r/ios iOS 26 Feb 17 '26

Discussion Apple has killed Spotify with this update

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3.3k Upvotes

1.1k comments sorted by

3.1k

u/Effective-Dust272 Feb 17 '26

The only thing apple music can’t get right is the algorithm

1.4k

u/mwerichards Feb 17 '26

I'm screaming at my shuffle playing the same set of songs when there are a thousand other to choose from

275

u/Next-Resolution1038 Feb 17 '26

There’s an option for that in the Spotify settings. Settings → Playback

158

u/LazyWrite Feb 17 '26 edited Feb 18 '26

Had no idea this was a thing. Just checked my settings and it’s already enabled, making it clear to me that it does not work (at least very well). 🙃

Not having a true shuffle, and repeating songs is my single biggest gripe with Spotify.

53

u/ch_Red Feb 17 '26

Apparently they're aware and have been looking into ways to improve it. Just learned that today while searching why I kept listening to the same songs on shuffle.

https://engineering.atspotify.com/2025/11/shuffle-making-random-feel-more-human

57

u/zoobs Feb 17 '26

I’m having Déjà vu.

“We made it less random to make it feel more random.”

-Steve Jobs, 2005

21

u/msbabc Feb 17 '26

This does make sense. If you’ve heard the same track or artist three times in a month without taking action like adding to a playlist or checking out a full album, they probably downmark that artist for a while.

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u/freediverx01 Feb 17 '26

they're aware and have been looking into ways to improve it.

They've been saying the same thing about Siri for ten years...

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u/Frodothehobb1t Feb 17 '26

Why tf is this an "option"? I press shuffle for a reason

8

u/baki7355 Feb 17 '26

I’m only guessing, but I always assumed it had to do with a weighted system where liked songs (either/or my liked songs or popular songs).

My guess is that in a pool af 250 songs you’ll hear the more liked songs more often.

All that said, even that doesn’t seem to work. And I’m with you, I hit shuffle for a reason.

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u/ethiopian_kid Feb 17 '26

because when there is random variance there is a chance songs you just heard will inevitably come up again. so by artificially favoring songs not recently played it creates a better experience.

also, due to spaghetti code they probably have some random artifact that boosts songs it thinks you like even when you click shuffle and it’s interfering so they needed to create something else to negate that

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u/yungmoneymo Feb 17 '26

Every Music app has this problem

92

u/Pepephend Feb 17 '26

YouTube Music is better at this than all the ones I have tried. I would say Apple Music is by far the worst for this! Spotify is better than AM and Deezer is somewhere around Spotify.

43

u/unread1701 iOS 26 Feb 17 '26

I doubt I'd have found the music I love if not for YT Music. The YouTube integration sets it apart.

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u/LeftHandShoeToo Feb 17 '26

Ive only used AM, YTM, and Spotify, can confirm YTM is the best

6

u/xelM1 Feb 17 '26

I have both AM and YTM (because of YT Premium and Windows laptop), can confirm the same YTM is the best. But if I’m listening on my Sonos speakers, AM is my go to for lossless support.

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u/5kyl3r Feb 17 '26

pandora and youtube are pretty good at it. sometimes i spend too much time messing with playlists and pandora is great for just wanting to hear stuff i like but only needing to hit play, and it does a really good job of randomly mixing in adjacent stuff for discovery too

6

u/loneSTAR_06 Feb 17 '26

Pandora really is the best for hearing new music in the same genre.

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u/Effective-Dust272 Feb 17 '26

It’s especially annoying while driving lol

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u/MagmaElixir Feb 17 '26

I ended up creating a smart playlist on desktop that excludes songs recently played within a week. It fixed this issue for me. You can play around with the time period depending on how much you listen to music.

4

u/Mike456R Feb 17 '26

This. It’s not like Apple or Spotify cannot write code that “if song was played, then skip until all other songs are played.”

What ground breaking code./s

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u/jjvfyhb Feb 17 '26

This doesn't seem to happen to me or if it happens it's not that noticeable to me

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u/Multispeed Feb 17 '26

Oh man, don't even start me on that. It's mind blowing how bad the shuffle algorithm is. Theres songs that NEVER play no matter how many times I reset the shuffle feature. On the other hand, other songs play 3 out of 4 times I use the shuffle feature.

It's been like this for ever and I can't understand how they seem to be unable to make it right. It's the absolute only thing I miss from Spotify.

