If you missed it, Sonos is facing considerable backlash regarding its new app. Released earlier this year, the redesign was dubbed by some as "unusable", and caused the company's otherwise excellent speakers to become pretty useless.

With accusations the app was "unfinished", and the potential for a dramatic U-turn that would lead users back to the prior version, Sonos is in a tricky spot.

According to a new report, the software issues are having a knock-on effect with new hardware releases. That comes via Bloomberg's Mark Gurman in his latest Power On newsletter, where he reports "Sonos is still in the middle of a crisis. Though the company has made headway in repairing the damage, the fallout will be felt for months."

Sonos facing hardware delays following app issues

According to Gurman, the company has had to "delay two products so that it can focus on the software problem," with one of them being a "Roku-like offering codenamed Pinewood" which would mark Sonos' first TV set-top box. Gurman didn't say what the other project was.

Sonos' Ace headphones are reportedly "underperforming", too, with Gurman suggesting the numbers show that 250 units are being built a day - drastically less than the target of 2,500 units. Reduced demand means the company will build between 90,000 and 100,000 units annually, instead of ten times that number.

Stock is down 32% this year, Gurman notes, which is a huge disappointment given the year was intended to see a variety of new products launch.

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Creating music is an incredibly freeing process. A great way to both get your feelings down and cheer yourself up, it can be nice to have a finished product that expresses yourself better than words can. With a good music production setup, you can not only hear songs back as intended but show them to the rest of the world. 

Apple gear is some of the very best in the world for music producers, thanks to excellent software like Logic Pro and Garageband, but also because of how nice Apple’s hardware is. As well as all of this, the Apple ecosystem means that you can work on projects across multiple devices with ease. Once you have one piece of Apple hardware, you can immediately start making music. 

Now that Prime Day 2024 is almost here, there are already some excellent deals to get a full music setup for much cheaper. 

From a studio interface to cables, there are lots of little bits of equipment worth picking up if you want to produce certain types of sounds. If you just want acoustic guitar and vocals, we recommend picking up a Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 to get started. If you want to overlay that with synth and programmed drums, we recommend some keys below, too. These are the best deals out there right now. 

Produce at home for cheap

I don’t normally pay attention to national days as most of them feel more like a marketing gimmick rather than any real celebration. But coming up to The Beatles Day, I found myself thinking about the connection between Apple and the iconic group that brought us “Yesterday”, “Get Back”, and “Here Comes the Sun”.

The Beatles and Apple have had a bit of a storied past. The iconic sound your best Mac makes as it boots up was inspired by the glorious C chord played in “A Day in the Life”, and Steve Jobs once compared his business model to The Beatles’ dynamic. These are all interesting homages, but the connection between Apple and The Beatles goes much deeper than this, and it led to one of the greatest blunders in British TV history. 

Apple Corp

Founded in 1968, Apple Corps is a company owned by The Beatles that primarily managed Apple Records, the bands’ record label. Apple Corps and Apple spent almost thirty years between 1978 and 2007 locked in legal battles, primarily regarding the trademark of the Apple name. 

The first of those legal disputes, launched in 1978, led to Apple paying $80,000 to Apple Corps for copyright infringement. As a result, Apple Inc. agreed not to enter the music business and Apple Corps agreed to not create computers. 

In 2003, Apple Corps came after Apple once more following the launch of iTunes, its music storefront. This decision led to The Beatles not joining iTunes for a long time, their music only gracing the service in 2010. 

A story of two Guys

On May 8, 2006, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) was due to interview a tech journalist called Guy Kewney — getting his analysis on Apple’s lawsuit and how the music and computer industry has evolved since its inception. However, an interview at the BBC can mean two things, as Guy Goma found out live on air. He also turned up to the BBC on the exact same day expecting a job interview for a tech role, only to find himself being grilled by Karen Bowerman on the specifics of the lawsuit on live TV. You can watch the full clip below. 

That's right. The BBC accidentally put an unemployed computer technician, on-site for a job interview, live on air to answer questions about Apple and the Beatles. 

After darting his eyes around the room and realizing the situation he had unwittingly found himself in, Guy’s initial answer perfectly summed up his predicament. “I was not expecting that. When I came, they told me something else” he told Bowerman, claiming “it was a big surprise”. Despite knowing nothing about the lawsuit in question, his answers were vague enough that the BBC could run with them anyway. 

This interview has now been seen millions of times, yet Goma told GMTV that his actual job interview lasted only ten minutes — sadly, he did not get the role. However, both Guys did eventually get the chance to meet up, as Guy Kewney shared on his blog one year later. 

Guy Goma ended up being perhaps the most well-known part of Apple Corp’s third lawsuit against the iPhone maker. Goma may not have gotten the job but he has done many interviews on this historic day almost two decades later. He’ll surely remember it when he’s 64. 

While Apple attempts to get its ducks in a row, so to speak, and inject some additional AI features into iOS 18 and beyond, Spotify has stolen a march on its rival with a new AI playlist feature.

"We just launched a new beta test - AI playlists," Spotify founder and CEO Daniel Ek said on X (formerly Twitter).

"It’s a feature that uses AI chat prompts to help you curate personalized playlists. It’s still a work in progress but I’m excited for you to give it a try."

As shown in the accompanying gif, users can ask Spotify via a chatbot-style prompter for a custom playlist. The example given in Ek's post is "Give me a playlist that will make me feel like a main character".

The update is rolling out for Premium subscribers in the UK and Australia for now, although at the time of writing, I'm not able to see the option on my phone.

Apple Music and AI

Apple Music's recommendations do a decent job of curating tracks for your library, but it's one of the areas where Apple's foray into AI is expected to be leveraged for increased personalization.

Spotify has already been doing something similar with its AI DJ. It's not a chatbot, but offers a synthesized voice to recommend an array of tracks based on what you've been enjoying recently or further back.

It's the chatbot-style interactions that help this new format stand out, and given Apple is reportedly working hard on its own large language model, seems like it could be a battleground where the next generation of music curation is fought.

As for Spotify, users may see a price hike in the coming days if reports are correct. The streaming service has been pushing to make podcasts and audiobooks profitable in the long term.

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The problem with beginner instruments is many players outgrow them quite quickly. The ROLI LUMI Keys Studio is perfect for this problem as its modular design means you can upgrade it at any time. The colorful lights also manage to offer an appealing way to learn songs and these features mostly perform admirably. You will feel the sting of that price tag, but it sets a great foundation to work off. 

ROLI LUMI Keys Studio Edition Review: Price and availability

Coming in at $249 from the official ROLI store, the LUMI Keys Studio is quite an expensive bit of kit, likely down to its unique set of features and demand, driven by a successful Kickstarter run, pulling in over $1.5 million. As of right now, the only way to get the ROLI LUMI Keys Studio online is by going to the site, but B&H Photo is an official ROLI reseller, and you can find ROLI instruments in Guitar Centre, so they may arrive in the future.

In my time monitoring the stock, it has never ran out and ships in 3 days around the USA. If you want to get 2 ROLI LUMI Keys Studio Editions, you can get a 15% discount on both directly from ROLI. 

ROLI LUMI Keys Studio Edition Review: Ease of use

The ROLI LUMI Keys Studio Edition is remarkably easy to use, with low-latency Bluetooth capabilities and the ability to plug it in with a USB-C cable in the back of the keyboard. For iPad and iPhone, you have to download a third-party MIDI connection app to use it wirelessly, but it connects in seconds through the MIDI setup on Mac. Annoyingly, I did have to reconnect every time I turned the keyboard on, but this is no more than a momentary annoyance. 

With five to six hours of battery out of a charge and each charge taking a few hours, the battery life isn’t phenomenal, but there are few occasions where the average person would need to play for six hours without a break or the ability to plug it in. Due to some very important key functions that we’ll touch on later, there is a small learning curve at the start, which is the only thing that may hinder some from picking it up immediately. 

ROLI LUMI Keys Studio Edition Review: Build

Though the base feels plasticky, the keyboard itself feels firm yet light enough to pop in a bag easily. The top two keys of my set of ROLI LUMI Keys Studio initially produced a light squeak when pressed, but this sorted itself out after a few days of play. The top key has an even lighter sound when I put my ear against it now but given the other one stopped making that noise with time, I could imagine this doing the same. With 24 keys total, you get just shy of two octaves to play around with. 

Aside from the big, bright keys that look pretty as you play, the rest of the keyboard is fairly understated. There isn’t a modulator wheel like those you would find in a bigger keyboard, with it instead opting to use the keys themselves to modulate notes. It has a button to turn it on and activate Bluetooth on the top right, a USB-C port on the back, and two keys to swap between octaves. Unfortunately, there is no way of plugging in a sustain pedal, which limits use somewhat, and this feels like a bit of an oversight for what is genuinely a very emotive set of keys. 

ROLI LUMI Keys Studio Edition Review: Features

As the “LUMI” name implies, this keyboard has a huge focus on its lights. Not only do they look great, but they have the capacity to flit between lighting modes. These include a pure white emulating a piano, key lighting that allows you to follow scales and keys, and a rainbow effect that lights up as you play. It’s all very pretty and engaging in a way that makes practicing playing keys fun to look at. It also comes with the LUMI music app to teach you how to play piano, which works really well with the lighting. This lines up with ROLI’s excellent Studio Player software — allowing you to set the scale you want to play, and it even comes with expressive sound packs for dynamic play. 

The keys themself have polyphonic aftertouch, which means you get a different sound based on the intensity you hit the key, how long you hold it for, and how you move the keys around as you play. This is a cheaper way to get something approximating the expressive keys found in the ROLI Seaboard RISE 2. There isn’t too much room for modulation with MPE sounds on ROLI Studio Player, not letting you customize how high or low the pitch bend goes as you play, but everything else works in genuinely impressive ways. There are sounds you can produce with the expressiveness on offer here that you just couldn’t produce from keys without it. Instead of having a pitch bender to move the entire chord you play up or down, you can dynamically shift individual notes to organically imitate a live feel. 

As the keyboard itself is modular, the ability to purchase a second one and snap it onto the side seamlessly means you can get 48 or more keys on the go, and the ability to split them up means you can pop the whole thing in a bag and take them with you as you go. Essentially, it has a small metal strip on either side of the keyboard, where you can clip another ROLI LUMI to it and your DAW will automatically pick it up and extend the scale. It's a very smart bit of kit that makes it quite easy to get a full-sized keyboard, if you're willing to spend the extra cash. 

ROLI LUMI Keys Studio Edition Review: Competition

There are a significant amount of MIDI keyboards that can get some basic synth sounds out at a much lower price point, like the Akai Professional LPK5 at just $59 or the Novation Launchkey Mini MK3, which retails for $99.99 (though it is currently 10% off). However, the ROLI LUMI Studio Edition feels almost entirely unique in the market thanks to those polyphonic keys and its modular design. For the pretty hefty sum of $249 that the ROLI LUMI Keys Studio Edition goes for, you could instead pick up the Arturia Essential MK3 for just $20 more, which our friends over at MusicRadar gave 4.5 stars out of 5. It is a more fully-fledged keyboard with 61 keys with pressure sensitivity, touch pads, backlit contextual buttons, and more.

Alternatively, for the same price of $249, you could grab an M-Audio Keytation, which comes with 88 keys, a volume fader, and a pitch modulator, as well as intuitive compatibility with most DAWs. 

Should you buy it?

ROLI LUMI Keys Studio Edition Review: Verdict

The ROLI LUMI Keys Studio Edition is an excellently expressive MIDI keyboard that is perfect for players at any skill level but probably doesn’t serve the purpose of a traditional keyboard for most. The lack of support for a pedal on the keys itself and no physical pitch bend or modulator means that other keyboards may outshine it in some ways. However, if you can get used to it, the ROLI LUMI Keys Studio Edition feels so utterly unique in the market thanks to its smart implementation of Polyphonic Aftertouch, and this is only made better with the great ROLI Studio Software. 

Not only are the keys clever, but the ROLI LUMI Keys Studio’s modular design makes upgrade paths super simple, and the lighting not only looks very pretty but has real practical applications at any skill level. Like the much more expensive ROLI SeaBoard RISE 2 before it, the ROLI LUMI is one of those keyboards that is at its best as a complimentary item to your music production setup but, with practice, it can do almost everything you want out of a standard set of keys and looks pretty to boot. 

If you’re health conscious and want more ways of tracking your vitals, Sennheiser’s new earbuds have some very cool built-in sensors that can add to your Apple Health app.

