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How-To: Create an Apple Music playlist preview widget

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Apple Music Playlist Preview Widget

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.
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Apple Music featuring commemorative anniversary playlist, songs from Apple ads over the last 40 years

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Continuing the celebrations of its 40th birthday, Apple has posted a special Apple Music playlist featuring songs from Apple ads over the last four decades. The playlist contains 38 songs in total, with music from The Beatles, Bob Dylan, Coldplay, Gorillaz and more.

Apple turns 04. Forty songs from Apple ads to celebrate 40 years of ideas, innovation and culture.

Unfortunately, the playlist has little accompanying context so you don’t know which songs correspond to which ads. Most the songs appear to be derived from old iPod commercials, like this one.


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NPR One app arrives on iPhone with curated public radio streams

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Alongside the release of its new app for Android today, the new NPR One app has just arrived on the App Store for iPhone users.

NPR One is the new audio app that connects you to a stream of public radio news and stories curated for you… Great storytelling and rigorous reporting that informs, engages, inspires and surprises—from the ends of the earth to your own city or town—available to you whenever, wherever.

Not to be confused with its NPR News apps already available for iPhone and iPad, the new app offers users a more personalized experience by providing a curated stream of news based on your preferences. It also focuses solely on audio streams rather than mixing written stories like its full news app. It does so by curating stories from public radio stations around the country while mixing in local station news:

*Features*
– A personalized stream of NPR and local station news and stories
– Skip, rewind, pause and share
– Search for your favorite shows, stations and podcasts
– International, national, regional and local content
– A simple, intuitive interface

The new NPR One app is available as a free download for iPhone now.

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Google Play Music for iOS updated w/ gapless playback, ability to download subscribed playlists, more

Google this afternoon started rolling out an update to its Play Music app on iOS with a handful of new features. The update bumps the app to version 1.3.0.2190. Firstly, the update finally adds support for gapless playback, which means that there is no pause between the end of one song and the beginning of another. The update also adds the ability to download subscribed playlists in one tap, allowing you to listen to them without a data connection.


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Google Play Music iOS app updated with editable playlists and more

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The iOS version of the Google Play Music app has been updated, allowing you to edit playlists directly in the app rather than having to login to the website to do it.

Google has also introduced a few more goodies: Shuffle Artist, which does exactly what the name suggests, and a filter to show only the music you’ve actually downloaded – handy when you want to narrow your selection to your favourites.

Google Play Music is a free download from iTunes.

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Spotify for iOS updated w/ previously announced free option for mobile and tablet users

Last month Spotify announced new ad-supported streaming options for mobile and tablet users without paid subscriptions, and today that update has rolled out for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch users.

To recap, iPhone users can now play a particular playlist they create or their friends share, but the tracks will be shuffled. iPad users have an experience like desktop users where you can build specific playlists and list to music on demand.

The update is available now for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch in the App Store.
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Apple patent allows you to buy music even when offline

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An Apple patent granted on Tuesday would allow you to buy some music and other iTunes content even when offline.

It appears that iTunes would proactively download locked versions of new recommendations (and perhaps more generally new releases) which you could later unlock by using credit stored on the device. So if you are both very impatient and without wireless data access, Apple may one day have you covered.

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Spotify updated with push notifications

Spotify just released version 0.5.1 of its universal iOS app. The new version adds push notifications for updates to playlists that you are subscribed to, new subscribers, and when a friend joins Spotify. The update also brings a number of fixes, updated artwork for Retina displays, and Retina graphics for offline playlists. We are not so sure how many people will find push for Spotify useful, because those subscribed to many playlists will likely be bombarded by notifications. The good news is you can switch them off from Settings. Unfortunately, you cannot specify notifications for specific playlists. You can check out the full list of changes from the update below:

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Official Spotify iPad app leak surfaces, might unveil next week

A leaked image of Spotify’s official iPad app surfaced today.

Swedish technology consultant Statigram posted a purported picture of the app’s beta version on Instagram (link now redirects). The caption simply read: “It’s getting closer!”

The above screen capture depicts an iOS Twitter-like user-interface, with play options located along the bottom and a Search bar on the left side featuring icons for What’s New, Inbox, Playlists, and Friends.

Last Friday, Spotify sent invites for a special announcement in New York City for April 18, and current rumors indicate the app might unveil at the upcoming press event.