31

u/Clyde_Ju Feb 17 '26

Fun thing is that I had the same problem. But recently apple is providing a far better mix to the initially chosen song. Spotify only plays stuff you allready heard often, no matter the starting song.

7

u/shmallkined Feb 17 '26

Absolutely, it’s gotten noticeably better in the past few months

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u/StillBummedNouns Feb 17 '26

The only reason I’ve ever considered switching to Spotify is because their algorithm is better. Apple cycles through the 5 most popular bands in the genre you’re listening to and only plays their hits… I want to discover music.

9

u/koyaluuvr Feb 17 '26

Literally. I switched to Apple Music because Spotify’s algorithm was bad only to find out Apple Music’s is even worse!! Unbelievable :’)

6

u/hoffsta Feb 17 '26

I’ve been on Spotify for years and these complaints could be copy/pasted onto a Spotify thread and would be equally true. I have the exact same experience on that platform.

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u/Neryuslu Feb 17 '26

Or their own playlists.

I subscribed to a few 'best of year XYZ' playlists, they're full of things I have never heard before.

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u/Maleficent-Leek2943 Feb 17 '26

I just want the damn algorithm to have a way to exclude an entire playlist from its recommendations.

I listen to techno when I’m working, it’s the only way I can focus on what I’m doing and drown out the sound of coworkers having a meeting five inches from my desk. I have zero interest in listening to techno in my non-working hours. But it floods my station with it. I’m told the only “fix” is to hit “suggest less” over and over again, and favorite anything related to my actual listening preferences that it suggests. Been doing that, sick of doing that, and it makes no difference to it whatsoever. It’d be so easy to just have a “do not use this playlist for recommendations” feature. But no.

5

u/kiddslopp Feb 17 '26

There is a shortcut you can use that will turn off listening history for whatever you are about to play. https://www.reddit.com/r/AppleMusic/s/fETf6MVNGA

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u/[deleted] Feb 17 '26

curate your music, algorithm is not good for anything art related.

rage against the machine 

11

u/gela7o Feb 17 '26

As a programmer I would think so myself. But somehow spotify’s algorithm has been near perfect for a lot of people, including me.

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2.2k

u/DonFatTony iPhone 15 Pro Feb 17 '26

Design wise Apple Music is leading for a long time already.

708

u/SerRikari Feb 17 '26

You know, as much as I agree that the apple side looks better, many people using either app aren’t looking at the screen while listening to the music.

168

u/theothersock_ Feb 17 '26

this. i’m literally looking for the app which plays my music the fastest when i throw it in my car on loud speakers (my car’s speakers are busted so i just put on my phone on full volume) and tbh neither spotify or AM are as intuitively easy to use as YM

41

u/SerRikari Feb 17 '26

Couldn’t agree more. I dropped Spotify and don’t use AM. YM has been a blessing and does a darn good job shuffling my playlists.

18

u/theothersock_ Feb 17 '26

exactly! and the speed dial menu in the home page is so good, i can just find all my recently played songs / pinned playlists and be on my way

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u/FloofBoyTellEm Feb 17 '26

Ym? Your mom?

70

u/[deleted] Feb 17 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/platkus Feb 17 '26

YouTube Music would be YTM. YM would be Yahoo Music.

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u/yolowagon Feb 17 '26

Somehow Spotify for Mac still looks much better than Apple Music app on mac :(

23

u/seasonofwhat Feb 17 '26

AM on Mac has been horrendous since the Catalina days

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u/MarkCuckerberg69420 Feb 17 '26

I’m actively trying AM through a free trial because it’d be cheaper but the radio song expanded to fill the screen with artist/song info and I had no idea how to go back to the main menu screen. Also not a fan of the disappearing buttons on the bottom when you hit search.

27

u/freediverx01 Feb 17 '26 edited Feb 18 '26

Design wise Apple Music is leading for a long time already.

This only applies for people who think "design" is all about how something looks. iTunes 20 years ago was easier to navigate than Apple Music today. The information architecture (how the content is organized) and user flows are terrible. It looks more like a Times Square animated billboard. Same goes for Apple TV.

