AI-Powered Playlists, a New Design, and Other Changes to Apple Music.
Your iPhone is likely currently running iOS 26.3 (assuming you’ve been keeping up with operating system updates), but Apple headquarters is working on another version. Beta testers are currently testing iOS 26.4 , which promises to be a much more significant update than the previous one. Among the changes are the introduction of end-to-end encryption for RCS chats, so text messages with Android users will no longer be unsafe, and the Reminders app will now have an “Urgent” section for all the items you’ve marked as urgent.
But perhaps no other part of iOS will receive a more significant update in version 26.4 than Apple Music—both the app itself and Apple’s paid subscription service. It seems Apple decided that Music needed a refresh, along with some improvements that will make the app and service more user-friendly. Whether you use Apple Music for streaming music or to store your digital library, you’ll notice updates when iOS 26.4 launches in the near future. Some of these features will be free, while others are only available to paid subscribers; I’ve contacted Apple to clarify which features are available and will update this article if I hear back.
Apple Music now lets you create playlists using artificial intelligence.
Do you enjoy making playlists, or do you know someone who does? Robots are targeting your hobby, too. In iOS 26.4, Apple Music is launching ” Playlist Playground ,” a new feature that lets you create playlists based on natural language queries. Simply put, you tell the AI what music you want to hear, and it will create a playlist based on that query. This could be something very specific, like “Taylor Swift country tracks,” or something more general, like “morning coffee vibes.” The AI will select 25 songs that it thinks match your query. If it’s not quite right, you can ask it to make changes, and you can also customize some of the playlist’s features yourself, such as the title, description, and cover art.
I’m interested in trying this, at least for the sake of discovering new music: I already enjoy Apple Music’s curated playlists, but I’m intrigued to see if asking Apple’s AI to select specific types of songs for me would help me discover new music better than the platform’s curators. I also don’t think it would stop me from creating my own playlists or searching for playlists from friends. Sure, AI can be good at picking 25 songs that fit a certain theme, but there’s an art to hand-picking tracks that pair well together—and it’s just plain fun.
Apple is far from the first company to implement such a feature. YouTube Music recently launched something similar, and Spotify offers two different AI-powered playlist creation features ( AI Playlist and Prompted Playlist ) on its platform.
Apple Music’s design changes look amazing!
After updating to iOS 26.4 and starting to use Apple Music, you’ll likely immediately notice one thing: the user interface, usually white or black (regardless of whether your iPhone is in Light or Dark mode), now matches the color scheme of the album art or playlist you’re viewing. The effect is especially striking when the album art supports full-screen display, as in the following image:
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Apple has made some controversial design decisions in recent years, but I think this change will please many. The difference between the current iOS 26.3 design and the new look is striking, and while the current design is good , it already looks very dated compared to the full-screen, color-blocked design.
Now you can add songs to multiple playlists at once.
Speaking of playlists, you can now add songs to multiple playlists at once—in case you still need a human to help you create them. When you add a song to a playlist, you’ll notice a new button in the bottom right corner. Tap it, and Apple Music will open the option to select multiple playlists at once and add the song to all of them. This is a small but useful change, especially if you often add new music to multiple playlists at once. I could use this to add a song to my personal playlist of new discoveries, as well as to a shared playlist of new music I keep with friends.
iOS 26.4 adds a new Atmospheric Music widget to the Home screen.
Not all music is meant for active listening. If you use Apple Music for background music, especially while sleeping, working, or relaxing, you might be interested in the new Atmospheric Music widget, which lets you launch one of four different background music playlists directly from the Home screen: Sleep (plays Sleep Sounds); Relax (plays Today’s Relaxation); Productivity (plays Productivity); or Well-Being (plays Pure Meditation).
I still can’t shake my habit of relying on YouTube for “concentration music,” especially because those tracks thwart Apple Music’s algorithms. But maybe it makes sense to start using the platform I pay for when I need music for work or sleep— assuming, of course, that music is only available on other platforms .
Apple Music helps you find concerts near you.
Apple Music is also making it easier to listen to music outside of the app. The platform is launching a “Concerts Near You” section that displays artists performing in your area. You can see popular artists and their concert dates, as well as upcoming performances this week. You can sort by date and genre, and update your location to see concerts in different regions.