In 2015, simultaneously with the release of iOS 8.4, Apple introduced its new music service called Apple Music. At that time, its main characteristic was that all the music broadcast on the air was handpicked by leading experts in the field of music.
Now, in the era of recommendations and playlists, the company has implemented a lot of useful features in the app. In this document, we understand how to use all the features of Apple Music proficiently.
Apple Music Features
Currently, the streaming service, which contains more than 90 million tracks, is used by more than 80 million people worldwide. There are three Apple Music subscription options available in Russia: individual (169 rubles per month), student (75 rubles per month), and family for a group of up to six people (269 rubles per month).
How to Set Up Apple Music Recommendations?
Before launching Apple Music for the first time, the service will prompt you to immediately set up your music preferences by genre, which will be reflected in your weekly selections.
If tastes have changed over time, favorite genres and artists might re-enter. The function was in the “For you” tab in the “Choice of artists” section. Currently, the service does not offer such an opportunity.
Personally, I didn’t like what Apple Music offers to listen to in the first weeks. After a while, the algorithms started picking up the right tracks correctly for me and started adding them one by one to my playlist. To help the service provide you with the songs you need, you should:
- Include any track from the weekly playlist;
- Click on the icon with three dots;
- Select “Like” or “Suggest less similar” if you don’t like the track.
The application has many collections and stations for all moods
The service also selects music based on the number of songs listened to, favorite authors and genres. That is, the more songs you listen to and add, the better the app understands what to offer you in the future.
Shazam can automatically add all found songs to your library
The Library tab stores all your added tracks, playlists, authors, albums, and clips. To remove anything that you don’t need, click “Edit” in the upper right corner and remove the items you don’t use.
I use the “Songs” and “Playlists” tabs, so I left only them. Apple Music is also tightly integrated with the Shazam app, which lets you recognize music playing around you. For recognized songs to be automatically added to your library, you must:
- Install the Shazam app;
- In the settings, find the item “Streaming music”;
- Enable “Sync Shazams with Apple Music”
Apple Music implements convenient track navigation and swipe queue management
Ready. Now all recognized tracks will be displayed in the My Shazam playlist and you won’t have to search for them manually. Also in Apple Music, you can queue tracks from different places without mixing them. To add a song to the queue:
- Include the song in any playlist;
- Find the track you want to listen to next from any tab in the service;
- Drag it to the right;
- Two tabs will appear purple, which places the song next to the one you’re currently listening to, and orange, which adds the track to the end of the entire queue.
How to Listen to Music in Apple Music Without the Internet?
You can listen to music from the Apple Music library without the internet if you download it to your smartphone. You can forget about that, so set up automatic downloads. By default, this option is disabled, so go to “Settings” in the “Music” item and activate the “Automatic downloads” toggle switch.
Now, any tracks you add to your library or purchase from the iTunes Store will play offline. Check beforehand that the “Downloads” toggle switch is disabled in the “Cellular data” item in order to save traffic. Here you can also adjust the quality of the sound played in the service. To change it you need:
- In the Apple Music settings, find the “Sound” item;
- Go to the “Sound Quality” tab;
- Enable the “Audio Lossless” option or select the desired music quality from the “Cellular Network Streaming” menu.
All major functions of Apple Music are in iPhone Settings
Lossless tracks take up more space and use more traffic. Personally, I didn’t notice any significant differences from the usual sound quality, so I for one decided to leave this feature disabled.
Also in the “Sound” item, you can adjust the equalizer. For iPhone, there are 23 sound settings per genre. Maybe your favorite music will give you more emotions with the right equalizer settings.
From June 2021, Dolby Atmos-compatible audio is available for Apple Music subscribers, to enable the option you need to find the “Sound” item in Apple Music settings. Then in the Dolby Atmos tab, enable one of the items when the feature is active.
Music will automatically play in Dolby Atmos when compatible devices such as AirPods, AirPods Pro, AirPods Max, and supported Beats headphones are connected. Personally, I did not like this technology, because I like to listen to songs louder, and with Dolby Atmos, all tracks become noticeably quieter.
Useful Features of Apple Music
Siri can help you find your favorite tunes in the app
Let’s say you’re listening to a playlist where a calm, quiet indie is followed by a loud rock or hard electronic song. As a result, you wince at the song screaming right into your ears. To prevent this from happening again, turn on the “Volume correction” toggle switch in the “Sound” item of the settings.
After that, Apple Music will equalize the sound of all songs to the same level. There is a downside: all tracks will sound quieter and less rich.
Apple has made Siri an excellent music management assistant. Active voice assistant users can ask Siri to increase or decrease the music. Also, if you listened to the playlist, found a song you really liked and wanted to listen to another one from that artist.
To do this, you don’t need to pause the playlist and then come back to it. Just summon Siri on your headphones and say, “Play more songs like this.” The assistant will find another song by the author and then play it directly in the playlist.
Apple Music lets you set tracks from your library as your alarm
Apple Music subscribers can set any song as an alarm. If the standard melodies are already tired, it’s time to change it to your favorite or, on the contrary, hateful song in order to wake you up faster. In the “Clock” application, go to the alarm settings, then to the “Sound” item and select “Songs” – a library will open from which you can select a track.
How to Share Music on Apple Music?
You can share your favorite song at the same time by calling a loved one
Apple’s streaming service lets you share music with friends and family. To do this, activate the track and click on the “Share song” item in the menu, then select where you want to send it.
The recipient will receive a link, and by clicking on it, he will be able to listen to the song. In the app, you can also share individual lines of the song. To do this, in the same menu, click on “Share text”. Sending via iMessage or via AirDrop to other Apple devices is available.
For joint music listening, Apple, as part of the presentation of iOS 15, announced the SharePlay function. If your friends also have an iPhone, you can listen to songs at the same time, and share your impressions, for this you must:
- Select the desired track;
- In the menu, click on the item “Start SharePlay”;
- Call a subscriber via FaceTime;
- Activate the song to play.
Now the music will play simultaneously for all participants in the call. It is important that the person you are calling also has an Apple Music subscription. If you are chatting with someone via iMessage, you can select the music widget from the bottom bar and share songs like this.
How to Cancel Your Apple Music Subscription?
Apple Music is the best solution for those who have more than one Apple device
If for some reason you don’t like Apple’s streaming service or want to switch to another, you can easily cancel your Apple Music subscription. To do this, go to “Settings”, open the Apple ID menu and in the “Subscriptions” section, unsubscribe from Apple Music.
Apple music service has been a great solution for me to listen to songs. Apple Music is especially suitable for those who not only use iPhone but also other company gadgets.
The application is available on all devices in the Apple ecosystem, allowing music to be listened to anywhere and anytime. As someone who has used Apple Music for over three years, I have never regretted my choice.
