Apple Music iOS 26.4 Beta: AI Playlists & Design

Apple’s iOS 26.4 beta dropped recently, and if you’re an Apple Music user, you’re in for a visual treat. The streaming service is getting its most substantial design refresh in years, transforming how albums and playlists appear on your screen. But this isn’t just about aesthetics—Apple has packed in some genuinely useful features that change how you discover music and plan your next concert outing. Let’s break it down.

The update introduces fullscreen artwork for albums and playlists, according to MacRumors, giving your music library a more immersive feel. Beyond the visual upgrades, Apple has added AI-powered playlist generation through a feature called Playlist Playground, plus concert discovery tools that surface nearby shows and tour dates for artists you follow. Research from 9to5Mac indicates the Profile section has also been redesigned for easier navigation across Music, Podcasts, and other Apple media apps.

What’s different about the new album and playlist views?

The most immediately noticeable change is how Apple Music now displays your content. Instead of the traditional layout, albums and playlists now feature edge-to-edge artwork that takes over your entire screen, as reported by 9to5Mac. This fullscreen treatment aims to make your music feel more alive and engaging—a philosophy that Apple has been steadily embracing across iOS 26, from Lock Screen artwork to always-on displays.

The redesign goes deeper than just bigger pictures. Apple has repositioned the play, shuffle, and download buttons for more comfortable one-handed use, according to iPhone in Canada. The player backgrounds now adapt dynamically to match the dominant colors in your album artwork, creating a more cohesive visual experience. FilmoGaz notes that the track list background complements rather than exactly matches the artwork—a design choice that prevents the interface from becoming visually monotonous while still maintaining thematic cohesion.

This represents Apple Music’s biggest design evolution in recent memory, according to iPhone in Canada. The continuity with iOS 26’s broader push toward content-first interfaces suggests Apple is betting that users want their music—not interface chrome—to dominate the screen. It’s a philosophy that works beautifully with high-quality album art, though users with extensive collections of lo-fi or amateur cover designs might find the approach less compelling. The repositioned controls took about a day to feel natural in testing, but the one-handed reach improvement is genuinely noticeable on larger iPhone models.

How does Playlist Playground work?

Here’s where things get interesting from an AI perspective. Playlist Playground is Apple’s answer to automated playlist creation, letting you generate curated song collections through simple text prompts, as detailed by MacRumors. The feature lives in your Library tab, accessible via a new playlist icon in the upper-right corner, according to 9to5Mac.

Apple provides some starter suggestions like “morning coffee music,” “hip-hop party songs,” and “disco songs that defined the 1970s,” but you can type virtually any idea, mood, or feeling you want, MacRumors reports. The system automatically generates a 25-song playlist complete with a custom title based on your prompt. From there, you can refine the playlist with additional text instructions without starting over, 9to5Mac indicates—an iterative approach that gives you control over the final result rather than locking you into the AI’s first attempt.

The feature is currently labeled as a beta, according to 9to5Mac, which means Apple is still fine-tuning how it works. You can manually add or remove songs and reorder tracks to your liking, 9to5Mac notes. Once you’re happy with the results, you can customize the cover art and description before saving it to your library.

This positions Apple Music closer to parity with Spotify’s AI-powered features, though Apple’s implementation feels more utilitarian—you get a straightforward list rather than a conversational experience. Whether this approach proves more useful than Spotify’s AI DJ or YouTube Music’s similar capabilities will depend heavily on how accurately the AI interprets nuanced prompts. The beta label suggests Apple is still working through accuracy issues, particularly for genre-specific requests that require deep catalog knowledge rather than just mood matching.

PRO TIP: If Playlist Playground doesn’t appear after updating to iOS 26.4 beta, check your Apple Intelligence settings—the new AI models may still be downloading in the background, as 9to5Mac explains.

What’s this concert discovery feature about?

Apple Music is stepping into the live music space with a new “Concerts Near You” tool that surfaces upcoming shows in your area, MacRumors reports. The feature also displays tour dates for artists already in your library, making it easier to catch your favorite musicians when they come through town.

This addition lives within the Music app itself, according to 9to5Mac, integrating concert planning directly into your music discovery workflow. FilmoGaz indicates you can both discover nearby shows and stay updated on touring schedules with just a few taps.

The timing here is notable—Spotify has offered concert discovery features for years, so Apple is playing catch-up in this department. The in-app integration gives Apple an advantage over third-party concert discovery apps: you’re already looking at an artist’s page, so surfacing tour dates requires zero friction. The critical question is whether Apple’s concert database can match the comprehensiveness of established players like Songkick or Bandsintown, which have spent years building relationships with venues and promoters. Apple hasn’t disclosed which data provider powers this feature, which makes it difficult to assess coverage for indie artists and smaller venues.

The concert feature also signals Apple’s broader ambition to own more of the music discovery-to-experience pipeline. With Apple Pay integration presumably on the horizon, the company could eventually facilitate ticket sales directly, keeping users entirely within its ecosystem—a strategic move that would generate additional revenue while deepening Apple Music’s competitive moat.

How has the Profile section changed?

The Profile interface has received a comprehensive redesign that extends beyond just Apple Music, 9to5Mac reports. The same updated layout appears in the App Store, Apple Podcasts, and Apple TV, creating consistency across Apple’s media apps—a unification that eliminates the cognitive load of learning different layouts when managing subscriptions or accessing account settings.

The redesign emphasizes accessibility and usability, according to FilmoGaz. Quick actions like adding funds or redeeming gift cards are now more prominently displayed, and shortcuts to your Apple Account are easier to find. This streamlined approach makes common tasks less buried in menus—cutting the time to find frequently used options from multiple taps to one.

Bottom line: The Profile changes may seem minor compared to the flashy fullscreen artwork, but they represent Apple’s ongoing effort to reduce friction in its apps. The cross-app consistency suggests Apple is preparing its services infrastructure for something bigger—possibly a consolidated Apple Services app or deeper integration between currently separate platforms. For users who regularly interact with multiple Apple services, these small improvements compound over time.

Where do we go from here?

iOS 26.4 is currently only available to developer beta testers, with a public beta expected within the coming weeks, 9to5Mac notes. This update builds on the substantial Apple Music improvements that shipped with iOS 26 last year, including features like AutoMix for DJ-style transitions and the ability to pin favorite music to your Library—a cumulative evolution that makes Apple Music feel like it’s getting real attention after years of incremental updates.

The fullscreen design and AI-powered playlist creation signal Apple’s intent to keep Apple Music competitive in an increasingly crowded streaming market. At $10.99 per month for individuals—or bundled with Apple One, as noted by FilmoGaz—the service continues positioning itself as a premium option with deep iOS integration. That integration has always been Apple Music’s strongest advantage, and updates like these keep it relevant against competitors who might have better algorithms or more comprehensive concert databases.

The key takeaway is that iOS 26.4 positions Apple Music at an interesting crossroads. The visual overhaul addresses long-standing criticism that the app felt stagnant, while AI-powered features bring it closer to algorithmic parity with Spotify. But Apple’s real test will be execution: Playlist Playground needs to prove it can match human curation quality, and concert discovery must overcome the data challenges that have plagued similar features on competing platforms.

For current Apple Music subscribers, iOS 26.4 represents a meaningful upgrade worth installing when the public beta arrives. For Spotify users considering a switch, wait to see how Playlist Playground performs in real-world use—the visual updates alone won’t justify changing ecosystems, but genuinely useful AI features combined with superior iOS integration might. And if you’re on Apple Music solely because it came with your Apple One subscription, these updates might finally give you a reason to explore what you’ve been paying for.