Apple Music is bringing “smart song transitions”
Apple are bringing more AI power to their music app with an enhanced listening experience that travels smoothly between songs.
Apple are testing a new way to transition between songs. New features for audio are coming to their Music and QuickTime apps in iOS 18 and MacOS 15.
New details have been released on how Apple are working on upgrading their crossfade option into something known as “smart song transitions”. Their current crossfade feature dims the audio of the currently playing song as it comes to an end, bringing the next song in gradually. Control over the setting allows you to set the timing of the fade between 1-12 seconds.
It’s not clear how the “Smart” setting will work. It may be that it detects the timing and volume of the tracks to adjust when the transitions should begin and end.
Another feature, revealed to AppleInsider, is something called “Passthrough”. Details on what this feature does are slim, however it seems to be something related to Spatial audio with Dolby Atmos. Apple Insider suggest that it may be an eventual renaming of Spatial Audio. It doesn’t have the feeling of a catchy name that evokes the process of Spatial Audio.
Apple are encouraging artists and labels to upload Spatial Audio to their music services. At the start of the year, Apple announced that they would pay 10% more for tracks that are mixed for Spatial Audio. We gathered that they might be encouraging the format to enhance the specialty of Apple’s Vision Pro headsets, as well as setting themselves apart from competitors.
These updated audio features for Music and QuickTime haven’t been confirmed but are suggested by the sources speaking to AppleInside to be coming in the next big updates for iOS and macOS.