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Updated July 2026 · real, multi-region App Store reviews
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The verdict on

Apple Music

65
User verdict / 100 High confidence Divided

Apple Music offers a vast library and high sound quality, but recent updates have introduced significant bugs, navigation issues, and problems with offline playback and library management, frustrating many users.

4.9★ lifetime (2,912,874) Free to download since 2016 by Apple Inc. updated 3.5 mo ago recent negative 19% 100 reviews across 1 regions
Bugs & Performance Content & Quality Navigation & UI Music Library & Sync Feature Gaps
5★64
4★11
3★6
2★6
1★13
recent reviews across 1 regions, vs the 4.9★ lifetime average

Apple Music is praised for its extensive song catalog, high-quality audio, and ad-free listening experience for subscribers. However, recent user reviews highlight persistent bugs, navigation difficulties, and issues with music syncing and offline downloads, leading to a frustrating user experience for some.

What users like

  • Vast music library with over 100 million songsR4R7R19R41
  • High sound quality and ad-free listening for subscribersR2R6R22R24
  • Easy to use interface and navigation for manyR26R33R43R53
  • Ability to download music for offline listeningR43R53R98

What users complain about

  • Frequent bugs, freezing, and crashing issuesR5R44R49R55
  • Difficult and counterintuitive navigation for some usersR8R12R16R46
  • Problems with music syncing and downloaded tracks not playingR1R14R44R73
  • Lack of certain features compared to competitors like SpotifyR16R17R28R30
  • Loss of playlists and saved songs upon subscription cancellationR83R85
  • Forced music playback when headphones are connectedR60

Latest update · v2.9

What the developer says changed (the verdict above weighs this against what reviewers report):

Bug Fixes and Feature Enhancements

Recurring themes

Bugs & Performance negative
Many users report consistent issues such as songs freezing, the app crashing, downloaded music not playing, and general unreliability. Some mention needing to restart their phone to get the app to work. This contradicts the developer's notes about 'Bug Fixes'.R5R44R49R55
Navigation & UI mixed
While some find the app's layout clean and easy to use, a significant number of recent reviews describe the navigation as abysmal, counterintuitive, difficult, and not user-friendly. Specific complaints include the placement of the currently playing song and difficulty sorting playlists.R8R12R16R46
Music Library & Sync negative
Users experience problems with music syncing between devices, missing tracks from their uploaded libraries, and downloaded songs becoming unavailable. There are also complaints about losing all playlists and saved songs if a subscription is temporarily cancelled.R1R14R44R73
Content & Quality positive
Many users praise the extensive selection of music, often stating that it has 'almost every song' or 'over 100 million songs'. The sound quality is frequently highlighted as amazing and high quality.R2R4R6R7
Feature Gaps negative
Reviewers note missing features compared to other streaming services, such as the inability to sort playlists by date added, countdown timers for new releases, better search functionality, more comprehensive lyrics, or options to block artists.R16R28R30R40

Who it's for

Apple Music is for users who prioritize a vast music library, high-quality audio, and an ad-free listening experience R4R6R22. It is particularly suited for those deeply integrated into the Apple ecosystem who find the interface intuitive . It is NOT for users who are easily frustrated by persistent bugs, inconsistent performance, or difficult navigation R5R8R49. Users who frequently switch subscriptions or expect to retain their library without an active plan should also reconsider R83R85.

Evidence note: The recent reviews skew negative, with many highlighting significant bugs and usability issues that contradict the lifetime rating. While positive reviews praise the core offering (library, quality), the volume and detail of negative feedback on technical problems are substantial, suggesting a recent decline in user experience. The developer's release notes are too vague ('Bug Fixes and Feature Enhancements') to assess if reported issues were addressed.

