by Jason Snell
Apple Music and the power of the preinstalled app
This week my More Color column at Macworld is all about the power of the preinstalled app and what that means for Apple Music’s chance of success:
Apple Music enters a streaming-music market that’s full of tough competition, from market leader Spotify to longtime stalwart Rhapsody to international player Deezer. And yet Apple Music has a single, huge advantage that makes it a most formidable competitor: It’ll be standard issue on just about every iPhone in use.
Just as incumbency is a powerful force in politics, being preloaded on every device is a huge advantage for apps. Preloaded apps are one tap away, meaning users tend to try them before even considering an alternative. It’s a long way to go from trying an app, finding it wanting in specific ways, considering that there might be alternatives, launching the App Store app, searching with appropriate terms, sifting through the search results, and downloading or buying a replacement.