Smart playlists for Apple Music on iPhone, using tags
Updated
The Music app on iPhone has no Smart Playlist option. Apple only lets you make smart playlists in the Music app on a Mac (or Apple Music on a Windows PC). Made one there? It shows up on your iPhone through Sync Library, but you can’t make or change one on the phone.
Apple Music doesn’t let you tag songs either. You can love them and make playlists, but you can’t mark a song “late night” or “gym” and pull those up later.
The Mac workaround: Grouping
If you have a Mac, the old trick is the Grouping field. Select songs, ⌘I (Get Info), type your words into Grouping (“late night, gym”), then make a Smart Playlist with the rule Grouping contains gym. It works, but:
- you can only edit Grouping and make the playlist on a Mac or PC,
- it only covers songs already in your library,
- it’s one text box per song, so every tag is typed by hand, and a typo means a song quietly drops out.
The iPhone way: tags on Community
This is what I built instead. Tag songs here on Community, in any browser, phone or computer. Then turn any tag into an Apple Music playlist:
- Open Community for Apple Music (or pick Apple Music from “Listening on” at the top of the page). Songs now show and play the way they are on Apple Music.
- Make a free account. If you subscribe, connect Apple Music in Settings → Apple Music to hear full songs - otherwise you get 30-second previews.
- Find a song and tag it. Got a library already? Bring it in from My library and your saved songs wait in To tag.
- Go to My library → Smart playlists → New playlist, pick a tag (or a few), save, then hit Add to Apple Music.
It’s a normal Apple Music playlist, so it plays on your iPhone, Mac, anywhere. Don’t see it in the Music app? Turn on Sync Library.
How it keeps up: songs you tag later get added when you open your playlists on Community (at most every 10 minutes) or hit Update. It only adds - songs you take out yourself on Apple Music stay out, and if a song stops matching, Community lists it so you can remove it there.
Heads up: tags you add on the website are public. Your Apple Music sign-in stays in your browser, Community never sees it.
Need a tag system?
Mood (chill, dreamy, dark), moment (morning, late night, gym, driving) and only the genres you actually think in. Keep each list short and tag as you listen. More on that in the Spotify guide - the tags are the same.
Quick answers
Is this an Apple smart playlist? No - it’s a regular playlist that Community keeps adding to. Apple’s smart playlists still need a Mac.
My friends use Spotify - do tags still match? Yep. A song has the same tags on both, so you see each other’s.
A song says “Not on Apple Music”? It isn’t on Apple Music in your country. Its tags still show, it just won’t play.
Can I bring my Apple Music library over? Yes. Connect Apple Music, bring your library in from My library, and the songs you’ve saved show up in To tag. Tag many at once if you like. The Tagify desktop app is still Spotify only.