- Apple Music is rolling out five new features in iOS 24.6, including new Playlist Playground and Concerts Near You features
- It also gets a new UI design for albums and playlists.
- Despite its new look, users are divided and have criticized Apple for its lack of accessibility features.
Apple will unveil its next round of new products in a few weeks at its March 4 event, but it’s already announcing some of the new upgrades to Apple Music in iOS 24.6 – and there’s no doubt they’ll breathe new life into one of the best music streaming services.
If you’re signed up for the iOS 24.6 beta, you may have already gotten a preview of the new Apple Music features that are expected to roll out widely in the coming weeks. Unlike Spotify, it’s not in Apple Music’s character to release one new feature after another, so the fact that it’s bringing five new upgrades at once is big news.
As we recently covered, Playlist Playground is one of Apple Music’s most notable new features. If you’re familiar with Spotify’s AI playlist tool, Playlist Playground isn’t that different.
It works very similarly, in that you enter a text prompt or select a preset idea, and it will then generate a playlist of songs based on your request. This is Apple Music’s second AI music streaming tool, following the launch of its intelligent AutoMix beat-matching feature.
It’s clear that Apple Music has its eyes on what works at Spotify, and like Spotify’s Live Events Hub, Apple Music is introducing a “Gigs Near You” feature. While we don’t yet know what it looks like in the app, we do know it’s on the way and it will be refreshing to see Apple Music connect its subscribers to live concerts – I’m surprised it hasn’t done this sooner.
Plus, Apple Music finally lifts a pesky playlist restriction, letting you add a song to multiple playlists at once – a freedom that subscribers on other platforms have always had. And, building on last year’s Ambient Music feature, Apple is making it available as a new home screen widget in various sizes, giving those who frequent the app a new shortcut.
So this Apple Music upgrade is pretty big, but it doesn’t stop there. Its album and playlist interfaces are getting a makeover – and while it puts Spotify’s cluttered app to shame, not everyone is happy with the result.
Apple Music’s UI upgrades are polished and striking, but their accessibility is abandoned
Although Spotify has all the fun features, its messy interface draws constant user backlash, and now that Apple Music has given its albums and playlists a facelift, many Spotify users are clamoring for the same.
Previously, Apple Music’s playlist and album pages featured a large, sometimes immersive graphic with the song list on a plain white background underneath. In iOS 24.6, album art/playlist art is now used for the entire page, so now the song list will be placed against the most prominent color of the art. A user shared a comparison image on Reddit (see below).
Apple MURDERED Spotify with r/truespotify UI
During my trial of Apple Music while taking a break from Spotify, its clean layout was one of my favorite parts of the UX, and it highlighted everything I didn’t like about Spotify’s design. There’s no doubt that Apple Music has a head start here; However, users were quick to point out Apple’s disregard for accessibility and I understand why.
The Liquid Glass redesign continues to divide iPhone users, and while I appreciate some aspects of its brilliance, Apple Music’s new UI is quite difficult to read in places, and I much prefer the clear separation between the colorful artwork and the track listing. And yes, the option to turn off Liquid Glass is there along with other accessibility features, but the default might be more accommodating for those with reading issues.
Does this change how I feel about Spotify’s cluttered UI? Not at all – I still think it could take some notes from Apple Music. That said, I have a feeling Apple isn’t done yet expanding its new aesthetic to all areas of its music streaming app – it’s overkill waiting to happen.
Follow TechRadar on Google News And add us as your favorite source to get our news, reviews and expert opinions in your feeds. Make sure to click the Follow button!
And of course you can too follow TechRadar on TikTok for news, reviews, unboxings in video form and receive regular updates from us on WhatsApp Also.