Announced at CES 2024, the Sennheiser Momentum Sport earbuds have a photoplethysmography (PPG) heart sensor and a body temperature sensor which can be hooked up to Apple Health to log loads of your data. It is unclear how the heart rate sensor information will work if you already have an Apple Watch, but it could take up the place of its readings like other heart rate monitors currently do.

These buds could be particularly good for someone without a Watch or someone who gets chafed by their watch band in more intense workouts. It looks like significant thought has been put into the sound as well — according to Engadget, Sennheiser “created an all-new 10mm transducer for the Momentum Sport, aiming for the type of "vivid sound and impressive bass" most people desire for workouts.” 

As well as having active noise cancellation and a transparency mode so that you can hear your surroundings while your cans are in, the buds have an IP55 rating for moisture and dust, the case has wireless charging, and they offer up to six hours of battery life. These specs bring them pretty much on par with the AirPods Pro 2 — although the latter lacks any of the fitness features that Sennheiser has packed in here. The Momentum Sport buds are expected to launch this year and will cost around $300. 

What else was announced?

Sennheiser True Wireless 4 earbuds have been announced, following up on the True Wireless 3. Implementing Bluetooth 5.4, they have ultra-low latency, which makes them great for gaming. As well as this, they have Auracast support, which means they can connect to public TVs and devices that support the feature.

That means you can connect to a supported TV at a sports bar, for example, or to a public radio in a crowded space to get the latest news. They also have active noise canceling, 7.5 hours of listening time, QI wireless compatibility, and a USB-C for quick charging.

Finally, the Sennheiser Accentum Plus are a brand-new pair of wireless over-ear headphones, that come with Bluetooth 5.2 integration. You can get up to 50 hours of listening time out of a single charge, making them perfect on the go. They also have active noise canceling, come with their own travel case, and will be available for just over $200 this year. 

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Just as Apple Music’s Spotify Wrapped rival, Replay, has finally launched for 2023, Apple has also announced the most popular songs of the year to go with it. Surprisingly, Taylor Swift has not topped the list and that spot is filled by Morgan Wallen, just two years removed from an incident that saw his music temporarily removed from the service. 

The top ten streamed songs in 2023 were: 

• Last Night – Morgan Wallen
• Flowers – Miley Cyrus 
• Kill Bill – SZA
• Rich Flex – Drake, 21 Savage
• Snooze – SZA 
• Anti-Hero – Taylor Swift 
• Idol – YOASOBI 
• Under The Influence – Chris Brown
• Creepin’ – Metro Boomin, The Weekend, 21 Savage 
• Subtitle – Official Hige Dandism

Songs like Flowers, Kill Bill, Anti-Hero, and Under the Influence all had popular TikTok sounds this year, possibly contributing to their popularity. 

A controversial winner?

In February 2021, TMZ showed a video of the country music star using racial profanities while with friends after a night out drinking. He has since apologized for this incident and donated $300,000 to the Black Music Action Coalition. Just months before this incident, he was removed from an SNL appearance for partying during the 2020 COVID-19 lockdown. He was invited back on SNL at a later date, where he joked about the episode. 

Apple Music and Spotify both removed Wallen’s music from their services in 2021 due to his use of the slur but returned it shortly after his apology, in which he said he was “embarrassed and sorry.”  

Despite only nabbing the number 6 spot, Taylor Swift won Artist of the Year for both Apple Music and Spotify. To celebrate her Spotify win, she put out “Losing Me (From the Vault)” for fans to listen to right now.  

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Jony Ive is Apple's most famous product designer and since leaving the company in 2019 has focused on his independent design firm, LoveFrom, and projects like a Red Nose Day clown nose. But he's now back designing tech products, starting with a $60,000 record player.

The Sondeck LP12-50 designed by LoveFrom is a 50th-anniversary edition of audio brand Linn's iconic record player and it looks exactly like you'd expect an Ive-designed record player would.

Ive describes the LP12-50 as "a very gentle and modest project for us that was really motivated by our love and respect for Linn," and you can see the Apple influence straight away.

Ive told Fast Company, “I’ve owned multiple Linn products over the years, and music has always been profoundly important to me,”

"I think the first consequential music player that I designed was the first iPod, and that began a journey of multiple generations of iPod, and multiple Airpods and music accessories. I feel really fortunate to have gone the full circle . . . so many years on from my first visit to the factory."

Jony Ive's $60,000 record player

Linn Ceo Gilad Tiefenbrun received an email from Ive's assistant on LinkedIn asking to talk that he initially thought was spam. Luckily Tiefenbrun changed his mind and replied back, which led to a phone call with Ive, who was looking for a new Linn turntable.

In that call, Tiefenbrun mentioned the upcoming Linn anniversary. "By the next morning, I had an email from him saying, ‘I’d love to work with you on a special edition.’”

While very few of us will ever be in the market for a $60,000 record player it's a beautiful piece of equipment that resonates with every Apple fan out there thanks to its simple yet elegant design. The project between Linn and LoveFrom took a year of development and now we get to see the fruits of that labor, stunning.

CDs are back, baby, and they’re more trendy than ever. Whether you own Apple’s Superdrive, one of the best CD/DVD drives for Mac, or haven’t touched a compact disc since the late noughties, there are many reasons that people still buy CDs today.

Everyone knows the CD, it’s that trusty silver disc that always ended up scratched and left out of its box when you were a child. But just like the vinyl resurgence, CDs are back in fashion, with sales of the format rising for the first time in nearly twenty years in 2021, according to data from the Recording Industry Association of America. But why are people buying CDs again when streaming services like Apple Music have incredible quality, and your entire collection is accessible from the iPhone in your pocket?

Choice paralysis is the bane of my existence

I mentioned the vinyl resurgence earlier, and I love my record player and buying vinyl, but, my god, is it an expensive hobby. Now let me be honest from the get-go, I’m no audiophile. I love music, but I don’t have the ear to tell the difference between my Sonos system and a better traditional hi-fi setup. That doesn’t mean I can’t reign it back and opt to purchase physical media as a way of refuting modern choice paralysis.

We’ve all been there, streaming services like Apple TV Plus, gaming services like Xbox Game Pass, or music services like Spotify, constantly regretting choices by wondering about the other options we could be watching, playing, or listening to instead. Sometimes it ends up with me doing nothing at all as my mind goes mad at the thought of making a decision. 

Vinyl and CDs remove that paralysis. I have to make a conscious decision to buy an album, and after purchasing, I can listen to it on repeat until my ears bleed dry at the sound of Matt Berninger’s falsetto because I refuse to not get my money’s worth. 

CDs allow me to do that without forking out as much as I spend on vinyl, and considering I want to listen via AirPods anyway, I like listening through my Mac. The audiophiles are going to cry at the thought of someone purchasing CDs to listen to via an Apple Superdrive through an M2 Mac mini, but let’s be honest, sometimes convenience is king. While I’m choosing the inconvenient path of purchasing physical media, I still want some modern technology in my life. I can’t tell the difference between listening to Spotify or a CD through my Superdrive, but I definitely prefer the mindful selection process of making a purchase to add to my CD collection.

Brick-and-mortar shopping rules

Streaming takes away discovery for me. I like getting recommendations from curated playlists, but nothing comes close to buying CDs or vinyl from a thrift store or a curated record store where the owner has put their life and dedication into making sure the selection is exactly what they would buy themselves.

A few weeks ago, I walked into a record store and heard a song I instantly loved. I bought the album there and then without listening to the rest of the songs on the CD. Since then, I’ve been repeatedly listening to “It Is?” by Ben Howard, and I’ve fallen back in love with an artist I had forgotten about due to my ever-growing streaming library. Of course, you could hear that same song and add the album to your Apple Music library from your iPhone, but that physical purchase almost creates a bond that forces you to keep on listening. Now, my weekends have turned into treasure hunts, searching for that next gem I want to add to my collection; streaming of any sort just doesn’t allow for that same quest.

Support your favorite artists

The last reason I’ve got really into the idea of buying physical music again is the idea that I’m supporting my favorite artists directly rather than through streaming services where their pay is greatly reduced. Not only do artists get a bigger piece of the pie when you buy a new CD or vinyl, but many artists sell directly on their online merch stores and release special editions of old albums. Most of the time, I’m a big fan of the people behind the songs I love, so feeling like I’m giving back more than a few pennies for listening to one of their songs feels like a step in the right direction.

The past is the future

I’m constantly looking for ways to declutter my digital life, which sounds completely ridiculous, considering I write about the latest and greatest technology daily as a tech journalist. I still buy physical video games, purchase 4K UHD movies, and now buy vinyl and CDs again. 

Consuming physical media is one of the many ways I’m trying to take back control of my life from the attention-grabbing instant gratification of the world we live in. It’s not the perfect solution, but it’s a start, and while Apple’s Superdrive is definitely not the best CD player out there, it’s the gateway to that happier place.

Glastonbury 2023 has been and gone with an incredible weekend of music at Worthy Farm. The UK’s biggest music festival welcomed over 200,000 people to its fields to see iconic sets from the Arctic Monkeys, Guns N’ Roses, Lizzo, and Lil Nas X, to name a few. And, on Sunday night, the famous Pyramid stage closed with the last ever live performance of Elton John on his home turf - historic. 

If you were lucky enough to be at Glastonbury 2023 this weekend or watched the live sets at home and are feeling blue, we’ve compiled a list of the best Apple TV Plus music documentaries available on the streaming platform right now. Apple knows music better than most, and there are some fantastic documentaries from world-famous artists to check out. Here are some of the best.

Billie Eilish: The World’s A Little Blurry

Billie Eilish went from a normal teenager to a global superstar overnight, and this brilliant documentary shows how a regular person and her family adapted to superstardom. The World’s A Little Blurry takes us behind the scenes as Eilish and her brother, Finneas, create her debut album, When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?

It’s fair to say the album was a huge success, winning Album of the Year at the 2020 Grammy Awards and leading to Eilish headlining Glastonbury in 2022. It’s an eye-opening documentary that lets you inside the world of a normal teenager trying to balance growing up with success most of us can only ever dream of.

The Velvet Underground

The Velvet Underground graced the Glastonbury stage in 1993 and this documentary from Todd Haynes tells their story as the band moves through 1960s and 70s New York with music that would influence and develop the punk and new wave music scene.

The film looks at the band’s cultural influence with interviews with some of the old band members and musicians that have been influenced by their music. This is a must-watch documentary for any music fan.

1971: The Year That Music Changed Everything

1971 was a monumental year not just in music. In this eight-part series from award-winning director Asif Kapadia (Amy, Senna, Diego Maradona) the impact of music on the political turmoil of the era is shown. Featuring never-before-seen footage of The Rolling Stones, Aretha Franklin, Bob Marley, Marvin Gaye, The Who, Joni Mitchell, Lou Reed, and many others, Kapadia blends archive footage and interviews to create a narrative that sums up one of the most incredible years of the 20th century.

Beastie Boys Story

The story of how a trio of small-time New York rappers became one of the biggest bands in the world is told emphatically by Spike Jonze. The Beastie Boys would appear at Glastonbury in 1994 and this documentary blends a live performance at the King's Theatre in Brooklyn with memoirs adapted from the Beastie Boys book.

Even if you’re not a fan of rap, this documentary is heartwarming and full of spirit just like the band itself.

Bruce Springsteen’s Letter To You

Fans of Bruce Springsteen don’t want to miss the 2009 Glastonbury headliner’s heartfelt documentary mixed with the recording process of his album which shares the documentary’s namesake.

In this film, directed by Thom Zimny, Springsteen and The E Street Band gather to record the album in five days. The film goes through Springsteen’s writing process and writer’s block in an emotional insight into one of the world’s greatest rockstars.

Louis Armstrong’s Black & Blues

The story of the so-called father of jazz, this documentary shows the life and legacy of America’s first pop star. The film shows an insight into the civil rights movement and the turbulent life of one of the most talented trumpeters of all time.

It’s a heartbreaking historical watch that looks back on American history amidst a beautiful portrait of an awe-inspiring musician.

Selena Gomez: My Mind & Me

Selena Gomez was one of the most famous pop stars on the planet and this eye-opening documentary shows her mental health struggles after being diagnosed with lupus and bipolar disorder. 

The film is incredibly honest and transparent when it comes to showcasing mental health and the struggles that come with fame. Directed by Alek Keshishian, this film is worth the watch regardless of your interest in Gomez’s music. It’s a view behind the curtain and one that definitely instills an emotional response in the viewer. One of Apple TV Plus’ best documentaries.

There’s something for every music fan on Apple TV Plus

And that’s a wrap on this year’s Glastonbury music festival. Luckily, Apple TV Plus has so much variety in its musical content that there will be a documentary to enjoy for anyone regardless of their music tastes. 

