In iOS 26, Apple includes — past the showy modern visuals and AI highlights — a capability in Apple Music to insert or stick top pick substance (playlists, collections, craftsmen) to the beat of your Library, and tweak how tapping them carries on. Agreeing to the discharge notes from Apple:
Under the Apple Music segment, one of the unused highlights is Verses Interpretation, Verses Elocution, and AutoMix (the DJ-style blending)
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There’s too a pdf of “New highlights accessible with iOS 26” from Apple which notices that “Animated collection art” and “Liquid Glass tab bars over apps like Apple Music” are in, and that “When you tap collection craftsmanship from a music app like Apple Music, you’ll see immersive, enlivened collection artwork.”
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A tech news location notices a exceptionally particular covered up choice: “This covered up highlight can be seen if the client presses the playlist or implanted collection. They will see the Tap Activities menu with three choices. There is the Open Playlist/Album/Artist, Play, or Irregular option.”
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So fundamentally: you can implant or stick up to six of your top pick albums/playlists/artists in a top-spot, and at that point redo what happens when you tap them: you can either open the full posting, play straight through, or rearrange (irregular) — giving you quick get to to your beat picks in the mode you prefer.
Why I cherish it (and why it’s my best Apple Music upgrade)
Here are the reasons this include rises over the “nice unused look” overhauls and why I think it’s particularly useful:
Instant get to to what you care about
If, like me, you have a modest bunch of collections or playlists you always return to (for illustration: a workout playlist, a “chill evening” collection, a “road-trip” playlist, a GOAT artist’s catalogue) — this pin-feature cuts through the normal browsing or looking. Instep of exploring through Library > Playlists or Collections > scroll > discover, you have your top choices right at the top.
Custom tap behavior
The reality that you can select what happens when you tap is a huge bargain. Do you want:
• “Open” — i.e., appear the full playlist/album so you can choose a song?
• “Play” — bounce straight into playback of that list/album, uninterrupted?
• “Random” — rearrange the tunes interior it immediately?
This cite entireties it up:
“This covered up include … the Tap Activities menu with three alternatives. There is the Open … Play … or Arbitrary option.”
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If I’m snatching my phone on the go and I fair need that soundtrack to begin, I select “Play”. If I’m unwinding and need to browse, I select “Open”. If I’m in shuffle-mood, “Random”. That adaptability implies the highlight adjusts to how I utilize music, not fair what.
Cleaner library & less friction
Over time your Library can get chaotic: numerous playlists, numerous collections, numerous specialists. Indeed with a great look work, being able to hoist (stick) your “top 6” implies less contact. A speedy tap takes you where you need. Less looking over. Less choice fatigue.
Feels like a “power-user” tweak
It’s not the feature highlight (everyone’s talking around AutoMix and AI). But it’s the kind of calm convenience enhancement that once you utilize it, you ponder how you overseen without it. It lifts the encounter from “just browse my library” to “my beat music right up front, in the way I need to utilize it”.
Fits real-life habits
Think approximately commuting, workouts, cooking, driving: you frequently need the same “go-to” music. This stick include sits right at the best of your Library or Domestic of the Music app (depending on UI) and implies less taps, less interferences. For me, that comfort wins.
How to empower and utilize it (with my tips)
Here’s how you can set it up (accepting you’re overhauled to iOS 26, and have an dynamic Apple Music membership), additionally how I prescribe sorting out it.
Setup
Update to iOS 26: Go to Settings > Common > Computer program Overhaul and introduce iOS 26 (in the event that your gadget underpins it). Concurring to Apple’s direct, iOS 26 underpins iPhone 11 and afterward.
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Open Apple Music app.
Locate the playlist / collection / craftsman you regularly use.
Long-press on that thing (or tap the menu “…”).
Choose something like “Pin to top” or “Embed in Library top” (depending on your language/region).
After sticking, tap that stuck thing: you may see the Tap Activities menu where you can select “Open / Play / Random”. (As the article notes: you press the playlist or implanted collection, see the Tap Activities with three options.)
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Arrange your stuck things: if you can stick up to six, choose a collection of settings (see underneath) and arrange them so your most-used one is first.
My prescribed “pin pick” strategy
Slot 1: Your essential go-to soundtrack — e.g., the playlist you utilize most frequently (workouts, commuting). Set activity to Play.
Slot 2: Your chill/relax collection — when you wind down. Activity: Open (so you can browse).
Slot 3: A rearrange playlist — perhaps “All my top choices / random”. Activity: Random.
Slot 4: A extraordinary craftsman you take after profoundly — possibly you’re binge-listening a modern collection. Activity: Open.
Slot 5: A mood/genre playlist (e.g., “Focus”, “Reading”, “Dinner”). Activity: Play.
Slot 6: Something regular or pivoting (e.g., “Road-trip 2025”). Activity: whichever you like.