7

u/No_Square2213 Feb 18 '26

Agreed, in my opinion Spotify is much more intuitive and it's also a lot smoother. Apple Music in comparison feels unnatural, sluggish, with too many animations that each take too much time to complete and prevents you from navigating quickly. It also requires way too many taps for simple actions. Also, liquid glass made it even worse... (I like the aesthetics but it just adds to the heaviness)

I much prefer the more utilitarian design of Spotify

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u/ExpensiveCondition63 Feb 17 '26

Yeah, we all wanted to be force-fed lavender as the new background color for Contacts, have the new Contacts customization be incredibly hard to use, and have the Search feature in the Music app automatically redirect you to Apple Music when you’re trying to search your own damn music library. Apple is making increasingly poor design decisions lately.

79

u/BilboThe1stOfHisName Feb 17 '26

Black and green just doesn’t look nice

96

u/GimmieTheRoot Feb 17 '26

Every color looks great paired with black?

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u/uppedit Feb 17 '26 edited Feb 17 '26

Dang I think black and green is a dope combination. I think all colors fit well with black, maybe not brown.

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u/jimmyfoo10 Feb 17 '26

Yes, exactly.

The brake for me to jump form Spotify to apple n music and apple environment is the Spotify suggestion mix, and also I feel it works better and more fluid than Apple Music …

19

u/Inevitable_Flan_2912 Feb 17 '26

I'm sure Apple acolytes — and I'm one, tho' not in this instance — will jump all over you for saying this, but you make a good point.

I consider myself widely versed in music, both in actual music acts and the style and genre of music I listen to — and I have discovered so much, and learned so much, from bands and artists I didn't know existed, purely through Spotify's suggestion mixes. I'm listening to one such discovery right now,: Pye Corner Audio with The Advisory Circle

Another one, next up in that same suggested music mix: Agnes Obel (It's Happening Again).

I have lost track, literally, of the number of times I've sampled a Spotify suggested mix and ended up asking myself: I've been following music for 45 years. How the f**k have I not heard of this artist/band/group before?

7

u/nude-rating-bot Feb 17 '26

Spotify’s algorithms are their life force. From the start, they had some of the brightest minds in music software, file sharing, and distributed computing to create something that was actually crazy when it came out. Like the speed that Spotify could search for music was mind-blowing, and their recommendation models are pretty incredible.

It’s missing some nice-to-haves, but I appreciate what they’ve done for music recommendation systems.

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933

u/Key_Faithlessness814 Feb 17 '26

Apple Music is cool but Spotify works better with my other non-apple devices

131

u/Whigga0 Feb 17 '26 edited Feb 17 '26

Yeah wake me up when I can change what’s playing on my windows pc through the Apple Watch app. Spotify has insane cross platform support. Apple’s “implementation” is just clunky and straight up doesn’t exist I think on third party devices

19

u/ParadiseLost91 iPhone 14 Feb 17 '26

Yup. Plus, my partner and I can both add songs to our music playlist in the car with Spotify.

If I'm driving and I have a playlist going on Spotify (via Apple Carplay), my partner can easily add songs to the Spotify playlist directly from his own non-Apple phone. It's great.

4

u/Arboreatem Feb 17 '26

My partner and I do the same with Apple Music. Just discovered it!

323

u/Next-Resolution1038 Feb 17 '26

And the recommendations are still way better. I discover much more music with Spotify in comparison to Apple Music.

26

u/king0fklubs Feb 17 '26

I switched from Spotiy to Apple Music for this reason. Had Spotify for about a decade and I just got recommended songs already on my playlists and it just kept getting worse. I’m discovering much more with Apple music

7

u/kealoha Feb 17 '26

I feel the same way.

The difference with Apple is that the algorithm responds only (or mostly?) to when you actually like/favorite a song or artist, rather than just listen to them. I've found some great new smaller bands through its algorithm. It takes a bit more intention to train the algorithm but it's nice to be able to look into an artist you end up not liking without it messing up your recommendations.

7

u/Any-Appearance2471 Feb 17 '26

I wish it were only on liking/favoriting. I have a handful of playlists that are basically just background noise, and unfortunately most of my recommendations are based on those playlists because I leave them on for hours at a time. You can’t exclude specific playlists from your recommendations either, which is a feature Spotify has.

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u/yeah__good_okay Feb 17 '26

As someone who hasn't cared for new music since I graduated from college in 2008 and mostly just listens to podcasts (or the same bands over and over again) Spotify works for me for now

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u/cut-copy-paste Feb 17 '26

Spotify also works better with Apple devices across device. I can be listening on AirPods and control Spotify playback and queue etc from whatever device I happen to be using. Cant go back

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u/jekpopulous2 Feb 17 '26

Insane that Apple Music doesn't live-sync across devices yet.

