8. Entertain Yourself
Laptops took computing off the desk and made it more portable, but using one for enjoyable pursuits like watching movies always feels a bit like work, as if you’re going to the theater and being seated in a cubicle. The keyboard is in the way, and with most laptops you find yourself scrambling to find and plug in the power cord right as something exciting is happening in the movie.
On the iPad, the movie takes over the entire device, without computer clutter getting in the way. Your music library is a few taps away. YouTube movies are ready to be streamed. AirPlay lets you watch movies on an Apple TV instantly. And Home Sharing makes it possible to play media from any computer on your network, no syncing required. As I discuss elsewhere in the book, the iPad can be incredibly productive, but it can also be a lot of fun.
Sync Media
It is odd that we use iTunes as the central hub for syncing all information to the iPad, but during the early years of the iPod the only data to sync were music files. Since then, our music and movie libraries have grown alongside the capacities of Apple’s players, using iTunes as the storehouse for most of our digital entertainment. I’ve already covered the basics of syncing in Chapter 1, so in this section I’ll highlight sync options that pertain specifically to music, videos, audiobooks, and podcasts.
Choose which media to sync
Depending upon the size of your iTunes media library, you may have no trouble synchronizing everything to the iPad (which is the default setting). But even if there is room, you may want to be more choosy about how you fill those bytes (so you’re not stumbling over your collection of kids’ music while on a business trip, for example).
1. Connect the iPad to your computer and select it in the sidebar within iTunes.
2. Click the Music tab.
3. Ensure that the Sync Music checkbox is enabled, and choose the radio button for “Selected playlists, artists, albums, and genres” (Figure 8.1).
Figure 8.1. Syncing music in iTunes
4. Choose any of the following options (or ignore them and go to the next step):
• Include music videos: You can purchase music videos from the iTunes Store, and some albums include videos as bonus material. With this box checked, the videos are copied along with the music. If a video comes up when listening to an album, just the music plays.
• Include voice memos: This option is a holdover from the iPhone, which includes a Voice Memos application.
• Automatically fill space with songs: You bought a 64 GB iPad and don’t want to waste any of that free space? This option packs the memory full of music beyond what you specify in the fields below.
5. In the Playlists, Artists, Genres, and Albums lists, click checkboxes belonging to any items you wish to transfer to the iPad. Use the Search field at the top of the iTunes window to find matches quickly.
6. Click the Apply button to sync with the new options.
Tip
Two general sync settings that appear on the iPad summary pane in iTunes let you fit more media onto the device. “Convert higher bit rate songs to [128/192/256] kbps AAC” downsamples audio to one of three lower qualities (you choose which), reducing the songs’ files sizes. “Prefer standard definition videos” leaves larger-sized HD movies on your computer and transfers only standard-definition ones.
The “Manually manage music and videos” option lets you drag songs and video from your library to the iPad in the sidebar, which is fine if your media library isn’t too large. But these days, I’d rather specify playlists than micromanage every file.
Create a Smart Playlist in iTunes
A normal playlist contains a fixed set of songs that you add manually. A Smart Playlist generates its content based on criteria you specify. For example, I sync a Smart Playlist that includes any media that’s been added to iTunes within the last month. Here’s how to build it:
1. In iTunes, choose File > New Smart Playlist.
2. Give the playlist a name.
3. From the pop-up menu, choose a selector and conditions (Figure 8.2).
Figure 8.2. Creating a Smart Playlist in Tunes
4. Click the + button to add more selectors, which determine what results appear. You can also nest conditions by Option-clicking (Mac) or Alt-clicking (Windows) the + button. Nesting allows you to specify that any or all of a given set of attributes is matched. For example, in addition to locating songs added in the last month, you could also specify that the genre is not Classical or Soundtrack and that the media kind is not Podcast.
5. Click OK to save the Smart Playlist.
The next time you set up your sync criteria when the iPad is connected, include that playlist. Each time you sync, the playlist is updated with new songs.
Play Music
If you’re familiar with iTunes, you’ll have no trouble playing music in the Music app. That said, the Music interface has a few peculiarities.
1. Tap a button at the bottom of the screen to view your library by playlist, song, artist, album, or (under More) genre, composer, podcast, or audiobook (Figure 8.3).
