Users shouldn't be afraid of exploring music or letting their kids choose a song, but since Apple Music lacks manual algorithm controls, one wrong song can upend your recommendations for weeks.
Apple Music is debatably the best option for music streaming, especially for those committed to the Apple ecosystem. However, as great as the app and human curation aspects can be, there is a fatal flaw that requires users to either actively fight it or give up entirely.
It seems like it should be obvious to Apple's development team, but year after year, we have gone without the ability to fine-tune our algorithm. If you dare to listen to a single Christmas song, video game soundtrack, or sleep-focused playlist without first turning off the algorithm altogether, your recommendations will be ruined for an indefinite amount of time.
For those that rely solely on the human-curated playlists and their library, this doesn't affect them. However, if, like me, you enjoy the personal station, discovery station, and weekly playlists like New Music Mix, you'll find these are very easily influenced by seemingly minor decisions.
Those of you with kids have probably given up managing your recommendation algorithm. Though there are ways to keep control over things, mainly with a child account in family sharing, once it's happened to you on your Apple Music, it's a highly manual process.
We need more than an on/off switch
As of February 6, 2026, you can manually toggle Music's "Use Listening History" buried deep in the Settings app to stop whatever you're about to listen to from affecting the algorithm.
You can also set per-device permissions on things like Apple TV and HomePod throughout your home to ensure anything others have access to doesn't affect your algorithm.
Multiple user households also help by affecting the algorithm of the person that started the listening session, though this can be finicky if the device defaults to you by mistake.
Focus Modes also allow you to toggle the Use Listening History setting per Focus, so turn it on for a personal Focus where you'll listen to your favorites and turn it off for work where you'll listen to instrumentals. It's a useful tool when you remember to utilize it.
The problem with these controls is that they put all of the onus on the user. The algorithm doesn't care if you forgot to toggle the setting while your kid listens to six hours of Yo Gabba Gabba. The impact of that, unchecked, is a little jarring.
A seemingly straightforward solution
What I hope for, and have continuously asked for over several years, is a simple toggle within the app. Let me long press or right-click a selection and say "do not track." This should work for songs, albums, playlists, radio stations, and entire genres.
We need a button that's a bit more aggressive than 'Suggest Less'
Training the algorithm isn't difficult on its own. I've spent years trying different methods, and they all seem to work in their own way.
Add a song to your library, favorite a song, an album, or an artist, and you're sending clear signals that you like that music. Listening without adding still sends a signal, just a weaker one.
There is the thumbs-down option, but it seems like a rather weak option overall and doesn't stop that song or artist from showing up again. I'd love a "never play Drake again" button somewhere in the interface.
Apple Music's strength lies in the user's ability to control their experience. You can add human-curated playlists that update automatically, collaborate on playlists with friends, and create folders for your playlists.
The Apple Music Replay function is a year-long updating section that enables interesting metrics to be viewed and shared. It updates every Friday throughout the entire year as opposed to providing one report in November.
One random request from a teen will upend your weekly playlist
Users even have the option of tying Apple Music to third-party apps for unique listening environments. MusicHarbor tracks new releases, while Albums prioritizes listening to entire albums instead of singles.
The algorithm may be weaker than Spotify's overall, but that might be the only downside versus that competitor. Apple Music offers higher-quality audio that is fine-tuned for Apple hardware. Spatial audio and lossless do make a difference, and users can toggle these off if desired.
The reason I'm asking for this granular control over the algorithm is because I want to listen to what I like without worrying about how it might affect my experience. We should be able to experiment with music without concern over an algorithm.
Let me simply say "never recommend music from these genres, artists, albums, or songs" and be done with it. Blocking a poor recommendation should be table stakes for a streaming service.
Perhaps Apple's focus on Apple Intelligence could produce an answer by giving users the ability to literally chat with the algorithm controlling their music. Even though we've had Apple Music for over a decade, the feature still hasn't been built.
I'm still holding out hope.
