iOS 26.2 adds new Apple Music features and fixes a viral bug

Chance Miller | Dec 12 2025 - 11:10 am PT

Apple today released iOS 26.2 for iPhone users, and the update brings several key changes for Apple Music. There’s also a fix for a viral bug that impacted the release of new albums on the service …

Apple says that iOS 26.2 includes the following new features and changes for Apple Music:

Favorite Songs playlist appears in Top Picks on the home tab
Offline lyrics for downloaded songs so you can view them without an internet connection
Fixes an issue where pre-release albums in the Apple Music library were not immediately playable at their release time

The first new feature is essentially an extension of the “Favorites” playlist that debuted as part of iOS 17.2. What’s changed is that Apple is making it easier to discover by also surfacing it in the “Home” tab of the Apple Music app.

When I wrote about offline lyrics support in Apple Music last month after the first iOS 26.2 beta was released, I was shocked at how excited people were about it. It’s a nice quality-of-life upgrade that you’ll be glad exists when the need for it does arise. Plus, it’s another advantage for Apple Music over Spotify, which still requires a network connection to access lyrics.

Finally, iOS 26.2 fixes a long-standing Apple Music bug that went viral when Taylor Swift released her “The Life of a Showgirl” album back in October. Swifties who pre-saved the album to their Apple Music library couldn’t actually listen to it right away when the album was released. This, naturally, led to an uprising among frustrated Apple Music users.

Apple promises that iOS 26.2 fixes the problem, so when Taylor Swift releases her next album, everything should go much smoother.

You can subscribe to Apple Music for $10.99 or as part of the Apple One bundle.