Looking Glass for Apple Music For Mac

Apple’s Music app is certainly an improvement over the bloated iTunes, but it’s not perfect. On macOS, navigation can be a tad cumbersome, and only basic controls are available in the menu bar. You need to bring up the main UI for most functions, which isn’t ideal for busy workspaces.

Looking Glass for Apple Music is a simpler playback controller for Apple’s service, which allows you to do pretty much everything from the menu bar: like and dislike tracks, rate them, add them to your library, open song/artist/album pages, search for music, and more.

The menu features a clean look, and it includes almost every commonly used Apple Music function you can think of. Of particular note are the navigation controls. Once you’ve opened the menu, you can cycle through tracks in your playlist using the arrow keys. If playback is active, the player will immediately start playing the selected song.

The search function is also worth mentioning. You can start typing immediately to find a song in your library, or press Tab to start searching through the Apple Music catalog instead. Tracks from the results can be selected and played using only the keyboard.

As you can see from the app’s Preferences, keyboard shortcuts can be configured for all actions, including bringing up the menu in the first place. You can do everything without touching the mouse, making this a great tool for those who listen to music while working.

The optional mini player comes with shortcuts of its own, but it definitely needs some improvements. When compared with the one offered by Apple’s Music app, it is sorely lacking. It cannot be moved, it disappears as soon as you switch to another app, and it offers very limited functionality.

If you also have an iPhone or iPad, Looking Glass is an even more attractive option. One purchase allows you to use it on all devices, and it makes it much easier to manage your library than the Music mobile app.

While the mini player still needs work, the menu bar controls offered by Looking Glass are exceptionally useful. They allow you to both manage playback and navigate without bringing up the Music app, and it’s especially useful while working.