Musical Haptics Is One of the Best Hidden Features of IOS 18
iOS 18 is full of new features and changes , some promoted by Apple and others not so much . Hidden and “under the radar” features always pique my interest, and iOS 18 is no exception. My personal favorite this year? Musical haptics.
The feature is pretty simple: If enabled on iPhone 12 or later, iOS will play haptic vibrations to the beat of whatever song you’re listening to. It works with almost every genre of music I’ve tried. Rock, rap, classical, jazz: if a song has a discernible beat, your iPhone will vibrate to it.
It’s also non-irritating, uniform noise. Because this feature uses haptic vibrations powered by your iPhone’s Taptic Engine, iOS can use a variety of different taps and vibrations, from subtle staccato sounds to full, sustained reverbs. This all happens on the fly too, which is pretty new to me. It’s difficult to adequately describe: you’ll need to try this feature out for yourself to truly understand why it’s interesting.
Apple actually announced Music Haptics back in May , as part of a larger story about future accessibility features. This feature is designed to help users who are deaf or hard of hearing to more easily follow the beat of Apple Music tracks, as well as music from supported third-party platforms. (Apple didn’t say what those platforms were, however.) At the time of the announcement, the company didn’t actually say that these features would be included in iOS 18, although it seemed obvious that they would be.
How to enable Music Haptics for Apple Music
When you open the New tab in Apple Music after updating to iOS 18, you’ll see a new Feel the Music section containing four playlists dedicated to this new feature. Apple has made sure to curate songs for each playlist that showcase the new vibes, but curiously doesn’t actually tell you how to turn the feature on in the first place.
To get started, open Settings, then go to Accessibility . Scroll down to the HEARING section, then tap Music Tactility . Turn on the switch to enable this feature. Now go to Apple Music and try playing the song. If the track supports this feature, a Music Haptics button will appear below the playback bar. Enjoy haptic feedback!
You can press this button at any time to pause these tactile sensations. Once you enable this feature, you’ll also find a new Music Haptics option in Control Center if you prefer to pause and resume from there. Mine appears in the second Control Center menu, but you can manually add the tile to any page you want as part of iOS 18’s new Control Center customization options .