Some of the documentaries in this list are the best documentaries on Apple TV Plus and showcase how Apple’s knowledge in the music industry helps the company to curate fantastic films that give viewers context and stories to go alongside their favorite musicians.

Apple TV Plus is available on all of Apple's best iPhones, iPads, and Macs. 

It’s 7 am, and your iPhone alarm goes off as you cautiously open your eyes looking for your glasses. You can’t find your glasses and the blaring sounds of the iPhone’s “Opening” ringtone pierce your eardrums. Been there? So has musician Tony Ann, who decided to turn the infamous alarm sound on your iPhone into a stunning piano ballad. 

In a video posted to Instagram, the sounds of the iPhone alarm build to a beautiful crescendo that sounds more and more impressive with each individual playback. Ann, a pianist and composer from Toronto, has seen his reel viewed over 18 million times and it has 1.3 million likes on Instagram.

Whilst we’ve all heard Opening before, it’s actually not the default iPhone alarm in iOS 16, that title goes to Radar. Radar has been the default iPhone ringtone since the best iPhone was the iPhone X. I’d happily switch Radar for Ann’s musical masterpiece remix of Opening every morning. Just hearing the Instagram reel had me tapping my feet and bopping my head, ready to tackle today’s ups and downs. 

An iPhone history lesson

Radar replaced Opening, which had held the crown as the most annoying sound on your iOS device from the release of the iPhone 6. If you really want to get retro, the original iPhone ringtone was Marimba which is famously known as the ringtone that disrupted a New York Philharmonic Orchestra concert back in 2012. Marimba was the default ringtone until its final appearance in the iPhone 5S.

Apple has never revealed the creator and origins of Marimba, although in a 2013 article by Forbes, Brian Roemmelle notes the huge similarities between Marimba from the original iPhone and Orchestra Marimba digital instrument from GarageBand Jam Pack 4: Symphony Pack Instruments, a software package released in 2005. This led Roemmelle to make the conclusion that GarageBand software developer Dr. Gerhard Lengeling could be the original creator.

The thought of an iPad stuck under the strings of an electric guitar sounds like a DIY project that would graze the front page of YouTube in the early 2010s. But it’s 2023 and there’s an actually useful iteration of what an iPad and a guitar baby looks like.

Devil & Sons’ iCaster takes the idea of merging tech with music to a different level. Initially created to give musicians freedom over their personal style by using the iPad to design your own pickguards, the iCaster has opened up an opportunity for so much more. 

Designed by Daniel Wallis for the 2022 Great Guitar Build Off, the iCaster is another in a long list of smart instruments that have gained prominence over the last decade with the use of MIDI support to connect to your tech and iOS apps to get the most out of your instrument. 

Why does an iPad improve a guitar?

So what makes the iCaster more than another attempt to overcomplicate a product rooted in tradition? The iPad is a fantastic tool for musicians, from helping to learn how to play an instrument to recording your very own songs. So with an iPad attached to your guitar you can connect to Wi-Fi-enabled guitar amps, Bluetooth speakers, and even help tune your guitar by using the millions of apps on the App Store. The addition of Apple’s ecosystem to an instrument gives the opportunity for experimentation and development alongside the iCaster’s iPadOS - an exciting prospect for tech and guitar enthusiasts alike.

“I very much look forward to seeing what creative directions this instrument can go in once it gets into the hands of musicians and performers,” Wallis said. “My hope is that the prototype goes to an imaginative player who can suggest improvements for future iterations”

You can enter the raffle to be in with a chance to win this iCaster prototype via the Great Guitar Giveaway. You might need to check out our best iPad guide though because an iPad isn’t included!

The Music app for iPhone and iPad is a one-stop-shop for your locally downloaded music, tracks from your Mac via iCloud Music Library, the Apple Music service, Apple Music 1 Radio, and a top-notch search option for finding great music and playlists.

The Music app is available on the best iPhone and iPad and other Apple devices, including Mac, Apple TV, and Apple Watch. Here's what it looks like and where to find everything.

Meet the interface

Like Apple's many other stock apps, the Music interface presents itself as a single main screen on the iPhone, with tabs along the bottom of the screen to switch between its various features. Unfortunately, those tabs can vary slightly depending on whether you've subscribed to Apple Music or not: All users have access to the Library and Search tabs, but the Listen Now, Browse, and Radio tabs won't let you play anything without an Apple Music subscription (though you can browse through the content).

Many tabs have sub-menus, which can quickly get you mired in the Music app's interface. Remember: If you get lost, you can always tap any of the tabs to return to the top-level menu; otherwise, you can go up a single level by tapping on the back button in the upper left corner of the screen.

Listen Now

This tab contains customized suggestions, playlists, and songs based on your music taste; it's only available if you have an active Apple Music subscription. For You is divided into several horizontally-scrolling sections, with the Connect social feed at the bottom of the screen.

Top Picks lives at the top of the Listen Now section and contains a mix of weekly-updated playlists and recommended content based on your listening habits.

Recently Played highlights your most recently played playlists and albums from Apple Music; you can view up to 40 by tapping See All.

Made For You links to Apple's ever-growing list of weekly-updated playlists, including Get Up!, Chill Mix, New Music Mix, Friends Mix, and Favorites Mix.

Stations For You offers radio stations offered based on your most recent listening history.

Replay: Apple Music now keeps track of your most-listened-to songs each year. As long as you continue to subscribe to Apple Music, a new list is created.

Under Listening Now, you will find other sections, including New Releases, Artist Spotlights, and more. This changes often and is different for each Apple Music subscriber.

Browse

The core of Apple Music within the Music app, Browse, lets you view the entire subscription service's catalog. It's organized into six sections:

The Carousel is updated daily and highlights specific artists, playlists, and albums on the Apple Music service.

Featured Playlists is Apple Music's master catalog of handmade playlists. Like the other Browse sections, it begins with a carousel; from there, it offers sections for Must-Haves, Music by Mood, Essential decades, Start Your Day Right, Curators, and Playlists by Genre. They are interspersed throughout the section for your perusal.

New Music showcases newly-added music to the Apple Music catalog.

Videos highlights videos uploaded to the Apple Music service. It includes New Videos, Festival Performances, and Top Music Videos.

On the Air 24/7 showcases various stations, including Apple Music TV, Apple Music 1, Apple Music Hits, and more.

City Charts offers real-time looks at the 25 most popular songs in cities around the world.

Daily Top 100 details which songs are the most popular in every country with Apple Music.

Genres provides a full list of various genres in the Apple Music catalog; it displays Genres You Follow first, followed by a list of All Genres.

Radio

The Radio tab offers a window into the Apple Music 1 24/7 always-on radio station and various algorithmically-generated stations. As with Listen Now and Browse, you'll need an Apple Music account to listen. Radio is organized into various sections that tend to change often. Among these are links to the service's three always-on radio stations, including Apple Music 1, Apple Music Hits, and Apple Music Country. Under Radio, you will also find:

Recently Played offers quick access to the last radio stations or on-demand Apple Music 1 specialty shows you've listened to recently.

New Episodes offer links to recent episodes from Apple Music 1 and other radio stations.

Radio also includes content based on genre, international and local broadcasters, and much more.

Library

This tab contains all the songs, albums, and playlists in your personal music collection. Depending on how you listen to music, this can contain:

• Songs you've purchased from the iTunes Store
• Songs you've purchased, synced via iCloud Music Library
• Songs you've saved from the Apple Music catalog (they're considered "yours" for the duration of your Apple Music subscription)
• If you don't have iCloud Music Library or Apple Music enabled, songs from your Mac that you've manually uploaded using iTunes

By default, the Library tab displays five sections: Playlists, Artists, Albums, Songs, Made for You, and Downloaded; you can also tap the Edit button in the upper right corner to add the Music Videos, Genres, Compilations, Composers, and Home Sharing categories.

In the next section of the main Library screen, you'll also find links to your most recent album and song additions.

Playlists displays every playlist you've created on your iPhone, synced with iTunes or iCloud Music Library, and saved from Apple Music (if applicable). You can sort playlists by Type, Title, Recently Added, or Recently Played.

Artists, Albums, and Songs are various popular types for the music in your collection. All are sorted alphabetically by default, though you can re-sort Albums or Songs by Title, Artist, or Recently Added.

Videos, Genres, Compilations, and Composers are sorted alphabetically if you've enabled them.

Downloaded Music appears below the other categories after you've downloaded any music locally to your iPhone or iPad. As its name might suggest, this section contains all your downloaded music; it looks identical to the Library screen, with Playlists, Artists, Albums, Songs, and Recently Added sections, with one primary difference: Everything in those categories has been locally downloaded to your device.

Recently Added displays the songs and albums you've recently listened to in a 2-up art grid below the various music categories. In addition, it will showcase up to 30 tracks of the music you've most recently enjoyed on your iPhone — if you've listened to other tracks on your Mac, those won't sync here.

Made for You is another location for your Replay lists: Each keeps track of your most listened to songs each year.

If you're looking for a specific song or playlist, the Search screen can help you find it. Unfortunately, search is fairly spartan compared to the other tabs in the Music app: It offers a giant search bar, recent past searches, and currently trending searches on the Apple Music platform.

When you tap the Search bar, you'll have the option to search either within your library or (if subscribed) the Apple Music service.

Mini-Player

When you tap a song from your library or the Apple Music catalog, it begins to play and displays in a Mini Player that rests above the tabbed interface. The Mini Player showcases the song's title and album art along the left side, with Play/Pause and Forward buttons along the player's right side.

You can tap the player to expand it into the full player interface, or 3D Touch the player to access options for downloading the song, deleting it from your library (if applicable), adding it to a playlist, creating an automated station based on the song, sharing it, getting the song's lyrics, rating the song, or Loving/Disliking it.

Once the Mini Player has been expanded, you can do the following:

• see the song's album art
• scrub through the timeline
• return to the song's album by tapping on its title
• Go to the previous or next song
• Adjust the volume
• Download or delete the song
• AirPlay the song
• Tap the More button (•••) to get access to the same options as the 3D Touch interface
• Shuffle songs or Repeat them
• View Lyrics (if applicable)
• View your Up Next queue

You can find more information on the Mini Player elsewhere on our site.

Playing songs

To play a song or otherwise interact with it, you can get to it from any of the Music app's tabs, either by tapping on a specific song, selecting an album, or searching for it. Once you tap on a song, it begins playing.

There's a lot you can do simply by interacting with the songs in the Music app.

Finding Playlists

Looking to find, organize, or otherwise control your playlists? Yes, we have a great resource for that!

Up Next queue

Up Next is like a secondary playlist to which you can add music without obliterating what's already playing. It's a powerful feature in the Music app.

Anything else you need help finding?

Any other features you need help finding in the Music app? Let us know in the comments!

Updated July 2021: Updated for iOS 14 and 15.

Thanks to Apple's Up Next queue, it's easier than ever to check what tunes are coming up on the Music app. When you're in the middle of a playlist or album, you can quickly stack other tracks to listen to right away. You can also adjust the menu on the fly without interrupting your jams! Up Next also keeps track of your play history, whether you're listening to songs from your music collection, Apple Music, Beats 1, or Apple Music radio stations. Here's how you can use it!

How the Up Next queue works

When you launch the Music app on your Apple device and begin playing a song, Up Next creates a queue of songs to follow. It creates a queue of upcoming music based on the source of the original track:

• If you randomly picked a song on shuffle from your library, your Up Next queue will pull from My Music.
• If you're jamming out to an album, Up Next will add the remainder of that album.
• If you're listening to an entire artist's collection, Up Next will pull other songs from that artist.
• If you searched for a specific song, Up Next will repeat that song forever until you tell it otherwise.
• If you're listening to Beats 1 or Apple Music radio, you won't see anything in the Up Next queue.

Your queue can hold hundreds of songs, so don't worry about overloading it, and it will automatically pause if you switch to a non-queue part of Music (Beats 1 or Apple Music radio, for example), to resume when you return to My Music or the Apple Music catalog.

How to view your Up Next queue

You can see what's queued in Up Next at any time by tapping the Up Next button in the Music app for either mobile or Mac.

1. Locate the Mini Player at the bottom of the screen, just above the tab bar.
2. Tap on the Up Next icon at the bottom right of the screen.

1. In the Music app on your Mac, click on the Up Next at the top right.

How to add music to Up Next

When you add a song to Up Next, you have the choice of either adding it to the top of the queue (it will play after the currently-playing track) or bottom (it will play after everything else in your queue). From there, you can pop into the Up Next queue to adjust further (say, if you want your new song to play after a particular track in your queue).