Figure 8.3. The Music interface
2. Tap the name of a song to start playing it. The listing determines how you get to that point:
• Songs: The song list is arranged alphabetically, so the songs will play back in that order.
• Artists: Tap an artist’s name to view songs, arranged according to the albums on which they appear. If more than one album is listed, playback stops at the end of an album.
• Albums: Tap an album cover to view its songs, then tap a song to start playing. Albums are listed alphabetically by album title (Figure 8.4).
Figure 8.4. A track list in Albums view
• Genres: Tap the icon for a genre to view albums and songs of that musical style. The songs are listed alphabetically by song title (and surprisingly, the order can’t be changed unless you turn on Shuffle for playback).
• Composers: Tap the name of a composer to view songs he or she has composed, then tap a song to begin playing. When multiple albums appear, playback ends when the album does.
The Music app also has a Now Playing screen, which presents the song’s album art, full screen; tap once anywhere to reveal the playback controls (Figure 8.5). In addition to offering controls for music playback and volume, the Now Playing screen includes a button in the lower-right corner to view the tracks belonging to the song’s album; you can also double-tap the screen to do this. To return to Library view (without stopping playback), tap the button in the lower-left corner of the screen.
Figure 8.5. Now Playing screen
To return to the Now Playing screen at any time, tap the album art at the top of the Library screen.
Tip
The Now Playing screen is the only location where you can rate a song. Double-tap the screen to reveal album tracks and then, just above the track list, tap a rating (from one to five stars) for the currently playing track.
Tip
When music is playing but the iPad’s screen is locked, press the Home button twice to bring up a small set of playback controls.
Navigate songs
While you’re listening to audio, use the following controls to skip tracks, rewind, or fast-forward through a song (Figure 8.6).
Figure 8.6. Playback controls
• Tap the Play/Pause button to start or stop playback.
• Tap the Previous button once to return to the beginning of the current song. Tap it twice to play the previous song in the list.
• Tap the Next button once to skip to the next song.
• Touch and hold the Previous or Next button to rewind or fast-forward through a track; holding the button longer speeds up playback.
• Drag the playhead to “scrub” to another section of a track.
Tip
For more control when scrubbing in the Now Playing screen, touch and hold the playhead and then drag your finger down. The farther down you drag, the more control you have when you then drag left or right. This feature is especially useful when moving through podcasts, audiobooks, or other lengthy tracks.
Shuffle songs
To introduce some randomness into your music listening, set your library to shuffle mode. While playing any song, tap the shuffle button (
).
Tip
If you own an iPhone or iPod touch, you’re probably familiar with the shake-to-shuffle feature: Simply shake the device, and the accellerometer recognizes the action and switches to shuffle play mode. The Music app on the iPad doesn’t support that feature—believe me, I tried shaking, twisting, and waving my iPad and only got strange looks from the other people on the bus. My guess is that the iPad is just large enough that shaking isn’t as practical when listening to music, so Apple didn’t include the feature.
Repeat playback
Do you have a favorite album that begs to be repeated? In the Now Playing screen, tap the repeat button (
) once to replay an album. Tap it again to replay the current song.
Play Genius Mixes
iTunes includes a feature called Genius Mixes, which assemble playlists based on the contents of your music library. Genius Mixes show up as playlists when you sync, and are accessible from the Playlists list in the Music app. Tap a mix to start playing it. Unlike when playing other albums, you can’t see (or edit) which songs are included in a Genius Mix—you just have to trust the algorithms (which often do a pretty good job).
Listen to podcasts and audiobooks
Podcasts and audiobooks use the same playback controls as other audio tracks, but they gain a couple of extra features.
• Change reading speed: Since most podcasts and audiobooks are spoken-word performances, your ears are more sympathetic to other playback speeds. In the Now Playing screen, tap the speed indicator (
) to the right of the scrubber bar to switch between 1x (normal), 2x (twice as fast), or ½x (half of normal).
• Email link: Tap the Action button (
) to the left of the scrubber bar to create a new outgoing message containing a link to the podcast.
• Rewind 30 seconds: Did you miss what someone said? Tap the 
button to move the playhead back 30 seconds.
Tip
When I’m working on my computer, I almost always have music playing. And if I need to leave, I often want to continue listening to it. A clever utility called Seamless (http://fivedetails.com/seamless/) lets me transfer the audio from the computer to my iPad or iPhone without breaking a beat.
