Chapter 8: How Can I Get More Out of Audio Features on My iPhone?

Although the eye candy of the gorgeous screen garners the lion’s share of kudos and huzzahs, your iPhone offers quite a bit of ear candy as well. With numerous audio accessories available, and with the built-in Music and iTunes apps, your iPhone packs a real audio punch. This chapter takes you on a tour of these audio features and shows you how to get the most out of them to maximize your listening pleasure.

Getting More Out of the Music App

Getting More Out of the iTunes Store App

Creating a Custom Ringtone

Working with Playlists

Customizing Your Audio Settings

Getting More Out of the Music App

Your iPhone is a full-fledged digital music player thanks to its built-in Music app, which you can fire up any time you want by tapping the Music icon in the Home screen’s Dock. In the next few sections, you learn a few useful techniques that help you get more out of the Music app.

Rating a song

If you use song ratings to organize your tunes (as I describe later in this chapter), you might come across some situations where you want to rate a song that’s playing on your iPhone:

• You used your iPhone to download some music from the iTunes Store, and you want to rate that music.
• You’re listening to a song on your iPhone and decide that you’ve given a rating that’s either too high or too low and you want to change it.

In the first case, you could sync the music to your computer and rate it there; in the second case, you could modify the rating on your computer and then sync with your iPhone. However, these solutions are lame because you have to wait until you connect your iPhone to your computer. If you’re out and about, you want to rate the song now while it’s fresh in your mind.

Yes, you can do that with your iPhone:

1. Locate the song you want to rate and tap it to start the playback. Your iPhone displays the album art and the name of the artist, song, and album at the top of the screen.
2. Tap the Details icon in the upper right corner of the screen (just below the battery status). Your iPhone “turns” the album art and displays a list of the songs on the album. Above that list are the five rating dots.
3. Tap Rating. The Music app displays five dots under the song.
4. Tap the dot that corresponds to the rating you want to give the song. For example, to give the song a five-star rating, tap the fifth dot from the left, as shown in Figure 8.1.

   

5. Tap Done. Your iPhone saves the rating and returns you to the album art view.

The next time you sync your iPhone with your computer, iTunes notes your new ratings and applies them to the same tracks in the iTunes library.

Controlling music with Siri voice commands

If you’re using your iPhone in a hands-free environment, you can still control your music by using the handy Siri app, which recognizes a number of music-related voice commands. To get started, tap and hold the Home button (or press and hold the mic button of the iPhone headset, or the equivalent button on a Bluetooth headset) until the Siri screen appears.

The most basic music voice commands mimic the on-screen controls you see when you play a song. That is, while a song is playing, you can speak any of the following commands to control the playback:

• “Pause.”
• “Play.”
• “Next track (or next song).”
• “Previous track (or previous song).”

In each case, your iPhone repeats the command back to you so you know whether it heard you correctly. You can also get more sophisticated by speaking commands that use roughly the following format:

Verb object subject.

Here, verb is the action you want the Music app to take, which will most often be play; object is the type of item you want to work with, such as a song, album, or playlist; and subject is the particular item you want included in the action, such as the name of a song, album, playlist, or artist. Here are a few examples:

• “Play songs by the Submarines.”
• “Play album Blue Horse.”
• “Play some blues.”
• “Play playlist My Top Rated.”

Again, Siri confirms the command by saying it back to you (for example, “Playing songs by the Submarines”).

Here are a few more voice commands to play with:

• “Shuffle.” Activates the Music app’s Shuffle mode.
• “Shuffle playlist.” Plays the specified playlist in Shuffle mode.
• “Skip.” Skips to the next track.
• “What song is this?” Tells you the name of the current song and artist. Siri responds, “Now playing name of song by name of artist.”

Turning off the Shake to Shuffle feature

One of the nice little audio bonuses you get with your iPhone is the Shake to Shuffle feature that lets you shuffle to a random song just by shaking your iPhone from side to side. If you’re playing songs by a particular artist, you get a random song from the same artist. If you’re playing an album, you get a random song from that album.

