It is a classic Dark pattern, as increasingly often used in iOS unfortunately.
...but we all know what is really important to Apple.
...but we all know what is really important to Apple.
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Music App on iOS search defaults to Apple Music
- Thread starter Benz63amg
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The search defaults to Apple Music when it shouldn’t be doing so which is the main issue on hand here.
I was noting a change since my 1/1/25 comment in this thread…
"I agree it's not a bug. Non-susbscribers are being steered toward Apple Music.
In CarPlay, tapping the album name formerly brought up the album track list, and it worked for all tracks. In iOS18.2, it only works for purchased tracks, and takes you to Apple Music info for the artist."
Thanks. So annoying! Every time I have to toggle the search setting I grow a little more tired.
The only way to stop this behavior is to notify the Attorney General of your state and/or the relevant federal government agency filing a former complaint regarding monopolistic behavior.
When you turn a service OFF, having your phone manufacturer ignore your requests to push their “vertically integrated” service is against a few laws and court decisions.
Microsoft got in trouble for this and Google is currently in trouble for similar tactics.
Edit: reviving this topic because it’s worse in iOS26. They are putting ads on the main search page for artists from Apple Music that don’t even match my library. And defaulting to Music search instead of library search.
When you turn a service OFF, having your phone manufacturer ignore your requests to push their “vertically integrated” service is against a few laws and court decisions.
Microsoft got in trouble for this and Google is currently in trouble for similar tactics.
Edit: reviving this topic because it’s worse in iOS26. They are putting ads on the main search page for artists from Apple Music that don’t even match my library. And defaulting to Music search instead of library search.
It truly is a shame this was a deliberate move by Apple and the issue is obviously still present in iOS 26 and wasn’t just a “bug” that many of us thought was the case in iOS 18.
Foobar2000 works for me. I started using it because it will do shuffle by album. Music.app still tries to insert itself so I open Foobar, and hit play before connecting. Works most of the time. Still have to give Music.app an occasional smackdown.