Apple Music is rapidly growing in popularity on Android

2 min readUpdated May 26, 2025Apr 4, 201911:34 PM

In this article (5)

Apple unveiled a ton of interesting stuff at a (Hollywood) star-studded event yesterday, but much to the disappointment of iPod Touch fans and potential AirPower buyers, not a single hardware announcement was made on stage in the Steve Jobs Theater during this “Show Time” shindig. While Apple’s focus on the so-called “services” business has sharply increased over the past year or so, it’s safe to assume the company’s TV+, News+, and Arcade platforms wouldn’t have happened were it not for the success of Apple Music.

Released back in 2015 in more than 100 countries around the world, the music streaming service quickly emerged as the primary challenger to Spotify’s throne. Almost four years later, the global subscriber gap between the two remains pretty large, but Apple Music continues to make great strides in the US, as well as on other platforms apart from iOS.

After expanding its support to Alexa-powered smart speakers, the service recently crossed an interesting milestone on Android, according to Sensor Tower estimates. Even though the app isn’t exactly well-reviewed in Google’s Play Store, with a mediocre 3.5-star average score based on over 280,000 ratings, a whopping 40 million Android users in total have reportedly tried out Apple Music since its 2015 debut. That’s not bad for something that’s only gained Android tablet compatibility a couple of months back.

What’s perhaps even more impressive is that quarterly Android installs have apparently begun to surge again after a temporary but steep decline in late 2017 and early 2018. In fact, Q1 2019 could be Apple Music’s best-ever three-month period in terms of Google Play downloads, which are expected to reach 3.8 million by the end of March. That would represent an increase of half a million downloads from the final quarter of last year and an incredible 1.5 million more installs than back in Q2 2018.

Obviously, it’s unclear how many of these downloads typically end up converting into long-term paid subscriptions, but that figure is also up, so there’s definitely a correlation between the two, even when not taking iOS usage and install numbers into consideration.

AdvertisementAdvertise with usMobile 320×100

Questions & Answers

What milestone has Apple Music recently reached on Android devices?

According to Sensor Tower estimates, a marker has been crossed, with a reported 40 million Android users having tried Apple Music since its launch in 2015. This indicates its growing presence on the platform.

How well is the Apple Music app generally reviewed in the Google Play Store?

The Apple Music app has received mediocre reviews in the Google Play Store, holding a 3.5-star average score. This rating is based on over 280,000 user reviews submitted.

What is the projected number of Google Play downloads for Apple Music in Q1 2019?

Google Play downloads for Apple Music are expected to reach 3.8 million by the end of March 2019. This would represent its best-ever three-month period for downloads on the platform.

Did Apple make any hardware announcements at their recent event?

No, Apple did not make any hardware announcements at the recent 'Show Time' event. The focus was instead on their services business, including new platforms like TV+, News+, and Arcade.

Reader pulse

Is Apple Music's Android growth sustainable?

20,193 votes so far