Apple Music’s iOS 26.4 Beta Introduces AI-Powered Playlist Tool

Why It Matters

The AI playlist tool could boost user engagement and differentiate Apple Music in a crowded streaming market, driving subscription growth and deeper ecosystem integration.

Key Takeaways

• Apple Music beta adds AI playlist generator.
• Generates 25-song playlists from natural language prompts.
• Powered by Apple Intelligence models, downloading in background.
• Allows editing existing playlists via text commands.
• Adds concert discovery and UI color‑matched backgrounds.

Pulse Analysis

Apple’s introduction of Playlist Playground reflects a broader industry shift toward generative AI in music streaming. By leveraging its proprietary Apple Intelligence platform, the company can offer highly personalized playlists without relying on third‑party models, reinforcing its data‑privacy narrative. The feature’s ability to interpret nuanced prompts—covering mood, era, or specific artists—mirrors the capabilities recently unveiled by Spotify and YouTube Music, suggesting Apple is closing the functional gap that has long distinguished its catalog curation approach.

Beyond playlist creation, the iOS 26.4 beta bundles UI enhancements that adapt background colors to album artwork and surface nearby concert information, echoing Apple’s strategy to make the Music app a one‑stop hub for discovery and consumption. These design tweaks not only improve visual cohesion but also encourage users to explore live events, potentially opening new revenue streams through ticket partnerships. Integrating concert data, a feature already present in Shazam, demonstrates Apple’s intent to unify its audio ecosystem under a single, AI‑driven experience.

For the business side, the rollout timing will be critical. A seamless public launch could attract churned users from competitors and increase average listening time, key metrics for ad‑supported tiers and subscription renewals. Moreover, the AI tool’s reliance on on‑device model downloads may reduce server costs while enhancing privacy—a selling point for premium subscribers. As AI becomes a differentiator in the streaming wars, Apple’s ability to embed it across its services, including upcoming TikTok collaborations, could solidify its position as a holistic entertainment platform.

Apple Music’s iOS 26.4 beta introduces AI-powered playlist tool

Music Business Worldwide · February 16 2026

Apple Music is close to launching an artificial‑intelligence‑powered playlist generator that would let users create playlists through text prompts, joining streaming rivals that have rolled out similar tools in recent months.

The feature, called Playlist Playground, appeared in the beta version of iOS 26.4 released to developers on Monday, February 16, according to reports from MacRumors and Macworld.

Apple Music suggests prompts such as “morning coffee music,” “hip‑hop party songs,” and “disco songs that defined the 1970s,” although users can enter any description. They can type prompts describing moods, artists, or musical styles, and the tool creates a 25‑song playlist with a custom title. The tool also allows editing of existing playlists through additional text prompts, and users can select a cover and description for their AI‑generated playlists.

Developers who signed up for the iOS 26.4 beta can access Playlist Playground by opening Apple Music, tapping the Library, and selecting the “+” button to create a new playlist, according to MacRumors.

Playlist Playground appears to be powered by Apple Intelligence, Apple’s proprietary AI system—the feature is labelled as such and requires Apple Intelligence models to download in the background before it becomes available. Apple has not detailed the specific model architecture behind it. The company already offers playlist generation through a ChatGPT integration in Apple Music.

Macworld reports that the beta also includes interface updates for album and playlist pages, which now display backgrounds matching artwork colors instead of solid white. Apple redesigned the Music app’s interface with iOS 26 last year.

Another addition shows upcoming concerts near users’ locations. Macworld said the feature appears similar to the tool that already exists in Shazam, which Apple owns. Shazam displays tour dates, venue information and ticket details with options to set reminders for performances.

With the latest update, Apple Music joins competitors that introduced AI playlist generation in recent years, including YouTube Music, which rolled out its own AI‑powered playlist generator last week.

Spotify launched text‑based playlist creation in December after testing the feature in beta for more than a year. Amazon Music and Deezer were the earliest DSPs to introduce the feature in April 2024 and July 2024, respectively.

Apple has yet to announce a timeline for the public release of iOS 26.4.

Also recently, 9to5Mac reported that Apple Music has teamed up with TikTok to beta‑test a feature called “Play Full Song,” which would allow TikTok users to stream full songs through Apple Music without leaving the app; and a “Listening Party” feature that would let groups of users stream music at the same time within TikTok.