I addressed one big issue with Apple Music last week – and was very surprised to see from the poll results just how widespread the issue was. But while discussing that issue, we happened across a Reddit thread that I thought contained a really great idea: give the iOS app Smart Playlist functionality via Siri.
I may complain a lot about the bloated nature of iTunes, a single app that tries to do way too many different things, but I do really like it as a pure music player. One of the features I love is Smart Playlists, which you can use to do all kinds of funky things.
For example, maybe you have some music you really love but haven’t listened to for a while? Create a Smart Playlist where Rating is 5 and Last Played is not in the last year. Been listening to the same stuff too much lately? Create a playlist where Last Played is not in the past month. Feeling nostalgic? A playlist where Year is a particular year …
If you’re an Apple Music subscriber, Apple makes it easy to create an embeddable playlist preview widget via its Apple Music website. All it takes is the share URL from the playlist of your choice, and the widget generator does the rest of the heavy lifting.
The widget is limited to 30-second previews of all of the songs included in the selected playlist. At the bottom of the widget, you’ll find a link to Apple Music, where playlist listeners who aren’t yet subscribers can sign up for a free 3-month trial subscription. Expand Expanding Close
If searching for Apple Music content in the iOS Music app isn’t working for you, it’s not just you. Multiple users on Apple’s support forum are reporting the issue, with Twitter users joining the complaints. The problem appears to have begun late last night.
It’s not a universal issue, as it’s working fine for some people. Apple hasn’t yet acknowledged any problem on its system status page, but it’s not unusual for issues to exist for some time before showing up there.
Reboots aren’t curing it, so if you’re experiencing the problem there doesn’t appear anything you can do about it except wait for Apple to solve the problem, or switch to iTunes on the Mac where searches are working normally.
Some users are already unhappy with Apple’s decision to take its free ad-supported iTunes Radio stations off the air on Friday.
Apple has just released the first iOS 8.4 beta, which includes Apple’s upcoming revamped Music app. The seed for developers is available via the Apple Developer Center website.
Here are the release notes from Apple for the new app:
– All-New Design.Music app has a beautiful new design that makes exploring your music collection easier and more fun. Personalize playlists by adding your own image and description. Enjoy stunning pictures of your favorite artists in the Artists view. Start playing an album right from the album list. The music you love is never more than a tap away.
– Recently Added. Albums and playlists you’ve recently added are now at the top of your library, making it effortless to find something new to play. Simply tap play on the artwork to listen.
– Streamlined iTunes Radio. Discovering music with iTunes Radio is easier than ever. You can now quickly return to your favorite stations in Recently Played. Choose from a selection of hand-curated stations in Featured Stations, or start a new one from your favorite artist or song.
– New MiniPlayer. With the new MiniPlayer, you can see what’s playing and control playback while browsing your music collection. To open Now Playing, just tap on the MiniPlayer.
– Improved Now Playing. Now Playing has a stunning new design that showcases your album artwork the way it was meant to be. In addition, you can begin wirelessly streaming your music using AirPlay without leaving Now Playing.
– Up Next. It’s now simple to find out which songs from your library will play next — just tap the Up Next icon in Now Playing. You can even reorder, add, or skip songs whenever you like.
– Global Search. You can now search from anywhere in the Music app — just tap the magnifying glass. Search results are conveniently organized to help you quickly find that perfect song. You can even start an iTunes Radio station right from Search.
iOS 8.4’s Music application includes revamped search, the UpNext and MiniPlayer features from iTunes on the desktop, improved iTunes Radio functionality, a new Recently Added page, and more on top of the new design. On the iPad, there’s a new split-screen interface on the iPad, as seen in the screenshots below. On the iPhone, the landscape interface has been removed entirely. The icon for the app remains the same, however. We have a hands-on gallery of several more screenshots below:
Following the presumed acquisition of Beats, Apple plans to up its music game with support for high-resolution audio files in a revamped Music app in iOS 8, and to offer a higher-quality version of its In-Ear Headphones, reports Japanese blog Macotakara.
The source of the high-res audio rumor appears somewhat circumstantial, linked to a Warner Music post about the forthcoming release of a ‘Super Deluxe’ version of three remastered early Led Zeppelin albums in 96kHz/24-bit form – a resolution the current iOS Music app cannot play. It is, however, consistent with a similar earlier rumor regarding iTunes support for higher-quality audio … Expand Expanding Close
With iOS 7, Apple has debuted iTunes Radio, its answer to streaming music services like Rdio, Spotify, and Pandora. It is a free service with some occasional ads. So far the ads have been about advertising cars and iTunes Festival. If you do not want any ads, you can pay twenty-five dollars a year for iTunes Match…
Apple appears to be further preparing for the official launch of iTunes Radio, Apple’s Pandora-like streaming music service, by asking streaming radio stations to provide cover art. iTunes Radio is included in the Music app in iOS 7, as seen in our hands-on video.
Dear Internet Radio Provider,
Cover Art
The iTunes Store now requires cover art for Internet Radio stations. The cover art files must be 1400 x 1400 pixels in JPG or PNG format using RGB color space. The image URL must end in “.jpg”, “.jpeg” or “.png”. To add cover art to your station, send an email to itunesradio@apple.com including your contact name, station name and cover art file.
Cover art should avoid pixelation. Any text should be legible at reduced image sizes on small devices. Note that Internet Radio cover art is not currently displayed.
Questions about iTunes Radio?
Check out iTunes Radio here.
Regards,
The iTunes Internet Radio Team
While cover art is already available for many radio stations, some of it is very small and wouldn’t scale well on a Retina iPad.
