Xbox Music for Android and iOS can now stream music from OneDrive

Microsoft has released a new version of Xbox Music on both iOS and Android platforms. The update brings a few new features and improvements to the app while bringing it more in line with its Windows counterpart. You can download the latest version of Xbox Music directly on your device through its respective app stores or by using the following links:

Android	iOS
Free	Free
Android 4.0 or greater	iOS 7.0 or greater

Xbox Music will soon undergo a full rebrand to become Groove, following in the footsteps of the Windows counterpart. The latest update allows iOS and Android users to interact with the app without an Xbox Music Pass. Although certain features within the app will still require an active Xbox Music Pass subscription, it’s great news that interaction is available for those who choose not to subscribe.

Another great addition in this release is that you can now upload your MP3 music files to OneDrive and then stream it from for free within Xbox Music app for iOS or Android. Previously, this feature was only available to Windows users, but has now been extended to iOS and Android users as well

Microsoft has also made some rather important changes around how users can interact and handle music for offline playback. In addition to being able to download entire playlists to be played back when there is no connectivity, Microsoft has also extended that level of usability to individual tracks and entire albums that haven’t been stored as an explicit playlist. The software giant has also introduced a very handy little filter that allows immediate distinction between tracks stored offline and those that require a data or WiFi connection to stream.

The new features definitely represent a marked improvement to the app and service by making the platform a lot more accessible and useful to those without a subscription. With that said, those who want to stream ad-free music that they don’t own will still need to have an active Xbox Music Pass, or Groove Music Pass, as it will soon be known. Xbox Music lives on and is continually being serviced, hopefully with the Groove rebranding being just around the corner that should bring with it some serious stability improvements.