On your mobile device:

1. Browse to the track, album, or playlist you want to add to Up Next.
2. Tap the More button (looks like •••).
3. Tap Play Next to add the music to the front of your Up Next queue, or Add to Up Next to add the music to the end of the queue.

1. In the Music app, choose the track you want to add to Up Next from your library.
2. Click the More button (looks like •••).
3. Select Play Next to add the music to the front of your Up Next queue, or Add to Up Next to add the music to the end of the queue.

If you find a track, album, or playlist you want to listen to immediately, you can start playing it right away without losing your existing Up Next queue.

1. Find the item you want to listen to immediately.
2. Tap the item to start playing it.
3. Tap Keep Up Next to preserve your existing queue.

How to rearrange your Up Next queue

Whether you added tracks to Up Next as fast as you could find them, or your mood has changed since you added them, you can easily rearrange their order so you hear exactly what you want, when you want.

1. Go to the Up Next screen.
2. On the Mac, click and hold to select a track; on iPhone, iPad, or iPod, touch and hold the grabber button to the right of the track you want to move.
3. Drag the track to the desired position.

You can reorder tracks as often as you want, and any time the mood strikes you.

How to quickly clear Up Next

If you want to remove everything from your Up Next list all at once, you can easily do that too.

If you add a track to Up Next and later change your mind about that song, it's easy to delete it.

1. Go to the Up Next screen.
2. On your Mac, hover over a track to reveal the Remove button. On iPhone, iPad, or iPod, swipe left on the track to reveal the red Remove button.
3. Click or tap on the Remove button.

If you want to clear your queue entirely, you can do that directly from the Up Next screen, too.

1. Find an item—anything will do.
2. Tap the item to start playing it.
3. Tap Clear Up Next from the menu.

The track, album, or playlist will start and your Up Next list will be completely cleared at the same time.

How do you jam out?!

Are you a big fan of features like Up Next? Are you more of a random song-shuffler? Let us know about your listening habits in the comments down below, and let us know if you have any other questions!

iTunes Match and Apple Music both allow you to sync your tracks to iCloud Music Library, where you can stream and download them to any iPhone, iPad, Mac, or Apple TV without having to take up physical storage space.

While both services are incredibly convenient when they work, they aren't completely error-proof either. Whether they're hanging up while trying to sync, or your music isn't showing up on your iPhone or iPad, here are some steps you can take to try and remedy your issue.

Check iCloud's service status

Sometimes Apple does routine maintenance on specific iCloud services. If you're getting stuck with iCloud Music Library giving you an endless "Sending information to Apple" error, this is most likely the reason. Before trying to log in, log out, or troubleshoot elsewhere, try checking Apple's Services, Stores, and iCloud system status website.

If the indicator next to Apple Music, iTunes Match, and iTunes in the Cloud is green and you're still having trouble, try the next step listed below. If it's showing up as yellow or red, Apple may be doing a system update; check the status page again later.

Turn iCloud Music Library on and off on all iOS devices

If you're missing a bunch of music that should be there, turning it on and off again in Settings could resolve the issue.

1. Open Settings.
2. Tap Music.
3. Tap the iCloud Music Library switch to turn it to the 'off' position.

4. Turn back On the option for iCloud Music Library.
5. Tap Keep Music or Delete & Replace.
6. Launch the Music app on your iPhone or iPad.

If you still aren't seeing the music you want synced, there may be a problem with iTunes. Continue on to the next step to try and resolve it.

Update iCloud Music Library within iTunes

Even though iCloud should update itself regularly, there are occasions that it doesn't happen for one reason or another. Before trying anything else within iTunes, try updating your iCloud Music Library manually.

1. Open iTunes.
2. Click File.

3. Hover your cursor over Library.
4. Click Update iCloud Music Library.

Turn iCloud Music Library on and off in iTunes

If you absolutely want to force iCloud Music Library to re-sync all your music, turning it on and off is the way to go. I'd recommend this step for anyone who is experiencing freezes or hangups when trying to sync with iTunes Match or Apple Music, especially if you've already tried all the above steps. Just be aware that your whole library may have to be scanned again and, depending upon its size, this could take hours or even days.

1. Open iTunes on your Mac.
2. Click iTunes in the Menu bar.

3. Click Preference.
4. Click the checkbox next to iCloud Music Library to uncheck it.

5. Click the checkbox again to re-check it.

Sign in and out of iTunes on your Mac

If simply turning iCloud Music Library itself off and then back on doesn't seem to fix the issue, try signing out of iTunes completely on all your devices, including your Mac or PC. Then sign back in and try syncing your iCloud Music Library again.

1. Open iTunes on your Mac.
2. Click Account in the Menu bar.

3. Click Sign Out to sign out of your iTunes/Apple Music account.
4. Click Account in the Menu bar again.

5. Click Sign In….
6. Sign in to your account.

More iCloud Music Library help

If you're still experiencing trouble with iCloud Music Library after trying all of the above steps, our iTunes forums are a great place to ask for help. If you still can't find what you're looking for, it may be time to contact Apple to see if they can directly solve your problem.

This error usually happens when Apple's servers are being slammed; patience and persistence win out. Here's how we got iCloud Music Library to work.

How to enable Music Library on your iPhone and iPad

1. Launch Settings from the Home screen.
2. Tap Music
3. Toggle Sync Library to On.
4. Choose if you want to Keep Music or Delete & Replace your library. (I prefer Keep Music so nothing is deleted).
5. If you get the error again, dismiss it.
6. Repeat steps 3-4 until it works.

You may have to wait a while and repeat, in case the servers are really getting slammed.

iPhone accessories worth considering

Are you heading for a road trip this year? Check out some of our favorite iPhone car accessories:

Belkin Lightning Audio + Charge RockStar ($44 at Amazon)

Belkin's Lightning Audio + Charge RockStar adapter gives you two Lightning ports to use with your iPhone, letting you, for instance, charge your phone through one port while using an audio cable with Apple's Lightning to 3.5mm headphone jack adapter to route audio for maps or music through your car's stereo.

Anker PowerDrive 2 ($10 at Amazon)

Charge two devices at once through the dual USB-A ports on this car charger from Anker. With more than just power delivery in mind, Anker focuses on safety, with features like surge protection, temperature control, and more.

Questions?

Did this fix your problem? Let me know if it works for you!

Updated August 2019: Refreshed for latest iOS and iPadOS.

Whether you have particularly bass-heavy headphones or you just want to meddle with your sound for a particular album, Apple makes it simple to adjust the EQ — equalizer — for your music.

Digital equalizers) allow you to rebalance various sound frequencies in music so that they sound different than their original mix. This is great if you have headphones that rely a bit too much on bass, or an album that sounds too tinny on small speakers.

How to set a music equalizer on your iPhone or iPad

You can use the Settings app to adjust the equalizer on your iOS device. Keep in mind that these equalizer settings only apply to the Music app, and these settings won't work with third-party music services.

It can also help to be playing music when you're making these adjustments so you can understand how they affect what you're listening to, and you'll get the best results if you're listening through headphones.

1. Open Settings on your iPhone or iPad.
2. Tap Music.

3. Tap EQ. It's under the Playback section.
4. Tap on one of the equalizers. If you already have an equalizer on and want to turn it off, tap Off.

Apple provides 23 different equalizer settings. Note that one equalizer setting isn't really going to fit all of the music you listen to, so you'll probably want to hop into settings every so often to change equalizers.

If you'd like more customization options, then look beyond Apple's EQ settings. There are lots of third-party EQ apps you can download right now that give you a bit more freedom. We've collected together the best EQ adjusting apps for iPhone and iPad in our guide, which is a great place to begin. 

Questions?

If you have any questions about using the equalizer on your iPhone or iPad, let us know in the comments.

Updated March 2019: Updated instructions for iOS 12. Serenity Caldwell contributed to an earlier version of this article.

CarPlay and Bluetooth connections are some of the most useful features of modern automobiles. Letting you listen to music and connect your iPhone to your car for maps and the like, it ensmartens your car so that it's like something out of iRobot. Alas, not everything these systems do is all that smart, and on occasion, you're left with a car that blasts whatever you were last listening to over the audio system of your vehicle when you turn the key in the ignition.

The intent may have been good on the part of the auto manufacturers (after all, if you're connecting up, then you'll want to listen to music as soon as you get ready to leave), but it can be a proper pain. Taking someone out on a date only to be deafened by your favorite death metal playlist might work for some, but for others, it may not.

Equally as annoying is that Apple hasn't created an easy way to turn off the auto-playing music, with no option on the best iPhones or iPads. Thankfully, however, our experts know exactly what can help – and we're sharers, so we'll let you in on our CarPlay music secrets.

Option 1: Check your car to see if there are any auto-play settings

Some cars have an option in the infotainment system that you can use to turn off autoplay. You'll likely find it in the Bluetooth settings menu, separate from your iPhone. Before you take a look in the settings of your iPhone, its worth taking a look here.

Even if you can't find an Autoplay setting, you may find an option to set the default volume. Find this and you'll have to turn the volume back up before setting off, but it means you won't find yourself deafened.

Option 2: Tell your iPhone to cut it out

As a default, your iPhone will start playing the last audio source when it's connected to your car. That'll mean, for most of us, that your music library, but it could also be something from another music app, the podcasts app, or an audiobook instead. In this case, your iPhone will play that out of the speakers instead.

Thankfully, there are a few ways of stopping this from happening.

Add a silent track to your music library.

You can use the iPhone's love of playing your library in alphabetical order to your advantage. Find a silent track – our favorite is John Cage's 4'33 – and rename it so that it appears at the very top of the library, as the first song. Next time, when you connect to the car, it should auto-play the silent track, giving you an opportunity to get it sorted.

Tell Siri to stop.

Siri can help out – just tell her to stop. 'Hey Siri, Stop' and the music will stop playing. Incidentally, activating Siri will also stop the music momentarily.

Force quit the Music (or any other) app.

If you've got an older iPhone, you can double-press the Home button to force quit the app that's making all the noise. Of course, if you've got a newer iPhone like the iPhone 14 with a full screen, then you won't have this option. Boo.

Turn off CarPlay.

This tip comes from bed269 in our forums, who notes that even if your Bluetooth stereo system doesn't officially support CarPlay, you can use the Screentime section of the Settings app to disable the feature — which, in turn, disables auto-play. That said, if you rely on an actual CarPlay system, this may not be the best route to take. If you want to give it a go, however, here's how to do it.

1. Open Settings on your iPhone.
2. Tap Screen Time.
3. Tap Content & Privacy restrictions.

4. Enter your Screen Time passcode.
5. Tap Allowed Apps.
6. Switch CarPlay off.

Turn off Cellular Data.

True, turning off cellular data will only stop streaming audio — but if you primarily stream your content, this will put a quick end to any unwanted chatter.

Option 3: Send Apple Feedback

Ultimately, none of the above suggestions are iron-proof fixes to this problem: The best way to get your iPhone to stop automatically playing is to ask Apple to put in a Settings switch to make that happen.

The end of auto-play

Auto-play can be useful, but when you just want to get in the car and go for a short trip it can be a massive pain. With these helpful tips, however, you should be good to go, and you needn't worry about getting your car started and finding that your music is blasting from your stereo. You can always turn it back on later as well, and even then you'll still be able to listen to music in your car with the best iPhone.

If you want to improve a wired CarPlay experience as well, make sure you grab one of the best wireless CarPlay adapters so that you can listen to your music wire-free.

I am hugely impressed with the sound quality produced by HomePod. Its ability to fill a room — to make it almost seem as though music is playing all around me — is a feat of technological advancement that is absolutely astounding.

That being said, the HomePod's fine-tuning suffers from that unnatural bass equalization that to some makes for better depth, but to others sounds a bit muddy.

If you're of the latter camp, there's not a lot you can do when listening to music directly from your HomePod, but when AirPlaying, you have a lot of options for adjusting the equalization, adding in a bit more of those highs to balance out the sound.

• How to adjust the EQ of the HomePod when AirPlaying from an iPhone or iPad
• How to adjust the EQ of the HomePod when AirPlaying from a Mac
• What the EQ level adjustments do
• Third-party EQ options

How to adjust the EQ of the HomePod when AirPlaying from an iPhone or iPad

If you're AirPlaying directly from your iPhone or iPad, via iTunes or Apple Music, you can adjust the equalization using a handful of presets.

Note: The EQ adjuster does not work after you've begun AirPlaying music to your HomePod, so set the EQ before you switch to HomePod.

