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Black and white looks classy, but Apple Music users aren't happy with the new app icon in iOS 27.2 beta 4.
Image: Apple

In iOS 27.2 beta 4, Apple changed the Apple Music app icon from white musical notes on a vibrant red background to similar black notes on a white background.

The reaction was immediate and overwhelmingly negative after the beta came out Tuesday. Apple Music fans slammed the change, with some calling it one of the company’s worst design choices ever.

Apple Music app icon goes from red to black-and-white

Messing with familiar branding is always a dicey proposition. Even the smallest tweaks can send users around the bend — especially in the era of social media outrage. And the abrupt switch from a fiery red Apple Music app icon to a much more staid black-and-white one (white on black in Dark mode) is not the kind of thing users will be able to overlook.

App icons are, well, iconic. And they serve a very real purpose: They help people spot a particular app on their iPhone screen. Some people even go to extreme lengths, organizing the apps on their Home Screen by icon color so, for instance, all the blue app icons appear in one column and all the red ones in another.

That’s how seriously some people take this kind of thing.

The two posts below show how the Apple Music icon changed in the latest beta and how the new icon looks in Light and Dark modes:

Apple has updated the Apple Music app icon in beta 4 pic.twitter.com/hcx1fknpGr

— Andreas Storm (@avstorm) October 13, 2026

Apple Music gets a new app icon in iOS 27.2 beta 4 pic.twitter.com/YWQ8GhGpsN

— apple files (@applefiles_) October 13, 2026

Apple Music fans react badly to new black-and-white color scheme

After the new icon appeared online Tuesday, people reacted with a mix of anger, horror and utter surprise at the Apple Music makeover.

X user @tylerdotmp4 called the new Apple Music app icon “potentially the worst change made to iOS in the last 10 years.”

“This is BONKERS,” wrote @ParkerOrtolani, “maybe the craziest icon change they’ve ever done.”

“I changed my mind: this is more disappointing than a $300 Apple TV,” wrote Quinn Nelson, aka @SnazzyLabs. (Tuesday’s launch of the fourth-gen Apple TV 4K, which retails for $299.99, also got plenty of people bitching and moaning today.)

The Apple Music changes in the latest iOS 27.2 beta go beyond the app icon itself, too.

“OS 27.2 Beta 4 has removed Apple Music’s red accent color from widgets and the Liquid Glass tab bar,” wrote X user @BetaProfiles, while posting side-by-side screenshots of how things changed from in iOS 27.2 from beta 3 to beta 4.

iOS 27.2 Beta 4 has removed Apple Music’s red accent color from widgets and the Liquid Glass tab bar. pic.twitter.com/ZN1xzUKErb

— Beta Profiles (@BetaProfiles) October 13, 2026

damn they’re taking Apple Music in a new direction with this and the new text lgoo https://t.co/AqyXuLW1Mn pic.twitter.com/EMilObJGKB

— jack (@jglypt) October 13, 2026

Apple also rolled out a new logo with a lowercase M in “music.” Just wait till the red ragers see that!

damn they’re taking Apple Music in a new direction with this and the new text lgoo https://t.co/EMilObJGKB

— jack (@jglypt) October 13, 2026

The good news is, this is just a beta. Apple can always see the error of its ways and revert the Apple Music app icon to its racy red-and-white color scheme (or something else). It could even use the new black-and-white one for Apple Music Classical, since it looks so much like sheet music or a traditional grand piano.

iOS Icon History: iPod/Music pic.twitter.com/gEE3gjc094

— Basic Apple Guy (@BasicAppleGuy) October 13, 2026

Reactions to Apple Music app icon changing to black and white

But hey, let’s not miss an opportunity to witness just how irritating and bewildering Apple Music fans find the new black-and-white app icon in iOS 27.2 beta 4. There’s much wailing and gnashing of teeth.

For now, enjoy the righteous outrage (and the occasional profanity)!

Nope. Sorry, fire John Ternus. Whoever approved this has to go. https://t.co/HSLDKZVnqf

— Sami Fathi (@samifathi) October 13, 2026

apple MIGHT have changed Apple Music's logo
if this is permanent, this is the worst logo change of all time pic.twitter.com/z2OQtjXAle

— Cinq (@WhosCinq) October 13, 2026

what the FUCK is that https://t.co/mfdKGqPCij

— System Settings (@app_settings) October 13, 2026

are they out of their fucking minds https://t.co/ighVhRt6jT

— nitzu (@nitzukai) October 13, 2026

Genuinely who thought this was a good idea https://t.co/akF1Nf9vY3

— Wost️ (@mosthiphop) October 13, 2026

Ugly as fuck REVERT IT NOW @johnternus @apple @itunes pic.twitter.com/Rmc973PoMs https://t.co/lbaF0ctqOb

— alijah ✰ (@m2macmini) October 13, 2026

Rejected. https://t.co/ioZe87k3sA

— Tim ️‍ (@LuftkoppTim) October 13, 2026

The new black and white Apple Music icon on iOS 27.2 beta 4 is boring.

Just bring back the iOS 10 icon. https://t.co/SetOGBhE0R

— Iorel (@Iorel_X) October 13, 2026

they're rebranding it to look more youthful and as cool as spotify https://t.co/vjYHowNVe5

— Luca (@lucaisdesigning) October 13, 2026

Seriously, what the fuck

The red icon with the note inside is pretty iconic and instantly recognized as Apple Music.

The new one is just a fucking generic icon you find everywhere.

Holy fuck just fire every software designer at Apple please. https://t.co/iHAco2MAo1

— Tim ️‍ (@LuftkoppTim) October 13, 2026