I Tried Apple Music’s New DJ Feature and I Have Mixed Feelings
Apple Music has a few new features in iOS 26 , but AutoMix is likely to be the one you’ll notice right away. It allows the app to seamlessly transition from one song to the next, using some of the same tricks a DJ might use. You’ll immediately notice that something has changed about switching tracks in Apple Music because AutoMix is on by default. I’ve been using it every day for three weeks now, and I have mixed feelings about it.
What exactly is Apple Music AutoMix?
Apple says AutoMix uses AI to analyze audio characteristics and “creates unique transitions between songs with time-stretching and beat-matching to ensure seamless playback and an even smoother listening experience.” This is essentially what a DJ does when performing live. It would be great to have your own personal DJ built into your streaming service, but the results on Apple Music range from pretty good to downright disgusting.
Why AutoMix Is a Mixed Picture
Whether you’re going to a club or a live concert, most good DJs will be obsessed with details like the order of the tracks, the vibe in the room, what kind of mood they’re creating, and more. This means your friendly neighborhood DJ will put a lot of thought into the experience you want to have, and it’s a delicate balance between getting the energy in the room high enough to get everyone dancing, but not so high that everyone is exhausted within 15 minutes. They’ll also consider giving people a short break with soft songs so people can catch their breath and get refreshments. The best DJs will read the room and make sure you’re having a good time.
Sometimes AutoMix feels like a really good DJ who has put together the perfect setlist just for you. When it works well, the tracks blend together and you never feel out of place. I’m a fan of continuous playback, and when it works, AutoMix does a great job. However, unlike a good DJ, AutoMix doesn’t really care about the order of the tracks and will try to mix the songs no matter what. If you have a fast song followed by a slower one, AutoMix will slow down the end of the fast song to match the rhythm of the slower one that follows. It also speeds up slow songs when the next track is faster, which sometimes sounds comically bad.
Personally, I don’t want to listen to music at 0.75x or 1.5x speeds unless I’m specifically looking for a workout mix. AutoMix aggressively applies its beat-matching algorithm to each transition and really draws attention to itself. In its current state, AutoMix is a little too aggressive on certain transitions, and I hope Apple tones it down in the days leading up to the stable release of iOS 26 this fall.
It’s a useful feature for certain types of playlists where the tracks have a similar “vibe,” but it falls short when your playlists contain wildly different types of songs. I have a habit of carefully curating my playlists so that the sounds at the end of a song match the sounds at the beginning of the next, and AutoMix didn’t work well with any of those playlists. By mixing the end of one track into the beginning of the next, AutoMix undid a lot of my hard work. Honestly, I wouldn’t mind using it with playlists I auto-play in shuffle mode, but not with personally curated playlists. The good news is that Apple has disabled AutoMix for albums and “certain genres,” so you don’t have to worry about the AI ruining your favorite masterpieces.
How to Enable or Disable AutoMix in Apple Music
Luckily, turning AutoMix on or off in iOS 26 is pretty simple. To get started, you can turn AutoMix on or off by opening the Music app and tapping the mini player that displays the song currently playing. Once the player expands, tap the button with three lines in the bottom-right corner of the screen. This will open the Keep Playing screen, which displays a queue of songs. Above the list of tracks, you’ll see four buttons: Shuffle , Repeat , Autoplay (the infinity symbol), and AutoMix (the button with two circles). You can tap the AutoMix button to toggle it.
If you’ve permanently opted out of Apple Music’s AutoMix feature in iOS 26 , here’s how to get rid of it. Go to Settings > Apps > Music > Song Transitions and toggle Song Transitions off. This will allow songs to play normally. If you prefer gapless playback without AI DJ, you can leave Song Transitions on and select Crossfade on the same page. Apple lets you choose the length of the crossfade, which may be preferable to AutoMix.