Create Music Playlists
So far we’ve dealt with whatever gets sent over from the computer during a sync operation. However, the Music app is not an old-style iPod. You can build your own playlists, which get synced back the next time you connect.
Build a playlist
For a handpicked playlist, do the following:
1. Tap the New button just below the volume slider.
2. Enter a name for the playlist in the dialog that appears, and tap Save.
3. Tap the Add All Songs button to include everything listed, or tap a song’s 
button to add that song to the playlist. The track title becomes gray to indicate it has been included (Figure 8.7). You can also tap the Library view buttons, such as Artists or Albums, to choose which Music content to build from.
Figure 8.7. Building a playlist
4. Tap Done to save the playlist, which appears in the sidebar.
5. Reorder or remove the tracks if you wish, then tap the Done button.
Note
Tap the Edit button that appears at the top of a playlist’s track listing if you want to add, delete, or rearrange songs.
Create a Genius playlist
That was quite a lot of work—what if the Music app could build a custom playlist for you? When you’re listening to any song, tap the Genius button (
). A set of songs based on the first one appears as a new Genius playlist (Figure 8.8).
Figure 8.8. A Genius playlist
Tap the Refresh button to generate a new list based on the original criteria. If you enjoyed the list, tap the Save button to turn it into a new, regular playlist.
Sync Media Using iTunes Match
Apple’s iTunes Match is an interesting service: For $24.99 per year, you can download any song you own, whether you bought it from the iTunes Store, bought it from another retailer, or ripped it from a CD. What’s the point if you already have that music? Let’s say you bought a 16 GB iPad, and the free space is quickly going away as you add movies, photos, and other large files. You don’t need to store your entire iTunes library on the iPad—just download the songs you feel like listening to.
After you sign up for the service in iTunes, the application compares your library with the database of songs offered by Apple (the “match” in iTunes Match). Anything not matched is uploaded, so even if you delete a bootleg concert recording, you can re-download it later. (The matching process can take quite a while, so I suggest you let it run overnight or longer; you’ll still be able to use iTunes and play your music.)
Once you’re set up with the service, go to Settings > Music on your iPad and turn on the iTunes Match option. Any music already stored on the device is erased and replaced by a listing of your full library.
Note
Unfortunately, iTunes Match is currently limited to 25,000 songs. If your library is larger than that, you need to trim it.
Note
In iTunes on a computer, you can stream that music, which is great if you own a laptop with a low-capacity solid-state drive, for example. However, on the iPad and other iOS devices, songs can only be downloaded.
Download iTunes Match tracks
To listen to your music, you must download it from iTunes using any of the following options:
• Tap the iCloud download button that appears to the right of a track (Figure 8.9). It is transferred to your iPad but doesn’t play. (Tap the download progress indicator if you want to cancel the transfer.)
Figure 8.9. An album with iTunes Match enabled
• Tap a song to begin playing and downloading it. When that song ends, the next one in the list (whether you’re viewing an album, a playlist, or the full song list) automatically plays next.
• If you’re viewing an album, tap Download All to receive all the tracks.
Tip
The Music app can display just the items you’ve downloaded. Go to Settings > Music and turn the Show All Music option on or off.
Downloading your music consumes bandwidth, obviously, which you may not want to sacrifice if you own an iPad with cellular Internet service. In Settings > Music, you can turn off the Use Cellular Data option.
Upgrade low-quality songs
Having your entire music library available on any iOS device is great, but iTunes Match also has another feature that’s worth its subscription price. Any track you download is formatted as a 256 kbps AAC file and isn’t encumbered by digital rights management. That means you can download higher-quality files than what you may already have, at no extra cost. I wrote an article in TidBITS that covers the full details, including setting up Smart Playlists to find songs: http://tidbits.com/article/12872.
Tip
If you reach a point where your free space is starting to evaporate again, you can delete tracks by swiping across their titles and pressing the Delete button. However, that can be tedious to do on a track-by-track basis. The alternative is to nuke your music library from orbit: Go to Settings > General > Usage > Music. Swipe across the Music item and tap the Delete button that appears. All local music files are erased.