1. Begin playing music from your iPhone.
2. Launch the Settings app on your iPhone or iPad.
3. Tap Music.

4. Scroll down and tap EQ under the Playback menu.
5. Select a preset. If you're trying to reduce the heavy bass, I recommend either Bass Reducer or Treble Booster, but you can play around with the presets to get your ideal balance.

6. AirPlay to your HomePod.

The new EQ preset will save on your iPhone and will always be used when AirPlaying from the Music app on your iPhone or iPad. To change the preset, you can follow the steps above, but the audio won't change until you stop AirPlaying and then start AirPlaying again.

Note: Many third-party music streaming services, like Spotify and Tidal, have their own in-app equalizers you can use to adjust your levels.

How to adjust the EQ of the HomePod when AirPlaying from a Mac

When AirPlaying from a Mac, you have more control over the equalization adjustments thanks to the Equalizer.

1. Launch iTunes on your Mac.
2. Click on Window in the app menu bar.
3. Select Equalizer.

4. To select a preset, click on the dropdown menu. If you're trying to reduce the heavy bass, I recommend either Bass Reducer or Treble Booster, but you can play around with the presets to get your ideal balance.

5. To adjust the EQ manually, drag the dB sliders up or down to suit your balance. A short understanding of the EQ "knobs" is that the sliders to the left are all of the low-end and bass adjustments while the sliders to the right are the high-end and treble adjustments. For more detailed information, keep reading.

What the EQ level adjustments do

Thank goodness my college courses are finally paying off (I actually had to pull out my old textbook for this). The Equalizer adjusts the frequency you hear. The lower frequencies change the low-end while the higher frequencies change ... you guessed it ... the high end.

• 32Hz - 0 - 60Hz covers the very lowest end of the frequency spectrum. It's called the Sub Bass and when boosted, it increases the thickness of things like the kick drum, bass, and the lower-end notes in other instruments.
• 64Hz - The Bass frequency improves the sound of toms, deep instruments, and a song's bottom end. With both the 32 and 64Hz sliders up, you'll be setting the EQ for a thicker sound better suited for dance music (feel the beat).
• 125Hz - Once you get above 100Hz, you're getting into the mid frequencies. Keep these sliders somewhere in the middle for the best balance of sound. It makes guitars and the drum's snare more pronounced and adds an overall "hard" sound to a song. Punk rockers traditionally set their guitar amps to boost the mids.
• 250Hz - Though this is also part of the midrange frequency, you should use it sparingly. It boosts vocals and makes guitars sound thicker. It can also make your overall sound a little muddy, so don't push this level too high.
• 500Hz - Another mid range level. It'll give a bit of punch to your music, boosting higher end sounds while still maintaining some of the low-end. It can pull out bass notes while keeping the rest of the audio clear.
• 1KHz - This section starts the highest part of the mid-range level. It can be described as "tinny" if you use too much of it. It adds a little more presence to things like vocals and piano.
• 2KHz - The 2KHz section starts the high-mid frequencies. It's best for giving sound more of an attack. It adds a bit of crunch to your overall sound. Works well with guitar-heavy music and starts the effects of boosting the treble.
• 4KHz - When adjusting the levels here, you'll be punching the higher levels and really putting the attack into the toms and makes acoustic music clearer. It'll also add some sharpness to electronic instruments.
• 8KHz - Once you get to the high range frequencies, you're dealing with all highs. It'll punch up things like crash symbols and high pitch instruments like trumpets, flutes and the like. When you max out this and the 16KHz levels, everything else gets pulled into the background.
• 16KHz - At the highest range frequencies, you're boosting the highest pitches in music, like crash symbols, piccolos, violins, and such. Too much boosting in this area could lead to a hissing sound in your music, so use it sparingly.

The most important thing to know about equalization frequencies is that it's OK to play around with it. You don't have to be a sound engineer to just listen and adjust.

Third-party EQ options

You don't have to stick with the equalization options Apple gives you. You can try out a variety of EQ apps to help set the right levels.

Another reason to own Airfoil is it's built-in EQ features. What makes Airfoil stand out is that the EQ options are mapped to the AirPlay audio, not the Mac, so when you adjust levels from Airfoil, the changes will take place on your HomePod.

It works with Spotify, Pandora, Tidal, YouTube, QuickTime, and any other audio source you listen to. Start streaming audio, AirPlay it to your HomePod (and any other AirPlay device you want), and then adjust the equalization for whatever you're playing.

Airfoil costs $29, but you can download a free trial to see if it's worth your money (it is).

• $29 - Download at Rogue Amoeba

Note: There are currently no third-party apps that support EQ adjustment of Apple Music content (whether downloaded or not), so if you're a heavy Apple Music user, you should stick with Apple's built-in EQ presets.

There are a number of different equalizer apps for iPhone and iPad, but I landed on the $2.99 EQu app as my personal favorite because of the drag-to-adjust EQ levels. While music is playing, touch the red frequency line on the EQ display and drag the curve up or down to adjust the levels. Refer to my information about the Equalizer levels to get an idea for what you want to do.

This app uses music from your iTunes Library (purchased or ripped music, not Apple Music) that has been downloaded to your iPhone. So, you'll need a robust library to make this purchase worth the (very low) price.

For $1.99 more, you can download an in-app version of TuneIn radio (you can't simply connect to your own TuneIn app, unfortunately, due to Apple restrictions) and listen to local and global radio stations through EQu with the ability to set the equalization of whatever you're listening to.

• $2.99 Download now

Any Questions?

Do you have any questions about setting the EQ for Airplaying music to your HomePod? Put them in the comments and I'll help you out.

For some, the advent of Apple Music will mean their own personal collections will become small seas in the giant oceans of the full streaming catalog. For others, however, who don't want streaming, My Music is still the place or organize and enjoy your personally purchased or ripped music.

• How to purchase music on iPhone and iPad
• How to add music to your library with using the Apple Music catalog for iPhone and iPad
• How to use iTunes Match
• How to add music manually to iPhone and iPad
• How to add all your music at one time on your iPhone or iPad

How to purchase music on iPhone and iPad

Even in the age of Apple Music, the iTunes Store still lets you buy all the music—and movies and TV shows—you want to own. You can buy songs or albums from the iTunes Store; once they've downloaded, the tracks will appear in My Music. And if you've bought songs on another device, you'll have those available to you to download via iCloud Music Library.

1. Open the iTunes Store app.
2. Search or navigate to the song or album you'd like to purchase.
3. Tap on the price next to the album or song name, then tap again to confirm you want to Buy. Depending on your settings, you may need to enter your password.

4. You can see the download status of your recently purchased tracks in More > Downloads. When your tracks have finished downloading to your device, they'll appear in My Music.

How to add music to your library with using the Apple Music catalog for iPhone and iPad

If you're subscribed to Apple Music, you can add music to your library by tapping the More button (looks like •••) next to a track, then tapping Add to My Music.

1. Open the Music app and find the song you want to add.
2. Tap the More button (looks like •••) to the right of the music.
3. Tap Add to My Music.

How to use iTunes Match

If you use iTunes Match, you can enable it on your Mac to match and upload your songs to Apple's servers; from there, you can access that content within My Music on any of your devices. Learn more about iTunes Match with our ultimate guide!

• iTunes Match: The ultimate guide

How to add music manually to iPhone and iPad

Sometimes you may not want to download tracks over the air or from iCloud Music Library. In those cases, you can add content manually to your iOS devices or your Mac.

If you're not using iCloud Music Library, you can use iTunes to manually sync your songs to the Music app on your iPhone or iPad, or to store your songs on your Mac. It may not necessarily be the most glamorous way to add music in 2015, but it's faster than downloading over Wi-Fi, and lets you add a bunch of offline tracks to your devices for future listening.

1. Make sure your iPhone is logged out of the Music app. (Tap on the Account button, then tap Sign Out.)

2. Connect your iPhone or iPad to your Mac via USB charging cable.
3. Open iTunes on your Mac (if it doesn't open automatically).
4. Click on the Device button in the toolbar to the left of the My Music tab.
5. Select the Music tab in the sidebar.

6. Check the Sync Music box.
7. Choose either to sync Entire music library or Selected playlists, artists, albums, and genres. If the latter, choose the tracks you'd like to upload to your device. You also have the option to "Automatically fill free space with songs," which will take up the remaining space on your device with tracks from your Mac.
8. Click Apply to begin the sync process.
9. Click the Eject button to safely disconnect your iPhone and iPad from your Mac.

How to download all your music at one time on your iPhone or iPad

If you really want to have all your music locally stored on your iPhone or iPad there is a little trick you can use to accomplish that. If you create a Smart Playlist in iTunes on Mac or PC, any devices connecting via iCloud Music Library will receive the option to download that playlist, and smart playlist can be "live", which means any new tracks you add will also push to all your connected devices.

1. Launch iTunes on your Mac
2. Click File in the top menu bar.
3. Hover your cursor over New

4. Click Smart Playlist
5. Adjust the Smart Playlist Options to look exactly like the image below on the right.

6. Click OK
7. Type a name for your playlist.

8. Launch Music on your iPhone or iPad.
9. Tap Playlist.
10. Tap the name of the smart playlist.
11. Tap Cloud button to begin downloading all the tracks.

Depending on how many items you are trying to download to your iPhone this way, it could take a couple minutes, a couple hours, or even a couple days. If you have a lot of tracks, your best bet is probably plugging in your iPhone or iPad overnight, and letting it download while you sleep.

Questions?

Let us know in the comments.

Rather than streaming all of their music, many people prefer to download their favorite tracks to the Music app on their iPhone or iPad. This can provide easy access while you don't have an internet connection, but downloaded music can take up a lot of space on your device.

In the Music app, you can choose how you want your music stored on your iPhone or iPad. Once you've hit your maximum storage allotment (as chosen by you), songs you haven't played in a while will automatically offload from your device. Here's how to take charge.

What is Optimized Storage?

First introduced as part of iCloud Photo Library, Optimized Storage lets you keep a portion of your library on your device (depending on your free storage space) and automatically dumps older items to make room for newer options as time goes on. In iOS 9, the Music app had a behind-the-scenes version of Optimized Storage, but it tended to drive users crazy — they'd get on a plane, thinking they could listen to a favorite album, only to find it mysteriously missing from their device.

On iOS 10 and newer, Apple puts the choice in the user's hands: You can either use Optimized Storage and let the company automatically manage your mobile music collection, or you can choose to disable it and store any downloaded music locally until you say otherwise.

How to turn optimized storage on for Music

1. Open Settings.
2. Scroll down and select Music.
3. Under Downloads, tap Optimized Storage.

4. Turn the Optimized Storage switch to the 'on' position. It should now be green.
5. Select the amount of storage space you would like to allow your music to take up before iOS removes the downloaded files.

How to turn optimized storage off for Music

1. Open Settings.
2. Scroll down and select Music.

3. Under Downloads, tap Optimized Storage.
4. Turn the Optimized Storage switch to the 'off' position. It should now be white.

Questions?

Let us know below!

iTunes and the Music app offer a slew of controls for playing, shuffling, DJing, and queuing your music. Here's how you can get the most out of them.

How to use the play controls on your Mac

You can find your primary play controls along the top of the iTunes toolbar. Grouped to the left of the toolbar are the Previous, Play/Pause, and Next buttons, along with Volume/AirPlay controls; they let you move though your songs and playlists and adjust sound levels.

When playing Beats 1 or Apple Music radio stations, that previous button becomes a Like button (looks like a star), and the next button is greyed out (Beats 1 only).

The center of the iTunes app contains most of your other controls for interacting with a track: a preview of the album art also serves as a gateway into the Mini Player; the Now Playing display lists the track name, artist, album, radio source (if applicable), and More button; a Like button (looks like a heart); and the Up Next button.

The Mini Player lets you concentrate the iTunes media experience down to smaller—and even smaller—size. That can make it more convenient to use if you're busy doing other things on your computer but still want to access controls, Like, Up Next, and more.

1. Hover over the album art in the player controls to reveal the mini player button.
2. Click the Mini Player button to shrink iTunes down to album-art size.
3. Click the Hide Artwork button to shrink even further down to controller size.

 To exit the Mini Player:

1. Click the Show Artwork button to go back to album-art size.
2. Click the X icon at the top left to go back to full iTunes.



The Now Playing display showcases the currently-playing song, artist, album, and radio source, along with controls for that song. If you're playing a song amidst a larger collection of tracks, you'll see a Shuffle button to the left of the title, while the track scrubber appears below.



To the right of the track title is the More button (looks like •••), with all its numerous options crammed within—though which options display depend on whether you're listening to a song from My Music, Beats 1, Apple Music radio, or a For You playlist. It's hidden from view until you mouse over the display, but once revealed, you can click on it to do the following:

• Play Next: Add the current selection to the beginning of your Up Next queue.
• Add to Up Next: Add the current selection to the end of your Up Next queue.
• Like: Tell iTunes you enjoy the current selection, to bias future For You recommendations.
• Add to: Add the current selection to one of your playlists.
• Go to Artist: Switch the view to the artist's listing.
• Go to Album: Switch the view to the album's listing.
• Go to Song: Switch the view to the song's listing.
• Show in iTunes Store: Switch the view to the iTunes Store listing.
• Share: Send a link to the current selection to the clipboard, Mail, Facebook, Twitter, or Messages. 
  
  

You can access the Like feature within the More button next to any song, but it's equally accessible next to the currently-playing track.

 It displays in the form of a heart icon: click it to fill in the heart icon and "like" the track, which will influence future For You recommendations; click it again to change the heart icon back to an outline and remove your "like" from the program's memory.

The Up Next button lets you view and clear the music queue on your Mac. It's also where you'll find your My Music and Beats 1 play history.

If you're on your Mac, you also have access to basic player controls right on the keyboard. They double as function keys, but controlling your media is their primary purpose.

• F7: Skip back
• F8: Play/Pause
• F9: Skip forward

How to use the play controls on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod

Your iPhone's primary play controls live in the new Mini Player, which sits atop the tabs in the Music app. Although the player itself is mini, its addition is one of the new Music app's biggest new features.

It sits at the bottom of the screen and stays there as you browse tracks, check out the radio, and even connect to your favorite artists. And by being there, the mini player makes it easy to not only control what you're listening to, but escalate to the full Now Playing screen whenever and where ever the need arises.

The Mini Player bar should almost always be visible, but if it's the first time you've launched Music, including after force quitting it or rebooting, you may need to nudge it back onto the screen.

1. Launch the Music app from your Home screen.
2. Pick an artist, any artist.
3. Pick a song, any song.
4. Hit play.

 The mini player should pop up—or pop back up—immediately, giving you access to a persistent Play/Pause button, a brief description of the currently-playing track, and the More button.

When you tap or drag the center of the Mini Player bar, you'll transform it into the Now Playing screen.

1. Locate the Mini Player at the bottom of the screen, just above the tab bar.
2. Tap the middle of the bar to launch the Now Playing screen. (Or touch and hold the bar, and drag it up.)
3. To return to the app, tap the Dismiss button (looks like a down arrow) in the upper left corner.

 The Now Playing screen offers a larger variety of controls for your currently playing track, including full-resolution album art, the track scrubber, the Like button, play controls, the Up Next button, volume and AirPlay controls, and buttons to access the Share, Shuffle, Repeat, and More options.

The More button (looks like •••) appears all over the Music app, including both the Mini Player and Now Playing screen. It truly represents its name, with numerous options crammed within those ellipses—though which options display depend on whether the item in question is from My Music, Beats 1, Apple Music radio, or a For You playlist.

Tap on it to reveal any of the following:

• Play Next: Add the current selection to the beginning of your Up Next queue.
• Add to Up Next: Add the current selection to the end of your Up Next queue.
• Like: Tell iTunes you enjoy the current selection, to bias future For You recommendations.
• Add to: Add the current selection to one of your playlists.
• Go to Artist: Switch the view to the artist's listing.
• Go to Album: Switch the view to the album's listing.
• Go to Song: Switch the view to the song's listing.
• Show in iTunes Store: Switch the view to the iTunes Store listing.
• Share: Send a link to the current selection to the clipboard, Mail, Facebook, Twitter, or Messages.

You can access the Like feature within the More button next to any song, but it's equally accessible next to the currently-playing track in the Now Playing screen, or from the Lock screen or Control Center.

 It displays in the form of a heart icon: click it to fill in the heart icon and "like" the track, which will influence future For You recommendations; click it again to change the heart icon back to an outline and remove your "like" from the program's memory.

The Up Next button lets you view and clear the music queue on your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. It's also where you'll find your My Music and Beats 1 play history.

You don't need to be in the Music app to control your music: You can just as easily play, pause, skip, like, scrub, share, or adjust your volume from the Lock screen, Control Center, or via Siri. (You can also control your music via an Apple Watch, if you happen to own one.)

To access play controls on the Lock screen, make sure a song is playing; when you turn on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch, you should see play controls along with a volume and track scrubber, Like button, and Share button. Control Center offers the same controls as on the Lock screen, but with the added benefit of an AirPlay button.

 And when it comes to Siri, you can ask Apple's virtual assistant just about anything in regards to your music: Play, Pause, Shuffle, Skip, and a whole lot more.

Questions?

Have a different question about playing music on your iPhone, iPad, iPod, or Mac? Drop a line in the comments.

There's a new, universal search feature in both the Music app and iTunes 12.2 that can find songs, playlists, albums, and artists—whether they're locally-stored or available in Apple's online catalog. If you don't subscribe to Apple Music, you'll be able to search Apple Music radio stations and the iTunes Store in lieu of the streaming catalog.

How to use the search field to find your own content

1. Tap the Search button (looks like a magnifying glass) in the upper right corner.
2. When the search field displays, select the My Music tab.
3. Enter the name of the song, artist, album, playlist, or genre you want to find.
   
   

1. Click the Search button (looks like a magnifying glass) in the upper right corner.
2. When the search field displays, select the My Music tab.
3. Enter the name of the song, artist, album, playlist, or genre you want to find.
   
   

How to use the search field to find Apple Music content

1. Tap the Search button (looks like a magnifying glass) in the upper right corner.
2. When the search field displays, select the Apple Music tab.
3. Enter the name of the song, artist, album, playlist, or genre you want to find. (You can also search for names of Beats 1 DJs, specialty shows, and Apple Music curators by using this field.)
   
   

1. Click the Search button (looks like a magnifying glass) in the upper right corner.
2. When the search field displays, select the Apple Music tab.
3. Enter the name of the song, artist, album, playlist, or genre you want to find. (You can also search for names of Beats 1 DJs, specialty shows, and Apple Music curators by using this field.)
   
   

How to view trending searches

1. Tap the Search button (looks like a magnifying glass) in the upper right corner.
2. When the search field displays, select the Apple Music tab.
3. All trending searches appear below the search field. Tap on one to execute the search.
   
   

1. Click the Search button (looks like a magnifying glass) in the upper right corner.
2. When the search field displays, select the Apple Music tab.
3. All trending searches appear in the search pop-over. Click on one to execute the search.
   
   

How to view and clear your search history

You can also access your search history if you're looking to rediscover a song result you looked for in the past.

1. Tap the Search button (looks like a magnifying glass) in the upper right corner.
2. When the search field displays, tap the History button (looks like a clock).
3. Your search history should display below. Tap any recent result to repeat the search.
   
   
   

4. If you want to clear your history, tap Clear in the upper left corner, then tap Clear Recent Searches to remove your old results from the History screen. 

1. Tap the Search button (looks like a magnifying glass) in the upper right corner.
2. When the search field displays, it also shows recent searches in the pop-over window. Click on any recent result to repeat the search.
3. If you want to clear your history, click on Clear in the upper right corner, then tap Clear Recent Searches to remove your old results from the pop-over.
   
   

Questions?

Having trouble searching for songs, albums, artists, or playlists? Hit us up in the comments.

With Apple's new Music app, you can not only create and manage playlists, you can give them distinctive and easy to recognize thumbnails, quickly add music to them, queue them to Up Next, and a lot more.

How to view playlists | How to play a playlist | How to create a playlist | How to edit playlists | How to delete a playlist | How to download playlists | How to share your playlists

How to view your playlists

Want to find a playlist saved in your music? You've come to the right place.

1. Tap the My Music tab at the bottom right.
2. Tap the Playlist tab at the top.



1. Click on the Playlists tab.
2. Select your playlist of choice.



How to play a playlist

You can play a playlist in one of several ways:

• Tap or click on the name of a playlist to open it immediately.
• Tap or click the More button (looks like •••) and then select Play Next to add it to the beginning of your Up Next queue.
• Tap or click the More button (looks like •••) and then select Add to Up Next to add it to the end of your Up Next queue.
  
  
  

• iPhone/iPad/iPod-only: Within the playlist screen, tap on its album art to begin playing.
• Mac-only: Within the playlist screen, click on the Play button.

How to create a new playlist

Playlists have more options than ever before, but they're still easy to create.

1. Tap New.
2. Enter a Title.
3. Tap the Camera icon to choose a thumbnail.
4. Enter a Description.
5. Tap Add Songs to start adding tracks.
6. Once you've picked the tracks you want, tap Done. 
   

1. Click the Playlists tab.
2. Click the New button (looks like a +) and select New Playlist.
3. Enter a Title.
   
   
   

4. Click on the album artwork to choose a custom thumbnail.
5. Click on the Edit Playlist button to start adding tracks.
6. Select your tracks, then click Done.

 iTunes also allows you to create Smart Playlists, which are essentially smart, saved searches that look for certain types of media and present them in playlist form. Here's how to create one on your Mac:

1. Click the Playlists tab.
2. Click the New button (looks like a +) and select New Smart Playlist.
3. Enter your search terms.
   
   
   

4. Your playlist will automatically be created based on those terms. You can rename it by double-clicking on the Name field.
5. If you want to adjust your search terms, click on Edit Playlist.

How to add tracks to an existing playlist

If you want to add songs to an older playlist, here's how to go about it.

To add tracks from the playlist screen:

1. Tap Edit.
2. Tap Add Songs.
3. Search or browse to the track you want to add.
4. Tap the + button to add the track.
5. Tap Done.

 To add tracks from anywhere in the Music app:

1. Tap the More button (looks like •••) to the right of the track you want to add.
2. Tap Add to Playlist.
3. Tap the playlist you want to add it to.



If you think a song you've found would make a fine addition to your own custom mix, you can add it to your own playlists, too.

1. Find a song or playlist you want to add.
2. Click the More button (looks like •••).
3. Select Add to.
4. Select the name of the playlist you'd like to add this playlist to.



How to rearrange tracks in a playlist

1. Go to the playlist you want to re-arrange.
2. Tap Edit.
3. Touch and hold down on the grabber button to the right of the track you want to move.
4. Drag the track to its new position.
5. Tap Done.



1. Go to the playlist you want to re-arrange.
2. Click and drag on a track to move it to its new position.



How to remove tracks from a playlist

1. Go to the playlist you want to remove the track from.
2. Tap Edit.
3. Tap the red - button to the left of the track.
4. Tap the red Delete button.



1. Go to the playlist you want to re-arrange.
2. Highlight the track(s) you no longer want in your playlist.
3. Press the Delete key and confirm deletion.



How to build off an existing playlist

You can also create new playlists based on those you find in Apple Music on your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, or Mac. Whether you want to use Apple Music's curation as a starting point, or you want to exclude particular songs on Apple Music playlists that you don't like, this is how to go about it.

1. Find a playlist you want to add.
2. Click or tap on the Playlist name to open up its song list.
3. Click or tap on the More button (looks like •••)
4. Select Add to.
5. Select New Playlist.
6. Give your playlist a name.



How to delete a playlist

It's easy to delete playlists you no longer want on your device.

You can delete a playlist either from the Playlists tab or a specific playlist screen:

1. Tap the More button (looks like •••) to the right of the playlist.
2. Tap Delete.
3. Tap Delete Playlist to confirm.



Since playlists only reference the song files, and don't contain them, deleting a playlist you don't want anymore won't save you any drive space. What it will do, however, is declutter your library.

1. Click on Playlists.
2. Select the playlist under Apple Music Playlists you'd like to delete.
3. Tap the Delete key. Alternately, option-click the playlist name, and select Delete.



How to download playlists

Apple Music hosts hand-built playlists from Apple's editors, Beats 1 DJs, you, and your friends. It's easy to save your favorites to your library: Here's how to do it on your Mac or iOS device.

1. Find the playlist you want to add.
2. Click or tap the More button (looks like •••).
3. Select Add to My Music.

 The playlist will now appear in the Apple Music Playlists category in the iTunes sidebar, or under Playlists in My Music within the Music app.

You can also make these tracks available offline by using the More button:

1. In the Playlists screen, tap the More button (looks like •••) next to the Apple Music playlist you want to download.
2. Select Make Available Offline.

Alternatively, if you're viewing a specific playlist, you can click the iCloud status icon next to the playlist title to download the entire song list to your device. (If you wish to download individual tracks for offline listening, click the iCloud status icon next to each song.)

