Facing stiff competition from rival streaming platforms like Spotify, Apple Music has been striving to retain its loyal user base and draw in new customers.

As such, it comes as no surprise that iOS 17 will bring some much-needed updates to the streaming platform. From slight interface changes to quality-of-life improvements, here are four Apple Music updates you can expect alongside iOS 17.

1. Crossfade

One of the most anticipated Apple Music features is Crossfade, a feature that Apple Music users on Android have had for a while.

Crossfade fades in the start of each song as the previous song gradually fades out and comes to an end. This creates a seamless transition between songs without any gaps of silence. Here's how to enable Crossfade on Apple Music in iOS 17:

1. Go to Settings on your iPhone.
2. Select Music .
3. Under Audio , toggle on the Crossfade option.

A slider will appear under the option, which you can use to change the length of the crossfade.

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2. Animated Music Player

The animated music player is one of the changes to Apple Music's interface. This feature offers animated album artwork in the music player that blends in with the media controls below. This way, your music will be accompanied by visual animated effects on your screen.

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Also, when the music player is minimized, it now appears to hover over the rest of the interface rather than being fused to the options bar.

Additionally, lyrics that are not time-synced will now have a larger and bold text, making them easier to read.

3. SharePlay Support for CarPlay

SharePlay is now built into CarPlay to improve your listening experience when on the go. Whether you're on your way to a party or driving around with friends, SharePlay will allow other passengers to contribute to the music session.

When enabled, other passengers will get a prompt to join the listening session with their iPhones connected to CarPlay. Users in the listening session can pause, play and add songs to the queue.

4. Collaborative Playlists

This is another highly anticipated Apple Music feature to look forward to in 2023. Other music streaming platforms like Spotify have had Collaborative Playlists for a while, so it's no surprise that Apple is integrating this feature into its platform.

So far, when you make a playlist, you can only share it with friends, and other listeners cannot make changes to it. However, with Collaborative Playlists, multiple users can curate a playlist easily for a shared listening experience at events and gatherings.

This feature brings more intimacy to Apple Music, encouraging interactions with other listeners. Unfortunately, this is one of the few iOS 17 features that won't be available at launch, but you can expect it in a point update later in 2023.

iOS 17 Improves Your Apple Music Experience

With iOS 17, Apple is introducing long-awaited changes and quality-of-life improvements that will enhance the listening experience for Apple Music users.

Besides these much-needed updates to Apple Music, iOS 17 also brings a ton of new features to improve the user experience on iPhones.