This new Spotify feature almost made me ditch Apple Music - but iOS 26 changed my mind

Sabrina Ortiz/ZDNET Follow ZDNET: Add us as a preferred source on Google. ZDNET's key takeaways Last month, Spotify launched Spotify Mix. Since trying Spotify Mix, I'm tempted to switch platforms. Apple Music is slated to get its version, AutoMix, next week. As a loyal Apple Music user who has been curating playlists on the native app since my iPod Touch, none of Spotify's flashy releases have ever been enough to convince me to make the switch -- or at least that was until Spotify Mix. Also: iOS 26 just solved one of my biggest pain points with Apple Music If you are a music enjoyer who, like me, puts an incredible amount of thought into every playlist you curate (an art), you know there is nothing more frustrating than when two songs on the playlist that shouldn't have played after each other do. But also, if you are listening to music while working, you don't have the bandwidth to place songs next to each other. Enter an AI-powered, on-demand DJ. Apple's AutoMix At Apple's Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) in June, the company unveiled a new AutoMix feature. This feature is meant to offer seamless transitions between songs using AI to match the tempo and beat of the upcoming track, which is automatically selected using Autoplay. This is not to be confused with the Crossfade feature, as all that does is play two tracks so that they transition into each other, but it doesn't account for the actual songs' tempo and beat matching each other. Also: Apple's iOS 26 and iPadOS 26 public betas are here: How to access and why you'll want to Beta users immediately took to social media to post results, and the impressive transitions earned the feature overnight internet virality. However, the feature is only available in iOS 26, which is slated to be released with the iPhone 17 launch event. So, for now, users can only access it in beta, understanding that it's not a fully developed version of the feature and could have some bugs. I have used it in beta and have been thoroughly impressed. The feature does exactly what it is meant to do: speed up or slow down the end and beginning of a song so that they match and seamlessly transition into each other. I also like that the Apple version automatically places more of an overlap between the end of a song and the beginning of the next. I specifically enjoy this because I can predict what song is coming next due to the tempo change of the song playing and the beginning sounds of the one coming up after. Spotify Mix In August, Spotify launched its own version of the feature, Spotify Mix, in beta. Like AutoMix, the feature transitions between tracks, accounting for elements like volume, EQ, and effect curves. The feature is only accessible for eligible Premium users in beta and on playlists created by the user. My first time trying the Spotify Mix feature was a two-hour car ride, and despite the driver and me being extremely tired after a long beach weekend, the feature woke us right up. While some transitions were a bit anticlimactic, when executed properly, the transitions were done so well that it felt like an actual DJ was mixing the songs, except with the guarantee that you will like what songs are playing because you curated the playlist. To quote my friend, "This is what smartphones were made for." Also: Spotify's new DM feature lets you chat with friends in-app now - here's how Quick caveat: this feature is not to be confused with Spotify's far inferior AI DJ feature. This feature refers to a narrated experience that guides listeners through tracks, and honestly, I don't enjoy it. Back to Spotify Mix, another fun feature that AutoMix lacks is that users can manually customize each transition to their liking. In all my daily use of the feature, I have not found the need to customize the transitions, as Spotify does a good enough job, and I actually have more confidence in it matching the tempos than I do in myself. Why am I looking forward to AutoMix? Even though the Spotify version is fantastic, as an Apple Music user for over a decade, I prefer the UI and the native app experience on Apple devices. Beyond the aesthetics, which I have mostly gotten over in the past weeks for the sake of how much I enjoy this feature, is that I prefer how, with Apple's version, you can apply the AutoMix to any playlist, regardless of whether you made it or not. Also: How to use the viral AutoMix feature on iOS 26 (and which iPhone models support it) Lastly, a separate appeal to both streaming services is that there has to be a way to make the shifts between both playlists. Having to SongShift for each individual playlist I have over, although a simple process, gets tiresome when you have as many as I do. Hoping the feature that Apple Music tested once upon a time comes back into development.