iOS 17.2 lets users disable Apple Music Listening History when a Focus Mode is on

October 26, 2023

2 min read

Similar to other streaming platforms, Apple Music lets users choose whether or not they want to share what they’re listening to with their friends on the platform. This history also influences your recommendations. While you can already disable this option, Apple will soon let users disable Apple Music’s Listening History only when a specific Focus Mode is turned on.

Apple Music gets a new Focus Filter to disable Listening History

The new feature is part of iOS 17.2, which is now available to developers as a beta. With the update, users will find a new Focus Filter for Apple Music. By adding this filter to a Focus Mode, you can disable Listening History while that Focus Mode is enabled.

In other words, this means that Apple Music won’t add any of the songs you play to your history, nor will it use them to influence your recommendations when Focus Mode is on.

This is great for parents who constantly play children’s music for their kids, but don’t want them to influence Apple Music’s suggestions. The feature also works for when you want to listen to something specific without your friends knowing. Instead of having to turn Listening History off completely, you can simply put it on hold temporarily with a Focus Mode.

iOS 17.2 also brings some other new features for Apple Music subscribers, such as collaborative playlists and a new “Favorites” playlist that is automatically generated based on the songs you’ve marked as favorites. In addition, the update comes with the Journal app, a new Translate option for the Action Button, and some new Home Screen widgets.

Considering that Apple has just released iOS 17.1 to the public, iOS 17.2 is likely to be officially released in November or December. Spot any other changes in iOS 17.2 beta 1? Let us know in the comments! We’ll have more coverage of everything new in today’s updates throughout the rest of the week.