Play Videos
I love movies, but I don’t get out to see them often enough. And while there are a few flicks I’d prefer to see with a large group of people, I’m happy to catch up on my movie watching at home on my own time. The iPad is great for watching a movie (or TV show, or video podcast, or movie you created) when it’s most convenient.
Video sync options
Syncing video works the same as syncing music, outlined earlier in the chapter, with one helpful difference. iTunes can automatically sync items that match timely criteria, such as the five most recent unwatched movies or the three most recently added items. This option applies to any video content: movies, TV shows, and podcasts (including audio podcasts, since they’re also timely items).
1. Connect the iPad and then, in iTunes, go to the Movies tab.
2. Click the checkbox for Automatically Include, and choose a range of items to copy to the iPad (Figure 8.10). (Of course, you can also choose not to include any movies automatically.)
Figure 8.10. Movies sync options
3. In the Movies area that lists all available videos, click the checkbox for any item you want copied in addition to the automatic options. You can also choose movies that appear in iTunes playlists. Mark any items in the Include Movies from Playlists area.
4. Click the Apply button to sync the iPad and copy the movies.
Watch a movie
Your content is available in the Videos app on the iPad, with different categories split among panes (Rentals, Movies, TV Shows, Podcasts, and Music Videos, depending on what’s in your library) (Figure 8.11).
Figure 8.11. Available movies
1. Tap a video’s icon to view more information about it.
2. To begin playing the movie, tap the Play button (Figure 8.12). Depending on the content, you can optionally tap the Chapters button to jump ahead to specific sections.
Figure 8.12. Movie info
3. Sit back and enjoy the movie. If you need to interact with playback, tap the screen once to make the onscreen controls appear (Figure 8.13):
• Use the playback controls to play, pause, rewind, or fast-forward. They operate similarly to the music controls explained earlier, though tapping once on the Rewind or Fast-forward buttons in long movies skips the video in 5-minute increments.
• Drag the volume slider to increase or decrease the sound, or use the volume buttons on the iPad case.
• Drag the playhead to scrub through the movie.
• When watching widescreen movies, tap the Fill Frame button to use the entire screen (at the expense of cutting off the left and right edges of the picture).
• Some movies also include language or subtitle options, which are accessed by tapping the 
button within the playback controls.
• Tap Done to return to the movie info screen.
Figure 8.13. Video controls
Buy or Rent a Video
To buy or rent movies and television shows, go to the iTunes Store in iTunes on your computer or tap the iTunes app on your iPad. Searching for and purchasing videos is similar to buying other things from the iTunes storefronts, but with a few annoying restrictions.
• The iPad can play HD movies, but some titles can only be purchased in SD (standard definition), some can be rented or purchased in SD, and some can be rented in HD only on the iPad. This crazy and confusing distinction is the result of the movies’ rights holders (Hollywood studios) trying to wring profit, establish some measure of misguided control, or...well, to be honest I don’t know. What’s worse is that the availability of these options changes over time; some movies previously available for rent can only be purchased, or no longer appear in the iTunes Store. What this means for you and me is that we need to make sure we examine what we’re about to purchase or rent.
• HD movies you rented on the iPad can be viewed only on the iPad, not transferred to your computer or another device. HD movies you rent in iTunes on your computer can be transferred to the iPad—but sometimes the HD version is available only on the iPad. (However, AirPlay helps in this regard, as I’ll discuss shortly.)
• After renting a movie, you must watch it within 30 days. If you don’t, the movie is automatically deleted from your library.
• Once you begin to watch a rental, you must finish watching it within 24 hours, at which point it’s deleted.
Note
I apologize for sounding cranky, but I should be able to purchase a movie—in SD or HD, if available—and watch it wherever I want, especially if it’s within Apple’s ecosystem. As it is, Apple and the studios are making it difficult for people like me to give them money that I’m willing to part with in exchange for entertainment, which is a terrible business model.
Download previously purchased videos
Apple uses your Apple ID to remember everything you’ve purchased from the iTunes Store. It’s a bit of accounting that doesn’t come as a surprise, except for one thing: You can re-download almost anything you’ve purchased. (I say “almost” because, as of this writing, not all studios are authorizing this capability.)
