The official arrival of iOS 16 brought a handful of audio updates for iPhone users, the main one being Custom Spatial Audio, a feature that takes advantage of the iPhone's TrueDepth camera to create a proper profile for the listener's ears when using AirPods Pro ( 1st or 2nd generation), AirPods Max headphones, AirPods 3, or Beats Fit Pro. Apple Music subscribers should already be familiar with the benefits of Spatial Audio, but there are other Apple Music-specific features that come with iOS 16 that make the service easier and more pleasant to use.
Full screen music player
When playing tracks in Apple Music, the app's lock screen widget now shows which Apple devices (eg AirPods Pro, AirPods Max) are connected via Bluetooth. But this is only a minor change. You can now tap on the widget and it expands, giving you a full-screen view of the album art, along with controls like a button to jump to the Next Play screen and "3 dots" that open options for Add to Library or List Playback, View Album, Create Station, and Like (or Dislike) Tracks.
This change isn't huge, but it does improve the speed at which you can perform various Apple Music functions on your phone. More importantly, it works the same way for some of the best streaming music apps like Tidal and Spotify, as well as internet radio and podcasts.
Extended Volume HUD
Another Apple Music tweak, and the one you'll see when you tap to access that full-screen player, is an expanded volume HUD. The volume slider now matches the full width of the track's playbar, which is not only a cosmetic improvement, but makes it easier to adjust the volume and allows for more granular volume changes. The bar also swells and lights up as you make adjustments, further enhancing ease of use.
Is this a significant change? Not necessarily, but I am often frustrated by the lack of on-screen controls to adjust the volume in apps, a situation that leads me to gasp! – press the hardware volume up/down buttons on the iPhone side panel. In particular, because the Tidal music service I also regularly use doesn't have a volume slider in its full-screen iOS app, I have to tap the screen multiple times to access this control. So the new, easily accessible, expanded volume slider is a good example of why Apple Music is awesome.
Sort playlists
Another useful feature added to Apple Music with iOS 16 is playlist sorting. Previously, playlists created in the app reflected the order in which tracks were added to them: first track first, last track last. Now tap the three-dot button at the top of the Apple Music screen in playlist view to access a sort control with Title, Artist, Album, and Release Date options. Oh yeah, and there's also an option to go back to the original playlist order.
Why is it important to sort playlists? I have a huge playlist that I created at the start of the pandemic when it was suddenly time to do those things. It is basically the soundtrack of my life and reflects the music that was most important to me at different stages, from childhood to the present day. After upgrading to iOS 16, I immediately thought of using the new sort feature, which would allow me to listen to these tracks in chronological order. This is something I've wanted to do before, but then found myself without the time (or the will) to rearrange the tracks into a new playlist.
Another iOS 16 audio change
Although there are many other Apple Music updates, they are almost too insignificant to mention. But there's an overlooked iOS 16 audio update worth noting, mainly because it's something I've been using for sure. When you ask Siri's voice command for the name of a song that's playing, that information now syncs with the music recognition app Shazam. Not only that, but it also syncs with the music recognition in iOS Control Center, so you can quickly access a list of songs you've searched for by any means by tapping that icon. .
Again, not a revolutionary update, but a thoughtful and significant update from Apple.
If you want to learn more about your options for listening to music, check out our list of the best music streaming services.
The best Apple AirPods (3rd generation), Apple Airpods Max, Apple AirPods Pro (2021), Beats Fit Pro and deals