Finally the Best Apple Music App for Mac
I love Apple Music, but I don’t like using its Mac app. Apple Music on Mac is slow, takes a long time to display search results, and doesn’t even play music reliably. I often find myself hitting play just because my song won’t load for seemingly no reason. I recommended using the web version of Apple Music for better results, but now there is a better alternative. CoverSutra ($5) is an Apple Music player for Mac that’s focused on speed and simplicity. If you’ve been looking for a version of Apple Music for Mac that lets you search and quickly play music from your library, you’ve finally got your answer.
History of CoverSutra
CoverSutra 4.0 was released in October this year, but the application originally appeared in 2007. It used to be an app that didn’t distract you from playing and searching your iTunes library. It allowed fast music playback, the search function was pretty good, and it also supported Last.fm scrobbling. It was one of the few iPhone and Mac apps created by then-indie developer Sophia Teutschler, who won an Apple Design Award in 2010 for her Articles app for iPhone (sadly no longer available). Teuchler joined Apple in 2013 and her apps were subsequently either acquired or discontinued.
How CoverSutra fixes Apple Music’s shortcomings
Now it looks like Sophie has returned to the streaming age . The new version of CoverSutra fixes the Music app’s biggest flaws and makes it what Apple Music should be – fast and reliable. CoverSutra sits quietly in the menu bar, and clicking on it immediately brings up the search bar. Here you can quickly search for songs, albums or artists from your library. Just enter a name and the app will display the results as soon as you stop typing. There is no need to press the return key.
You can click the magnifying glass icon in the search bar to narrow your search to one of the three categories supported by CoverSutra, i.e. albums, artists, and songs. This will allow you to get more accurate results faster. When you see a song or album you like, click its name to start playing. At the moment this app plays the songs I requested 100%. I know that sounds like a low bar, but it’s the main reason I’m disappointed with the stock Music app.
The app has interactive music controls and works with the Mac’s media playback buttons, and supports custom keyboard shortcuts for the following:
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Show/Hide Music Search: Show or hide CoverSutra without clicking its icon in the menu bar.
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Play/pause current song
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Next song
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Previous song
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Toggle repeat mode
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Shuffle on/off
To customize CoverSutra’s keyboard shortcuts, open the app from the menu bar icon and click the gear icon in the top right corner. By default, all keyboard shortcuts are not mapped.
What CoverSutra Doesn’t Do
Unfortunately, if you want to search for music that isn’t already in your Apple Music library, CoverSutra isn’t for you. It shows and allows you to play only those songs that are already in your library. I don’t mind this limitation because I usually find and add music to my library through my iPhone or Apple Watch, but it could be a deal breaker for those who want a direct replacement for the Music app on the Mac.
CoverSutra is a bit skimpy at the moment. The app doesn’t allow you to search playlists, and I hope the developer fixes this issue in the future. I would love to be able to browse playlists in my library and quickly play them using this app. If this app adds the ability to listen to my Apple Music playlists, I’d be very happy to use it every day and ditch the Mac Music app for good.