1. On the iPad, open the iTunes app.
2. Tap the Purchased button at the bottom of the screen.
3. Tap the View button to choose which media to list: songs, TV shows, or movies.
4. Locate the item you want to download and tap the iCloud download button.
Tip
This feature gets better: If you earlier bought an HD movie, the copy you have is probably at 720p resolution. If the movie is now available at 1080p, you can download the higher-quality version for free.
Watch Your Own Movies
The iTunes Store isn’t the only source of movies, of course. Home movies you shoot and edit can be viewed on the iPad, too. Export them from your video editing software (such as iMovie or Windows Live Movie Maker) to iTunes as .m4v, .mp4, or .mov files. Once in iTunes, movies can be synced to the iPad.
Convert DVDs
What about movies you already own on DVD? Using software such as HandBrake (www.handbrake.fr), you can convert a movie to a digital file that can be imported into iTunes and synced to the iPad. This option is great if you’re going on a long trip and don’t want to bring along a stack of plastic discs, or for storing kids’ entertainment when you don’t want the original disc to be damaged. (The iPad is already a favorite for kids and parents on lengthy car or plane trips.)
Note
It’s worth pointing out here that I’m not a lawyer, and that the practice of encoding DVDs is technically against the law in the United States due to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). Making digital copies of movies you’ve legally purchased seems like a legitimate fair use to me, and is far preferable to downloading questionably ripped movies from the Internet. The Electronic Frontier Foundation provides more information about the topic (www.eff.org/issues/drm).
Stream Media
The iPad is a wireless device, yet you need to connect it to a computer to sync movies and other entertainment to it over the USB cable. Or do you? A few wireless options truly let you watch video almost anywhere.
AirPlay
I’ve watched quite a few movies and TV shows on the iPad, but sometimes I want to watch something on a much bigger screen. If you have a second- or third-generation Apple TV (the small, black unit), you can play a video directly between the iPad and the Apple TV by tapping one button. AirPlay also works for playing music to the Apple TV or to an AirPort Express connected to a stereo.
If an Apple TV or AirPort Express is on the same Wi-Fi network as your iPad, an AirPlay button appears near the playback controls.
1. Begin playing a video or song. This feature isn’t limited to just the Videos and Music apps; most apps that can display media, such as Safari, can play media on other devices using AirPlay.
2. Tap the AirPlay button (Figure 8.14).
Figure 8.14. Choosing an AirPlay source in the Videos app
3. Choose an AirPlay device from the list that appears. After a few seconds, for video, the picture disappears from the iPad and starts playing on the television, right where you left off; for both video and audio, the AirPlay button turns blue to indicate it’s active.
4. When you want to resume playing the media on your iPad, tap the button and choose iPad from the popover.
Home Sharing
Over the years, I’ve accumulated movies, TV shows, and music that now reside on a large hard drive attached to a computer at home. In the past, syncing files to watch was a hassle, but now I can access it all through Apple’s Home Sharing feature. Specify your Apple ID on the iPad to stream content from computers on your network.
Tip
You need to set the same Apple ID for all devices on your network that will use Home Sharing.
Set up Home Sharing
The setting to enable Home Sharing on the iPad is a little hidden:
1. Open Settings > Music.
2. Under Home Sharing, enter your Apple ID and password.
3. Tap Done on the onscreen keyboard.
Play media stored on another machine
To play media via Home Sharing, do the following:
1. Open the Music or Videos app (depending on what you want to play).
2. In Music, tap the More button (Figure 8.15); in Videos, tap the Shared button at the top of the screen.
Figure 8.15. Selecting a library using Home Sharing
3. Tap the name of the shared library you want to access.
4. Locate the media you want to play, just as if the content were stored on your iPad.
5. If you want to disconnect from the computer, tap the name of the active library in Music or return to the main screen in Videos.
Another option for home streaming is to run an app such as AirVideo or StreamToMe. These apps don’t require an Apple ID, and you can specify media sources (such as additional folders) outside iTunes.
Streaming-video services
Members of the movie rental service Netflix can download the free Netflix app for the iPad and take advantage of the company’s growing library of Watch Now titles.
Other popular options are the ABC Player app and the PBS for iPad app, which provide streaming versions of the networks’ programs. (ABC does not allow streaming over a cellular connection, however.) Episodes are typically available the day after they air on broadcast television. As another example, Hulu Plus members can download a free app to watch other TV programs.