Five hidden shortcuts in the new Music app you need to know!

By Serenity Caldwell
last updated

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.

Serenity Caldwell
Serenity Caldwell

Serenity was formerly the Managing Editor at iMore, and now works for Apple. She's been talking, writing about, and tinkering with Apple products since she was old enough to double-click. In her spare time, she sketches, sings, and in her secret superhero life, plays roller derby. Follow her on Twitter @settern.

42 Comments
  • Is there any way to clear the Up Next history? The clear button only clears what's coming up, not what's been played.
  • Is there an option to download all my music(imported & bought) for iPod lovers on the road?
  • Item 1 does not work for me.
  • Please don't take this the wrong way, but you are probably doing it wrong. I know I did the first time. If you are listening to a song, touch the 3 dots in the lower right corner. When the menu comes up, touch the section right above "Start Station" that has the song name, artist and album name. This will bring up the whole album. Then if you want to see the artist, simply touch the artist name. It works. I am not sure what I did wrong the first couple times, but now it works every time for me. Good luck!
  • no offense taken. Those are the exact steps taken. I just get a blank page with "unkown artist"
  • Your not alone...happens me all the time and no idea why.
  • Happens to me too. Very annoying.
  • There seems to be a few things that work for some and not others. I'm sure they are working out some bugs. Sent from the iMore App
  • In another thread I raised this as an issue but later on figured out what Serenity mentioned in Number 1 tip ... strangely all other options are 'worded' ... album option is not .. you need to tap the album art label of 'the same size' as the worded option which is 'at the top' and lo behold 'Album' option will appear... Not very intuitive but Mr Ive thought this is the best UI choice for apple customers-:) Sent from the iMore App
  • It doesn't work for me. Can you link me to the other post?
  • I believe it doesn't work for a song playing through radio.
  • If true that is a swing and a miss. It's a great way to discover new artists.
  • It almost seems as if Apple is no longer capable of creating software for their own hardware. Everything recently is completely confusing to use and a UI disaster. Maybe Apple needs to start hiring outside devs to solve their intractable internal problems.
  • I get "unknown artist" if I try it with a song in a playlist. But if I just search for a song, play it, then try #1, it will show me the full album.
  • You missed going to Settings > Music > Toggle Off "Show Apple Music". Also Go to Settings > General > Restrictions > Toggle Off Apple Music Connect. You will be left with 3 tabs. "My Music", "Playlists", and "Radio". Is there a way to get rid of Beats 1?
  • Beats 1 will always remain as its a free station like the old itunes radio stations.
  • Very helpful list. I was aware of couple of these from the forum discussions, but the others were new. Great stuff. Serenity is all over this Apple Music coverage. It's great as it doesn't seem to be as intuitive as Apple usually makes things. I am enjoying the new app though especially after getting help on iMore. Thank you!
  • Any way to figure out all the 'Fav❤️urite'd songs at one place ? Sent from the iMore App
  • No. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but it's just about helping the algorithm to better know your likings so it can give you better suggestions. Sent from the iMore App
  • You can't do it on the iPhone/iPad directly. You can make a smart playlist in iTunes on a Mac or PC that shows hearted tracks, and that will sync to your iPhone/iPad. (In the Smart Playlist editor create the rule: "Loved" is true)
  • #2 is not working for me. No matter what position that switch is in, no matter how I sort my music, it always shows all of my music (verified by examining individual items via "..." and seeing the option still listed to "Make available offline" displayed, instead of "Remove download").
    Any ideas if there's another setting that might be overriding this one?
  • I like number 3 but are they supposed disappear from the list? I did this for multiple suggestions but they are still there. I even closed the app and reopened it. Is there another step that I am missing?
    I did try something - went back to the top and pulled down to refresh and that seemed to work. I knew I didn't do something. Thanks, this is a great list.
  • I may have spoken too early. It seemed to work a couple of times but it puts more suggestions out there and I tried the same thing but no refresh this time. I would like it to better get what I want to see. But overall I like the new Apple Music, it has taken Beats Music a step further with the radio options. I do wish the suggested playlists would have more songs or refresh to different songs after you listen to the playlist. For example: Into to Christian Rap - after listening to this I would like for another group of 12 songs show for the next time I listen. Or when you get an Intro to an artist that you know has multiple albums, changing the songs would be nice.
