I’m running HomePod OS 26 on two HomePod minis and OS 18.6 on main HomePod (original)
I’ve enabled Crossfade in the Home app.
I’m playing Apple Music directly in the HomePod mini.
Crossfade just doesn’t work on any HomePod.
I can understand it not working on the HomePod - but why isn’t it working on the minis running OS 26?
I’ve tried disabling and enabling Crossfade, rebooting HomePods etc but nothing?!
MusicKit
RSS for tagLet users play Apple Music and their local music library from your app using MusicKit.
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Hi, when using ApplicationMusicPlayer from MusicKit my app automatically gets the media controls on the lock screen: Play/ Pause, Skip Buttons, Playback Position etc.
I would like to customize these. Tried a bunch of things, e.g. using MPRemoteCommandCenter. So far I haven't had any success.
Does anyone know how I can customize the media controls of ApplicationMusicPlayer.
Thank you.
A bit of a novice to app development here but I have a paid developer account, I have registered the identifier for MusicKit on the developer website (using the bundle identifier I've selected in Xcode) but the option to add MusicKit as a capability is not available in Xcode?
I've manually updated the certificates, closed the app and reopened it, started a new project and tried with a different demo project?
Apologies if I am missing something obvious but could someone help me get this capability added?
I'm experiencing a significant limitation with MusicKit's Dolby Atmos implementation on macOS and would appreciate clarification on whether this is intended behavior or if there are solutions available.
When streaming Dolby Atmos content through MusicKit's ApplicationMusicPlayer, the output is limited to 2-channel stereo, even when:
Audio MIDI Setup is configured for 7.1.4 (12-channel) output
The same tracks play in full multichannel through the native Apple Music app
Dolby Atmos is set to "Automatic" in Apple Music preferences
Please let me know if there is anyway to enable this. If not, is this documented anywhere? Thanks!
Hi Apple Music API / MusicKit / MediaPlayer Team,
Similar to the currentPlaybackRate keeps the same pitch, it would be great to have a currentPlaybackPitch parameter as well. Alternatively, adding a preservesPitch parameter would also work.
I see that iOS 26 AutoMix on Apple Music currently does pitch shifting during music transitions, so maybe this is something that could be exposed on the later betas of iOS 26?
Main feature request we get is to have simple pitch changes to Apple Music we play through our app. Is this being considered?
Topic:
Media Technologies
SubTopic:
General
Tags:
Apple Music API
FairPlay Streaming
Media Player
MusicKit
When multiple identical songs are added to a playlist, Playlist.Entry.id uses a suffix-based identifier (e.g. songID_0, songID_1, etc.). Removing one entry causes others to shift, changing their .id values. This leads to diffing errors and collection view crashes in SwiftUI or UIKit when entries are updated.
Steps to Reproduce:
Add the same song to a playlist multiple times.
Observe .id.rawValue of entries (e.g. i.SONGID_0, i.SONGID_1).
Remove one entry.
Fetch playlist again — note the other IDs have shifted.
FB18879062
It sounds simple but searching for the name "Favorite Songs" is a non-starter because it's called different names in different countries, even if I specify "&l=en_us" on the query.
So is there another property, relationship or combination thereof which I can use to tell me when I've found the right playlist?
Properties I've looked at so far:
canEdit: will always be false so narrows things down a little
inFavorites: not helpful as it depends on whether the user has favourite the favourites playlist, so not relevant
hasCatalog: seems always true so again may narrow things down a bit
isPublic: doesn't help
Adding the catalog relationship doesn't seem to show anything immediately useful either.
Can anyone help?
Ideally I'd like to see this as a "kind" or "type" as it has different properties to other playlists, but frankly I'll take anything at this point.
Hi everyone,
We’re currently developing a music-based app using MusicKit, and we recently noticed that iOS 26 beta introduces a new “Automix” feature in the Apple Music app. This enables seamless DJ-style transitions between songs—beyond the standard crossfade functionality.
We’re trying to understand:
Will this Automix feature be accessible to third-party apps that use MusicKit?
If not available in the initial iOS 26 release, is there a plan to expose it through public APIs in a future update?
Is there any technical documentation, WWDC session, or roadmap info regarding Automix support via MusicKit?
