Although Apple has fumbled with social network features within its music apps in the past, the company is trying again with an all-new social sharing ability in iOS 11. There's no exact name for the feature, but Apple describes it as a way for you to discover music that your friends are listening to through sharing playlists, artists, and albums on your own personal Apple Music profile.

If you already have an Apple Music account with a paid subscription, or if you're taking advantage of the service's free three-month trial period, follow these steps to enable the social sharing features within Apple's streaming music service. Note that this guide is specifically tailored for iOS devices, but the process is similar on macOS.

Creating a Profile on Apple Music

how to apple music friends 1

  1. Open Apple Music. (Note: opening Apple Music for the first time after installing iOS 11 should also give you a direct link to "Get Started" with friend sharing, so jump to Step 5 if you tap this button.)
  2. Tap the "For You" tab.
  3. Tap your profile picture in the top right corner.
  4. Choose "Start Sharing with Friends" and then "Get Started."
  5. Upload a profile photo, type in your name, and pick a username so other Apple Music users can find you. Tap "Next" when done.
  6. Choose "Everyone" or "People You Choose" to determine who can see your listening history.
  7. Choose the playlists to share on your profile, or "Hide all" to show none.
  8. Pick contacts to share music with.
  9. Toggle on/off "Friends" and "Artists and Shows" to choose what kind of push notifications you want. Tap "Done."

If you can't find the friend you're looking for in the recommended contacts section, navigate to Apple Music's "Search" tab. With iOS 11, this area now functions as a profile and user playlist search tool as well. Start typing in their name and you might see an "in people" recommendation, or simply tap the "Search" button and you'll see results for Songs, Albums, Playlists, Music Videos, Connect, Artists, and now People and Shared Playlists at the bottom.

With your own Apple Music profile set up, you can begin listening to music as normal, and the more you do the more your favorite albums, artists, and songs will show up in the "Friends Are Listening To" section of your followers' "For You" tabs. On your own "For You" tab, you can tap "See All" and browse a list of recent albums and playlists listened to by your friends, and then tap to add them to your own library.

If your friends allow it, this will even include their own personally created playlists. To discover and save the playlists of a specific person, follow these steps. Note that this guide assumes the friend in question has their activity shared to "Everyone," or that they have chosen you to share with.

Finding Friends' Shared Playlists on Apple Music

how to apple music friends 3

  1. Navigate to your Apple Music profile.
  2. Scroll down to "Following," then tap the friend you're looking for, or tap "See All" for a vertical list.
  3. Scroll through their "Playlists" and "Listening To" to find a collection you want to save.
  4. Tap the collection you want, then "+Add" to place it in your library.

From then on, you'll find friends' playlists taking precedence atop the playlists section of your library, alongside any Apple curated collections. The name of the playlist will be there, along with the name of your friend. Once added, it'll function in much the same way as Apple's own playlists, updating in your library when changes are made by your friend.

You can revisit your profile any time by tapping your profile picture in the top right of "For You," and here you'll see your shared playlists, content you've listened to recently, followers, and following. Tap the "Edit" button to customize items like your profile picture, name, username, follower permissions, and reorganize shared playlists.

If you ever change your mind about sharing a playlist (which also makes it searchable to anyone using Apple Music), tap on the playlist in your library, tap "Edit" in the top right corner, then toggle off "Show on My Profile and in Search." You can follow these same steps for adding a new playlist onto your profile whenever you create a new collection of songs.

Related Forum: iOS 11

Top Rated Comments

M.PaulCezanne Avatar
98 months ago
Ping!
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ipedro Avatar
98 months ago
Of the few attempts Apple made into social media, they seem to have learned. There’s no use trying to build an Apple branded social media platform to compete with the too entrenched dominance of Facebook. Instead, individual apps can have social features.

iMessage is their most social app and it’s implementing more and more of what we find on platforms like Snapchat. Photos has album sharing and friends can even like photos. Now, Apple Music has a social feature I think many people can get behind. I’d love to know what my friends are listening to. Odds are that because we’re friends, we have similar tastes and that’ll help me discover music I wouldn’t have otherwise found on my own.

Eventually, Apple can build an app that brings all of this together into a sort of feed where you’d be able to see what shared albums you’re a part of, what your friends are listening to, and articles they’ve favorited in Safari.

This is social media, done right.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
OtherJesus Avatar
98 months ago
I don't think this is an attempt at building a social network. Just a great way to share music with friends. I think if Apple Music was a thing when Ping came out it would have made much more sense.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
randy98mtu Avatar
98 months ago
That worked. My connection at work isn’t always the best, so maybe that’s why it didn’t work. Thanks!
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
earthTOmitchel Avatar
98 months ago
So how do I follow Eddie Cue or Phil?
Go to the "Search" tab and type in their names! They should show up with an "...in people" suggestion. Works the same for any friend you might be looking for, or any playlist someone has created.
[doublepost=1505992390][/doublepost]
I dont have this button on my iPhone either. Only choose artists
You guys might be facing the same problem I was. Did you previously turn off the Connect features of Apple Music on earlier versions of iOS? I did, and because of that the new social profiles were hidden. Try checking: go to Settings app > General > Restrictions > make sure "Music Profiles and Posts" are toggled on.