Frequently asked

Is Apple Music free?
Apple Music is free to download, but a subscription is required for full access to its features, including ad-free listening and unlimited skips R15R35R56. There are often free trial periods available R15R33R83.
What are the common issues with Apple Music?
Common issues reported by recent users include frequent app freezing, crashing, and unreliability, downloaded music not playing, difficulties with music syncing, and a counterintuitive navigation interface R5R8R44R49. Some users also report losing their playlists and saved songs if their subscription lapses R83R85.
How does Apple Music compare to Spotify?
Many users compare Apple Music favorably to Spotify for its sound quality, ad-free experience, and ability to play any song on demand R6R13R22R43. However, some reviewers note that Spotify has a better user interface, more advanced features like countdown timers, and retains user libraries even without an active subscription R28R40.

What reviewers actually said

Built only from these 100 real reviews (foreign ones translated). Superscripts jump to the quote here. Apple has no per-review links, so [ref] opens that app's reviews on the App Store.

  1. [R4] 5/5 · GB I love music: There are no random stops in the music and there is almost every song!!!!!! there are no adds and the music is free like this is sooo cool😁👏
  2. [R7] 5/5 · GB Good: Good because lots of music is on it
  3. [R19] 5/5 · GB Awesome!: Apple Music is awesome! Most likely has all the songs there is! Even says when artists (singers) have concerts and when they are! I recommend apple music above all the other music apps!
  4. [R41] 5/5 · GB Huge choice: Huge music selections to suit your mood so glad I subscribed
  5. [R2] 5/5 · GB amazing service: very aesthetically pleasing and amazing sound quality
  6. [R6] 5/5 · GB My favourite music app of all time: Literally so freaking amazing. Always has some new update that makes it even better. The sound quality UGHHH so freaking good I love this app so much never going back to Spotify ever
  7. [R22] 5/5 · GB Apple Music review by Nezuko 🧋🍉: Really god quality. way better than Spotify it is so good and makes u playlist based on what u listen to the most!!
  8. [R24] 5/5 · GB Best app: I have subscription and so worth the money one thing some songs need lyrics but other than that I think it’s high quality
  9. [R26] 5/5 · GB AMAZING: I love it I love music and it helps me find my fave songs anywhere
  10. [R33] 5/5 · GB Easy to use app for music: Easy to browse and listen to music no issues, currently on 3 month free trial
  11. [R43] 5/5 · GB Amazeballs: Apple Music is a great app if you want to listen to music, plus, unlike Spotify you can press on a song or of want to play a song you don’t need to wait a song to listen to your song. You can also make playlists and favourite songs, and the last thing is, you can download music so you can listen to it if you don’t have internet!
  12. [R53] 5/5 · GB LOVE IT: It has all the songs ever and you can add stuff to playlists and it I can favourite stuff and it’s so helpful when I have a long car/bus journey that I need to listen to music on: I plug my AirPods in and press ‘play’ on my favourite playlist xx Amazing: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
  13. [R98] 5/5 · GB Amazing: No adds free downloads good lyrics
  14. [R5] 1/5 · GB Far too many issues: Consistent issues that never get fixed. Why does the song freeze and refuse to keep playing. Why doesn’t closing the app clear the cache and reset the app. I shouldn’t have to restart my phone or wait five minutes to play a song because it bugged out earlier. New music Friday is cool tho i guess.
  15. [R44] 3/5 · GB Buggy since last update: Having to restart my phone each time to get Apple Music to work with my downloaded music when out and about. It just refuses to start. Data on too
  16. [R49] 1/5 · GB Awful and untested: Slow unreliable and buggy Buttons don’t work screens don’t load music stutters or stops or goes silent Probably one of the worst Apple apps from the company that made the iPod the downfall of this app should be studied.
  17. [R55] 3/5 · GB I don’t even know: It’s saying I’m offline??? I have 5G and full bars?? This is my first time using it and it’s already buggy. I’m gonna carry on using my other music services for now (not Spotify)
  18. [R8] 2/5 · GB Abysmal “upgrade”: The latest version of this app is abysmally bad for navigation. Wherever I click none of the options are the thing that I want to do. All the options are counterintuitive and all over the place. The currently playing song shows now at the bottom of the screen next to the search button, if I want to search for something while listening I always press the wrong thing because of th
