Apple Music on Android Testing Support for Android Tablets

It's been available on Android tablets since the Android app launched, you mean to say they are getting around to optimizing the app for tablets specifically which is new.

And while I agree I don't foresee them doing it voluntarily I do see RCS at least being somewhat of a pending competition and it wouldn't hurt to incentivize people to more exclusive features of Apple through freebies like iMessage that if offered, would eradicate WhatsApp rapidly. Also on the security portion of it, RCS isn't encrypted and that could be another push. Apple is running into shallow water with the prices of their phones putting them out of reach of even beginning to get into the ecosystem to enjoy the full benefits let alone partial ones. It's theories really but I do see just reasons for them to open the gates, even if it's watered down.

Even the peasants have Apple Music now.

I'm surprised there wasn't already a tablet app.

Well yes iTunes was a great source of media management but you aren't required to own an iPod to use it, granted it does have a revenue generating effect. But to the point of them not being able to split time, they seem to do it just fine with their services that run on Windows and I doubt their overly saturated developer infrastructure would be taxed by taking on something that isn't a wild goose chase for once. Apple picks up and drops new ideas and avenues for products internally on a daily basis and after working with them for over 3 years this would really not be a detriment to dedicate some resources to something long term that's got 95% of the groundwork covered as it is. There is also co-development that already exists to handle their own stuff that does exist like this already to cover both sides of things. They "don't" store any of those features, the backend of the work is through their already optimized systems that don't cost any more to operate than they do now and they already have a capacity to (and do) handle continents worth of traffic that would be generated for the handshakes of device-to-device while the majority of the workload (data) is handed off to the service providers.

Depends on the new Amazon Apple relationship, I would say that Apple Music will eventually be on the Fire Tablets since it’s shockingly coming to the Echo.

If they want to get out of the hardware business and be in "services" they better start making everything run on other people's stuff. Music, FaceTime, Messages...

As far as free services offered beyond the Apple ecosystem being a bad idea, for who exactly? For Apple, possibly. But how would that not be beneficial to anyone else to have a universalized system? iTunes is free and I don't see anyone complaining about how unfair that is for Apple's business.