I can't believe how poorly designed it remains in MacOS 26.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Did they give up on the Music app?
- Thread starter Saint_Blaise
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
I can't believe how poorly designed it remains in MacOS 26.
Did they really move the play controls to the bottom of the screen just so they could show off the transparency? This UI refresh just gets funnier and funnier. Those UI designers at Cupertino really need to take a design class. Only reason I can tell the controls are at the bottom on the iPhone are because their phones are so freaking large now people can't reach the top of the screen. And now this is in macOS because, what, people are incapable of moving the mouse to the top of the screen?
You can move the quicktime control bar and it also gets out of the way by disappearing.
what is the music app control bar blocking that you need to access? and how is it (much) different from a fixed bar below the songlist? really... what exactly is the issue?
The choice to put toolbars to the bottom of the screen is contrary to any elementary consideration of ergonomics. This UI refresh is not funny, it is ridiculous.
Yes, the money is in streaming now, so Apple Devs are only adding features to the streaming service now...
Maybe the playlist items under the controls? The status bar doesn’t cover up as much as the control bar. It’s just ugly. They could take the unused space next to the cover art and add padding to other elements and move the controls back to the top where they aren't obfuscated. I’m sure they could also figure out a way to better incorporate their beloved LG.
For me the music app is not usable.
First time opening it, the spinning wheel was there and did'nt go away. Just clicking in the window ended it eventually, but then the beach ball came up. And the beach ball comes up every few seconds. I thought something is done in the background, so just let the music app sit there opened, but 24 hours later the same.
I even installed Tahoe again, but nothing changed.
Open the music app, beach ball every few seconds and clicks in playlists come seconds later. Scrolling is impossible because as soon as the beach ball shows up it jumps back to the top...
First time opening it, the spinning wheel was there and did'nt go away. Just clicking in the window ended it eventually, but then the beach ball came up. And the beach ball comes up every few seconds. I thought something is done in the background, so just let the music app sit there opened, but 24 hours later the same.
I even installed Tahoe again, but nothing changed.
Open the music app, beach ball every few seconds and clicks in playlists come seconds later. Scrolling is impossible because as soon as the beach ball shows up it jumps back to the top...
I quite like it actually, it took a day for it to grow on me but I prefer the controls at the bottom of the screen, and for me there seems to be a lot less wasted space, I can make the window smaller and see the same amount of detail than I could on older versions. It just looks a lot more modern, the previous version felt somewhat dated. A thumbs up from me.
In many way, the Apple Music App is brillant. Spatial Audio, pricing, the early care put into the radios shows and curated playlists and the attempt to build a community here. As with everything Apple does, they seem to shy away from realizing a full potential, the books or mail apps spring to mind, but also Freeform vs Miro and so on. Maybe that is intentional, as to not become too perfect and push away better, commercial offerings, just do enough for the casual user and leave it at that. The Photo app also feels that way, as if 70% is just where it is actually aimed at.
With Music so much is just annoying. The way imported files are shredded, replaced artwork. The way the Shuffle in larger playlists really never is «random» at all but just offers you 10% of what is actually there, repeating songs rather than giving you the full range of what is in the PL. The way «up next» is a chore to edit. The fact that the iOS versions still have no user-driven-equalization. How hard it is to find music, to use Music in a «random» mode but also in a «vinyl album collection» mode, as inspiration and just to listen to your favorite albums and so on. The way the «genres» keep being pushed back and more diluted with every release instead of being a central programmatic focus of how music is presented. It's all there, it's software I use every day... but it could be smoother, better-looking, easier, more fun, more elegant.
I do not think that Spotify is better at all, but there is room for improvement. But with Apple, with almost all of their Apps, it seems to have slowed down in recent years in a way that reminds me of Adobe. Maybe it's the internal brain drain, the struggle with Covid, the focus on Silicon and other Apple.designed chips, the Vision Pro, Apple AI, Liquid Glass and other stuff that pulls focus from the applications, now the tariffs and trying to just keep the company alive and afloat in very stressful times and under constant attack... but it feels like, as with the hardware, that we get very very very slow one/two-feature per year updates. I for one could very well do without Automix, but I would love to not have old imported tracks replaces with Live versions or Compilations like «back to mine» shredded to 10 different albums. I would love to sort «up next» faster. I would love to find new artists easier, would love more curated and intelligent playlists and so on. Just as I have a long list for Mail, for Keynote, for Books, for Photos. For Indesign, for Photoshop, for Final Cut, for Logic --- And I will never see any software be «perfect» in my lifetime. Why should it be better than the real world?