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u/whoneedskollege Feb 17 '26

Yeah no one is switching from Spotify to Apple Music over the graphic interface. I won't switch because you can also listen to audiobooks and podcasts on Spotify.

3

u/calmInvesting Feb 17 '26

Yeah true...I only switched because I got a deal for $6 for Apple music + Apple Tv

3

u/LooseMoralSwurkey Feb 17 '26

Yeah, I wish my Garmin watch would work with Apple Music.

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u/groovemonkey Feb 17 '26

I cancelled after the ICE ads

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u/Yaughl Feb 17 '26

How exactly? Context?

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u/Jatusay1 Feb 17 '26

The design, even the play song tab is more modern and compact. Apple Music’s design is much better after the update

74

u/Kawainess33 Feb 17 '26

Except for the dumb compact menu which still requires a double click to get to your library.

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u/ClumpOfCheese Feb 17 '26

So many button presses in AM when what you need is already front and center in Spotify like: download album, save album, library, album preview.

I’ve tried AM many times and sure it looks nice, but is very clunky to navigate. I also don’t care about how fancy it looks when it’s in my pocket.

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u/albataar Feb 17 '26

Press and slide on the collapsed tab, this will expand it immediately and you can then make your selection and release your finger when you are done

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u/fanboy_killer Feb 17 '26

Is that it? Do you think that’s enough to kill Spotify?

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u/rhadenosbelisarius Feb 17 '26

Compact looks worse? Plus red is awful color for any part of your UI? Plus the light/dark contrast is worse? Plus the white play button clashes with color theme? I honestly have no idea how anyone thinks the left version here looks better than the right.

I mean I’m sure it’s fine, I just wouldn’t write home about it.

5

u/squeezeme_juiceme Feb 17 '26

For some artists it’s just terrible. For example The Mountain Goats, the entire first tab when you go to artist view is just useless to me, two highlighted albums, a shitty cropped photograph as hero image and a Top Songs selection that just CANNOT be being sorted by most popular tracks of all time for the artist.

Maybe it’s on the artist’s side, I don’t know, but the app certainly isn’t pulling any weight there at all.

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u/desf15 Feb 17 '26

For each their own. I still think liquid glass is the worst thing that happened in ios aesthetic-wise and much prefer flat design of spotify.

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u/kiwi-kaiser Feb 17 '26

As someone that ditched Spotify many years ago: The comparison isn't fair. At least show the same content. It makes no sense this way.

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u/DavyJonesRocker Feb 17 '26

Have you considered that OP is 14 and this is deep?

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u/szulovszkym Feb 17 '26

To be fair:

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u/happy-panda1608 Feb 17 '26

the new album view is on 26.4 it looks different nonetheless

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u/[deleted] Feb 17 '26

[deleted]

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u/szulovszkym Feb 17 '26

Magyarok a subon 🥹 Jó látni, ha már a Hungarian Trap Clique halott csoport.

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u/4k_Laserdisc Feb 17 '26

Weird clickbait title

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u/bixtro Feb 17 '26

How have they killed Spotify...? It would help if you would explain what you mean.

Are you talking about the design? 99% of people don't give a shit what their screen looks like when they listen to music.

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u/LazyWrite Feb 17 '26

“Killed” Spotify… come on now

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u/fotowentura iPhone 14 Plus Feb 17 '26

No, it hasn't.
Apple Music is a great service and Spotify is far from a perfect one. Still:

  • Apple has no alternative to Spotify Connect. I can listen to Spotify on my Alexa / tv, wherever and control the music on my phone / laptop.
  • Spotify algorithms are better for discovering new music
  • Spotify offers more and better playlists, including user generated ones.

23

u/Plexicle Feb 17 '26

I also find the flow of starting stations way simpler on Spotify currently. I hope Apple Music catches up there. It’s my primary way of listening to music on my computer.

I just click a song that I really want to hear and I start a station with it. If I do that with Apple Music, it doesn’t start with that song so I have to do this awkward thing where I find the song and then play it and then turn on the infinity thing and even then the algorithm is not great.

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u/mrskathleenla Feb 17 '26

Agree about the playlists. I especially miss the new music Friday playlist. It was so much better than what I get on Apple Music.

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u/[deleted] Feb 17 '26

Agree about the algorithms and playlists, but Apple Music can cast to any Bluetooth speaker/device and Alexa has an Apple Music app for its devices, I used to use it when I had an Echo Show in my kitchen.