How to share your playlists

Sharing your discoveries with your friends and family is a big part of the fun of Apple Music. If you've found (or created) a playlist you'd like to let everyone else know about, it's easy to share it from iTunes or the Music app.

1. Select a playlist you'd like to share.
2. Click or tap on the Share sheet button in the title bar of the playlist. You can copy the link to your Clipboard, embed it in an email, send it in an iMessage, post it to Twitter, or post it to Facebook.

Questions?

Have any questions about building a playlist? Let us know in the comments.

Both iTunes and the Music app pack a ton of functionality into relatively compact apps: Apple Music, iTunes Match radio, your library, Connect, and so much more. If you're having trouble finding your own library content, here are the best ways to organize your tracks and other media.

The Music app, iTunes, and music types

iTunes and the Music app provide several different ways to view music, whether you're looking at your personal library, radio, social content, store content, and more. Some options require an Apple Music subscription, but not all. 

All the music you've bought from the iTunes Store, synced via iCloud Music Library, ripped from CD, or added from Apple Music.

As the name suggests, any and all playlists you've either built for yourself, automatically created using Genius and Smart tools, or downloaded from Apple Music. In iTunes, this exists as a tab in the toolbar; in the Music app, this is a sub-tab under My Music.

In For You, you'll get recommendations chosen especially for you by Apple Music, its editors, contributors, and curators. These recommendations shift and change as you like more playlists, albums, and tracks.

This tab boasts the latest tracks from the iTunes Store and Apple Music. The New section offers a general overview of what's happening in Apple Music, but you can also sort it into specific genres including Alternative, Blues, Children's Music, Christian & Gospel, Classical, Country, Dance, Electronic, Hip-Hop/Rap, Indie, Jazz, Latino, Metal, New Artists, Pop, R&B/Soul, Reggae, Rock, Singer/Songwriter, Soundtrack, and World.

This tab includes a top banner featuring Beats 1, Apple's always-on, worldwide radio station. In addition, it's where you can tune in to Apple Music radio's automated stations, find your own past radio stations, and create new ones.

Here, you can find Apple Music's official social network: Artists can share lyrics, rough cuts, videos, and more in this area.

This is Apple's classic online music purchasing experience. The store lives inside iTunes on your Mac, but has been broken out into the iTunes Store app on your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.

How to switch between media types (and devices)

Apple manages and makes available many—many!—different types of content, all packed together in a single app (on the Mac) or multiple apps (on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch). Here's how it all breaks down.

You'll find all your media types along the left side of the iTunes toolbar. The primary icons are Music, Movies, and TV Shows. There's also a More button (looks like •••) that provides access to Podcasts, iTunes U, Books, Apps, Tones, Internet Radio, and Shared Libraries.

 If you plug an iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad into your Mac or Windows PC over USB, a Device tab will appear.

You can also edit tabs at any time so that iTunes only displays the ones that matter to you.

1. Click on the More button (looks like •••).
2. Click on Edit at the bottom.
3. Check all media types you want to have appear in the tabs.
4. Uncheck all media types you don't want to have appear in the tabs.

 So, if you don't want TV Shows to show up front and center, and would rather relegate it to the More button, uncheck it. If you want Podcasts to show up, check it.

On iOS, your media types are somewhat-more-sensibly organized in different apps. You've got your Music app for any music-related endeavors, iBooks for audiobooks and ebooks, Video for movies, tv shows, and home videos, Podcasts for all your recorded audio shows, iTunes U for scholarly information, and the App Store app for your third-party programs.

You can't connect to any other devices with your iPhone save for your Apple Watch; to make that connection, you'll want to open the Apple Watch app.

How to sort your music

There are several different ways you can sort your music, including by song, by album, by genre, and more. You can choose primary, secondary, and in some cases even tertiary sort options. You don't have to use them all, but if you're particular, you can make it just exactly the way you like it.

1. Tap the My Music tab.
2. Tap the Category button (by default, it lists Songs).
3. Choose the category that you wish to sort by.



1. Click the My Music tab.
2. Click the Category button in the upper right corner (by default, it lists Songs).
3. Choose the category that you wish to sort by. If you choose Songs, you also have the option of sorting songs by columns.

Questions?

Have questions about browsing your music? Pipe 'em out in the comments.

Especially in these Apple Music days, it's easy to amass a sizeable offline music collection on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch—and a sizeable storage deficit along with it. To clear your device of tunes and start over, here's the simplest way to do so.

How to delete all locally-stored music from your iOS device

1. Open the Settings app.
2. Go to General > Usage > Manage Storage.
3. Wait for it to load; after it does so, tap on Music.
   
   
   

4. Tap Edit in the upper right corner.
5. Tap the red minus button next to All Songs, then tap Delete.
   
   

How to delete music on an artist-by-artist basis on your iOS device

1. Open the Settings app.
2. Go to General > Usage > Manage Storage.
3. Wait for it to load; after it does so, tap on Music.
   
   
   

4. Tap Edit in the upper right corner.
5. Tap the red minus button next to the artist(s) in question.
   
   

Questions?

Still running into trouble deleting your music? Hit us up in the comments.

In the old days, if you were in the midst of a killer mix, but one track led you to remember another not in the mix, you could either forget about it and keep going, or play the serendipitous song and kill you killer mix. Now Playing put an end to that. With Now Play, and Apple's new Music app, even if you're in the middle of playlist or album, you can quickly stack other tracks—even another playlist or album—to listen to immediately, and then seamlessly merge back right back into your playlist or album when you're done.

Note: To use Apple's new Music app, you need to be running iOS 8.4 or later.

• How to quickly add music to Up Next from anywhere
• How to quickly play other music while preserving Up Next
• How to quickly clear Up Next from anywhere
• How to view your Up Next queue
• How to view your Up Next history
• How to add music to Up Next
• How to re-arrange what's Up Next
• How to remove a track from Up Next
• How to clear Up Next

How to quickly add music to Up Next from anywhere

You can quickly and easily add a track to Up Next at any time.

1. Browse to the track, album, or playlist you want to add to Up Next
2. Tap the More button (Looks like •••) to the right.
3. Tap on Play Next to add the music to the front of your Up Next queue, or Add to Up Next to add the music to the end of the queue.
   
   
   

How to quickly play other music while preserving Up Next

If you find a track, album, or playlist you want to listen to immediately, you can start playing it right away without losing your existing Up Next queue.

1. Find the track, album, or playlist you want to listen to immediately.
2. Tap the track, album, or playlist to start playing it.
3. Tap Keep Up Next to preserve your existing queue.
   
   
   

When the song, album, or playlist finishes, your Up Next queue will resume without interruption.

How to quickly clear Up Next from anywhere

If you want to remove everything from your Up Next list all at once, you can easily do that too.

1. Find a track, album, or playlist—anything will do.
2. Tap the track, album, or playlist to start playing it.
3. Tap Clear Up Next from the menu.
   
   
   

The track, album, or playlist will start and your Up Next list will be completely cleared at the same time.

How to view your Up Next queue

You can see what's queued in Up Next at any time via the Now Playing screen.

1. Locate the mini player at the bottom of the screen, just above the tab bar.
2. Tap the track information button on the mini player to bring up the Now Playing screen. (Or touch and hold on the mini player and drag up.)
3. Tap on the Up Next button.
4. Tap the Done button to return to Now Playing.
   
   
   

From here you can fully manage your Up Next list. To exit the Up Next screen, tap Done at the top right.

How to view your Up Next history

Whether you simply want to remember what you player, or you want to play something again, Up Next's history list makes it easy.

1. Go to the Up Next screen.
2. Swipe down to reveal your Up Next history.
3. Tap a track if you want to play it again.
4. Tap Done.
   
   
   

Your current Up Next queue will continue to play when your replay is done.

How to add music to Up Next

If you're on the Up Next screen, you can add more music right from and to the queue.

1. Go to the Up Next screen.
2. Tap on Add.
3. Search or browse for the music you want to add.
4. Tap the + button on the right to add a track, album, or playlist.
   
   
   

You can keep adding music this way just as long as you remain on the Up Next screen.

How to re-arrange what's Up Next

Whether you added tracks to Up Next as fast as you could find them, or your mood has changed since you added them, you can easily rearrange their order so you hear exactly what you want, when you want.

1. Go to the Up Next screen.
2. Touch and hold the grabber button to the right of the track you want to move.
3. Drag the track to the desired position.
   
   
   

You can reorder tracks as often as you want, and any time the mood strikes you.

How to remove a track from Up Next

If you add a track to Up Next and later change your mind, it's easy to delete it.

1. Go to the Up Next screen.
2. Swipe left on the track to reveal the red Remove button.
3. Tap the red Remove button.
   
   
   

Repeat the same steps to remove additional tracks; as many as you want.

How to clear music from Up Next

If you're on the Up Next screen, you can add more music right from and to the queue.

1. Go to the Up Next screen.
2. Tap on Clear at the top.
3. Tap Clear Up Next at the bottom to confirm.
   
   
   

You can keep adding music this way just as long as you remain on the Up Next screen.

The new Music app packs a lot of functionality into itty bitty viewing space. As such, there are a lot of features in hidden in small and unusual corners that you might not have been able to find off the bat. Here are five quick tips for navigating the Music app a little bit smarter and faster, no headaches necessary.

1. View a song's full album

Can't figure out how to get to a song's full album? Don't panic—Apple didn't get rid of the view in the new Music app, it's just not outwardly labeled. Just tap the More (...) button next to any song, then tap the very top bar that lists the song title, album art, and artist; you'll then be brought to the full album. (To get to the artist, just tap on their name in album view.)

2. See all your offline music

Want to see everything you've downloaded to your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch? Tap My Music, then tap the sort menu. It'll launch a pop-over menu that, at the bottom, lists the Music Available Offline switch; tap it to only see music available locally on your device.

3. Tap and hold on For You playlists... and a whole lot more

Don't like a For You playlist that Apple Music recommended? Tap and hold to bring up a pop-over menu, where you can select I Don't Like This Suggestion to send it on its way. You can bring up this menu to add the playlist to Up Next, add it to your offline music, or share it, too.

You also can do the same gesture on any album or track in the New tab and pull up a pop-over menu for playing it next, adding it to Up Next, starting a station off the selection, adding to your music, showing it in iTunes, sharing it with friends, and adding it to a playlist.

4. Tap Recently Played to get a list of any radio stations you've listened to

Can't find your old iTunes Radio stations? They're hiding—along with any other radio stations you've created off a song, artist, or album—behind the Recently Played title on the Radio tab. Just open the Radio tab and tap on Recently Played to see your full radio history.

5. Scroll down while in Up Next to see your play history

Want to know what songs you've been listening to recently? Tap the Now Playing bar at the bottom of the Music app, tap the Up Next icon, and scroll down to reveal your song history at the top of the screen. Sadly, this history doesn't sync between iPhone and iPad, or iPhone and Mac—it's just local to your device—and it doesn't include songs played on Beats 1 or your other Apple Music radio stations.

Any others?

Got a great shortcut I missed? Share it in the comments.

With Apple's new Music app, you can not only create and manage playlists, you can give them distinctive and easy to recognize thumbnails, quickly add music to them, queue them to Up Next, and a lot more.

Note: To use Apple's new Music app, you need to be running iOS 8.4 or later.

• How to access playlists
• How to play a playlist
• How to create a new playlist
• How to add tracks to a playlist
• How to reorder tracks on a playlist
• How to remove tracks from a playlist
• How to delete a playlist
• How to create a Genius playlist

How to access playlists

On iPhone:

1. Tap the My Music tab at the bottom right.
2. Tap the Playlist tab at the top.
   
   
   

On iPad:

1. Tap the Playlist tab at the bottom.

How to play a playlist

You can also play a playlist in one of three ways:

1. Tap the name of a playlist to play it immediately.
2. Or, tap the More button (looks like •••) and then tap **Play Next* to add it to the beginning of your Up Next queue.
3. Or, tap the More button (looks like •••) and then tap Add to Up Next to add it to the end of your Up Next queue.
   
   
   

How to create a new playlist

Playlists have more options than ever before, but they're still easy to create.

1. Tap New.
2. Enter a Title.
3. Tap the Camera icon to choose a thumbnail.
4. Enter a Description.
5. Tap Add Songs to start adding tracks (see below).
6. Tap Done, top right, to finish.
   
   
   

How to add tracks to a playlist

To add tracks from the playlist screen:

1. Tap Edit.
2. Tap Add Songs.
3. Search or browse to the track you want to add.
4. Tap the + button to add the track.
5. Tap Done, top right, to finish.
   