This functionality would be a significant enhancement for our app, especially for intelligent audio transitions and curated playlists.
Thanks.
It's been an ask for a few years and I'm wondering if there are any plans, or whether the '26 SDKs/Tools allow Apple Music to work in the simulator? I develop for the Vision Pro so the usual 'fix' of running on the device is a bit of a hard ask.
At the very least a small sample library that works in the simulator would be welcome (similar to how photos works)
Cheers
My app is properly configured with MusicKit. I've generated a JWT using my valid credentials (Team ID, Key ID, private key), and I’ve ensured the time settings are correct via NTP.
When I call:
https://api.music.apple.com/v1/catalog/jp/search?term=ado&types=songs
I consistently receive a 500 Internal Server Error.
The JWT is generated using ES256 with valid iat and exp values. I’ve confirmed the token decodes properly using jwt.io, and it's passed via the Authorization: Bearer header.
Things I’ve confirmed:
Key ID, Team ID, private key are correct
App ID is configured with MusicKit capability
JWT is generated and signed correctly
macOS time is synced via NTP
Used both curl and Python to test — same result
Is there anything else I should check on the Apple Developer Console (like App ID, Certificates, or provisioning profile)?
Or could this be a backend issue on Apple’s side?
Any guidance would be appreciated.
I am testing the Music API and I am hitting walls every single moment when I try to do something that is DOCUMENTED but doesn't work/exists.
Documentation says, /v1/catalog/us/artists/{ID}/view/{view}/ NEVER returns 404, while I am getting 404 for even content I know it's available on Apple Music.
e.g
/v1/catalog/us/artists/1487603897/view/appears-on-albums/
results 404 while they are appearing on an album FRIGID TORTURE of Nosphere artist.
So when I request for appears-on or featured albums it shoud appear as a result, but I get 404.
It's here so it should appear:
https://music.apple.com/us/album/frigid-silence/1791001624?i=1791001626
I found NO WAY to get that album for this artist using the API, which is very frustrating and annoying.
Similarly if I try this:
/v1/catalog/us/artists/{ID}?views=>appears-on-albums it will result an EMPTY array for the data property
Also the documentation is unclear about the several limitation max values, many parameters (e.g. include parameters are unknown ) we can't tell what value can we use.
Is Apple Music Api unreliable or I just don't understand something?! I don't even understand why I have to do 4 different requests to get an artists all albums (full, single, featured, appears-on)... this should be MUCH more easier to do it one single request (with pagination).
We are working on a long-term major investment in music startup and trying to move from Spotify API (due to recent changes and limitations) and finding a better alternative.
Based on the docs Apple Music API seemed the most promising one, but now we are testing it we are very disappointed so far.
So should we trust in this or should we forget about Apple Music API?
I’m building a music app using Apple Music streaming via ApplicationMusicPlayer.
My goal is to decrease the volume of the current song during the last 10 seconds, and when the next track begins, restore the volume to its normal level.
I know that ApplicationMusicPlayer doesn’t expose a volume API, and I want to avoid triggering the system volume HUD.
✅ Using Apple Music streaming (not local files)
❓ Is it possible to implement per-track fade-out/fade-in logic with ApplicationMusicPlayer?
Appreciate any clarification or official guidance!
I’m building a music app using Apple Music streaming via ApplicationMusicPlayer.
My goal is to decrease the volume of the current song during the last 10 seconds, and when the next track begins, restore the volume to its normal level.
I know that ApplicationMusicPlayer doesn’t expose a volume API, and I want to avoid triggering the system volume HUD.
✅ Using Apple Music streaming (not local files)
❓ Is it possible to implement per-track fade-out/fade-in logic with ApplicationMusicPlayer?
Appreciate any clarification or official guidance!
Hey folks, I'm running into an odd issue suddenly with an app that had a working MusicKit integration before.
I'm using ApplicationMusicPlayer to play Apple Music albums and songs. I'm testing on a physical device, signed in to Apple ID, and with a valid subscription. Apple Music via the first-party app works entirely fine on this device.
