It’s been a decade since Apple debuted Apple Music, which also means it’s been ten years since I started paying for a music service subscription. During this time, Apple Music has gone through a few redesigns. However, the most important change has been Apple Music slowly replacing iTunes, the iTunes Store, and even the music-matching service iTunes Match (which is still available in 2025!).
After all these years of support for Apple’s music service, there are still issues that continues to frustrate me and other users. Even with the upcoming iOS 26 update and several new tweaks and features, Apple’s service still disappoints me in a few key ways.
These are the seven day-one Apple Music issues I hope Apple finally fixes soon:
All-new Mac app: Many Spotify subscribers keep the service because their primary way of listening to songs is through the desktop app. Apple Music on Mac is bad. It’s not iTunes, but everything about it reminds me of Apple’s all-in-one app for syncing my iPod with songs, movies, shows, ringtones, books, and more. Even with macOS Tahoe and the Liquid Glass design, you’ll still find a very similar experience on macOS Sequoia, which is annoying.
Standalone app: Apple needs to remove Apple Music from the OS update cycle. That will allow the company to fix bugs, add features, and more, at any time. This makes Spotify and other services better, as new features are always being added.
Proper song countdown: Apple just released a Replay All-Time playlist showing the songs I’ve listened to the most over the past decade on Apple Music. But the list was noticeably different from my “25 Most Played” and the top tracks in the Songs tab. That’s the confusing part: Three sections of the same app show different “most played” songs. On top of that, Apple still can’t combine play counts for singles and album versions of the same track, so songs I actually listened to the most don’t rank properly because they’re treated as separate entries.
Duplicate albums: This is a very interesting bug that happens every now and then. Sometimes, a single song of an album will be available as a different record. Some songs will also somehow split into two or three different albums. One option is to delete them all, which also deletes them from my playlists. I can also just wait and pray. For a streaming music service, Apple Music should be quicker to fix weird bugs that have been haunting users for years.
Apple Music Replay still stinks: Apple is redesigning the Apple Music Replay experience with iOS 26. However, it’s still not an ideal experience. For example, on July 1st, I still couldn’t access my June replay. While Spotify offers my monthly recap at the end of the month, I need to wait a few days for Apple to process the data. Why?
Non-existent social experiences: Apple Music offers public profiles and shared playlists, but they’re so hidden that most users are unaware they can discover friends and popular artists on the platform. One of the features I particularly appreciate about Spotify is the ability to see what your friends are listening to on the web or the Mac app. This feature makes me feel closer to my friends and lets me engage in conversations about the artists they love. It’s 2025 — Apple needs to put the social experiences on the platform front and center.
Blend Playlists: Speaking of social experiences, would it kill Apple to let me team up with a friend to create a shared playlist? Imagine being able to do that with artists as well, which would show they are actually using the platform themselves.
