Apple shipped macOS Tahoe in mid-September. The Music app changed on day one, and not for the better. Users report clipped song starts, unreliable crossfade, and a UI that gets in the way of listening.
Apple moved the playback controls to a floating bar at the bottom that overlaps long tracklists, while the top of the window often sits underused. That shift alone has sparked long threads from people who want the controls back at the top.
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Bugs everywhere
The complaints go beyond taste. Users describe repeatable glitches that feel like regressions. Crossfade fails in common edge cases. The “Now Playing” indicator behaves inconsistently depending on how you start a track. Some say the first split second of a song gets chopped off. Volume now hides behind an extra click.
Others note the Column Browser no longer filters while you type, a behavior that once helped tame large libraries. These reports match what you see across Apple’s own community forums and Reddit, where the same patterns come up again and again.
A design that fights you
One of the most baffling changes is the player bar. Apple shifted playback controls to the bottom, where they overlap long playlists. The top of the window sits mostly empty, leaving users wondering who approved the layout.
The Column Browser, a quick filter tool once beloved by collectors no longer responds when typing. Combined with the collapsing folders, it makes navigating large libraries far harder than before.
Features removed, patience running thin
Veteran listeners also noticed Apple removed per-playlist shuffle and repeat memory. You now have to switch modes manually depending on what you’re playing. Some users described the new interface as “claustrophobic” and “crammed under layers.”
Others pointed out old issues returning such as albums that don’t display tracklists properly, broken metadata editing, and volume inconsistencies between songs. Many have filled out Apple’s feedback form, though few expect a response.
Users seek alternatives
Fed-up fans are jumping ship. Some moved to third-party apps like Swinsian or Navidrome, calling them “a breath of fresh air” compared to Apple’s buggy software. A few even switched to Linux or Spotify, saying Apple’s once-trusted iTunes experience is gone.
What Apple needs to fix
If Apple wants users to trust Music again, it must:
- Restore per-playlist shuffle and repeat memory.
- Bring back live filtering in Column Browser.
- Fix equalizer behavior and clipped playback.
- Move playback controls to a sensible position.
- Test the app properly before shipping updates.
The bottom line
Music on macOS Tahoe isn’t just rough, it’s just broken in ways that make daily use frustrating. Apple built its reputation on polish and reliability. The current Music app offers neither. For many longtime fans, that’s the real heartbreak.
Issue:
When directly selecting a track in Apple Music, playback begins approximately 0.5–1 seconds into the file instead of starting at sample 0.This results in the opening audio being truncated. (Tahoe 26.x – Apple Silicon – Mac Studio M4 Max)
Example: The Distance by Cake begins playback mid-word.
Expected: “Reluctantly crouched at the starting line…”
Actual: “…luctantly crouched at the starting line…”
Observations:
* Tracks with a short silent lead-in are unaffected.
* Issue is reproducible across multiple locally stored audio files independent of file format.
* Same files play correctly in third-party applications including Swinsian.
* Issue reproduces across multiple local files, indicating source media is not corrupted.
* Behavior appears isolated to Apple Music playback initialization, buffering, or audio pipeline startup.
* Tracks with immediate vocals or percussion expose the issue most clearly.
* Super Annoying.
Fix:
The problem is not with the app itself. It is with the built in Music App EQ.
* Actual Bug: The Music App’s Equalizer.
* Since Tahoe, The Equalizer Option appears to be absent from the menu system.
* Press: Command+option+E to show the EQ.
* Disable EQ.
Symptom resolved. Track plays as expected.
I’ve installed a 3rd Party EQ to use with my Apple Silicon Music App (and any audio app on the OS really). I use rogue amoeba soundsource, but eqMac works also.
I’m determined to do one of two things:
(1) Return Apple’s abysmal “Music” app back to virginity and add everything again (backing up my entire music file collection first).
OR
2) Swinsian.
If there are other better-than-abysmal-Apple-Music apps, please share!
-> Wish: A certain pair of VPs in charge of Apple Music and macOS software in general please retire now! Replace them with Jobsian quality people who care.
Totally a pain in the rear since taking something simple and turning it into a maze, I cannot log into my itunes anymore, have verified myself, reset passwords, been locked out and had to wait and still no access. I just want to purchase an album, use to be simple, but no more. Apple has lost a customer and artists are losing royalties.
Pandora will have to be my go to.
It’s January 2026, and Tahoe 26.2 is still god awful. How does one restore a pervious OS such as Mojave?
