Apple Music has a strong reputation as the go-to place for finding new music, but it also offers access to more than 100 million songs and other audio files. The question is whether you can listen to music offline on Apple Music.
The short answer is yes. As with most services like Spotify or Amazon Music, if you’re on an iPhone, you’ll need to download content first in order to listen to music without internet connectivity. But Apple Music doesn’t download items just because you stream them; instead, you’ll have to add them to your library first before they’re eligible for downloads. This article will walk you through how to do so.
You’ll want to make sure you’re signed in with the same Apple account tied to your Apple Music subscription. Then, open up Settings, select Apps, tap Music, and turn on Sync Library. If not already enabled, you can then toggle Automatic Downloads, which will automatically save any tracks you add to your phone. Alternatively, you can use either of the touch-and-hold Add method, or the item-level Add control, and even Now Playing, to begin adding content to your Apple Music library. When added, simply tap Download.
Finally, you can manage future additions by setting Automatic Downloads, too. And while Apple has recently changed some terminology around its plans, Apple Music’s current plan supports this functionality, allowing you to “download for offline listening.” The company still offers different pricing tiers for different subscribers, including lower-cost Student pricing and a shared Family Plan. However, Apple continues to offer a $11.99/month Individual Plan (with a free month when subscribing), granting you over 100 million songs and more.
While Apple Music offers lossless options, those are just one part of managing Apple Music downloads. After all, you’re probably going to want to keep some of what you’ve saved on your phone, so it’s important to understand how storage works on Apple devices, as well as cellular data settings. Apple also allows you to choose whether or not Dolby Atmos downloads will be stored on your device.
Before we begin
If you’d like to know where to find specific options in Apple’s iOS settings, refer to our Apple Settings guide. For more about Apple Music and how it functions, check out our review of Apple Music’s service.
Step 1: Make sure you’re signed in
When downloading Apple Music for offline playback, you’ll need to ensure that you’re using an Apple ID associated with an active subscription. Open up Settings, tap your name, and confirm that the correct Apple ID is selected.
In addition, you’ll need to ensure that you’ve turned on Sync Library, which syncs your music library across devices when you’re signed in with the same Apple Account, and turn on Automatic Downloads so that content is automatically saved for you after being added. To do both, tap Settings > Apps > Music, and look for the two toggle switches.
Step 2: Add Apple Music content to your library
To download Apple Music for offline playback, you must first add content to your Apple Music library. Doing so adds the item to your library — rather than just streamable content. This step is required: Apple Music content has to be in your library before the Download option is available.
There are several methods for doing this:
• Touch-and-hold: Touch and hold a song, album, playlist, or video, then tap Add.
• Item-level Add: While viewing an album or playlist, tap Add for the whole album or playlist, or tap Add next to an individual song.
• Now Playing: Open the Now Playing screen, tap the More button, then tap Add.
Once added, the next step is to actually begin the process of downloading the content for offline playback.
Step 3: Begin the download process
After content is added to your library, the next step is to actually begin the process of downloading it for offline playback. To do so, simply tap Download, and the file will be saved onto your phone.
There are two ways to do this: either by selecting the option at the top of the screen, or tapping on individual items.
Option one involves tapping Download at the top of the Music app after you add an album or playlist, so it begins downloading in the background.
If you’re looking to download an album or playlist, open it after adding it, then tap Download at the top of the screen.
Option two involves holding on to a song, album, or playlist, then selecting the Download option from the context menu.
Alternatively, if you prefer to use the automatic download function, you can enable it under Settings > Apps > Music. Simply toggle on Automatic Downloads, and all content that you add to your library will be automatically downloaded for offline playback.
Now Playing
Another way to add songs, albums, playlists, or videos to your Apple Music library for download is via the Music app itself. Tap on a track, and then on the Now Playing bar at the bottom of the screen. Tap the More button, then tap Add to add that track to your library. With Automatic Downloads turned on, the file will also download automatically.
Step 4: Watch the download happen
Apple Music saves downloads inside the Music app. To watch progress, go to the Library tab, tap Downloaded, then tap Downloading; finished items remain available under Downloaded.
There’s no separate Auto-Play switch needed for offline files. Once an item is downloaded, navigate back into the Music app and open it from your library or the Downloaded section to begin playing.
Step 5: Make future additions ready for download automatically
You can take advantage of Automatic Downloads by turning on the setting inside the Music app. Turn it on inside the Music app, under Settings > Apps > Music, and every time you add something to your Apple Music library, it will be downloaded for offline listening as well.
You’ll want to confirm that the Automatic Download feature is turned on. It appears under the main Music menu, along with Sync Library and Sync Settings.
Step 6: Know your Apple Music plan
You might want to confirm that your subscription supports the feature you wish to use, which includes downloading Apple Music for offline playback. Offline downloads are included with Apple Music’s Individual, Student, and Family plans. The Individual Plan costs $11.99 per month, with a one-month free trial for new subscribers.
Apple still offers a lower-cost Student Plan, while Family members share the broader Family Plan. Subscribers on those plans receive the same core features as Individual subscribers, including access to Apple Music’s catalog of more than 100 million songs and offline downloads. The plans also give access to exclusive content, and allow listening across multiple devices.