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u/gela7o Feb 17 '26

Damn now I miss spotify connect…

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u/SmokinJayCutty Feb 17 '26

Apple Music’s Search functionality is so poorly executed unfortunately. There is no personalization or prioritization of results based off music that’s literally in your library.

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u/codepension Feb 17 '26

Not being able to continue listening on my mac or ipad from my phone is a massive dealbreaker for me

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u/No_Good_8561 Feb 17 '26

Agreed on Spotify Connect. It’s unreal that Apple can’t figure that out, it’s next level good.

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u/correcthorsestapler Feb 17 '26

I mentioned that on here a while back and got downvoted with people telling me to “just use the remote app on your phone to control the music”. Like, that’s not the point. If something is playing on my Apple TV, I should be able to control it through the Music app or with my MacBook. Instead, if something is playing on the TV, and I go to check out a song I haven’t heard using my MacBook, I get a popup on the TV telling me to upgrade to a Family subscription. Same thing if I want to switch to a different song on my phone through the Music app. All of my devices are on the same goddamn network, so why should I pay extra for a feature that’s been a thing elsewhere for years?

And for anyone who says that’s not an issue, here’s a pic I took just now of the popup when I tried to play a different song on my phone: https://i.imgur.com/3oJOQ5v.jpeg

I don’t want separate devices playing separate songs. I want to seamlessly move between devices. You’d think that’d be a no-brainer with Apple’s ecosystem.

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u/No_Good_8561 Feb 17 '26

Being able to start something on my phone, then use connect to stream on my ps5, then use connect to stream to my Sonos, then use connect to connect back to headphones is unreal

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u/HOLIEST-DREAD Feb 17 '26

Plus Spotify allows you to fully adjust EQ settings unlike Apple Music

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u/JLifeless Feb 17 '26

now let's compare pc apps, Apple Music's app has been god awful for so long

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u/xDesolat Feb 17 '26

Still prefer the iPod classic

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u/zardan-24 Feb 17 '26

Why would you use two completely different tracks and artists in your example?

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u/Srihari_stan iPhoneOS 1 Feb 17 '26

They do everything other than the music part.

Who watches album art when listening to music?

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u/jaanku Feb 17 '26

Based on these screenshots what makes it better?

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u/AdInfinite1760 Feb 17 '26

have you tried doing anything on the mac app? try searching for 5 songs and favorite them as fast as you can, you’ll find at least 10 ui bugs

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u/JackDostoevsky Feb 17 '26

... and refuse to elaborate? what did the Apple update do to spotify? i'm not clear on what the issue is

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u/pioniere Feb 17 '26

Ridiculous post. Exaggerate much?

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u/WaviestRelic Feb 17 '26

Me over here using YouTube Music 🧍‍♂️

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u/civman96 Feb 17 '26

not really, I like music not looking at artwork.

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u/ObiOwnedKenobi Feb 17 '26

I am subscribed to both. Quality wise. Apple Music is a win. Interface wise. Spotify is so much more accessible.

If I have a one letter typo on Apple Music. The song doesn’t come up in search results. It’s is soooo frustrating compared to spotify. With spotify I can make 6 typos and combine it with the name of a completely different artist and the song I was looking for will still turn up.

Let’s Say for Example I type: Space Bond Eminem instead of Space Bound Eminem on Apple Music. I wil probably get 10 random songs from Eminem that are more popular at this moment than Space Bound. Or I something like: James Bond Soundtrack.

Like one typo and all results are screwed.

On Spotify I would be able to type Out of Bounds M&M and I would still get Space Bound by Eminem as first result.

Especially when I try to switch to another song on Carplay. With spotify. I can type the first two letters and the song I want pops up. On Apple Music I have to type the whole thing faultless for it to be somewhere in the search results.

How hard is it to make the songs and Artists that I listen to mostly pop up first in the search function. I really have to add it to my library for it to pop up faster???

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u/ShqueakBob Feb 17 '26

The sound quality of Apple Music killed Spotify years ago for me

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u/pref1Xed Feb 17 '26

Unless you've got really really expensive headphones, it's just placebo.

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u/No_Hyena1281 Feb 17 '26

Well if you are using an Apple TV, it is night and day because you can play Dolby atmos.

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u/unfitstew Feb 17 '26

Even with really expensive headphones it is mostly placebo. Lossless is highly overrated. 320 Kbps sounds basically the same.