I’m still on Sequoia. Has Tahoe 26.2 resolved any of the issues like the song-clipping, live search updates etc? I hear that AppleScript still works.
Also clicking and dragging a track from the bottom of your playlist (say track number 30, for example) to the top (say to the number 1 slot, for example) used to work fine, as the playlist would scroll up for as you dragged your selected track to said number 1 slot. This no longer happens with Tahoe. Super frustrating, when trying to reorder your songs in your playlists.
The Music app in MacOS 26 Tahoe is beyond a disaster its a shit show. I have a collection of about 5,000 LP’s and 4,000 CD’s. I don’t stream or subscribe to Apple Music. Ever since the first iPod I have downloaded from my LP and CD collection. The most annoying is the fact that for decades a user was able to join tracks which is important for me as a classical music collector. That was removed with Tahoe. When I rip a CD to the Music app album art that totally incorrect for the CD downloaded into Music, I think Apple in general has lost its way trying to sell television programing, music, exercise, health etc instead of keeping thier software current and reliable.
Also clicking and dragging a track from the bottom of your playlist (say track number 30, for example) to the top (say to the number 1 slot, for example) used to work fine, as the playlist would scroll up for as you dragged your selected track to said number 1 slot. This no longer happens with Tahoe. Super frustrating, when trying to reorder your songs in your playlists.
Music is still a HUGE MESS after the update on a Mac to 26.1.
Still a mess at macOS 26.2 also. Apple needs to fix this pronto.
It sounds awful! I’ll stay on Sequoia as long as I can, since I live in iTunes or what’s left of it. Unless these omissions are restored.
I’m glad I found this article. I had established that playlists and AppleScript was still working… but you don’t expect the volume control to be removed.
(PS just had to register again although I’ve had an account here since 2009!)
I endorse everything that everyone else above is saying. Apple Music in Tahoe is the worst iteration yet; a complete mess, This is what happens when you give designers free rein over engineers and people who actually use the software,
Two other things:
A: The old facility to select a group of tracks and see the total play time of that selection is gone.
B: As well as micro-clipping the start of a song, there is usually a half-second dropout about five seconds into a track.
Who put together this utter dog’s breakfast?
Fire them now.
ALSO….They took control of MY music files as if they owned them and won’t let me add them to an iPhone!!!
How many places do I need a volume control?
Stage Manager, Player controls, Mini-player controls, AirPods. And I think there’s another I’ve missed out…
They all compete with each other. Some work some of the time. Some at others. Annoying and confusing.
Devs and their managers need to be forced to use it for an extended period. They’ll soon fix it.
Apple Music is suffering from poor oversight of design and implementation.
Thanks for this post. Pressure needs to be applied. I’ve had issues with the Music app for years. It’s buggy and incredibly dumbed down. But the Tahoe version is basically unusable and the redesigned UI (which is presumably the justification for the hiccups) is also crap. Apple software of the past felt innovative. Now it commonly feels like cheap gimmicks to impress little kids and old women.
I don’t think any of the Apple Music engineers or designers actually use Apple Music. That’s the only thing that could explain how intolerably bad it’s gotten. I can imagine them all using Spotify or something else and letting a GPT 2 era LLM working on the Apple Music design and they just trusted it.
We’re so far from the company that gave us the iPad / iTunes that it’s extremely disappointing.
Given their iOS app is almost as bad, there’s I would never use their streaming service even if someone paid me to. I’ll just get music through Bandcamp or elsewhere and use an actually decent player. Can’t be that hard to replace something so awful.
I recently replaced my iPhone XR with an iPhone 17 and I wish I hadn’t. Since my Mac Mini needs to be upgraded as well, now would have been the perfect time to move away from Apple given all of the issues lately with OS Tahoe. The problems with the music app are driving my wife crazy and thus me since she calls on me for fixes. Apple under Tim Cook’s leadership has been a disaster since it appears he only cares about the profits instead of delivering a good product. There’s no excuse for such a rapid decline in quality and Apple’s reputation is as bad as Congress.
Tahoe version of Music also removed “Add to Favorites” and “Suggest Less” from the Mini-Player, thereby rendering it essentially worthless. One now has to go to the main music app to add favorites or suggest less.
Ridiculous. This engine Music revamp is major step backwards.
I agree 1000%. Total mess I moved back to Sequoia. MY guess is that I will be there until apple stops upgrading Sequoia. thanks for a great article.