Apple Music uses your listening history to provide tailored recommendations for new music or to create bespoke playlists. If other people play music using your account, whether they’re using your Apple devices or playing music through smart speakers, these recommendations can become tainted with music you have no interest in. There are several ways to prevent this from happening.
Turn Off Listening History on Their Devices
If your kids use Apple devices such as iPads to keep themselves entertained, you may have set them up with access to your Apple Music account so that they can listen to music. However, by default, any music they listen to through your account will become part of your listening history, ruining your Apple Music recommendations. In this case, you can turn off listening history for their devices.
Open Settings, scroll down to the bottom of the screen, and tap “Apps.” Select “Music” from the list of apps. Scroll down to the bottom of the screen, and toggle “Use Listening History” off. Music played on that device will no longer influence your Apple Music recommendations.
Create a Dedicated Focus Mode for Private Listening
If you lend family members your Apple devices to listen to music, then turning listening history off completely isn’t ideal, as this will mean that none of the music you listen to will help to improve your recommendations. However, continually turning the listening history on and off can soon become tedious.
The good news is that you cancreate a custom Focus modeon your iPhone or iPad that will automatically turn off your listening history when it’s activated. Once you’ve created this Focus mode, all you need to do is turn it on whenever you lend someone your device, and the music they listen to won’t impact your recommendations.
To create a new Focus mode, go to Settings > Focus. Click the “+” (plus) icon at the top of the screen, choose “Custom,” and give your Focus a recognizable name, such as “Listening History.”
Scroll down to the “Focus Filters” section and tap “Add Filter.” Under “App Filters,” select “Music.” Ensure that “Listening History” is toggled off and tap “Add” at the top of the screen.
Now, whenever you turn on the Listening History focus, your listening history will turn off. It will automatically turn back on again when you turn off the Listening History Focus or change to any other Focus mode.
Choose HomePod Account as the Primary User on HomePods
If you’re using HomePods in your home, then anyone in your household can ask them to play music. It’s possible to set up voice recognition so that when a voice is recognized, it will play music from that person’s Apple Music account. However, if a voice isn’t recognized, the HomePod will revert to using a specific account.
If your personal Apple account is selected, then any music requested by unrecognized voices will have an impact on your recommendations. To stop this from happening, you can select “HomePod Account” as the account to use for unrecognized voices. This should stop requests from guests or other family members from infecting your listening history.
Open the Home app and press and hold the tile for your HomePod. Select “Accessory Settings.” Scroll down to the “Music & Podcasts” section and tap “Primary User.” Select “HomePod Account” and ensure that the details in the “HomePod Account” section are for an Apple Account with a valid Apple Music subscription.
Any music played by unrecognized voices should no longer be added to your personal listening history.
Give Other Apple Music Users Their Own Accounts
Another way to stop your Apple Music account from being infected by other people’s music is to provide them with their own Apple Music accounts. If your kids use an iPad, for example, you’re able to set them up with their own Apple Account and their own Apple Music subscription. They can then use their own account to play music, and your listening history won’t be affected.
The obvious downside to this method is that it means that you have to pay for an additional Apple Music subscription. However, thanks toFamily Sharing, it’s possible to reduce the cost of multiple accounts using an Apple Music Family subscription, which allows up to six people to have their own individual Apple Music accounts, complete with their own listening histories and music suggestions. You may also feel that another subscription is a small price to pay to get your personalized music recommendations back.
Set Up User Profiles on Apple TV
If you play music through your Apple TV, it’s possible to set up multiple different user profiles. Each person can then sign into the relevant profile when they want to play music, and any music played when signed into that profile will become part of that user’s listening history.
This requires each person to have their own Apple Account and access to an Apple Music subscription, but if this is the case, it can stop people in the same home from infecting each other’s listening histories. Setting up user profiles in this way has other benefits too, as it also allows each user to have their own Apple TV recommendations and watchlist, as well as other personalization such as paired AirPods.
On your Apple TV, open the Settings app and click “Users and Accounts”. Click “Add New User” and sign in to the new user account. you may now switch between user profiles on your Apple TV to stop other people’s listening from affecting your own recommendations.
Use Alternative Music Streaming Services on Smart Speakers
Unfortunately, there are some circumstances where it’s very hard to stop your Apple Music listening history from becoming tainted by music requested by other people in your household. One of the most challenging issues is smart speakers. If you have a HomePod, you can turn off listening history or use the HomePod account, but if you have Amazon Echo or Google smart speakers, then things are a lot more difficult.
That’s because there’s no native way to turn off Apple Music listening history for these smart speakers. If you’ve linked your Apple Music account to Alexa or Google Home so that you can play your Apple Music library or your favorite playlists through your smart speakers, then any music that you play on those smart speakers will become part of your listening history. The same applies whether you ask for music or someone else in your home does.
This is what ruined my Apple Music recommendations to the point that I had to turn to ChatGPT for recommendations instead. My kids use the Echo smart speakers to play music all the time, and all the nonsense that they listen to becomes part of my Apple Music listening history.
Currently, there’s no obvious way around this. Your only options are to live with your recommendations being tainted or toset up a different music streaming serviceas the default on your smart speakers. For example, you could use Amazon Music or Spotify as the default service instead of Apple Music. You’d lose access to your Apple Music library and playlists, but it would stop everyone else’s music from getting added to your listening history.
My Apple Music listening history has been ruined by the awful music that my kids listen to. My recommendations are now effectively useless, and I’m having toresort to other methodsto find new music to listen to. The options above may stop you from getting into the same position; they’re well worth trying if you want to continue to get relevant and personalized Apple Music recommendations.