Attempting to play back any content at all gives the log:
<ICUserIdentityStoreACAccountBackend: 0x1070bf3e0> Failed to initialize primary apple account, error=Error Domain=ICError Code=-7013 "Client is not entitled to access account store" UserInfo={NSDebugDescription=Client is not entitled to access account store}
[ICUserIdentityStore] - initializing account histories with activeAccountDSID = nil, activeLockerAccountDSID = nil, timestamp = 14605951908
[ICUserIdentityStore] Failed to fetch local store account with error: Error Domain=ICError Code=-7013 "Client is not entitled to access account store" UserInfo={NSDebugDescription=Client is not entitled to access account store}.
The album artwork, track names, etc, all appear in the control center playback controls, but the music doesn't play. Trying to trigger playback with control center just results in it skipping to the next track, which doesn't play either.
This exact code used to work. I have the MusicKit service selected in Apple Connect. Since this isn't entitlement-based, I'm not sure how else to check that I'm set up correctly.
I've tried deleting/reinstalling the app, restarting the device, cleaning/rebuilding, and deleting DerivedData, to no avail.
Any help?
Running Xcode 16.4 (16F6), testing on iOS 18.5 (22F76)
Is there any way for me to use an AutoMix api in my IOS apps, I would play tracks using the Apple Music api and use AutoMix to attempt to merge tracks.
Is this feature/api available to developers.
Howdy. I'm trying to access media from a users song library and receive:
<ICUserIdentityStoreACAccountBackend: 0x148f8af30> Failed to initialize active account, error=Error Domain=ICError Code=-7013 "Client is not entitled to access account store" UserInfo={NSDebugDescription=Client is not entitled to access account store}
I'm told I need to add a Media Library Access Capability. Nothing like this shows up in Xcode under Signing & Capabilities > +Capabilities. Also I can't find anything like this in my account in dev.apple.com.
How do I enable myself and a test user using another iPhone device to access my music and their music respectively?
Thanks!
Topic:
Media Technologies
SubTopic:
General
Tags:
App Tracking Transparency
Media Player
iOS
MusicKit
I'm reaching out regarding a recurring issue I'm experiencing with MusicKit developer tokens.
I'm using a valid .p8 private key to sign JWTs for Apple MusicKit integration. Each token I generate includes the appropriate claims (iss, iat, exp) and is signed with the ES256 algorithm, with an expiration date set approximately 6 months ahead.
Everything works as expected immediately after generating the token. However, after a few days, the same JWT (still well within its expiration period) suddenly begins returning invalid/unauthorized responses when used in Postman and other API clients.
Importantly:
I did not delete or revoke the .p8 key during this time.
I verified the JWT contains valid claims and a proper structure.
The issue consistently resolves only when I create a new .p8 file and regenerate a fresh JWT with it—after which the cycle repeats.
This issue occurs even when the environment and app identifiers remain unchanged.
I would greatly appreciate it if you could help me understand:
Why these tokens become invalid after a few days, despite having a long exp value and an unchanged key.
Whether there's any automatic revocation or timeout policy on .p8 keys that could explain this behavior.
If there's a better way to maintain long-lived developer tokens without requiring new .p8 key generation every few days.
Thank you for your help and clarification on this issue.
Best regards,
Liad Altif
Hi,
I'm generating MusicKit JWT tokens on my backend side and using it on the client side to query the Apple Music API. One concern I have is accidentally over issuing the scope of this JWT, resulting in accidental access more services than intended like DeviceCheck or APNS.
Other than using separate keys for MusicKit and other services, is there a way to limit the generated JWT to only the Apple Music API (https://api.music.apple.com/v1/*) using the JWT payload scope?
Topic:
Developer Tools & Services
SubTopic:
General
Tags:
Apple Music API
MusicKit
App Store Connect API
ApplicationMusicPlayer is not available on watchOS but all other platforms. Is there a technical reason for that like battery life? Same goes for SystemMusicPlayer and MPMusicPlayerController. I already filed feedbacks for that.
Hello,
Has anyone else experienced variations in the accuracy of the playbackTime value? After a few seconds of playback, the reported time adjusts by a fraction of a second, making it difficult to calculate the actual playbackTime of the audio.
This can be recreated by playing a song in MusicKit, recording the start time of the audio, playing for at least 10-20 seconds, and then comparing the playbackTime value to one calculated using the start time of the audio. In my experience this jump occurs after about 10 seconds of playback.
Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks!