Apple Will Allow Animated Album Screening From Third Party Music App On Lock Screen

JAKARTA Apple will offer interesting capabilities that some iPhone users may like. On iOS 26, the music app can display the cover of the animated album on the locked phone screen.

This ability does not only apply to Apple Music, but also to third-party music applications such as Spotify. If a user plays a song that has a bold album cover, the cover will be displayed on a locked screen along with song titles and other menus.

However, this capability is only available if third-party music streaming apps use the latest API from Apple. This API is referred to as MPMediaItemAnimatedNetwork and is currently being tested in beta at the developer's SDK.

It is not yet known whether Spotify or other music apps will take advantage of this API. If there is no third-party music streaming platform interested in adopting the API, then the feature will only apply to Apple Music.

Please note that a feature like this will drain more battery power because the app will continue to run in the background. Not just audio, the device must play animations while the device is not in use.

Based on the findings of 9to5mac, the animation played on the lock screen will be displayed in the full one screen mode. It is not yet known whether this animation will stop showing when the music is turned off or when the user leaves the app.

API MPMediaItemAnimatedNetwork is known to not only work on songs on music streaming apps. Other platforms that provide regular audio, audiobooks, and even podcasts can also take advantage of the API.