Step 7: Manage your storage
While it may sound counterintuitive, removing a downloaded song or album from your iPhone doesn’t delete it from your Apple Music library. Rather, Remove Download removes the file that’s been saved locally to your phone, freeing up space. Apple Music keeps the item available in your library and the cloud, so removing it from your device won’t remove it from your library. Delete from Library is a separate action.
However, if you don’t want the file anymore, you can use Apple’s Optimize Storage function. When your iPhone is low on storage, it can automatically remove downloaded music you haven’t played in a while, saving space. Additionally, you can remove specific downloads or delete items from your library using the Music controls.
Otherwise, you can manually delete the downloaded content by tapping the Remove Download option from within Apple Music, which will move the file off of your iPhone.
Step 8: Enable cellular and audio-quality controls
Cellular Data is another setting that you’ll want to consider, because it determines whether Apple Music will download music over Wi-Fi or cellular data. Apple Music recommends that you connect to Wi-Fi whenever possible to save money and avoid potential issues with your carrier. However, if you must download over cellular, turn on Cellular Data, then turn on Download over Cellular.
Audio Quality settings determine how much bandwidth will be used by Apple Music to stream and download your content. Apple offers a number of different levels, each designed to deliver a slightly better listening experience than the last. Higher-quality lossless audio consumes a significant amount of data and takes far longer to load and buffer.
Higher-quality lossless settings can consume much more data, and delay playback, but you can change these settings easily enough, should you want to try them out. They can also lead to extra carrier charges and make songs take longer to start playing.
Lossless Audio
Apple Music provides several audio-quality settings for streaming and downloads: High Efficiency, High Quality, Lossless, and High-Resolution Lossless. To use the lossless options, enable Lossless Audio in the Music settings, then choose the quality level you want for downloads or cellular streaming.
High-Efficiency audio uses the least cellular data of Apple Music’s streaming options, which means that it’s best suited for situations where you’re on an airplane, and unable to connect to Wi-Fi, or otherwise low on mobile data.
High Quality is suitable for general listening and offers excellent sound reproduction, and it requires significantly more bandwidth than High Efficiency. Finally, the standard Lossless setting offers higher-resolution sound than High Quality, with High-Resolution Lossless sitting above it, although the bandwidth consumed by High-Quality and Lossless is considerable.
Lossless audio also includes High-Resolution Lossless Audio, which can use substantially more storage and bandwidth than standard Lossless audio while reproducing sound at an even greater resolution. If you’re planning on taking advantage of High-Resolution Lossless Audio, you’ll definitely want to connect to Wi-Fi or another high-speed connection, otherwise, you may end up paying a lot of extra money for nothing.
High-Resolution Lossless Audio
Dolby Atmos enables the playback of multichannel surround-sound, providing an immersive listening experience. Apple recommends that you use Dolby Atmos only when connected to Wi-Fi or a similarly robust data connection, since downloading large files over a slow connection could potentially cost you money.
Like Apple Music’s other downloadable options, you’ll need to connect to Wi-Fi or permit Apple Music to download music over your cellular connection. Once downloaded, however, you can use Apple Music on airplanes, buses, trains, and anywhere else where Wi-Fi isn’t available.
On an Apple Music plan that includes Dolby Atmos, compatible tracks can play in Atmos or stereo. Just be aware that you’ll need to download content ahead of time, and then choose between Dolby Atmos or stereo playback, depending on which option sounds better to you.
What you’ll see
If you look at the Apple Music app on your iPhone, you’ll notice a couple of things right away: there’s a button on the left-hand side of the screen that looks like an earbud, and there’s a button on the right that looks like a circle with lines radiating outward.
That’s where the action is. The Dolby icon appears next to individual songs, albums, and playlists that are available in Dolby Atmos. Playback controls such as volume, shuffle, and repeat remain in their usual places in the Music app and Now Playing screen.
Dolby Atmos and stereo
You’ll also see the Dolby icon next to certain tracks. That means that the track can be played in either Dolby Atmos or stereo format, and that it’s eligible for a Dolby Atmos download. By default, you’ll be able to enjoy Dolby Atmos tracks as long as you’re online, but if you download the track, you’ll be able to listen to it without any kind of Internet connection at all.
However, there’s also a dedicated setting inside Apple Music to decide whether downloads will keep the Dolby Atmos version of a track or will fall back on the stereo version. To access this setting, go to Settings > Apps > Music, then look for the “Download in Dolby Atmos” option.
If you don’t see it, check that your device and Apple Music app are updated, since current Individual, Family, and Student plans include the same core Apple Music features.
Offline playback rulebook
If you’d like to take advantage of Apple Music’s offline capabilities, there are two simple rules that govern them:
• Prepare for offline playback by connecting to either Wi-Fi or your permitted cellular network.
• Confirm that Apple Music files appear within the Downloaded section of the Music app.
Apple Music files are considered part of your subscription plan, and you’ll be charged monthly, regardless of whether you download content to your phone or not. You shouldn’t consider downloaded tracks as standalone files, but rather as parts of Apple Music’s vast library.