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[Anisette] Overview
Signing in to an Apple Account needs a bit of extra data alongside your email and password, called Anisette data. Apple's own apps produce it on the device you're signing in from. This app can do the same, or it can ask a server to do it for you.
There are 2 options, and you can switch between them at any time:
- 🔒 On this device (default)
- 🛜 Remote server
ℹ️ A note on what Anisette data actually is
Apple expects a sign-in to come from a machine it can recognise. Anisette data is a small set of headers that identify that machine -- a one-time password, a machine identifier, and some timestamps.
The code that produces them is Apple's own, and it ships inside Apple's Android apps. That's what makes it possible to do this on an Android phone at all: the app downloads those libraries from Apple and runs them, rather than reimplementing anything.
Your phone produces the Anisette data itself. Nothing about signing in reaches anyone else, and no outage elsewhere can stop it.
The first time you sign in, the app downloads a small part of Apple's own Apple Music APK from Apple's servers (about 2.9 MB -- only the 3 libraries it needs, not the whole 142 MB app). After that it needs no network for this at all.
Important
Apple ties a sign-in session to whatever produced its Anisette data. Switching between "On this device" and a remote server means Apple sees a new device, so you will have to sign in again -- 2FA code and all. This is not a bug, it's how Apple binds the session.
New installs use this by default. If you were already logged in from an older version of the app, you'll stay on your server until you choose to switch (the app will offer once).
A public Anisette server produces the data for you, and the app sends it to Apple as part of your sign-in.
This is how the app worked before (up until version 1.0.5), and it still works. Worth knowing:
- The server's operator can see that traffic
- If their server is down, you can't sign in
- You are trusting a third party you probably don't know
If you'd rather use a server anyway, that's a reasonable choice -- e.g. if you already run your own.
👉 How to pick or change one is explained in 📖 this wiki page
You only need this if the app tells you to. If sign-in works, skip this section.
Apple serves exactly one build of the Apple Music APK at a time. When they replace it, the file the app knows how to read is no longer downloadable, and "On this device" stops being able to set itself up until a new version of OpenTagViewer ships.
When that happens, the Settings page will say so and offer you a Choose a file button. You can point it at a copy of the known-good build that you get yourself.
| App | Apple Music for Android |
| Version | 4.9.6.1447 |
| Published | 15 April 2025 |
Any of the usual Android APK archive sites will have older Apple Music builds -- APKMirror is the most well-known one.
Make sure you download the version listed above, and the plain .apk -- not an .apkm/.xapk "bundle", which is a different format.
Important
It doesn't matter much where you download it from, because the app doesn't trust the file. Every library it takes out of the APK is checked against a SHA-256 hash recorded inside OpenTagViewer, and nothing is used unless all of them match. A wrong file, a tampered file, or a half-finished download are all rejected the same way -- you'll get a message saying which library didn't match.
- Download the
.apkonto your Android phone - In the app, go to
Settings➡️Anisette Provider - Make sure the mode is set to
On this device - Tap
Choose a fileand select the downloaded.apk - The status should go back to
Ready
The app copies out the 3 libraries it needs and then never reads your file again, so you can delete the .apk afterwards.
If you'd rather not do any of this, switching to a remote server will also get you signed in (remember it costs you one re-login).
🆘 In cases of issues or bugs, feel free to open an Issue on this page