Apple has rolled out iOS 26 alongside its brand-new iPhone 17 lineup, and with it comes a fresh wave of features for Apple Music. Some of these updates were teased earlier during Apple's announcements, but now that they've landed in users' hands, it's worth taking a closer look at what's changed—and how it reshapes the listening experience.

Lyrics Translation and Pronunciation: Singing Beyond Language Barriers

The standout upgrade in Apple Music on iOS 26 is the addition of Lyrics Translation and Pronunciation. Previously, fans of international music often had to rely on third-party lyric websites to understand or romanize songs. Now, Apple Music provides this directly in the app.

When you pull up lyrics, you'll not only see the romanized script (helpful for songs in languages that use non-Latin scripts, such as Korean, Japanese, or Hindi), but also the translated meaning.

For casual listeners, it makes enjoying foreign songs far easier. For language learners, it doubles as an engaging learning tool—though it's worth noting that the supported languages list is still relatively limited.

AutoMix: Smarter Transitions Between Songs

Another big addition is AutoMix, Apple's take on AI-powered crossfading. Unlike the standard fade-in and fade-out most streaming apps use, AutoMix tries to intelligently analyze songs and stitch them together at musically compatible points.

That means instead of just fading volume levels, it blends the ending of one track with the intro of the next—potentially giving playlists a smoother, DJ-like flow.

Of course, results may vary. A playlist that jumps from classical piano to heavy metal isn't going to blend as seamlessly as one filled with house or pop music. Still, it's a notable upgrade, and while it's enabled by default (except for albums and DJ mixes), you can easily switch it off in settings.

Karaoke Lovers Rejoice: Apple Music Sing Gets Better

If you've ever used Apple Music Sing, the karaoke feature, you'll be happy to know it's getting a boost in iOS 26. Select tracks now allow you to lower only the vocals, essentially creating a karaoke-style version of the song on the fly.

The real party trick, however, is that your iPhone can now act as a microphone—complete with voice amplification. This makes living-room karaoke sessions a lot more fun, especially if you connect to a TV. The catch: you'll need an Apple TV 4K (3rd generation) for the mic feature to work.

So, while not quite a full replacement for a karaoke machine, it gets surprisingly close for iPhone households.

Fresh UI and Customization 

Beyond the headline features, Apple has sprinkled in a few quality-of-life updates:

Apple's Bigger Play with Music

Taken together, these features point to Apple doubling down on making Apple Music not just a streaming service, but a more immersive and interactive experience. From helping fans engage with international tracks, to making playlists feel more alive, to turning iPhones into karaoke companions—Apple is clearly looking to set its service apart from Spotify, YouTube Music, and others.

For Apple users, the message is clear: iOS 26 isn't just a phone update, it's a music upgrade.