Listen to Apple Music on Linux in style with Cider
Cider isn’t the first app to come to Linux that allows users to listen to Apple Music on the desktop. However, it is the most stylish. It’s so good-looking that many users in the community claim it has a better UI than Apple.
If you want a stylish Apple Music app for your Linux desktop? If so, follow this guide to learn how to set up Cider on your system.
Installing Cider on Linux
The Cider application is well supported on Linux, and is available as a downloadable DEB package, is in the AUR, and is available as a Snap and a Flatpak package.
You’ll need a terminal window to get the Cider app working on your Linux PC. You can open up a terminal window on the Linux desktop by pressing Ctrl + Alt + T on the keyboard. Alternatively, search for “Terminal” in the app menu and launch it.
With the terminal window open and ready to use, the installation of Cider can begin. Follow the installation instructions below that correspond with the Linux OS you use.
Ubuntu
If you use Ubuntu, you’ll need to download the latest DEB package from the official website. Using the wget download command below, grab Cider for Ubuntu. The DEB package will save to your home directory.
wget https://github.com/ciderapp/cider-releases/releases/download/v1.4.7.2637/cider_1.4.7-beta.2634_amd64.deb
After downloading the package to your computer, you can install it on Ubuntu using the apt install command below.
sudo apt install ./cider_1.4.7-beta.2634_amd64.deb
Debian
Those on Debian will need to download the Cider DEB package to their computer to install Cider. Using the wget downloader command below, grab the latest DEB release of the Cider app. Wget will place the file in your home directory.
wget https://github.com/ciderapp/cider-releases/releases/download/v1.4.7.2637/cider_1.4.7-beta.2634_amd64.deb
Once the DEB package is downloaded to your Debian Linux system, you’ll be able to install it on your system using the apt-get install command down below.
sudo apt-get install ./cider_1.4.7-beta.2634_amd64.deb
Arch Linux
If you wish to use Cider on Arch Linux, you must first install the Trizen AUR helper. This program makes setting up packages from the Arch User Repository much easier.
Using the commands below, set up Trizen on your PC.
sudo pacman -S git base-devel
git clone https://aur.archlinux.org/trizen.git cd trizen/ makepkg -sri
With the Trizen AUR helper set up on your Arch Linux system, you can easily install the Cider Apple Music client from the AUR using the trizen -S command.
trizen -S cider
Fedora/OpenSUSE
It is possible to download the Cider DEB package and convert it to an RPM package using Alien on Fedora and SUSE. However, we highly suggest you follow the Snap or Flatpak installation instructions instead if you wish to use Cider.
Snap
To install the Cider app as a Snap package on your computer, first ensure that you have the Snap runtime set up on your computer. Once you do, you can install it using the snap install command.
sudo snap install cider --edge
Flatpak
To set up Cider as a Flatpak on your computer, start by enabling the Flatpak runtime on your computer. After that, run the two flatpak commands to get the app working on your system.
flatpak remote-add --if-not-exists flathub https://flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatpakrepo
flatpak install flathub sh.cider.Cider
Listen to Apple Music on Linux in style with Cider
To listen to Apple Music with Cider on your Linux desktop, start by opening up the app. Once it is open, follow the step-by-step instructions below.
Note: you must have an existing Apple ID to use Apple Music. Create your ID on a Mac, PC, iPhone, or a Linux browser with a user agent switcher set to Windows for best results.
Step 1: Find the “Sign in with your Apple ID” window that Cider opens, and type in your Apple ID. Select “Forgot Apple ID or password” if you’ve forgotten your ID.
Step 2: After entering your Apple ID, you’ll be asked to enter your two-factor activation code. Do so to continue.
Step 3: Once you log into Cider, you’ll start to see suggested songs load. If you do not see anything, wait a minute. Or, restart the program and try logging in again.
Step 4: After logging into Cider, find the search box and click on it with the mouse. Then, type in the name of the song, band, or album you wish to listen to. Press Enter on the keyboard to view results.
Step 5: Look through the search results in Cider for what you want to listen to. Select the play icon to start up the song when you’ve found it. Alternatively, select “Songs,” “Albums,” “Artists,” “Videos,” or “Podcasts” in the Cider sidebar to listen to music that way.
