Apple Bringing Native Apple Music Experience to Music App for macOS

Apple is rebuilding the Music app for macOS as a fully native app, according to beta code seen by 9to5Mac.

apple music
Code in the first beta of macOS Monterey 12.2, seeded to developers yesterday, shows that Apple is rebuilding the Music app using AppKit, macOS's native interface framework. The move will lead to significant improvements to the performance and experience of using the Music app, but no significant UI or interface changes.

According to 9to5Mac, the Music app is currently using JET, a technology to turn web content into native apps. The current Music app, which replaced iTunes but uses the same back-end, is heavily reliant on loaded-in Apple Music web content, which some users have criticised for having sluggish responsiveness and usability issues.

While some parts of the Music app, such as the library, were already native, Mac users will notice that searching for media in ‌Apple Music‌ is faster, displaying rebuilt native interfaces. As a result, scrolling, gestures, and animations are also more responsive.

Apple is likely still improving the new native parts of the app, so some interface elements or effects may currently be missing. Apple already rebuilt parts of the Apple TV app using JET in macOS Monterey 12.1.

Related Forum: macOS Monterey

Popular Stories

apple intelligence black

Report: Apple's AI Strategy Could Finally Pay Off in 2026

Tuesday December 30, 2025 9:01 am PST by
Apple's restrained artificial intelligence strategy may pay off in 2026 amid the arrival of a revamped Siri and concerns around the AI market "bubble" bursting, The Information argues. The speculative report notes that Apple has taken a restrained approach with AI innovations compared with peers such as OpenAI, Google, and Meta, which are investing hundreds of billions of dollars in data...
apple fitness 2026 1

Apple Teases 'Something Big' Coming Soon to Apple Fitness+

Tuesday December 30, 2025 2:11 pm PST by
The Apple Fitness+ Instagram account today teased that the service has "big plans" for 2026. In a video, several Apple Fitness+ trainers are shown holding up newspapers with headlines related to Apple Fitness+. What's Apple Fitness+ Planning for the New Year? Something Big is Coming to Apple Fitness+ The Countdown Begins. Apple Fitness+ 2026 is Almost Here 2026 Plans Still Under ...
maxresdefault

Hands-On With a Rough iPhone Fold Mockup

Monday December 29, 2025 10:55 am PST by
Apple is rumored to be introducing a foldable iPhone in September 2026, and since it will bring the biggest form factor change since the iPhone was introduced in 2007, curiosity about the design is high. A 3D designer created an iPhone Fold design based on rumors, and we printed it out to see how it compares to Apple's current iPhones. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more ...
maxresdefault

Where's the New Apple TV?

Monday December 22, 2025 11:30 am PST by
Apple hasn't updated the Apple TV 4K since 2022, and 2025 was supposed to be the year that we got a refresh. There were rumors suggesting Apple would release the new Apple TV before the end of 2025, but it looks like that's not going to happen now. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said several times across 2024 and 2025 that Apple would...
iphone 17 pro dark blue 1

iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max Users Report Static Speaker Noise While Charging

Tuesday December 30, 2025 10:39 am PST by
iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max owners are having trouble with the speakers of their devices, and have complained about a static or hissing noise that occurs when the iPhone is charging. There are multiple discussions about the issue on Reddit, the MacRumors forums, and Apple's Support Community, where affected users say there is a noticeable static noise "like an old radio." Some people report...
iPhone Top Left Hole Punch Face ID Feature Purple

iPhone 18 Pro Launching Next Year With These 12 New Features

Tuesday December 23, 2025 8:36 am PST by
While the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max are not expected to launch for another nine months, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we have recapped 12 features rumored for the iPhone 18 Pro models. The same overall design is expected, with 6.3-inch and 6.9-inch display sizes, and a "plateau" housing three rear cameras Under-screen Face ID Front camera in...
Mac Pro Feature Blue

What's Happening With the Mac Pro?

Wednesday December 31, 2025 9:59 am PST by
Apple hasn't updated the Mac Pro since 2023, and according to recent rumors, there's no update coming in the near future. In fact, Apple might be finished with the Mac Pro. Bloomberg recently said that the Mac Pro is "on the back burner" and has been "largely written off" by Apple. Apple apparently views the more compact Mac Studio as the ideal high-end pro-level desktop, and it has almost...
macbook air march 2020

Apple Says Final Intel MacBook Air and Apple Watch Series 5 Now 'Vintage'

Wednesday December 31, 2025 8:39 am PST by
Apple today added the final 13-inch MacBook Air powered by Intel processors, the Apple Watch Series 5, and additional products to its vintage products list. The iPhone 11 Pro was also added to the list after the iPhone 11 Pro Max was added back in September. The full list of products added to Apple's vintage and obsolete list today: MacBook Air (Retina, 13-inch, 2020) iPhone 8 Plus 128GB ...

Top Rated Comments

megastuff999 Avatar
53 months ago
Good. Current app is horrid.
Score: 28 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ValentinStRoch Avatar
53 months ago
Thank goodness! The Music app is a horrible. I miss the versatility and speed of the native iTunes app for searching, sorting. So many features present in iTunes were not carried forward to the Music app.
Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)
munpip214 Avatar
53 months ago
Please don’t forget those with local music only. I don’t want a bloated Apple Music version.
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
4jasontv Avatar
53 months ago
[Pauses iTunes.] How about Windows?
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ratspg Avatar
53 months ago
Please bring that speeeeeed. It is so slow and outdated on even my latest 16" MBP. Feels like a slow-loading website (which it is.)
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Akrapovic Avatar
53 months ago

Excuse my ignorance, but in what way was it not native? Do they mean not entirely unique code because it’s based on iTunes?
From the article:

the Music app is currently using JET, a technology to turn web content into native apps

The iOS app could do with a rebuild as well. I like the interface and features, but it's incredibly slow compared to Spotify.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)