With Music so much is just annoying. The way imported files are shredded, replaced artwork. The way the Shuffle in larger playlists really never is «random» at all but just offers you 10% of what is actually there, repeating songs rather than giving you the full range of what is in the PL. The way «up next» is a chore to edit. The fact that the iOS versions still have no user-driven-equalization. How hard it is to find music, to use Music in a «random» mode but also in a «vinyl album collection» mode, as inspiration and just to listen to your favorite albums and so on. The way the «genres» keep being pushed back and more diluted with every release instead of being a central programmatic focus of how music is presented. It's all there, it's software I use every day... but it could be smoother, better-looking, easier, more fun, more elegant.
I do not think that Spotify is better at all, but there is room for improvement. But with Apple, with almost all of their Apps, it seems to have slowed down in recent years in a way that reminds me of Adobe. Maybe it's the internal brain drain, the struggle with Covid, the focus on Silicon and other Apple.designed chips, the Vision Pro, Apple AI, Liquid Glass and other stuff that pulls focus from the applications, now the tariffs and trying to just keep the company alive and afloat in very stressful times and under constant attack... but it feels like, as with the hardware, that we get very very very slow one/two-feature per year updates. I for one could very well do without Automix, but I would love to not have old imported tracks replaces with Live versions or Compilations like «back to mine» shredded to 10 different albums. I would love to sort «up next» faster. I would love to find new artists easier, would love more curated and intelligent playlists and so on. Just as I have a long list for Mail, for Keynote, for Books, for Photos. For Indesign, for Photoshop, for Final Cut, for Logic --- And I will never see any software be «perfect» in my lifetime. Why should it be better than the real world?
Podcast app uses the same overlay controls. Probably best to get used to it, floating controls near the bottom edge are probably going to be the paradigm for the next 10+ years.
Also there is nothing wrong with some empty space. Most of the time there isn't anything to put up there. If you don't like it don't make the window overly wide and it looks perfectly fine.
There is plenty wrong with it. The problem is that when you're viewing a playlist as albums, or as songs (which is especially useful for smart playlists), the useless header with all of that empty space does not scroll with the content. Meaning there is barely any space left for the track list or album covers. Super frustrating and completely ridiculous, but not an entirely new issue in Tahoe, to be fair.
Yeah, I didn't even mention columns. Can't use them at all on playlists. Too, simple playlists don't display the total number of songs and playlist duration for some reason.
The column browser is such an old-school part of iTunes/Music that it wouldn't surprise me if Apple forgot about it. I haven't been using it for a long time but I can see the problems with it in macOS 15 too. The header is just a poor fit, it should be reduced in height or at least be resizeable somewhat.
For comparison: playlist view in iTunes 11 (notice the tiny header!)
Even iTunes 12 wasn't so bad as Music is now, as it still uses most of the space:
The floating "playbar" (for lack of a better word) hasn't substantially changed the available vertical space since the toolbar is now gone, although it does use more vertical space due to the additional padding and the bottom that the toolbar didn't have.
Anyone else having issues with Sound Check? There is no consistent volume and some music barely audible, causing me to turn the volume way up and then getting blasted when the next song plays at normal volume
iTunes 11, so perfect compared to the Music app in front of me right now.
The top of the Stocks app also has this ridiculous big empty space now because the title bar was removed. And the ticker column translucency causes overlay text to clash with text passing under it.
Anyone defending these decisions and trying to make you feel bad for complaining is gaslighting you. They are harassing you for complaining about bad UI. We have seen them defend absurd things like the scroll bar being chopped off at the bottom of the scroll bar track or even the scroll bar track missing from the UI.
Anyone defending these decisions and trying to make you feel bad for complaining is gaslighting you. They are harassing you for complaining about bad UI. We have seen them defend absurd things like the scroll bar being chopped off at the bottom of the scroll bar track or even the scroll bar track missing from the UI.
I deleted /Library/Containers/com.apple.AMPArtworkAgent and the Music App is usable again and runs smooth. Was 12GB...
Covers in playlists are gone now but I don't care, I have covers all embedded in the music files. Being able to play muisc again is what counts.
Why is the player thing at the bottom on a computer UI anyhow?
I get it when it's on a phone that's huge and your hands can't reach up there, but it makes no sense from a hierarchical perspective on a UI for a computer (laptop or desktop).
It's like they fired, or failed to retain, anyone that knows what they are doing.
I get it when it's on a phone that's huge and your hands can't reach up there, but it makes no sense from a hierarchical perspective on a UI for a computer (laptop or desktop).
It's like they fired, or failed to retain, anyone that knows what they are doing.
Somewhat off topic, but that iTunes 11 "LCD" looked gorgeous...
I absolutely hate this desire of theirs to turn everything into looking like it’s for the iPad.
The Mac is not the iPad.
Apps do not need to all look the same either.
The Mac is not the iPad.
Apps do not need to all look the same either.