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iOS 26: How to Use the New Music Pins Feature

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If you've ever found yourself scrolling endlessly through your iPhone's music library to find that one album you play every morning or the workout playlist that gets you pumped, then you should find iOS 26's new Music pins feature a welcome addition to the app.

pin apple music app ios
Basically, Apple Music lets you pin your most frequently accessed songs, playlists, albums, and artists directly to the top of your Library tab, making them readily accessible with a single tap.

Pinning keeps your musical essentials within easy reach, and it couldn't be easier to use. In the Music app, simply navigate to the song, album, artist, or playlist that you want to pin, then long press on the item and choose the Pin option from the popup menu.

music
To unpin an item from the top of your Library tab, it's pretty much the same action – long press it and choose the Unpin option from the popup menu.

Download Pinned Items?

The first time you use Music pins, iOS 26 will ask if you want to download pinned items automatically for offline listening. You can adjust this setting anytime by navigating to Settings ➝ Apps ➝ Music and toggling Download Pins.

settings
Music pins aren't the only new Music addition in iOS 26. The app now has an AutoMix feature to create seamless DJ-style transitions between songs, plus there's also lyrics translation and lyrics pronunciation, making it easier to appreciate music from all over the world. Note that iOS 26 is currently in beta and will be released in the fall.

Top Rated Comments

13 months ago
Neat.

Now let me add songs to Music from the Files app.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
13 months ago
Nice. I hope it appears in CarPlay as well. I can generally find a moment to root through my phone generally for stuff to listen to, but in the car I need very quick access to key playlists/etc.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
RUQRU Avatar
13 months ago
I would be nice if it allowed Radio Stations to be pinned also.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
bradriley Avatar
13 months ago

I would be nice if it allowed Radio Stations to be pinned also.
It’s baffling you can’t even pin the Apple’s own Apple Music stations. Do Apple employees even use their own platforms???
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jamie j. Avatar
13 months ago
Sadly this is useless to me because it requires you to turn on library sync. The last time I did this, it deleted all of the high quality recordings I had out of my iTunes. Had to turn it off and then do a restore from a backup. I refuse to turn on library sync. Also, why do I have to? I just want the pinned playlists on my iPhone. It doesn't need to sync with anything else.

If anyone has a workaround for this, I'd love to hear it.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
13 months ago
The post should mention that you can control what happens when you tap a pinned item as well in the app and in the widget. You long press the icon in the Pinned section and select Tap Action where you can pick to play, shuffle or go to the playlist.

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Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)

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