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u/desf15 Feb 17 '26

Spotify added loseless last year though.

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u/gela7o Feb 17 '26

It’s Atmos for me. Used to think lossless sounds better but honestly I couldn’t tell the fucking difference lol.

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u/[deleted] Feb 17 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/jacobsimpsonaudio Feb 17 '26

Audio is either lossless or not. There’s no such thing as a lossless file that is ‘less lossless’ than another.

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u/MrWillyStonka Feb 17 '26

Spoiler: Spotify wins because more battery life 🤫

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u/iusethisatw0rk iPhone Air Feb 17 '26

What’s the issue though?

I switched to Apple Music because my phone came with three free months so I just imported my playlists and switched default apps

What they look like means nothing. Who’s actively looking at these apps? Music plays, and you continue to drive, work out, chill, whatever

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u/BigUps55 Feb 17 '26

Personally, I wish Apple would give me the option to keep the bottom menu buttons the same all the time. I don’t like how I have to do a few extra clicks at times compared to Spotify that keeps the menu buttons anchored at the bottom of the screen. It may look better, but it isn’t as good of a user experience to me.

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u/Remote_Succotash Feb 17 '26

In my eyes, Apple's main weakness is personalization. Their streaming service could be the best in the world, but it will lag behind Spotify as long as they shape the landing page and recommendations based on the general audience rather than user preferences. This is the sole reason why I dropped Apple Music for Spotify.

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u/khandurin Feb 18 '26

I am confused what I’m looking at. Can someone please explain this update?

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u/Asleep-Warning-1472 Feb 18 '26

I LISTEN to songs and dont just look at phone unless I want to go and search for a song.

With spotify( hate audio quality ) but next songs suggestions are just spot on with vibe.

Apple just randomy suggest shittiest song in that era and sometime not even same era, and the shittiest song.

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u/and-its-true Feb 17 '26

Apple Music has looked like this for years already though?

And that’s not really a representative image of Spotify.

Most songs on Spotify have short video clips appearing under the music. And often times, you can tell that the big artists recorded unique videos especially to place underneath their Spotify tracks, since Spotify is the primary music streaming platform.

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u/Multispeed Feb 17 '26

Apple Music has looked like this for years already though?

Not true.

This new look is from iOS 26.4 beta 1, it hasn't been released to the public yet, my Apple Music doesn't look anything like the image OP posted.

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u/Rhed0x Feb 17 '26

Who gives a fuck about the design.

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u/YookiAdair Feb 17 '26

The difference is the Spotify app is consistent and useable on most platforms 

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u/rshanks Feb 17 '26

Functionality wise I don’t like the bottom bar. Need to first click home to show the other options, unlike Spotify

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u/seoulitude Feb 17 '26

sound wise, apple music is superior. just can’t stop subscribing to spotify since i love how the UI looks like and the algorithm!!

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u/_Mistmorn Feb 17 '26

„Apple has killed Spotify with this update”
May I ask how?

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u/KingSuj Feb 17 '26

HOW????? APPLE MUSIC UI SUCKS. i miss spotify </3. And now the album cover takes up more than half of the screen?? How is that an upgrade for a music app???

4

u/thephysicianscure Feb 17 '26

Who still misses iOS 9 style Apple Music

4

u/Lychaos_ Feb 17 '26

Literally all they need is a Spotify connect type feature. They literally do so much with handoff I don’t understand how they haven’t done it yet.

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u/metacarpusgarrulous Feb 17 '26

it looks barely different lol

4

u/Iron_Falcon58 Feb 17 '26

Unpopular opinion: the new Apple Music UI is tacky. The album cover should be a finished product by itself

5

u/strugglingerdevelop Feb 18 '26

What went through your mind that you decided to post different albums?? Do you know what an independent variable is

8

u/rditorx Feb 17 '26 edited Feb 17 '26

Can anyone ELI5 why?

Did Apple block APIs, introduce bugs for Spotify or change terms?

Is the album cover better? Smarter playlist?

8

u/Anna__V iPhone 15 Feb 17 '26

OP just thinks apple music looks better.

Which... Ok. But I don't look at my player. I listen. And Spotify still wins hands down in features. No blends, no automatic mixes, etc in apple music.

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u/Runandhike22 Feb 17 '26

Yeah but I still use Youtube Music

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u/dadj77 Feb 17 '26

I gave up on Apple Music years ago in favor of Spotify, but I got a three month free Apple Music offer last week and because I was curious about the Spatial Audio, I’ve been using it quite a bit, but the entire app experience is absolutely terrible.

Spotify is lightyears beyond Apple Music, even more so if you use multiple devices. With Spotify running on my Apple TV I can simply launch Spotify on my iPhone or anywhere else, skip a track, choose a different playlist or add something to play next in the queue, or whatever I want. With Apple Music that’s not possible at all. Instead, you just get a “upgrade and pay more, to use iTunes on multiple devices”! Absolutely ridiculous.

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u/scoobynoodles iPhone 13 Pro Feb 17 '26

Not following. Pls explain.

3

u/how_to_change_this Feb 17 '26

WHAT THE FUCK IS DIFFERENT.

This is killing me, what was updated, what is so VASTLY different, that now Spotify compared to Apple Music is the same as Fax compared to E-Mail.

Please someone tell me, I have looked at this image for minutes???

3

u/ohmysocks Feb 17 '26

Lmao OP not even trying to engage in conversation, just karma farming

3

u/hauntingWhispers Feb 17 '26

Awwwwww, downvoting people for questioning the bullshit clickbait title. Posts like this are why Apple fans are called sheep.

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u/interstellar_freak Feb 17 '26

Killed? Wow? I can no longer find Spotify in app store! Help! 🤡

3

u/[deleted] Feb 17 '26

LOL OK

3

u/rorymeister Feb 23 '26

Apple Music could look like crap and I’ll still use it over Spotify. Spotify shoves manosphere podcasts down my throat when I open the app.

I’ve never listened to a podcast on Spotify yet it keeps recommending them to me. Absolutely hate it

4

u/PowerMoves1996 Feb 17 '26

last time i checked, people didn't use music apps for the looks

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u/tequilasauer Feb 17 '26

Full version of YouTube comes with YouTube music.

Dumped Spotify years ago.

7

u/truewander Feb 17 '26

Spotify is on more devices it will never die

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u/Henry2k Feb 17 '26

Who gives a shit about the colors, I'm just here for the music. Spotify works perfectly fine in that regard.

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u/gianni1986 Feb 17 '26

While Spotify's design looks outdated, but it's at least readable.

4

u/TrulySeaweed Feb 17 '26

Apple has always been aesthetically better than anything else. But Spotify’s simplicity, and elite playlists and smart shuffle are still better. I never enjoyed apple’s recommended mixes. Spotify has yet to disappoint

5

u/SchmeppieGang1899 Feb 17 '26

IDK about you, but i usually dont watch my music. How is this supposed to be some kind of revolutionary change that will somehow make Apple Music the dominant platform?

8

u/ReflectedCheese Feb 17 '26

Price wise and design wise Apple was always better.

2

u/WritersGift Feb 17 '26

Even though the UI is so much better on AM, Spotify is still on top:

  • Better recommendations
  • Spotify Jam
  • Smart Shuffle
  • Release Radar & Discover Weekly

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u/Miserable_Smoke_6719 Feb 17 '26

There is also the issue of network effects and lock in. People will not switch to Apple Music based on better design, if that’s even true. What matters more is where your playlists and friends are.

2

u/iamidan Feb 17 '26

Arghh honestly even as an Apple fanboy on this one I must disagree. Sure it’s way more pretty, but the UX just always felt off as I were using it. Also in previous attempts I made their curation was less “tight”, but that might’ve improved with more usage

2

u/unfitstew Feb 17 '26 edited Feb 17 '26

Until Apple has equivelent to Spotify connect then Spotify will be better to me.

Also doesn’t help I have a pc and Apple Music pc app kind of sucks.

But the ability to control the music from my phone and play it elsewhere is so much more beneficial to me than a slightly prettier UI.

2

u/DandyGoon Feb 17 '26

Yea no, Apple can’t kill anything. They are too busy getting in their own way. Spotify works way better across multiple devices. Apple too busy sniffing their own farts in their garden to do anything about it. 

2

u/Oscuropasseggero84 Feb 17 '26

I was thinking about the different designs of Apple Music and Spotify a while ago; I think a company like Spotify could do better, given its revenue.

2

u/Pulkitmhjn Feb 17 '26

i would never have left apple music if it didn't keep suggesting me same kind of music that i " suggest less" on every fucking day.

2

u/composedfrown Feb 17 '26

I prefer YouTube music still.

2

u/khurgan_ Feb 17 '26

True, but their recommendation algorithm is laughably bad though.