   
   

To add tracks from anywhere in the Music app:

1. Tap the More button (looks like •••) to the right of the track you want to add.
2. Tap Add to Playlist...
3. Tap the playlist you want to add it to..
   
   
   

How to reorder tracks on a playlist

1. Go to the playlist you want to re-arrange.
2. Tap Edit.
3. Touch and hold down on the grabber button to the right of the track you want to move.
4. Drag the track to it's new position, where ever you want it.
5. Tap Done, top right, to finish.
   
   
   

How to remove tracks from a playlist

1. Go to the playlist you want to remove the track from.
2. Tap Edit.
3. Tap the red - button to the left of the track.
4. Tap the red Delete button. .
   
   
   

How to delete a playlist

You can delete a playlist from the main playlist screen:

1. Tap the More button (looks like •••) to the right of the playlist.
2. Tap Delete.
3. Tap Delete Playlist to confirm..
   
   
   

You can also delete a playlist from the specific playlist screen itself:

1. Tap the More button (looks like •••) to the right of the playlist.
2. Tap Delete.
3. Tap Delete Playlist to confirm..
   
   
   

How to create a Genius playlist

Genius playlists are still a thing, if you prefer to let the iTunes algorithms do your mixing and matching for you. If you don't see it enabled by default, however, you'll need to switch it on in Settings.

1. Launch the Settings app.
2. Tap on Music.
3. Toggle Genius to on.
4. Tap to Accept the terms and conditions.
   
   
   

Once that's done, Genius playlists are easy to create.

1. Tap on the More button (looks like •••) to the right of a song.
2. Tap on Create Genius Playlist.
   
   
   

You still have to have enough similar music for Genius to create the list, but if you do, you can listen, refresh, add to Up Next, or add to another playlist right from the More button at the top.

Although the player itself is mini, its addition is one of the new Music app's biggest new features. It sits at the bottom of the screen and stays there as you browse tracks, check out the radio, and even connect to your favorite artists. And by being there, the mini player makes it easy to not only control what you're listening to, but escalate to the full Now Playing screen whenever and where ever the need arises. Best of all, it's simple to use—once you get the hang of it!

Note: To use Apple's new Music app, you need to be running iOS 8.4 or later.

• How to launch the mini player
• How to switch from the mini player to Now Playing
• How to switch back to the mini player from Now Playing
• How to access the mini player menu
• Can you hide the mini player?

How to launch the mini player

The mini player should always be there, but if it's the first time you've launched Music, including after force quitting it or rebooting, you may need to nudge it back onto the screen.

1. Launch the Music app from your Home screen.
2. Pick an artist, any artist.
3. Pick a song, any song.
4. Hit play.
   
   
   

The mini player should pop up—or pop back up—immediately, giving you access to a persistent pause/play button, among other things.

How to switch from the mini player to Now Playing

Just because there's a mini player doesn't mean there isn't also a full Now Playing screen, and it's easy to get to.

1. Locate the mini player at the bottom of the screen, just above the tab bar.
2. Tap the track information button in the middle to launch the full player. (Or touch and hold the mini player bar and drag it up.)
   
   
   

From the Now Playing screen, you can access shuffle, repeat, up next, AirPlay, and other options.

How to switch back to the mini player from Now Playing

Getting back to the mini player from the full Now Playing screen is just as easy.

1. From the Now Playing screen...
2. Tap the Dismiss button at the top right. (Or touch and hold the album art and drag it down.)
   
   
   

How to access the mini player menu

The mini player may be small, but it packs a lot of options... once you know how to find them.

1. Locate the mini player at the bottom of the screen, just above the tab bar.
2. Tap the More button (looks like •••) at the right.
   
   
   

From there, you can select Start Station, Show in iTunes Store, Add to a Playlist..., or Delete.

Wait, can I hide the mini player?

This isn't the Music FAQ! But no, as of right now we've seen no way to hide the mini player.

For some, the advent of Apple Music will mean their own personal collections will become small seas in the giant oceans of the full iTunes catalog. For others, however, who don't want streaming, Music is still the place or organize and enjoy all your iTunes—and iTunes Match music. That includes adding music, searching for it, caching it for local playback, removing it from cache, and deleting it from your library.

Note: To use Apple's new Music app, you need to be running iOS 8.4 or later.

• How to add songs to Music
• How to browse for songs in Music
• How to search for songs in Music
• How to download songs for local playback
• How to remove downloaded songs from cache
• How to delete songs from your Music library

How to add songs to Music

There are four ways to add music to Apple's new Music app.

You can buy songs or albums from the iTunes Store; once they've downloaded, the tracks will appear in the Music app. And if you've bought songs on another device, you'll have those available to you to download via iCloud.

• How to download purchased music, movies, TV shows, and books from iTunes on your iPhone or Mac

If you're subscribed to Apple Music, you can add music to your library by tapping the More button (it looks like an ellipses) next to a track, then tapping Add to My Music.

• How to add a song from Apple Music to iCloud Music Library

If you use iTunes Match, you can enable it on your Mac to match and upload your songs to Apple's servers; from there, you can access it in the Music app.

• How to use iTunes Match: The ultimate guide

If you're not using iCloud Music Library, you can use iTunes to manually sync your songs to the Music app on your device.

There's still no way to add non-iTunes music directly to the Music app, but there are other apps that can either play music from online storage services, or stream it from your computer.

• How to manually sync music, contacts, and data from your iPhone or iPod with iTunes

How to search for songs in Music

There's a new, universal search in the Music app that can find songs both locally on your device and in Apple's online services. If you don't subscribe to Apple Music, that includes the free radio channels.

1. Tap the magnifying glass button at the top right.
2. Tap the My Music tab, also top right.
3. Enter the name of the song you want to find. If you don't remember the song title, enter the name of the artist or album and go from there.
   
   
   

You can also access recent searches to find something again:

1. Tap the magnifying glass button at the top right.
2. Tap the clock icon at the right of the search bar.
3. Tap any recent result to repeat the search.
4. Tap Clear at the top left, and tap Clear Recent Searches to remove the results list.
   
   
   

How to browse for songs in Music

There aren't separate tabs in the new Music app for categories like artists, songs, or albums, but you can access all those categories and more with just a couple of taps.

1. Tap on the My Music tab.
2. Tap on category button (it defaults to Artists) at the top of the song list.
3. Tap on the category you want to sort by (albums, songs, music videos, genres, composers, or compilations).
   
   
   

How to download songs for local playback

If you're going to be going offline, including flights or subways or inter-regional travel without Wi-Fi access, you can download songs, albums, playlists, or entire artists locally to your device to make sure they're available for playback anywhere, any time.

1. Tap the More button (looks like •••) to the right of the artist, album, playlist, or song.
2. Tap the Make Available Offline button.
3. Tap the Downloads tab to see and manage the caching.
   
   
   

Music available for offline playback has a small device icon at the top right of the More button.

How to remove downloaded songs from cache

If you ever decide you don't want downloaded music on your device, for example, to save on storage space, you can remove it from the local cache.

1. Tap the More button (looks like •••) to the right of the artist, album, or song you want to remove.
2. Tap the Remove Download button.
   
   
   

Once music is removed from the local cache, the device icon will disappear from it's former place, at the top right of the More button.

How to delete songs from your Music library

If you want to delete a song completely from your library, such that it doesn't even appear as an entry any more. (You'll still be able to restore it later, should you ever want to, from the deleted purchases section of iTunes on your desktop.)

1. Tap the More button (looks like •••) to the right of the artist, album, or song.
2. Tap the Delete button.
3. Tap the Delete Purchase button.
   
   
   

Aria is a jailbreak tweak for iOS that makes the iOS 7 Music app really come to life. Not only can you tweak and customize views, Aria also adds the ability to queue music just like you can in iTunes!

A lot of people didn't like the stock Music app in iOS 7, which looks to be largely influences by the iPad Music app. Luckily, if you're jailbroken, Aria can help you tweak the Music app to your liking again. Design wise you can change the grid views, change some of the interface colors, and more.

More importantly, Aria adds some functionality that makes the Music app better than ever. For starters you can queue music by holding down on any song and choosing to play it now or queue it for next. As you do this, the songs just line up. You can also choose to shuffle music once albums or a playlist is finished. That way you don't have awkward gaps of silence where you need to go back into the Music app in order to turn something back on.

If you happen to give Aria a try, let me know what you think of it in the comments. If you aren't jailbroken, are any of these features something you'd like to see come to stock iOS? Let me know that too!

• $1.99 - Cydia link

If you use the Podcasts app to listen and watch podcasts, you can also create custom stations that'll filter in podcasts based on which subscriptions you add to that section. You can think of stations as nothing more than creating playlists just like you do in the Music app.

Here's how:

1. Launch the Podcasts app from the Home screen of your iPhone or iPad.
2. Tap on the My Stations tab along the bottom of the screen.
3. Now tap on the New Station button.
4. Name your station and then tap Save.
5. You'll now be taken to a screen where you can add from your current subscriptions to that station. Once you're done, just tap the blue Done button in the upper right hand corner.

That's all there is to it. Notice you'll have to be subscribed to podcasts in order to create stations, so make sure you do that first before you attempt to create custom stations.

If have a lot of music on your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch, using the shuffle feature can be a great way to listen to a random selection of music. Unfortunately, it comes at a price if you have content that you just wouldn’t want to listen to. For example, I have a couple of albums with children’s nursery rhymes and also some Christmas songs. Every time I select shuffle and begin to relax, without fail t plays one of the nursery rhymes and drives me mad.

Well, if all of your music is stored on your Mac or Windows PC in iTunes, there is a very easy way to tell your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch to leave certain tracks or albums completely out of the shuffle list.

1. Open ITunes.

2. Click on the Music Tab.
3. Scroll to find the album or track you wish to omit from any future shuffle.
4. If it’s a single track simply right click on it.
5. If it’s a full album, click on the first track, hold down the shift key, and then click on the last song. That should highlight all the tracks in the album.

6. Right click with your mouse and select Get Info.

7. Click on the Options tab.
8. Look down and you will see a tick box and a drop down menu next to the heading Skip when shuffling.

9. Click the box and then change the drop down menu to Yes.
10. Hit OK.
11. Sync your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch with iTunes.

That is all there is to it. The attributes will have been transferred to your iOS device and those chosen tracks or albums will no longer play during a shuffle. If you use iTunes Match, iTunes should automatically update to iCloud and all your devices should automatically be updated with the attributes.

This has been a feature that has gone under my radar for quite some time but it is a really nice tip to know. Now I no longer need to listen to nursery rhymes when all I want is some AC/DC!

Note: There is also the checkbox immediately to the left of song titles in iTunes, that can cause iTunes on Mac or PC to exclude a song from shuffling. However, it also does other things, and in general doesn't seem to govern how a song reacts to shuffling on the iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch. The method above has proven more reliable for that specific purpose.

Anyone else have any tips or tricks for better controlling what does or does not get shuffled?

Dancing while holding your iPhone and wondering how to stop it from switching tracks every time you shake your groove thing? It might sound silly, but we've been asked about this several times so we figured we better write it up once and for all. Luckily, it's easy to prevent your popping from locking up, just follow on after the break!

We've already gone over how Apple implemented Shake to Undo for text editing in iOS, but they've also implemented Shake to Shuffle for the iPod (or Music) app as well. If it's switched on, any significantly large movement will cause your current song to stop and a random new song to start playing. While you can use this to good effect if you mean to, if you're not aware of it it can drive you crazy.

Here's where you find the switch:

1. Tap Settings
2. Scroll down and tap iPod (or Music on an iPod touch)

3. Toggle Shake to Shuffle off

There you go, no more unintentional harshening of your dance mellow! And if you decide one day you do want to shake up to shuffle up, just repeat the process and toggle it back on.

If you have any other iPod/Music tips to share, drop them in the comments!

Tips of the day will range from beginner-level 101 to advanced-level ninjary. If you already know this tip, keep the link handy as a quick way to help a friend. If you have a tip of your own you'd like to suggest, add them to the comments or send them in to news@tipb.com. (If it's especially awesome and previously unknown to us, we'll even give ya a reward...)

Instead of the iPhone's built-in iPod app sorting podcasts chronologically up or down (newest to oldest, or oldest to newest), iPhone 3.1 users are seeing... no logical sequence that can be made sense of. Indeed, some of you let us know because the lack of order made you think your podcasts weren't updating at all. Rest

So, just to be clear: We're out of order? Apple's out of order! All these [redacted] podcasts are out of order!

If you're having the same random podcast listings -- or better yet, if you've come up with a solution or work around that's better than just hunting for the blue "new" dot -- let us know in the comments.

[Thanks to everyone who brought this to our attention]