If you’re not a fan of Shake to Shuffle (for example, you might find it shuffles when you don’t want it to) or if you want to turn it off temporarily (for example, if you’re taking the iPhone with you for a run or bull-riding session), here’s how to disable it:

1. On the Home screen, tap Settings. The Settings app appears.
2. Tap Music. The Music screen appears.
3. Tap the Shake to Shuffle switch to Off.

Answering an incoming call while listening to music on the headset

If you’re listening to music on your iPhone and a call comes in, you obviously don’t want the caller to be subjected to The Morning Benders at top volume. Fortunately, your iPhone smartphone is smart enough to know this, and it automatically pauses the music. If you have your iPhone headset on when the call arrives, use the following techniques to deal with it:

• Answer the call. Press and release the headset mic button (it’s the plastic button on one of the headset cords).
• Decline the call (send it directly to voicemail). Press and hold the mic button for about two seconds, and then release. If you hear a couple of beeps, you successfully declined the call.
• End the call. Press and release the mic button.

Listening to a shared iTunes library

You may be familiar with an iTunes feature called Home Sharing. It enables you to share your iTunes library with other people on your network as long as you’re all logged in with the same Apple ID. Home Sharing is also available on the iPhone, which means you can use your iPhone to get wireless access to an iTunes library that’s stored on a Mac or PC.

To set this up, you must first activate Home Sharing in iTunes. Here’s how it’s done:

1. In iTunes on your Mac or PC, choose File ⇒ Home Sharing ⇒ Turn On Home Sharing. iTunes prompts you for an Apple ID.
2. Type your Apple ID and password.
3. Click Turn On Home Sharing. iTunes configures your library for sharing on the network.
4. Click Done. iTunes returns you to the library.

With your iTunes library set up for sharing, your next task is to configure your iPhone with the same Home Sharing Apple ID and password. Here’s what you do:

1. On the iPhone Home screen, tap Settings. The Settings app appears.
2. Tap Music. The Music screen appears.
3. In the Home Sharing section, use the Apple ID and Password boxes to type the same account information that you used to set up Home Sharing in iTunes.

Now open the Music app on your iPhone. If a tune is currently playing, tap the Back button (the left-pointing arrow) to return to the main Music screen. Tap More, and then tap Shared. As you can see in Figure 8.2, the Music app displays the Shared screen, which lists the available shared libraries. Tap the library you want to access, and the Music app displays the media in that library instead of the iPhone media.

Using AirPlay to stream iPhone audio

If you have an Apple TV that supports AirPlay, you can use AirPlay to stream audio from your iPhone to your TV or other audio device. Here’s how it works:

1. Make sure your Apple TV is turned on.
2. On your iPhone, start the audio you want to stream.
3. Swipe up from the bottom of the screen to open the Control Center, and then tap AirPlay. The Music app displays a menu of output choices, as shown in Figure 8.3.
4. Tap the name of your Apple TV device. Your iPhone streams the video to that device and, hence, to your TV or receiver.

Listening to iTunes Radio

I mentioned earlier that the age of the audio CD — indeed, the age of physical music in general — is just about done. In its place we have the age of digital music, and one of the consequences of this conversion from atoms to bits is that most of the world’s music is now just a few taps or clicks away. The problem, however, is discovering that music. How do you locate new artists and songs, particularly without spending a fortune experimenting with untried bands and genres?

A lot of satellite and Internet-based services have sprung up in recent years to answer that genuinely musical question, with varying degrees of success. It turns out that most of us are looking for a simple solution to the discovery problem: Given my current musical tastes as shown by the collection of artists and songs on, say, my iPhone, allow me to listen to other artists and songs that are similar.

That, in a nutshell, is the idea behind the iTunes Radio feature (which, as this book went to press, was available only in the U.S. and Australia, although expect that to change very soon). Given a particular song or artist on your iPhone, you create a “radio station” that streams similar music. The best news is that it’s completely free, although you can use iTunes to purchase songs from the radio station, if something sounds too good to resist.

If you want, you can use iTunes Radio to listen only to the curated playlists that it offers in genres such as Blues, Classical, and Jazz. However, you can get the most out of iTunes Radio by creating your own stations.