  19. [R12] 1/5 · GB Avoid: This app is terrible. I cancelled another music streaming service and moved to apple music and regret this decision. It’s so hard to navigate this app. Something that should be intuitive and smooth.
  20. [R16] 3/5 · GB Pain: Dear developers, This is a message of near-breakdown-level cry for help about how surprisingly inconvenient Apple Music can still be nowadays. I'm not asking for much. Please, for the love of all things reasonable, let us sort playlist tracks by the date they were added with a single click. And while you're at it, could you please make the currently playing song more obvious in the playli
  21. [R46] 4/5 · GB Hope they make searching better: Overall quite good and getting better. I hope that it becomes easier to search for songs added to a playlist in your library but not in favourites.
  22. [R1] 2/5 · GB Music not syncing: New iPad set up with an iPhone. Some of my music was missing. Advised getting Apple Music would help as sync music becomes accessible. Done nothing to help the issue.
  23. [R14] 1/5 · GB Bad Form: I used to buy CDs. I uploaded them to iTunes so I could listen to them anywhere. Now, Apple Music has removed random tracks from MY albums and wants me to pay a subscription to get them back. No thanks.
  24. [R73] 5/5 · GB Great App!! But one little problem…: I use this app everyday to listen to music, but when I use this app, there’s been one problem recently….Every time I’m on Apple Music, and my songs are downloaded, I click off them and when I go back on, they’re not even downloaded! What do I do to fix this???
  25. [R17] 1/5 · GB Amazon compatibility: No comparability from the app so Spotify beats you on this. We should be able to link up with Alexa without using the Bluetooth which runs out battery
  26. [R28] 4/5 · GB Really good but a couple things could be added…: I love this app it’s super easy to use and has loads of songs but I would love for there to be more features like the countdown timer for new songs and albums on Spotify and being able to see and share accounts and playlists but other than those things that could be there too it’s amazing! :):):)
  27. [R30] 1/5 · GB No lyrics on most albums: Disappointing
  28. [R83] 3/5 · GB Great until it wasn’t: When I got my new phone I received 3 free months of apple music, which I loved but I had to temporarily cancel my plan afterwards and I was planning on getting apple music again later but once I cancelled my free trial, I lost all my playlists and songs, I thought that was very petty, I was trying to switch from Spotify to Apple music but now that I don’t have any songs on t
  29. [R85] 2/5 · GB Needs to learn from Spotify: One thing I hate in particular is that if you miss a month or maybe can’t afford one month, it wipes your music history and everything you saved. That’s why I will always stick with Spotify from now on, not stingy and allows you to listen for free with ads and keeps music saved until you want to pay for premium again.
  30. [R60] 1/5 · GB Forced music play: Since the last 2 updates whenever I have wired headphones connected my tablet forces music to play and often interrupts any videos I am watching and there is no way to stop this. Please Apple resolve this issue it is driving me insane!
  31. [R40] 1/5 · GB Not as good as Spotify: Decided to give it a go since Spotify keep putting their price up and I keep getting offers. £4.99 for 2 months. I’ve imported my favourites. I’ve turned on downloads. My problem with the app is that even if I choose a song I’ve played 10 times there’s always 5-10 second delay until it starts playing. If I use Siri to play a song, it asks me which app I want to use so I h
  32. [R15] 5/5 · GB Amazing: Amazing app unlimited skips but £10 month but worth it but they do 1 month free trial. Also on Samsung. apple you need to make it free so people with IOS can listen free. Sorry Samsung you will have to pay lol 😂😂😂😂👍👍👍👍👍😁😁😁😁
  33. [R35] 5/5 · GB Music: Very helpful so I can listen to my favourite songs without paying
  34. [R56] 5/5 · GB The best app for music I have.: There isn’t necessarily much to say other than this app is great. Yes, I know you pay a subscription but it isn’t like Spotify, you don’t skip a song and get bombarded with ads. You have a good amount of music to listen to, it’s honestly the most user-friendly app I’ve ever seen.
  35. [R13] 5/5 · GB Amazing: It’s sooooooo good way better that Spotify

Synthesized from 100 recent App Store reviews · updated July 2026 · View on the App Store