Many Hi-Fi Rose users have requested to support Apple Music. Apple also released an SDK to support Apple Music in 2021, so we decided that supporting Apple Music is possible and decided to add it.
However, while preparing for Apple Music, we ran into several difficulties, and we’ve noticed why there were no other products (except Apple devices) that can support Apple Music.
The biggest challenge was Apple’s conservative development policy.
Rather than the REST API used by most of other streaming companies, but Apple Music is a structure that uses abstracted functions using pre-built SDK, so when an error occurs, the process cannot be tracked or debugged.
The contents exchanged between SDK and server are encoded to SSL, and the stream has been transmitted with DRM applied and then delivered directly to the audio device. It was difficult to understand the process from playback request to playback.
In the end, we were able to implement the Apple Music service of today’s level by testing all the features of the SDK and making logical assumptions about some behavior.
However, there are still some problems that has not been resolved.
1. Problem that lossless sound source cannot be supported
The reason we decided to support Apple Music in the first place was to make it possible to listen to the high-resolution lossless sound sources of Apple Music from Hi-Fi Rose device.
However, the currently released SDK does not support lossless sound sources.
To be honest, we don’t know exactly what level of sound quality can be used. Inferring from codec-related to logs and network transmission, it seems that the service is provided with a sound quality of 256kbps AAC.
Although AAC is a lossless codec, if the sound source is at AAC 256kbps, it is known that theoretically it can provide sound quality higher than the CD level, and Apple’s encoding technology is particularly well evaluated.
In fact, if you listen to Apple Music through the Hi-Fi Rose device, you can feel the satisfactory sound quality.
We’re constantly asking for lossless support from Apple’s Developer Site and feedback. We are waiting for Apple’s future updates.
When the lossless SDK is released, we will apply it as soon as possible
2. Login errors
As you may know, Apple has a strict policy regarding user authentication.
The process of maintaining a normal login status on the device is complicated, and the renewal cycle is too short, causing various authentication errors.
In the case of an iPhone, the process of checking the device’s login information is valid does not always work because the information on the Apple account on the phone is immediately reflected and you can use Apple Music without a separate Apple Music login process.
In the case of an iPhone, the process of checking whether the device’s login information is valid does not always work because the information from the iPhone’s Apple account is reflected and you can use Apple Music without a separate Apple Music login process.
In some cases, you may need to log in again for it to work.
For this reason, Apple Music does not support login from Hi-Fi Rose device, and only login using RoseConnect premium app is available.
Also, due to an error in the Apple SDK, if the number of characters in the ID assigned to the device is less than a certain length, playback may not be possible.
In this case, you must initialize the device to get the ID again, but there is a problem in normal operation.
The error has already been reported on the Apple’s Developer Site 8 months ago, but there was no answer or solution yet.
3. DRM errors
DRM error occurs in certain contents during playback.
In this case, playback stops and no further progress is made. This is especially likely on tracks longer than 10 minutes, and other solution (website) that uses the Apple Music SDK has the same problem.
There are times when the track returns to normal after a certain period of time, and there are cases where the problem continues for a long time, but for now, the only way is to expose a guide message to the user and play the next song.
4. Problem that Apple Music video cannot be supported
If you search for album/track, you can get the Apple Music video list, but there is no way to get the playback URL.
Inevitably, Apple Music’s video is not supported yet.
5. Lack of user convenience (sort order, playlist editing, etc.)
Apple Music SDK doesn’t support options related to some details.
Although most APIs have been checked, there are no functions for changing sort order and editing playlists.
We are continuously making requests to the Apple’s Developer Site for these contents, and we are working hard to make them available for support.
Due to the above restrictions, there are inconveniences to use, and we thought a lot about whether to add it as an in-app to the Hi-Fi Rose device in a situation where completeness was poor.
However, once it is disclosed to users, the basic services of Apple Music can be used, and after receiving feedback from users, it was decided that it would be good to improve areas that could be improved.
There may be users who do not agree with incomplete functions, but we decided to apply and improve it because we believe that we cannot accurately grasp what is lacking and that it cannot be improved if we do not disclose it.
For this reason, as the first network player to support Apple Music, it does not seem to be happy or comfortable.
However, we promise that we will do our best to become the best Hi-Fi Rose, and we hope for your understanding.
Thank you
