that the music streaming service can continue to thrive. Lessin believes that Apple Music could be better integrated with iTunes, and Isaac thinks that Apple should focus on creating a feature that will differentiate Apple Music from rivals such as Spotify.
