Just days after the release of iOS 8.3, Apple has unveiled a beta of iOS 8.4 with a revamped Music app. The app has been given a significant visual overhaul and includes several new features for iPhone and iPad users.
The layout of the Music app is now broken down into three different pages: My Music, Playlists and Radio. The last of those refers to iTunes Radio, the free music streaming service that Apple currently only offers to users in the US and Australia. Making Radio more prominent in the design of the Music app could suggest that Apple is planning to bring iTunes Radio to more countries, but we wouldn't bank on it - not least because Apple is also in the middle of relaunching the separate Beats Music streaming service that it acquired last year.
In terms of new features that UK users will be able to access, there's a new mini-player that allows you to pause playback, skip tracks and access other controls whilst you're browsing your music collection. The Now Playing menu has also been overhauled, including the option to wireless stream the current track to an AirPlay speaker or device such as the Apple TV without leaving that menu.
A new Up Next menu allows you to add and rearrange the order of tracks that are cued up to play after the current song. You can also rewind back through your history from the Up Next menu, allowing you to rate a song that's just finished playing, for example, or shuffle it into a playlist.
Finding tracks or albums in a massive music collection has also been made easier with a new search facility in the top right corner of the app, which delivers live results as you start typing the name of an artist, album or track.
Apple has "borrowed" a feature from rival streaming service Rdio, allowing users to add their own photos as the album cover for new playlists. That photo can either be snapped using the camera or picked from the existing snaps in the device's Photo Library.
The iOS 8.4 beta is currently only available to registered Apple developers, and will likely be released in the summer. It could prove to be the final point release for iOS 8 before the company unveils iOS 9 at this summer's WWDC.