What are Music Haptics?

Before diving into the technical details of activating music haptics in iOS 18, it’s important to understand what these haptic experiences are and how they work. In short, music haptics refer to the use of tactile feedback to enhance a user’s listening experience. This can range from subtle vibrations that simulate the feeling of bass or drums, to more complex patterns that create a full-fledged 3D soundscape.

By incorporating music haptics into your app, you’re able to provide users with a deeper connection to the music they’re listening to, as well as create a unique and memorable experience that sets your app apart from the competition.

How to Activate Music Haptics in iOS 18

Now that we have a better understanding of what music haptics are, let’s dive into how you can activate and incorporate these experiences into your app. The process is relatively simple, and involves just a few key steps:

1. Enable Haptic Feedback: Before you can start incorporating music haptics into your app, you’ll need to enable haptic feedback on the user’s device. This can be done by going to Settings > Accessibility > Haptic Feedback and turning it on.
2. Create a Soundbank: A soundbank is essentially a collection of audio files that you’ll use to create your music haptics. You can create your own soundbank, or use one of the pre-existing ones provided by Apple. To create your own soundbank, simply go to Xcode > File > New > File… and select “Audio File.”
3. Add Audio Files: Once you have your soundbank created, you can start adding audio files to it. These can be anything from individual instruments or sounds, to more complex compositions that simulate the feeling of a full band. To add an audio file, simply drag and drop it into your soundbank in Xcode.
4. Define Haptic Patterns: Now that you have your soundbank created and your audio files added, it’s time to start defining the haptic patterns that will accompany the music. These patterns can be as simple or complex as you like, and can include everything from basic vibrations to more intricate rhythmic sequences. To define a haptic pattern, simply go to Xcode > File > New > File… and select “Haptic Pattern.”
5. Assign Haptic Patterns to Audio Files: Once you have your haptic patterns defined, it’s time to start assigning them to the audio files in your soundbank. To do this, simply select the audio file in Xcode, then go to the “Haptic Feedback” tab and select the haptic pattern you want to use.
6. Incorporate Haptics into Your App: Finally, it’s time to incorporate haptics into your app! This can be done by adding code that plays the audio files and triggers the haptic patterns at specific points in the music. There are a variety of libraries available that can help you do this, including AVFoundation and Core Audio.

Real-Life Examples of Music Haptics in Action

Now that we’ve gone over the basics of how to activate music haptics in iOS 18, let’s take a look at some real-life examples of these experiences in action.

One great example is the popular music app, Spotify.