The easiest way to create a new radio station based on your current tastes is to use an existing song or artist on your iPhone as the basis of the station. Here’s how it works:

1. In the Music app, play the artist or song you want to use as the basis for the station.
2. Tap Create.
3. Tap the type of station you want to create:
   • New Station from Artist. Tap this command to create a new radio station with songs that are similar to those of the artist playing the current song.
   • New Station from Song. Tap this command to create a new radio station with songs that are similar to the current song.

The Music app creates the new station, switches to iTunes radio, and begins playing the station.

What if you want to create a radio station based on an artist or song you don’t own? Sure, not a problem:

1. In the Music app, tap Radio. The iTunes Radio screen appears.
2. Tap New Station to open the New Station screen.
3. Use the Search box at the top of the screen to type the name of an artist, song, or genre.
4. In the search results, tap the item you want to use as the basis of your playlist. iTunes Radio creates the new station and begins streaming it.

During station playback (see Figure 8.4), iTunes Radio gives you a lot of options for interacting with the music:

• To skip the current song, tap the fast forward button (the two right-pointing arrows).
• To mark the current song as a favorite, tap the star icon.
• To purchase the current song from iTunes, tap the price button in the upper right corner.
• To create a new station from the current song, tap the Info icon in the top middle of the screen, then tap either New Station from Artist or New Station from Song.
• To let your friends or family know about a station, tap the Info icon, tap Share Station, and then tap the method you want to use: AirDrop, Message, Mail, Twitter, or Facebook.

Getting More Out of the iTunes Store App

If you have a fast Wi-Fi connection going (an LTE or 3G cellular connection will do in a pinch), you can use your iPhone to purchase music directly from the iTunes Store. To get there, tap the iTunes Store icon in the Home screen.

Creating a custom iTunes Store menu bar

Just like the Music app, the iTunes Store also presents you with a series of browse buttons, each one of which represents a section or feature of the mobile version of the iTunes Store. For example, tapping the Search browse button enables you to search for artists, albums, songs, and more.

You see four browse buttons in the default menu bar: Music, Movies, TV Shows, and Search. A fifth button called More displays a list of five more browse buttons. Here’s a summary of all nine:

• Music. Enables you to browse and purchase music on the iTunes Store using the Genres, Featured, and Charts tabs.
• Movies. Enables you to browse movie content on the iTunes Store and then buy or rent movies to watch on your iPhone.
• TV Shows. Enables you to browse TV series content on the iTunes Store and then buy episodes to watch on your iPhone.
• Search. Enables you to search the iTunes Store.
• Audiobooks. Enables you to shop for audio versions of your favorite books.
• Tones. Enables you to browse ringtones on the iTunes Store using the New Releases, Top Tens, and Genres tabs.
• Genius. Displays Genius-generated lists of music, movies, and TV shows based on your current content in these categories.
• Purchased. Displays a list of songs that you have purchased from the iTunes Store.
• Downloads. Lists the current downloads in progress. This button appears only while content is downloading from the iTunes Store.

If there’s a browse button on the More list that you use all the time, you can move it to the menu bar for easier access. Here’s how:

1. On the Home screen, tap iTunes to open the iTunes app.
2. Tap More in the menu bar.
3. Tap Edit. Your iPhone displays the Configure screen, which lists all the browse buttons.
4. Drag a browse button that you want to add to the menu bar and drop it on whatever existing menu bar browse button you want it to replace. For example, if you want to replace the TV Shows browse button with Purchased, drag the Purchased button and drop it on TV Shows. Your iPhone replaces the old browse button with the new one.
5. Repeat Step 4 to add any of your other preferred browse buttons to the menu bar.
6. Tap Done to save the new menu bar configuration.

