I Tried Apple Music's New DJ Feature, and I Have Mixed Feelings
Apple Music has several new features in iOS 26, but AutoMix is probably going to be the one you notice immediately. It lets the app seamlessly transition from one song to the next by using some of the tricks that a DJ might employ. You're going to notice that something is different about Apple Music's track switching right away because AutoMix is enabled by default. I've used it every day for three weeks now, and I have mixed feelings about it.
What exactly is Apple Music's AutoMix?
Apple says AutoMix uses AI to analyze audio features and "crafts unique transitions between songs with time stretching and beat matching to deliver continuous playback and an even more seamless listening experience." This is basically what a DJ does when they're performing live. It could be cool to have your own personal DJ built into your streaming service, but the results in Apple Music vary from quite good to totally off-putting.
Why AutoMix is a mixed bag
Whether you go to a club or a live concert, most good DJs will obsess over details such as track order, the vibe of the room, what kind of a mood they're going for, and much more. This means that your friendly neighborhood DJ is thinking a lot about the kind of experience you want to have and it's a delicate balance between raising the energy of the room high enough to get everyone dancing, but not so high that everyone's exhausted within 15 minutes. They'd also consider giving people a short breather with mellow songs so that people can take a breath and get refreshments. The best DJs will read the room and ensure that you have a good time.
AutoMix sometimes feels like it's a really good DJ who's made the perfect set list just for you. When it works well, tracks blend into one another and you never feel out of place. I am a fan of continuous playback, and when it works, AutoMix delivers spectacularly. However, unlike a good DJ, AutoMix doesn't care much for track order and tries to blend songs no matter what. If you have a high-energy song followed by a slower one, AutoMix will slow down the end of the fast song so that it matches the beat of the slower one coming next. It also speeds up slow songs when the next track is a faster one, which sounds comically bad at times.
Personally, I don't want to listen to music at 0.75x or 1.5x speeds, unless I'm specifically seeking out a workout mix. AutoMix aggressively applies its beat-matching algorithm to every transition and really draws attention to itself. In its current state, AutoMix is a bit too aggressive on certain transitions, and I hope Apple tones it down in the days leading up to iOS 26's stable release this fall.
It's a useful feature for certain types of playlists where tracks have a similar "vibe," but it struggles when your playlists have wildly varying types of songs. I have a habit of curating playlists carefully, so that the sounds at the end of a song match those at the beginning of the next one, and AutoMix didn't work well with any of those playlists. By blending the end of one track with the start of the next, AutoMix undid a lot of my hard work. I honestly wouldn't mind using it with playlists that I automatically play on shuffle mode, but not with personally curated playlists. The good thing is that Apple has disabled AutoMix for albums and "some genres," so you don't have to worry about AI ruining your favorite masterpieces.
How to enable or disable AutoMix in Apple Music
Fortunately, it's quite easy to enable or disable AutoMix in iOS 26. For starters, you can turn AutoMix on or off by opening the Music app and tapping the mini player that displays the currently playing song. Once the player expands, tap the three lines button in the bottom-right corner of the screen. This reveals the Continue Playing screen that shows the song queue. Above the track list, you'll see four buttons: Shuffle, Repeat, Autoplay (the infinity symbol), and AutoMix (the two circles button). You can tap the AutoMix button to toggle it.
If you're permanently done with Apple Music's AutoMix feature in iOS 26, here's how to get rid of it. Go to Settings > Apps > Music > Song Transitions, and disable Song Transitions. This will let songs play out normally. If you'd rather keep gapless playback without the AI DJ, then you can keep Song Transitions enabled, and select Crossfade on the same page. Apple lets you pick the duration of the crossfade, which you might prefer over AutoMix.