As leading corporations strive to make the world more accessible, Apple has just unveiled a new feature that could help those who are hard of hearing enjoy music. As part of iOS 18— the tech giant’s latest operating system— the new update comes with a groundbreaking haptic feedback system, allowing users to feel the rhythm and beats of their favorite tracks through subtle vibrations.
As most already know, humans don’t only hear through their ears as we also experience sound through vibrations felt in the body at low frequencies. Apple’s new feature taps right into this concept, transforming listening experiences for those with hearing impairments into a sensory one. How? By using the iPhone’s speaker-based haptics system, which Apple refers to as their Taptic Engine, to create “taps, textures, and refined vibrations to the audio of the song,” per a shared statement.
Already available on Apple Music, Apple Music Classical, and Shazam, the Cupertino-based company revealed that the feature will soon be added to a slew of unnamed third-party apps in the times to come, provided you’re connected to the internet.
For it to work, all you need to do is head to your accessibility settings menu, and flick “Music Haptics”on. A logo should now appear on Apple Music once it’s activated, and tapping the logo should help you enable or disable the feature.
To celebrate the launch, curators at Apple Music have released a couple of playlists where this feature is most felt, including Haptics Beats, Haptics Bass, and Haptics Hits to name just a few.
Apple Haptics is available from all iPhone 12 onwards, able to operate on iOS 18.
