Apple Music Launches Audio Haptics Feature for All Users with iOS 18 Upgrade

Apple’s Music Haptics feature is now available as part of the official release of iOS 18. It’s an accessibility tool that integrates with Apple Music on iPhone. Simply put, it uses the phone’s speaker-based haptic system, which the company calls the “Taptic Engine,” to create “clicks, textures, and subtle vibrations that match the tone of the song.”

It’s obviously aimed at people with hearing loss, allowing them to feel the music. It works with Apple Music, as well as Apple Music Classical and Shazam. The company says it can also integrate with some third-party apps as long as your iPhone is connected to Wi-Fi or cellular.

To get started, just go to the Accessibility menu and enable Music Haptics. When the feature is enabled, you’ll see a recognizable logo on the Now Playing screen in the Apple Music app. Tapping the logo will pause the feature, and tapping it again will re-enable it. Music Haptics is supported worldwide on iPhone 12 and later, as long as the device is updated to iOS 18.

To celebrate the launch, Apple Music has released a series of playlists that take advantage of the haptic technology. These channels have names like “Haptics Beats” and “Haptics Bass,” so they’re packed with tunes and plenty of opportunities to tap and vibrate.

The feature has already been tested by users. Some users have claimed that when a phone is placed on a box with Music Haptics switched on, it “sounds like an Atari game.” Though I disagree, you should listen to yourself.