Redeeming an iTunes gift card

If you’ve been lucky enough to receive an iTunes gift card or gift certificate for your birthday or some other special occasion (or just for the heck of it), you’d normally use the iTunes Store on your computer to redeem it. However, if you’re not at your computer and the gift card is burning a hole in your pocket, don’t fret: You can redeem the gift card right on your iPhone. Here’s how:

1. Sign in to the iTunes Store on your iPhone. You do this by tapping Settings, tapping iTunes & App Stores, typing your iTunes Store username and password, and then tapping Sign In.
2. On the Home screen, tap iTunes. The iTunes screen appears.
3. Tap any content-related browse button in the menu bar, such as Music, Movies, or TV Shows.
4. Scroll to the bottom of the screen and then tap Redeem. You might need to type your iTunes password at this point. iTunes displays the Redeem screen.
5. To use the iPhone camera to enter the redeem code, tap Use Camera, and then align the white box on-screen with the box containing the redeem code. Otherwise, tap You Can Also Enter Your Code Manually and then type the code from the gift card or gift certificate.
6. Tap Redeem. iTunes redeems the gift card and adds the amount to your iTunes Store credit.

Creating a Custom Ringtone

Your iPhone comes stocked with a few dozen predefined ringtones. Although some of them are amazingly annoying, you ought to be able to find one you can live with. If you can’t, or if you crave something unique, you can create a custom ringtone and use that.

In earlier versions of iTunes, the easiest way to cobble together a custom ringtone was to convert a song you purchased through the iTunes Store. Unfortunately, that feature was removed in iTunes 10. You can always purchase ringtones in the iTunes Store, but there are still a couple of techniques you can use to create a custom (and free!) ringtone, as the next couple of sections show.

Using iTunes to create a custom ringtone

The old Create Ringtone command may be gone from iTunes, but that application still comes with features that enable you to create a custom ringtone. Here’s how it works:

1. In iTunes, play the track you want to use. While the track is playing, watch the playback time and note the start time and end time of the portion of the track you want to use as your ringtone.
2. Choose File ⇒ Get Info, or press +I. The track’s Info dialog appears.
3. Click the Options tab.
4. Use the Start Time and Stop Time text boxes to type the starting and ending points for your ringtone snippet (see Figure 8.5), and then click OK.
5. With the track still selected, choose File ⇒ Create New Version ⇒ Create AAC Version. iTunes creates a version of the track that includes only the snippet you specified in Step 4.
6. Click the new version of the track, then choose File ⇒ Show in Finder, or press Shift++R. A new Finder window appears with the short version of the track selected.
7. Press Return to open the filename for editing, change the extension from m4a to m4r, and then press Return. The m4r extension designates the file as a ringtone. OS X asks you to confirm the extension change.
8. Click Use .m4r. OS X converts the file to a ringtone.
9. In iTunes, make sure the short version of the track is selected, and then choose Edit ⇒ Delete. iTunes asks you to confirm.
10. Click Delete Song. iTunes asks if you want to move the file to the Trash.
11. Click Keep File.
12. Return to the Finder window that contains the ringtone, and then double-click the file. iTunes plays the ringtone, but more importantly, it adds the file to the Tones section of the library.

Using GarageBand to create a custom ringtone

The technique I showed you in the previous section is easy, for sure, but it’s a bit convoluted. So let’s look at a second, more straightforward method that uses GarageBand, the Apple application for making homebrew music.

First, here are the steps to follow to create a ringtone out of any song in your iTunes library:

1. Click the GarageBand icon in the Dock to launch the program, click iPhone Ringtone, click Choose, type a name for the project, and then click Create. GarageBand starts a new project for you.
2. Choose Track ⇒ Delete Track to get rid of the default track.
3. Switch to iTunes, click the song you want to use for your ringtone, and then choose File ⇒ Show in Finder, or press Shift++R. OS X displays the song’s file in a Finder window.
4. Click and drag the file and drop it inside GarageBand. The program creates a new track for the song.
5. Click and drag the Cycle Region to the approximate area of the song you want to use for the ringtone. The Cycle Region, pointed out in Figure 8.6, defines the portion of the song that you would use for a ringtone. If you don’t see the Cycle Region tool, click the Cycle Region button pointed out in Figure 8.6.
6. Click and drag the left edge of the Cycle Region to define the starting point of the ringtone.
7. Click and drag the right edge of the Cycle Region to define the ending point of the ringtone.
8. Click Play to play back the ringtone.
9. If your start and end points aren’t quite right, repeat Steps 6 to 8 until your ringtone is set.
10. Choose Share ⇒ Send Ringtone to iTunes. GarageBand converts the track to a ringtone, and then adds it to the Tones category in iTunes.

