Linux, macOS, and Microsoft Windows are the three major operating systems for personal computers. Among them, one distinctive feature of Linux is that it is open source. For Linux users, it’s friendly in that they can get access to the source code and alter it to match their requirements.
But Linux users may sadly find that Apple Music on Linux playback is not supported. If you are a music freak, you probably know the popular online music streaming service, Apple Music, which has the largest music catalog. Fortunately, there is always a way out. Keep reading to know more.
Contents Guide Part 1. Can You Listen to Apple Music on Linux?Part 2. How to Listen to Apple Music on Linux?Part 3. How to Install Apple Music on Linux?Part 4. Summary
Linux is a popular and flexible operating system. However, unlike its competitor Spotify, Apple has not yet provided support for iTunes on Linux. This has left Linux users searching for alternative ways to access Apple Music on their preferred platform.
Even if the desktop apps of Apple Music and iTunes do not support Linux OS by far, there are still some ways for you to listen to Apple Music on your Linux. Here I’ll mainly talk about three common ways and recommend an easy one to help you.
Linux allows users to access and download music from Apple Music through the use of third-party applications such as iTunes for Linux. These applications allow users to sync their Apple Music library with their Linux computer and play music on it. In this section, I'm going to introduce two solutions for you.
First, you can visit the Apple Music web player through a web browser on Linux. Apple released an Apple Music web player in beta in September 2019. It offers quick access for Linux users to enjoy Apple Music on Linux.
It’s really efficient. But you may not have the same experience as you did on the Apple Music app since some of the features have been missing. For instance, you cannot download music and listen to these tracks offline because running a web player needs a network connection.
Listening to Apple Music via the web player is probably the simplest way. But it requires a network connection. It will be inconvenient if there is no Wi-Fi or data. You can run iTunes through Wine, but it may pose some compatibility issues. Running iTunes within VirtualBox may take a longer time and larger storage.
Here I recommend an easy way to listen to Apple Music on Linux. You can download and convert your favorite songs to different formats while maintaining their original quality with DumpMedia Apple Music Converter. Then, you can listen to them without a network connection and an Apple Music app. What's more, there is no need to worry about DRM removal issues.
Here are steps about how to transfer Apple Music to Linux via DumpMedia Apple Music Converter:
Step 1. Download Apple Music songs and DumpMedia Apple Music Converter
Click the below icon to download and install the DumpMedia Apple Music Converter.
Step 2. Launch the Converter and Apple Music Web Player
Launch DumpMedia Apple Music Converter and log in to your Apple Music account.
Step 3. Select the songs you want to download and set output parameters
Click the songs to mark them. If you cannot find the song you want to download, type its name in the Search field in the upper right corner. You can manage the output format, music quality, and output folder at the bottom section.
Step 4. Convert and transfer the audio files to Linux
Hit the Convert button in the lower right corner to start the conversion. After a while, go to the Finished tab, click View Output File, and you can locate the converted songs. Store the songs on your USB drive and copy them to Apple Music on a Linux computer.
Apple Music is not officially available for installation on Linux systems. However, there are some workarounds available that involve using an emulator or a compatibility layer like Wine to run the Apple Music app on Linux. Note that these methods may have limitations and may not be as reliable or user-friendly as the official version for Windows or macOS.
Running iTunes with Wine cannot be 100% the same as on macOS. There are some restrictions. You may not be able to connect your iPod and sync your music library. And as iTunes has been upgraded by Apple many times, some versions may crash or be refused to install.
Third, you can run iTunes through a compatibility layer or virtualization software on Linux. For example, Wine is a free open-source compatibility layer that allows Windows software to run on Linux. Besides, virtualization software like
VM VirtualBoxallows users to run an additional operating system.
This method gives you access to all of iTunes' features, allowing you to listen to Apple Music on Linux. But it usually takes much more time and storage than running iTunes through Wine. And the app in VirtualBox largely runs slower than it does on Windows.
Although Apple Music does not support the Linux operating system, Linux users still have several ways to listen to Apple Music. You can go to the Apple Music web player and run iTunes through Wine or VirtualBox. You can also convert downloaded Apple Music songs by DumpMedia Apple Music Converter to other formats and store them on your Linux so that you can play Apple Music on Linux in an offline way.