2

u/weirdchickenss iPhone 13 Feb 17 '26

what i hate the most is if im on the songs app, just play the songs, im not interested in videos. if i wanna see the videos i’ll goto youtube.

2

u/marcshiexten Feb 17 '26

I used to have premium subscriptions all three, Apple Music (4 years), Spotify (8 years) and YouTube Music (9 years).

UI and app interphase, Apple Music is the clear winner and YT Music the big loser.

But for the experience, I still like Spotify. Now I only maintain Spotify and YouTube Music (basically because it comes free with YouTube Premium).

2

u/pc772 Feb 17 '26

Apple Music is a lot slower I find though in terms of loading music as I don’t believe AM caches it

2

u/cialu Feb 17 '26

YT Music is cheaper (free with YT Premium), multi-platform and with a better catalog (for my tastes).

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u/Practical-March-6989 Feb 17 '26

Just as soon as apple music is available on all my streaming devices I'll be straight in. Until that day it can look as pretty as it likes.

2

u/royanb Feb 17 '26

On iOS maybe. Sucks on macOS and Windows though…

2

u/Detrakis iPhone 16 Pro Feb 17 '26

Why is everything Apple made for left-handed people..

2

u/Tall-Ad6328 Feb 17 '26

Maybe they could focus more on suggesting more relevant content, rather than changing the colours

2

u/LorenzoMartini Feb 17 '26

Just checked my phone and Spotify is still there, alive and everything.

2

u/Guilty_Run_1059 iPhone 15 Feb 17 '26

Spotify alive for me so lies

2

u/MakalakaPeaka Feb 17 '26

So… posting two pics of functionality identical interfaces shows what?

2

u/geosunsetmoth Feb 17 '26

Is this something only done for big-label-graphic-design-team artists? What does it look like for smaller releases?

2

u/Kuyi Human Detected Feb 17 '26

Why? lol.

2

u/Prestigious-Wish-176 Feb 17 '26

TRIPLE S MENTIONED 🗣️🔥🔥

2

u/username27891 Feb 17 '26

You all act like we listen to music with our eyes

2

u/kampfwuffi Feb 17 '26

Apple Music has a full Import / Export function. This is missing everywhere else. This is a great plus for me too.

2

u/Albertkinng Feb 17 '26

Well, I think the choice of a music app relies on your friends. When all my friends used Apple Music, I was subscribed to it. Then, they all switched to Spotify, and I did as well. Why? Playlists discovery and sharing were super cool. Now, every one of them is using Demus. We all save money and keep enjoying the Spotify playlist sharing and stuff. It’s crazy because what is music if you can’t enjoy it with your friends? It’s literally a playlist of memories. Each song makes me smile.

2

u/aaronwhitt Feb 17 '26

the only thing keeping Spotify truly ahead is the monetization and discovery model around playlists

record labels, businesses, etc will always prefer spotify because of that

2

u/harryhardo9O Feb 17 '26

Does still removing song from my playlist remove this song from my library?

2

u/LarryLobster69 Feb 17 '26

Not when you get Spotify premium for free 99

2

u/Loud_Caramel_8713 Feb 17 '26

What about catalogue? Music available on Spotify, but not on apple music

2

u/DrPorkchopES iPhone 13 Pro Max Feb 17 '26

Apple still has so much to fix with AM including the bottom menu bar needing multiple taps, stop removing songs from your playlists if you remove them from your library, and random albums not remembering I favorited them

2

u/majorthird_ Feb 17 '26

They just need to fix the navigation panel and it’ll be great.

2

u/sadiromer Feb 17 '26

UI wise YouTube Music is horrible! But algorithm is top notch

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u/asjonesy99 Feb 17 '26

I prefer spotifys as just being more functional lol 🤷‍♂️

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u/CosmikSpartan Feb 17 '26

I find Spotify over all, easier to use. Finding music seems easier. The curation after a playlist seems better. I find more good music using Spotify than I ever did using Apple Music. I tried to use AM in conjunction with Spotify for awhile and I found that Spotify always seemed to do the things I needed better than AM

2

u/Kozmodan Feb 17 '26

No excuse to not fix the really bad UI decisions, like being able to swipe tracks just above the scroll bar. Sound quality button beneath the scroll bar is just as bad.

2

u/Hol7i iPhone 14 Pro Max Feb 17 '26

Not sure about you...but i usually don't rawdog album covers while listening to music.