Syncing ringtones

The next time you sync your iPhone through iTunes, follow these steps to include one or more custom ringtones in the sync:

1. Click your iPhone in the iTunes Devices list.
2. Click the Tones tab.
3. Select the Sync Tones check box.
4. Select the Selected tones option.
5. Select the check box beside each custom ringtone you want to use on your iPhone.
6. Click Apply.

To use the custom ringtone on your iPhone, tap Settings in the Home screen, tap Sounds, and tap Ringtone. Your ringtones appear at the top of the Ringtone list. Tap a custom ringtone to use the snippet as your ringtone.

Working with Playlists

Although you can purchase and download songs directly from the iTunes Store on your iPhone, I’m going to assume that the vast majority of your music library is cooped up on your Mac or PC, and that you’re going to want to transfer that music to your iPhone. Or perhaps I should say that you’re going to want to transfer some of that music to the iPhone. Most of us now have multigigabyte music collections and, depending on the storage capacity of your iPhone and the amount of other content you’ve stuffed into it (particularly videos and movies), it’s likely that you want to copy only a subset of your music library.

If that’s the case, iTunes gives you three choices when it comes to selecting what tunes to transfer: artist, genre, and playlists. The first two are self-explanatory, but it’s the last of these three where you can take control of syncing music to your iPhone.

A playlist is a collection of songs that are related in some way, and using your iTunes library, you can create customized playlists that include only the songs that you want to hear. For example, you might want to create a playlist of upbeat or festive songs to play during a party or celebration. Similarly, you might want to create a playlist of your current favorite songs.

Playlists are the perfect way to control music syncing for the iPhone, so before you start transferring tunes, consider creating a playlist or three in iTunes.

Creating a favorite tunes playlist for your iPhone

Your iTunes library includes a Rating field that enables you to supply a rating for your tracks: one star for songs you don’t like so much, up to five stars for your favorite tunes. You click the song you want to rate, and then click a dot in the Rating column (click the first dot for a one-star rating, the second dot for a two-star rating, and so on). Rating songs is useful because it enables you to organize your music. For example, the Playlists section features a My Top Rated playlist that includes all your four- and five-star-rated tunes, ordered by the Rating value.

Rating tracks comes in particularly handy when deciding what music to use to populate your iPhone. If you have tens of gigabytes of tunes, only some of them will fit on your iPhone. How do you choose? One possibility would be to rate your songs, and then just sync the My Top Rated playlist to your iPhone.

The problem with the My Top Rated playlist is that it includes only your four- and five-star-rated tunes. You can fit thousands of tracks on your iPhone, but it’s unlikely that you’ve got thousands of songs rated at four stars or better. To fill out your playlist, you should also include songs rated at three stars, a rating that should include a lot of good, solid tunes.

To set this up, you have two choices:

• Modify the My Top Rated playlist. Right-click the My Top Rated playlist, and then click Edit Smart Playlist. In the Smart Playlist dialog, click the second star, and then click OK.
• Create a new playlist. This is the way to go if you want to leave My Top Rated as your best music. Choose File ⇒ New ⇒ Smart Playlist to open the Smart Playlist dialog. Choose Rating in the Field list, choose Is Greater Than in the Operator list, and then click the second star. Figure 8.7 shows the configured dialog. Click OK, type a title for the playlist (such as Favorite Tunes), and then press Return (or Enter).

The next time you sync your iPhone, be sure to include either the My Top Rated playlist or the Smart Playlist you created.

Creating a playlist on your iPhone

The playlists on your iPhone are those you’ve synced via iTunes, and those playlists are either generated automatically by iTunes or they’re ones you’ve cobbled together yourself. However, when you’re out in the world and listening to music, you might come up with an idea for a different collection of songs. It might be girl groups, boy bands, or songs with animals in the title.

Whatever your inspiration, don’t do it the hard way by picking out and listening to each song one at a time. Instead, you can use your iPhone to create a playlist on the fly.

