YT Music For Mac

YouTube Music is Google’s latest attempt to dethrone streaming giants Spotify and Apple Music, with a service that will presumably replace Google Play Music once all the issues are ironed out. One of these issues is the lack of a desktop player, but third-party solutions are already available.

YT Music simply takes advantage of the existing YouTube Music web player by creating a wrapper that functions as a dedicated desktop app. It allows you to use the service without a web browser, and it comes with a few other advantages as well.

As I’ve mentioned already, the developer has simply created a wrapper for the YouTube Music online player, so this desktop app will offer almost nothing new if you are already familiar with the service.

If you aren’t a fan of web apps that hog your browser tabs and don’t offer proper integration with the OS, YT Music may be just your thing. What’s more, it comes with a few extra features.

While some of these features are available in certain browsers, they can be very hit-or-miss. With this app, you will be able to control the playback using media keys and shortcuts, as well as like or dislike songs with hotkeys.

MacBook Pro users are going to love the media controls added to the Touch Bar, and the app also displays notifications when switching tracks, while also providing a Notification Center widget.

Given Google’s preference for web apps, it’s unlikely they’re going to release a desktop player for their YouTube Music service anytime soon, if ever. Fortunately, YT Music does the job as well as you can possibly expect from a dedicated Mac app, so there’s no reason not to grab it if you’re a fan of the streaming service.