Tips & tricks
Review occasionally: your best picks will move over time—swap in/out unused albums/playlists.
Use important names: for a playlist you arrange to tap straightforwardly, title it something like “Commute-Blast” or maybe than “Mix 2025” so the symbol is immediately recognizable.
Consider symbol visuals: if you’re in the Apple Music UI and you stick something with an collection craftsmanship you cherish, it makes the screen indeed more outwardly appealing.
Combine with “Add to library” vs “just streaming”: If it’s something you’ve downloaded (for offline) and you know you’ll utilize it without information, stick that.
If you frequently switch gadgets (iPhone, iPad, possibly Mac), check that your stick settings adjust by means of your ID / iCloud Music Library—so the involvement remains consistent.
Why it things in the broader context
This pin/embedded activity highlight may appear “small” compared to AI improvements or plan upgrades, but it’s significant when you think around how individuals utilize their music apps. Here’s the broader perspective:
Usability wins over streak: Numerous upgrades center on captivating unused highlights (AI, favor moves). But the upgrades that get utilized day-to-day are the ones that diminish grinding, disentangle common assignments. Sticking is precisely that.
Personalisation at scale: Apple’s procedure appears to be moving more toward personalization and “my substance at my speed”. The stick include adjusts with that.
Competition weights: Gushing administrations like Spotify, YouTube Music etc. as of now offer solid UX highlights around top choice substance and speedy get to. Apple’s reinforcing its position by moving forward the “few taps to music I love” path.
Your music propensities matter more: Think of how you associated with music: frequently you know what you need — you don’t continuously need to open and browse. This pin-feature expects that “I fair need this playlist now” attitude and makes it easier.
Design changes around it: iOS 26 brings the “Liquid Glass” plan dialect (unused translucent visuals, coasting tab bars) which moreover appears Apple’s thrust toward visual moderation and substance center.
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The pin-feature benefits from that plan environment (since UI keeps substance front and center).
Momentum for music apps: With individuals tuning in more over gadgets, more on-the-go, the seamlessness of beginning your top choice music is a huge ease of use win. This stick highlight contributes to that seamlessness.
Some caveats / things to watch
Regional / device-availability: As with numerous iOS upgrades, a few highlights may roll out afterward in distinctive nations, or be tied to particular gadgets. The discharge notes caution that “features may not be accessible in all dialects or regions”.
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Library clutter: If you over-pin as well numerous things, you might vanquish the “quick access” advantage by finishing up with as well numerous stuck things. Keep it to your “top 6” as famous by the article you're referencing.
Learning bend: Clients utilized to browsing might ignore the pin-feature. A speedy instructional exercise or update might offer assistance you and others in your family make utilize of it.
Sync over gadgets: Make beyond any doubt your settings match up through iCloud Music Library (or the comparable) so that sticking on iPhone appears up on iPad or Mac — if you utilize those.
Action conduct desires: If you set an thing to “Random”, you might be anticipating full shuffle-control, but be mindful how Apple characterizes that (it might randomize inside as it were the stuck playlist/album, not over all your library). The article notes the “Tap Activities menu with three alternatives … Open/Play/Random”.
VOI
AutoMix and verses highlights might eclipse: Since the enormous glossy highlights (like “AutoMix”) are getting most of the press, the stick include might fly beneath the radar; make beyond any doubt you take full advantage of it. Talking of which: AutoMix is a greater alter, but in numerous surveys, sticking is portrayed as the one that picked up the most ordinary commend.
Tom's Guide
Old propensities pass on difficult: If you’re utilized to continuously physically looking or browsing your Library, the advantage as it were gathers if you commit to utilizing the stuck things or maybe than falling back to the ancient streams. So make it portion of your habit.
Why I’d choose this include over a few of the “flash” ones
While I’m really energized almost other overhauls in iOS 26 — like the enlivened collection craftsmanship in Apple Music, the Fluid Glass overhaul, the AI improvements — this pin/fast-access highlight is the one that I really utilize each time I open the Music app. Here’s why:
The “wow” highlights are incredible: for case, the “AutoMix” in Apple Music (which lets tunes move like a DJ blending) is amazing. But I don’t continuously need a DJ-style move — now and then I fair need my “go-to playlist” to begin playing with one tap. That’s precisely what sticking gives me.
The stick include makes strides regular utilization. It’s not fair for intermittent utilize or extraordinary circumstances; it benefits each single session where I open Apple Music.
It regards the “less contact, more flow” rule. The less taps between “I opened the app” and “the music I need is playing”, the way better the experience.
Because it’s inconspicuous and keen, I accept it will stay profitable long-term (while showy highlights now and then feel novelty-heavy). I’ll still be utilizing my stuck top choice playlists in five a long time; that doesn’t depend on stylish AI or unused hardware.
It adjusts with how I really devour music: I regularly choose a playlist/album and go. I don’t continuously need to browse. This highlight respects that conduct.
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