How to Use the New iOS 10 Features in Music App

BY Khamosh Pathak

Published 13 Sep 2016

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The Music app got a big new redesign in iOS 10. Everything is bigger, clearer. The tabs have been reorganized to make them clearer. There’s the Library tab so you can browse your own music easily. Search tab makes it really easy to search for songs. Here’s how to use all the new features in the new Music app in iOS 10.

1. Download Music

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To download songs or albums, you’ll first need to add them to your library. To do that, tap the “+” button next to a song, album or playlist.

Once you do that, the “+” button will be replaced with the “Download” button. Tap it and you’ll see the download progress. Once an album is done downloading, you’ll see the text “Downloaded” there.

2. View Downloaded Songs

Go the Library tab on your iPhone and you’ll see 4 new sections on top. The last will be Downloaded Music (these are customizable, by the way). Tap on it and you’ll see downloaded songs, sorted by recently added.

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But from the top, you can select “Playlists” or “Songs” to narrow down your searches.

On the iPad, the navigation is similar, only you need to tap the text “Library” on top-left, after going to the “Library” tab, to get started.

3. Search For Songs

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Searching in the old app was a hassle. In iOS 10, it couldn’t be easier. Tap the “Search” tab (it’s the last one) and just start searching. Alternatively, you can just ask Siri to play a song, album or playlist for you. That’s what I use most of the time.

4. Turn On Automatic Downloads

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You can turn on Automatic Downloads feature to automatically download anything you add to your library. To do that, go to “Settings” -> “Music” and turn on “Automatic Downloads“. You’ll need to have iCloud Music Library enabled for this.

ReadHow To Automatically Download Songs From Music app in iOS 10

5. Optimize Storage

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Optimize Storage is a new option in Settings app that lets you limit the storage space your downloaded music can take up. If you’re on an 16 GB iPhone, you can limit it to say 2 or 4 GB. Once the downloads cross that limit, the older songs that you haven’t listened to in a while will be automatically deleted. You’ll find the Optimize Storage option in the Music section in the Settings app.

Read: How To Enable Optimize Storage Feature in Music App To Save Space in iOS 10

6. View Lyrics

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iOS 10’s Music app supports lyrics. All you have to do is swipe up in the Now Playing screen to view the lyrics.

ReadHow To View Song Lyrics in Music App in iOS 10

7. Shuffle Songs

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Just below the Lyrics, you’ll see the Up Next section. Next to the Up Next text, you’ll find the Shuffle and Repeat buttons.

To shuffle all your songs or a playlist, open that view and from the top, select “Shuffle All”.

ReadHow To Shuffle Songs in the Music App in iOS 10

8. Edit Up Next

Editing your queue is really easy in the iOS 10 app. You don’t need to go to another screen or tap the edit button.

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When you swipe up on the Now Playing screen, you’ll see the Up Next section here, will all the songs listed. Each song has the “handle bar” icon to the right. Just tap it and swipe up or down to move the song up or down. To delete a song from Up Next, swipe left on it and tap on “Delete”.

If you want to add a song to Up Next, tap and hold on the song and from the options menu, select “Add to Up Next” or “Play Next”.

9. New For You Playlists

The Music app is using Siri’s new intelligent brain to bring you two new playlists. First is “My New Music Mix” and another is “My Favorites Mix”.

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You’ll find them on the top of the “For You” section.

“My Favorites Mix” is an auto-generated playlist of the music you listen to the most in the Music app. It’s refreshed every Wednesday.

“My New Music Mix” uses the music you listen to and based on that, suggests the music you’re most likely to like. It’s similar to Spotify’s Discover Weekly Esther. It’s refreshed every Friday.

10. Redesigned Beats 1 Page

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Beats page in the Music app has been redesigned. You’ll now see a list of all the shows when you swipe down. You can tap on a show to see all the episodes. Tap on an episode to get more information and to start playing it.

Your Favorite New iOS 10 Feature?

What’s the one thing you really love in iOS 10? I really like the widgets on the Lock screen. Share yours with us in the comments below.