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Site claims to be offering Apple Music for Android beta access

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UPDATE: One of our readers, with experience of using Betabound commented the following: “Centercode, who runs Betabound, has been around for over a decade running software/hardware betas. I have been through numerous tests with them. I understand the skepticism but this is a legit company.” Perhaps then, we can be a little less skeptical of the beta test.

Apple shocked the tech world back in June when it announced that its music streaming service, Apple Music, would be making its way cross-platform. Up until now, the company has kept all of its mobile products in-house, and hasn’t offered anything on the Google Play Store except for the ‘Move to iOS’ app, and we all know how that turned out. In an unusual move, it looks like Apple may have signed up a third party to get early beta testers onboard its first media app for Android.

Members of Betabound.com have received emails inviting them to apply to test Apple’s music app for Android. Little detail is given in the email, except a short paragraph and a linked questionnaire which hopeful testers have to fill in. Betabound, a Centercode company, proudly labels the test as an exclusive.

We’re excited to invite you to come test Apple Music for Android. If you’re a current Android user that would like to join the beta for the new music streaming service, you won’t want to miss this opportunity. To learn more and apply, click the link below. Best of luck! The Betabound team.

There are plenty of reasons to be skeptical. First off, Apple tends to manage its beta testing in-house, even to the point of offering a public beta of iOS 9 to anyone and everyone who wanted to try it before launch. Why then would it go with a third party company, especially one which is seemingly so unknown? It definitely seems weird. Perhaps the Android community’s response to its last app prompted the Cupertino-based tech giant to try a much quieter launch of Apple Music for Android. Perhaps it only wants a small number of testers onboard, and so isn’t announcing anything. Perhaps, it’s just a way for Betabound to get their name out there and isn’t a genuine beta test.

 

Google beta tests linking YouTube channels to Google+ accounts for creators

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YouTube-Google-Plus-betaGoogle announced on its YouTube Creators blog last night that it is starting a new beta test for creators that will allow them to link a Google+ account to their YouTube channel.

Other benefits of linking your YouTube channel to Google+: YouTube will allow you to “Choose any name for your channel and page.” That also includes the opportunity to rename your channel if that’s something you might be interested in. You’ll also now have access to a few new features including “live broadcasts via Hangouts”, a YouTube tab displayed on your Google+ page, and better video sharing features.

Google warned that there might be some issues with the beta for third-party tools:

– Certain mobile apps and third party tools may require a bit more effort to work with YouTube channels linked to Google+ pages. Just make sure you’re using the most recent YouTube app on Android and iOS. And if necessary, setup login credentials for these apps.

To try out the beta, you’ll need a Google+ account on the same Google account you use for your YouTube channel. From there you can activate the feature through YouTube’s advanced account settings. Full instructions from Google below:
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