In iOS 26, Apple Music introduces playlist folders, bringing the same organizational power that's long been available for photos and notes to your music collection. Whether you're juggling workout mixes, seasonal soundtracks, or genre-specific selections, folders should be a welcome management tool for your most favored collections.
The feature works exactly as you'd expect – simply create the folder, rename it to suit the intended content, and you'll be navigating your music library with newfound efficiency in no time. You can even nest playlist folders by mood, activity, artist, or whatever system that makes sense for how you actually listen to music.
How to Create a New Folder
Here's how to create a playlist folder in the Music app:
- In the Playlist section, tap the + icon at the top.
- Choose New Folder... from the popup menu.
- Give your new folder a name, then tap Create.
Move Playlists into a Folder
With your folder created, move in some playlists like so:
- Long press on a playlist.
- Choose Move to... from the popup menu.
- Select the folder from All Playlists.
- Tap the red Move button.
That's all there is to it. Finally, iOS 26 and iPadOS 26 bring a little more feature parity with the Music app on Mac.
Don't forget, iOS 26 also introduces Music pins, allowing you to pin your most frequently accessed songs, playlists, albums, and artists directly to the top of your Library tab. iOS 26 is currently in beta, with a general release expected in September.
Top Rated Comments
Still hoping we'll get the ability to make and edit Smart Playlists on the go eventually...
So that you would be able to put different credit cards within folders (within the Wallet app) such as retail store credit cards in one folder and regular everyday 2-3% cashback cards another folders - airline (and travel credit cards) in a separate folder as well
Within the messages app, it would be nice to be able to put different contacts within separate folders so your family or friends text threads could be organized and separated into different sections of the messages app
The new features for iOS 26 are the ability to create a new folder and move playlists between folders on the phone.
How about allowing Apple Music subscribers to make Playlists with music from Apple Music combined with their own libraries without forcing Apple Music Library Match upon the user. Just because I might have the same song in my library as in the Apple Music catalog, the Library Match is broken and flawed.