How to use Apple’s Playlist Playground to make AI-generated mixes
With the release of iOS 26.4, Apple Music’s Playlist Playground can now generate playlists using AI. Best of all, you don’t need an Apple Intelligence-enabled iPhone to take advantage of the new feature. As long as you’re an Apple Music subscriber in the US and your language is set to English, you can start using Playlist Playground right now. Here’s how to get started.
How to create playlists using Playlist Playground
A pair of screenshots showing off Apple Music’s new Playlist Playground feature. (Igor Bonifacic for Engadget)
Currently, there are two ways to access Playlist Playground. For now, the company is highlighting this feature in the “Best Picks for You” section of Apple Music’s Home tab. If you don’t see a shortcut there, Apple has integrated the functionality into the app’s existing playlist creation tool. Just tap the new icon found in the Library tab. If you’re new to Apple Music, the flow looks like this:
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Go to the “Library” tab.
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Tap the create playlist button.
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Write a prompt describing the mood or style of music you want to hear.
To help users get started, Apple provides a selection of sample prompts. A pro tip: it is possible to use metadata with Playlist Playground. For example, once Apple Music generates a playlist, you can ask the Apple template to edit it by removing all songs published before 2016. Of course, you are also free to add and remove songs manually as you wish.
Once you’re happy with your new playlist, Apple Music treats all Playlist Playground mixes like any other playlist, meaning you can save it to your library, download it for offline playback, play it from your Apple Watch, share it with your friends, and invite them to add songs.
FAQs
What devices is Apple Playlist Playground available on?
At the time of writing, Playlist Playground is a beta version only available to Apple Music subscribers in the United States with their preferred language set to English. An iPhone or iPad running iOS 26.4 or an Apple Vision headset running visionOS 26.4 is also required.
As Apple releases this feature to more countries and languages, we will update this article.
Is Playlist Playground available on Android?
Yes, if you use Apple Music on Android, Playlist Playground is also available there.
How does Playlist Playground work?
When generating mixes, Playlist Playground extracts both trending data and your personal listening history. Along with other AI-powered Apple Music features, such as AutoMix and Lyrics Translation, Playlist Playground works as part of the Apple Music service. This is one of the reasons why Apple can offer it outside of Apple Intelligence compatible devices.
