Apple Music Becomes 'Your Personal DJ'... Unveils AutoMix Feature with iOS 26

Lyrics Translation Feature Added
Powered by AI

Apple Music has introduced new features, including 'AutoMix,' which allows songs to transition seamlessly, and lyrics translation, through its latest update.

On October 16, Apple held a briefing session for domestic media at a studio in Seocho-gu, Seoul, where it introduced these new Apple Music features.

New Auto Mix Feature Added to Apple Music. Provided by Apple

These new features began rolling out alongside the release of Apple's new operating system, iOS 26, which was launched last month.

The newly added AutoMix feature enables two different songs to blend and transition smoothly. It connects the currently playing track with the next song in a natural sequence.

This feature uses artificial intelligence (AI) to analyze over 100 million tracks, identifying each song's tempo and musicality to create seamless transitions between songs. During the demonstration, the AutoMix feature mixed "Golden," the original soundtrack from the movie K-Pop Demon Hunters, with "I AM," a hit song by the group IVE, transitioning between the tracks as if mixed by a professional DJ. According to Apple, this feature utilizes time-stretching and beat-matching techniques to bridge the two songs.

The lyrics feature on Apple Music has also been updated to provide translated subtitles. Currently, the service supports displaying Korean lyrics translated into English. AI performs the initial translation, followed by a secondary review by language experts to ensure the original meaning is faithfully conveyed. However, the feature that translates English lyrics into Korean is only available for select songs at this time, but Apple plans to expand English-to-Korean lyrics translation within the year.

Newly added lyrics translation feature on Apple Music. Provided by Apple.

Phonetic subtitles are also provided, allowing users to read the original pronunciation of the lyrics. For example, the Korean phrase "saranghae" (I love you) is shown as "Saranghae" in English. As with the translation feature, AI is used first, followed by expert review. Apple explained that it introduced lyrics translation and phonetic subtitles in response to its own data showing that 60% of users listen to music while viewing the lyrics.

The Apple Music 'Sing' feature, which allows users to sing along to songs available on Apple Music, has also been updated. Now, when using the Apple Music Sing feature on other devices such as Apple TV, users can use their iPhone as a microphone. Additionally, a 'pin' feature has been added to the music library, making it easier to quickly find and listen to favorite artists or albums.

Jeff Robbin, Vice President of Apple Services Engineering, stated, "AI and machine learning are core drivers that enable us to deliver personal and intuitive services to users around the world. We are pleased to be able to offer more personalized experiences, such as AutoMix, which mixes music like a DJ, to better serve our users."