Microsoft announced an overhaul of its Groove music app for iOS yesterday, featuring a redesigned interface and a handful of new features for the subscription-based service, home to over 40 million tracks.

The 3.5.6 update promises a much faster sign-in for mobile users of the $9.99-per-month service and introduces a new Explore view to the UI where users can discover popular songs and new releases from top artists.

Microsoft Groove iOS
The update also offers significant improvements to playback reliability, as well as faster download of songs and albums for offline playing. Lossless OneDrive support and new sorting options when viewing music collections have also been implemented.

In addition, the update includes fixes to the sync process that requires users' music collections to be rebuilt from scratch, which Microsoft promises is a one-time procedure, as well as optimizations to screen resolution to support larger mobile displays.

The app still needs to be in the foreground to download music, although Microsoft says a background download feature is coming in a future update. 

Microsoft Groove is a free download for iPhone and iPad available from the App Store. [Direct Link]

Top Rated Comments

Red Oak Avatar
117 months ago
Who knew they even had a music streaming service. DOA
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
MH01 Avatar
117 months ago
Did not know this existed.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Blakjack Avatar
117 months ago
Definitely didn't know they had a music app.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Daws001 Avatar
117 months ago
Microsoft has a music app? o_O
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
machpost Avatar
117 months ago
Cool, I can finally listen to WMAs on my iPhone.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
DEMinSoCAL Avatar
117 months ago
Ha! While I almost never use Groove, I updated the app on my iPhone and launched it. Guess what? Freezes on opening screen then crash and burn. Nice work, Microsoft. Seems the Zune software days were your best.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

iPhone 17 Pro in Hand Feature Lowgo

iPhone 17 Pro Coming Soon With These 14 New Features

Friday July 4, 2025 1:05 pm PDT by
Apple's next-generation iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are just over two months away, and there are plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models. Latest Rumors These rumors surfaced in June and July:Apple logo repositioned: Apple's logo may have a lower position on the back of the iPhone 17 Pro models, compared to previous...
Apple Watch Ultra Night Mode Screen

Apple Watch Ultra 3 Launching Later This Year With Two Key Upgrades

Wednesday July 2, 2025 1:13 pm PDT by
The long wait for an Apple Watch Ultra 3 appears to be nearly over, and it is rumored to feature both satellite connectivity and 5G support. Apple Watch Ultra's existing Night Mode In his latest Power On newsletter, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said that the Apple Watch Ultra 3 is on track to launch this year with "significant" new features, including satellite connectivity, which would let you...
iPhone 17 Pro in Hand Feature Lowgo

iPhone 17 Pro Max Battery Capacity Leaked

Thursday July 3, 2025 5:40 am PDT by
The iPhone 17 Pro Max will feature the biggest ever battery in an iPhone, according to the Weibo leaker known as "Instant Digital." In a new post, the leaker listed the battery capacities of the iPhone 11 Pro Max through to the iPhone 16 Pro Max, and added that the iPhone 17 Pro Max will feature a battery capacity of 5,000mAh: iPhone 11 Pro Max: 3,969mAh iPhone 12 Pro Max: 3,687mAh...
airpods pro 2

AirPods Pro 3 to Help Maintain Apple's Place in Earbud Market Amid Increasing Low-Cost Competition

Thursday July 3, 2025 7:25 am PDT by
Apple's position as the dominant force in the global true wireless stereo (TWS) earbud market is expected to continue through 2025, according to Counterpoint Research. The forecast outlines a 3% year-over-year increase in global TWS unit shipments for 2025, signaling a transition from rapid growth to a more mature phase for the category. While Apple is set to remain the leading brand by...
iphone 16 pro models 1

Here's How the iPhone 17 Pro Max Will Compare to the iPhone 17 Pro

Saturday July 5, 2025 1:00 pm PDT by
Apple should unveil the iPhone 17 series in September, and there might be one bigger difference between the Pro and Pro Max models this year. As always, the Pro Max model will be larger than the Pro model:iPhone 17 Pro: 6.3-inch display iPhone 17 Pro Max: 6.9-inch displayGiven the Pro Max is physically larger than the Pro, it has more internal space, allowing for a larger battery and...
apple silicon mac lineup 2024 feature purple m5

Apple's Upcoming Macs Listed in New Report

Thursday July 3, 2025 9:09 am PDT by
AppleInsider's Marko Zivkovic today shared a list of alleged identifiers for future Mac models, which should roll out over the next year or so. The report does not reveal anything too surprising, but it does serve as further evidence that Apple is seemingly working on new models of every Mac, including the MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, iMac, Mac mini, Mac Studio, and Mac Pro. Apple is...