Apple's new content curation service is about as Apple as it gets

Apple has soft-launched a brand new section on its website dedicated to the celebrities you can find on its various entertainment services.

It's called Snapshot and features many big names, from Charlie XCX to Lionel Messi.

If you click on an artist, you'll be taken to a dedicated page all about them, and – more importantly for Apple – where you can find them on Apple services.

For example, if you click on Taylor Swift you'll get a very brief bio, a link to her latest album on Apple Music, and then sections showing Swift-related content on Apple Music, Apple TV+, and Apple Podcasts.

That's the good news. However, it also reminds me of Ping – and that's not necessarily a positive.

Something's missing from this Snapshot

Ping was Apple's attempt at music-based social networking over a decade ago, but was shut down in 2012. It enabled you to follow your favourite artists, such as Lady Gaga, Coldplay, and U2 to see what they're up to. You could check out photos and videos they posted, see tour dates, and read their comments on other artists and albums.

It looked lovely, but was absolutely useless. Snapshot could go the same way, sadly.

Certainly, I've found two important things that are missing from the new service.

The first is a search box, while the ability to sign in would help too. This effectively means you can't go looking for your favourite celebrities, and it isn't customised to your listening and viewing habits.

You're stuck with Apple's selection and have to wait to see if the artist or public figure you're interested in is one of Apple's picks.

What I suspect is happening here is that Apple's trying something it'll then integrate into its apps – so in the future when you click on Taylor Swift in Apple Music it'll give you her Snapshot page to promote not just her music but TV+ appearances and Podcasts.

For now though, it's more of an interesting curiosity rather than something you're likely to use often.