Apple Music subscribers reveal the key features they want next

Apple Music has been available for over a decade now and I’ve been a subscriber since day one. Over the years, I encountered the first bugs with the service completely erasing my library, duplicating my favorite tracks, etc. I’ve also seen the platform evolve by adding real-time lyrics, Dolby Atmos with Spatial Audio, and more recently integration with artists’ upcoming concerts and an easy way to acquire tickets.

While iOS 26 brought several new features to the service, I was excited to see what Apple would bring to Apple Music with iOS 27. It’s not much. Disappointed by the lack of adequate new features, I – and an entire community of subscribers – still think Apple Music has room for improvement. Among the main features, I wish Apple Music was as social as Spotify, offering ways to combine my music tastes with friends, and even other artists in a combined playlist – like Spotify’s Blend feature, introduced a few years ago. Other unrealized dreams include a button to not play a song or artist, and a more consistent experience across the different platforms Apple Music is available on.

After all, iOS 26 was supposed to bring unity between all Apple systems, as Apple was phasing out different numbers for its software and calling everything an Update 26. Additionally, the design of Liquid Glass was supposed to make the iOS, macOS, and iPadOS experiences truly similar. However, with Apple Music this is inaccurate, as the experiences remain quite different.

Before diving into what features Apple Music should add, I think the service needs to provide a consistent experience across its platforms. For example, iPhone users can add actions for pinned playlists in iOS 26 and iOS 27, but this is not available for iPad and Mac users. If you use Apple Music on macOS Golden Gate, you can always check the play count of a song on the main library page, while this feature is never available for iOS and iPadOS.

Even with a big Liquid Glass redesign, the Apple Music app on Mac still feels a lot like iTunes, while iOS and iPadOS offer a more consistent experience. This inconsistency with buttons not working or features available on one platform but not the other adds a lot of friction for users with multiple devices. For example, Apple likes to brag about how you can copy something on your phone and paste it on your Mac, but basic universal control is still nowhere to be found on Apple Music. This would allow users to control their music regardless of the device they are using.

Another common problem is that the play count in Apple Music remains wrong. Recent All Time and Replay playlists sometimes don’t reflect how many times someone has actually listened to a song, which data enthusiasts can find very frustrating because they can’t track their proper listening history. However, even Android users complain about unreliable read counts.

Apple Music updates are tied to iOS updates, so unlike Spotify, we have to wait until iOS 27.X is available. With the current beta version of iOS 27.2, Apple is only improving a few design tweaks, which means that so far no new features are available for the service. So if you’re waiting for Apple to add ways to share songs with friends within the platform, combine likes to create a playlist, or even complete an Apple Music Replay at the end of the year as good as Spotify Wrapped, you might be disappointed.

Apple Music users would like to see more data on artist popularity, as well as a custom button for favorite songs, playlists with full covers, and even a button to watch full music videos, rather than just a clip. Some subscribers want to see Apple remove the 100,000 song limit for the library, others just want Apple to remove duplicates – please, Apple.

Finally, some would prefer to have an all-in-one hub with podcasts, audiobooks and more. Currently, Apple offers these experiences through different apps, so if you want to listen to a podcast you have to open the Podcasts app, or if you want an audiobook you have to opt for the Apple Books app. Even if you want to listen to a classical song properly, you may have a better experience by downloading the Apple Music Classical app.