To create a playlist using the Music app, follow these steps:

1. Open the Music app.
2. Tap the Playlists browse button. This displays your playlists.
3. Tap New Playlist. The Music app displays the New Playlist dialog.
4. Type the name of your playlist, and then tap Save. The Music app prompts you to add songs to your new playlist.
5. Tap Songs and then tap each song you want to add to your list.
6. When you’ve added all the songs you want, tap Done. The Music app displays the playlist.

Your playlist isn’t set in stone by any means. You can get rid of songs, change the song order, and add more songs. Follow these steps:

1. In the Music app, tap the Playlists browse button to see your playlists.
2. Tap your playlist. The Music app displays the playlist settings and music.
3. Tap Edit. This changes the list to the editable version, as shown in Figure 8.8.
4. To remove a song, tap the red Minus (–) button to the left of the song. Then, tap the Delete button that appears. If you change your mind, tap the red minus button again to cancel the deletion.
5. To move a song within the playlist, slide the song’s Drag button (it’s on the right) up or down to the position you prefer.
6. To add more tracks, tap the + button in the upper right corner, select another playlist, and then tap the blue + key next to each song you want to add.
7. When you finish editing, tap Done. This sets the playlist.

Customizing Your Audio Settings

Audiophiles in the crowd don’t get much to fiddle with in the iPhone, but there are a few audio settings to play with. Here’s how to get at them:

1. Press the Home button to get to the Home screen.
2. Tap the Settings icon. The Settings app opens.
3. Tap the Music icon. Your iPhone displays the Music settings screen.

Besides the Shake to Shuffle switch and the Home Sharing section discussed earlier, you get seven other settings to try:

• Sound Check. Every track is recorded at different audio levels, so invariably you get some tracks that are louder than others. With the Sound Check feature, you can set your iPhone to play all your songs at the same level. This feature affects only the baseline level of the music and doesn’t change any of the other levels, so you still get the highs and lows. If you use it, you don’t need to worry about having to quickly turn down the volume when a really loud song comes on. To turn on Sound Check, in the Music settings page, tap the Sound Check switch to On.
• EQ. This setting controls the built-in equalizer in your iPhone, which is actually a long list of preset frequency levels that affect the audio output. Each preset is designed for a specific type of audio: vocals, talk radio, classical music, rock, hip-hop, and a lot more. To set the equalizer, tap EQ and then tap the preset you want to use (or tap None to turn off the equalizer).
• Volume Limit. You use this setting to prevent the iPhone volume from being turned up too high and damaging your (or someone else’s) hearing. You know, of course, that pumping up the volume while you have your EarPods on is an audio no-no, right? I thought so. However, I also know that when a great tune comes on, it’s often a little too tempting to go for 11 on the volume scale. If you can’t resist the temptation, use Volume Limit to limit the damage. Tap Volume Limit and then drag the Volume slider to the maximum allowed volume.
• Lyrics & Podcast Info. Leave this setting on to see extra info about songs and podcasts when you tap the Details button in the Music app. For example, if you add lyrics for a song in iTunes (right-click the song, click Get Info, and then click the Lyrics tab), you see those lyrics in Details view.
• Group By Album Artist. Leave this setting on to group the Artists browse button based on the value in the Album Artist field, as opposed to the Artist field. For most albums, these two fields are the same, but some compilation albums use “Various” in the Artist field and the names of the individual track artists in the Album Artist field. If you were to turn off this switch, you’d end up with all such albums listed under Various in the Artists browse button, which probably isn’t what you want.
• Show All Music. When this setting is On, Music shows not only the albums and songs that you’ve purchased on or synced to your iPhone, but also those tunes that are associated with your iCloud account that currently reside in the cloud. These albums and songs display a cloud icon with a downward pointing arrow, and you tap that icon to download the music to your iPhone. If you want to see only the music that is physically on your iPhone, tap this setting to Off.
• iTunes Match. If you have an iCloud account and you’ve shelled out the extra $24.99 per year for the iTunes Match service, tap this switch to On to activate iTunes Match on your iPhone. This means that any songs that you own that aren’t available via the iTunes Store will be automatically synced to your iPhone as soon as you upload those songs to iCloud.