Also worth noting is that Apple doesn't allow the music profiles on child iCloud accounts (13 years or younger).
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ozreth Avatar
98 months ago
Oh boy. This is the one feature that could pull me over from Spotify. Honestly can't believe Spotify hasn't implemented such a thing yet.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

iPhone 17 Pro 34ths Perspective

iPhone 17 Pro Launching Later This Year With These 10 New Features

Sunday March 23, 2025 10:00 am PDT by
While the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of March 2025: Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone ...
macbook pro blue green

When Will Apple Release the M5 MacBook Pro?

Wednesday March 26, 2025 4:53 pm PDT by
Apple regularly refreshes the MacBook Pro models, and a new version that uses M5 series chips is in the works. Apple just finished refreshing most of the Mac lineup with M4 chips, and now it's time for the M5. Rumors suggest that we could see the first M5 MacBook Pro models this fall. Design There have been no rumors of a design update for the M5 MacBook Pro models that are coming this...
Apple Lumon Terminal Pro

Apple's Mac Site Features Fictional 'Lumon Terminal Pro'

Wednesday March 26, 2025 12:19 pm PDT by
Apple is going all out with promotions for the popular Severance Apple TV+ show today, and as of right now, you'll find a new "Lumon Terminal Pro" listed on Apple's Mac site. The Lumon Terminal Pro is designed to look similar to the machines that Severance employees like Mark S. and Helly R. use for macrodata refinement. The Terminal features a blue keyboard, a small display with wide...
Facebook Feature

Facebook's New iPhone App Feature Turns the Clock Back to 2007

Thursday March 27, 2025 1:59 pm PDT by
In the mid-to-late 2000s, Facebook was all about staying connected with friends and family. However, as the social media platform added new features and grew over time, that core experience began to get drowned out. That changes starting now, according to Meta, which today introduced a new feature that will "bring back the joy" of classic Facebook. Specifically, Meta has redesigned the...
Generic iOS 18

iOS 18.4 Coming Soon With These New Features for Your iPhone

Tuesday March 25, 2025 6:45 am PDT by
Apple is expected to release iOS 18.4 to the general public as soon as next week, following more than a month of beta testing. Apple's website says some iOS 18.4 features will be released in "early April," so the update should be out as early as Tuesday, April 1. Apple this week seeded the iOS 18.4 Release Candidate, which is typically the final beta version, barring the discovery of any...
iPhone 17 Pro 34ths Perspective

iPhone 17 Pro Supports 8K Video Recording, Suggests Leaker [Updated]

Wednesday March 26, 2025 4:06 am PDT by
Update 7:25 pm: Based on comments from our forums, it appears the original Weibo post may have been mistranslated and "8K" actually refers to the high price of the device rather than 8K video recording capabilities. The iPhone 16 Pro currently starts at 7,999 yuan in China. Our original article follows below. Apple's forthcoming iPhone 17 Pro models are capable of shooting 8K video, up...
iOS 18

iOS 18.4 Expected Next Week - Here Are the Release Notes

Friday March 28, 2025 2:01 pm PDT by
With the second release candidate of iOS 18.4 that Apple seeded out today, the company finally provided us with release notes that give a full rundown on what to expect. There's an Apple Vision Pro app, new Apple Intelligence features for notifications and additional language support, plus an Apple News Food feature for Apple News+ subscribers, and several updates that should improve the...
iOS 18 4 Ambient Music Control Center

How to Use iOS 18.4's New Ambient Music Feature in Control Center

Thursday March 27, 2025 7:45 am PDT by
The upcoming iOS 18.4 update for the iPhone adds an Ambient Music feature to Control Center. Below, we take a closer look at how it works. iOS 18.4 is currently in beta, so the Ambient Music feature is not widely available yet. The update will likely be released to the general public next week. To use the feature on iOS 18.4, open Control Center and tap on the plus sign in the top-left...
Foldable iPhone 2023 Feature 1

'iPhone Fold' to Feature Metallic Glass Hinge That Resists Deformation

Thursday March 27, 2025 4:21 am PDT by
Last week, we covered a report claiming that Apple's book-style foldable iPhone (or "iPhone Fold," as we are provisionally calling it here) will use liquid metal hinges to improve durability and help minimize screen creasing. Today, a Chinese leaker provided more details on the properties of this hinge material that help to clarify why Apple chose it for its first foldable device. According...