iOS 26 brings AutoMix to Apple Music - but some say it's painfully bad

iOS 26 has arrived, and with it, a new feature for Apple Music: AutoMix. The idea is simple, to seamlessly transition between songs, mimicking a DJ’s smooth mixing. However, the initial reception has been less than stellar, with many users finding the execution flawed.

The core issue seems to be inconsistency. While some users report decent transitions, many are experiencing jarring skips and cuts. One user on Reddit, Competitive-Truth-22, noted that AutoMix “almost always skips the first verse of any song. Had to turn it off.” This is something that many others have also complained about on Reddit.

Apart from Reddit, a post by the folks over at 9to5Mac on X highlighting AutoMix also garnered a lot of attention. Out of the 100+ comments, a majority of them are critizing AutoMix, with one person mentioning that it’s “just crossfade on steroids.”

Here, listen to the transition yourself and see what you think.

I tested AutoMix a few times myself and ultimately disabled it. While in some instances it might blend in well, for the most part, it just doesn’t feel right. I had a few tries where it just wouldn’t work at all. That said, I get that this is just the first developer beta. It would be surprising if there were no bugs at all.

Some users have pointed out that AutoMix seems to work better with songs of the same genre or those with similar tempos. However, this limits the feature’s versatility and defeats the purpose of truly “automatic” mixing. Others have observed that the feature struggles with Dolby Atmos tracks, a significant drawback considering Apple Music’s emphasis on high-quality audio.

There are also reports of AutoMix affecting other playback features. Vetz_zz mentioned on Reddit that enabling crossfade results in “a brief audio cut right at the start of the transition between songs,” and that AutoMix has the same problem.

While some users remain optimistic, hoping for future refinements, the initial feedback is overwhelmingly negative. Many are drawing comparisons to Spotify’s seamless playback feature, which has been praised for its smoother transitions. Others are reminiscing about Winamp, a music player from the late 90s, that already had this feature.

The introduction of AutoMix in iOS 26 held promise, but the current implementation falls short. Luckily, it seems Apple is already aware about this shortcoming. So we can expect to see further refinement in future updates.

Feel free to share your thoughts on AutoMix in Apple Music in the comments section below.