  • Great tips! Anyone run into this? I have ever 25000 tunes in iTunes and when I try to "Add to my music" it just gives me the warning that I have too many tunes and turns off icloud Music Library. - Strange!
  • 25k is the max for now; it will be bumped to 100k with iOS 9.
  • Is the "Shuffle" button that starts playing random songs hidden somewhere? It used to be on top of the "Songs" view. Do I just have to choose one of the topmost songs and press "Skip" once to start shuffle play? :/
  • Yup, seems like it. Not that big of a deal though, you can scroll to a random song for the first "shuffled" one.
  • this is also want I want to know... If Apple could stop removing features when adding new ones, that'd be great. We like having options Sent from the iMore App
  • Does anyone know how to bring "Genius" on Apple music ?? I asked Siri "Play songs like this". It didn't work. It said genius not available. Somebody help.
  • Go to your Settings app, Music, and activate Genius. I think it's deactivated even if it was on before updating to iOS 8.4. Then you can just tap any song in the Music app and choose "Start Genius playlist" ;) Edit: I'm not subscribed to Apple Music though, I don't know if that playlist would include songs that you don't already have downloaded on your phone... Maybe the "Start Station" button does that? (I don't know why I even see this button since I deactivated Apple Music in the settings and "Start Station" only produces an error message for me.)
  • I love this new music service. I have been using google music for iOS for over a year and it has been adequate. Apple music is now, for now my main service. But... it's quite buggy and even has caused crashes and restarts and its not intuitive in the usual 'Apple way'. Buggy I get and can work with that as its new, brand new and over time this will be smoothed out with updates. As for the intuitive nature of the music service I think this is the new approach of how Apple presents its software to its users. This thought is based on the initial feelings of use regarding Apple Watch OS. Sent from the iMore App
  • #3 doesn't seem to work for playlists on iPad Sent from the iMore App
  • I've noticed the same. I hate it when universal apps are not implemented the same way. Sloppy!
  • By far the best tip not listed here is to disable "connect" by toggling off in Restrictions. This gives you an actual tab for your playlists, which is a much better layout than having it buried in "my music." Sent from the iMore App
  • I think it was mentioned upthread, but still no easy way to add a song currently playing on Beats 1 Radio to My Music? Another tip, but not a hidden item in music....to address above, you can follow @Beats1Plays on Twitter to add any tune played on Beats 1 to your timeline. Tapping on the link in the timeline for the song you want will take you to the track page in Music where you can then add it to My Music. Very surprising that this is not a native feature-unless I'm just missing something.
  • Can someone describe how to make the "Genres" selection work in the New section of iTunes? Mine is blued out and nothing at all happens when I try to select a new Genre.
  • Has anyone seen #3 work at all? No matter what I do, the recommendations I dislike still stay in there...
  • Tapping Artist name in Connect when you are sitting on the page with the follow button on it, will bring up the Artist About Page. A hidden link button I stumbled upon when trying to find it after looking at my iPad and then not being able to locate it on iphone6. Sent from the iMore App
  • On the iPad, Apple Music is very poorly implemented. In the "My Music" view while playing a song: There is no reason I can see for having a play/pause button in two locations (on the actual album art + in the lower left. In this same view, it is utterly maddening to me that Apple has no audio scrubbing capability! Finally, the volume slider is nowhere to be seen! That function is saved for the lock screen while the music is playing. One of the dumbest things Apple has ever done. What is a person to do if their volume buttons are non-functioning? My shutdown power button on the top of my iPhone hasn't worked for a year, but at least I still have access to that functionality in software with the Usability feature.
  • Ren, you just got major brownie points with me listening to The Prodigy! Kudos!
  • Oh love that band... thanks for reminding me, now I can buy them!
  • Hate hate hate the new music app, and is it true that after three months we have to pay monthly for songs we have already paid for? God I hate apple... back to Blackberry for us.