The built-in app that you use to play music on the iPhone or iPod touch is called Music (on iOS 5 or higher) or iPod (on iOS 4 or lower). While there are lots of apps that offer music, this is the most common one and the one that, for many people, will be the only music app they need.
Playing Music
The most basic aspects of using the iPod/Music app are fairly obvious: Browse through your music library until you find the song, album, or playlist you want to listen to and tap it to play. Once the song is playing, it appears on the screen with a volume slider and play/pause and forward/backward buttons. Tap on the screen at this point, though, and a whole new set of options--as shown in the screenshot above--appear.
Music App Options
These options allow you to do the following:
- Go back to music library - The back arrow in the top left-hand corner takes you back to the last screen you were on.
- See all songs from album - The button in the top right corner that shows three horizontal lines lets you view all songs from an album in your iPod/Music app. Tap that button to see all the other songs from the same album as the song currently playing.
- Scrub forward or back - The progress bar shows how long the song has been playing and how much time it has left. It also lets you move quickly forward or backward in the song, a technique called scrubbing. To move within the song, just tap and hold on the circle on the progress bar and drag it in whatever direction you want to move in the song.
- Loop song - The button on the left below the progress bar, the one that looks like two arrows in a loop, lets you set the current song to repeat over and over. To do this, tap the button so that it turns blue. The current song will repeat until you tap the button again and return it to white.
- Create Genius playlist - This button in the upper center of the screen looks like the symbol for an atom. Tap it to create a Genius playlist based on the song you're currently listening to. More on Genius playlists here.
- Shuffle songs - The icon on the far right that looks like two arrows crossing over each other allows you to shuffle songs. Tap this to shuffle the songs on the album or playlist that you're currently listening to. When shuffle is on, the button will be blue. Tap it again to make it white and to turn off shuffle.
- Go back/forward - The backward/forward buttons at the bottom of the screen let you move to the previous or next song in the album or playlist you're listening to.
- Play/pause - Pretty self-explanatory. Start or stop listening to the current song.
- Raise or lower volume - The bar across the bottom of the screen controls the song's volume. You can raise or lower volume either by dragging the slider or by using the volume buttons built onto the side of the iPhone or iPod touch.
Other iPod/Music App Tips
Want to learn more about using the iPod/Music app? Try these articles:
