Apple Music: 7 tips, tricks and insider secrets

Love browsing and sharing new music? If so, you know you have a ton of streaming music services to choose from.

Services like Pandora and Spotify make it easy to explore new genres, musicians or curate playlists to fit your lifestyle. You can use these services to set the mood via your music, whether you’re relaxing by the fire or tackling a challenging workout. Not sure what streaming music service to choose? Tap or click here for the best free apps to stream music.

If you’re an iPhone or Mac user, Apple Music is one of your best streaming options. This subscription music service offers a ton of cool features that you can’t get from the other services. Here are some tips and tricks to get the most from Apple Music.

1. Optimize storage

Don’t fill up your phone’s internal drive with music you’re not listening to. The Optimize Storage feature in Apple Music automatically deletes downloaded songs if storage is running low and you haven’t listened to them in a long time.

This feature is a great way to keep your phone from filling up with music you don’t need. Once you set it up, there’s nothing else you’ll have to do. It works when you need it to.

Here’s how to set it up:

1. Open the Settings menu on your iPhone. 
2. Scroll to Music > Optimize Storage.

2. Use built-in Shazam

Did you know that Shazam is built right into iPhones, even without the app being downloaded? This handy tool can help you figure out what songs are playing when you’re in the car, in a public space or while watching shows or movies.

If you’re trying to find out what a song is fast, all you have to do is tap the Shazam button on your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch. The app will identify the music you’re listening to and save it to your library.

To use this feature:

1. Open the Control Center or tap the Shazam app on your device.
2. Tap or click the Shazam button to identify what’s playing around you.

3. What is Apple Music One?

Have you heard of Apple Music One? This service gives you access to Apple Music radio as well as other useful features. You can use it to stream broadcast radio stations from all over the world — including your local stations — or tune in to Apple Music’s live radio stations to hear shows hosted by the biggest names in music.

You can also use Apple Music One to create your own stations from the music you love in the Apple Music app. Plus, you can save songs that you hear on a custom station and live radio station on Apple Music or see your recently played stations. This service’s features make it possible for you to curate your own listening experience via your phone.

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4. Curated playlists

Enjoy a wide variety of music? You can actually get suggestions for curated playlists from Apple Music to keep the right music flowing in every setting.

Here’s how it works. When you first subscribe to Apple Music, it learns the music you like in Listen Now. You start by telling Apple Music about your preferences, and the service will use these preferences when recommending music.

As new music is introduced, you’ll double-tap the songs you love or touch and hold the genres you don’t care for. When it has enough information, the app can recommend even more songs, albums and playlists based on your tastes. This lets you discover tons of new music without having to scroll through the stuff you don’t want to hear.

5. Share what you’re listening to with your friends

If you like to share new music discoveries with your friends, you can do that quickly and easily via the Apple Music app. If you subscribe to Apple Music, you can create a profile so your friends can see what you’re listening to. If your friends subscribe and create a profile, you can see what they are listening to.

To create a profile:

1. Open the Apple Music app.
2. Tap Listen Now.
3. In the upper-right corner of the Listen Now screen:
   • On your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch, tap the photo icon.
   • On your Android device, tap the More button, then tap Account.
4. Tap See What Friends Are Listening To.
5. Follow the onscreen prompts to create a username, find and follow friends, share playlists and more.
6. Tap Done.

You can also control what you share, hide certain playlists, block or unblock users or follow your friends’ accounts. The control is in your hands — share what you want and hide what you don’t want.

Related: So long, Google Play Music – Your guide to YouTube Music

6. Play music videos on Apple TV

There aren’t many options for watching music videos on streaming or cable services, but Apple Music makes it easy to watch them on Apple TV. There’s actually a Videos screen in the Apple Music app that includes the best and hottest new music videos and video playlists, and it’s accessible right from the app on your Apple TV.

To browse and play music videos:

• Open Music on Apple TV and swipe to Videos.
• Swipe down to see a menu of Videos categories.
• Do any of the following:
  • Browse featured items and playlists: Swipe left or right to browse the items at the top of the screen.
  • See what’s hot: Swipe down to New Music Videos, then swipe left or right to browse items.
  • Browse curated playlists: Swipe down to Music Video Playlists, then swipe left or right to browse playlists.
  • Browse by genre: Swipe down to any genre category, then swipe left or right to browse items.
• Highlight a music video or playlist, then press the Siri Remote’s Touch surface to view it.
• Select a video to play it, or press and hold the Touch surface to show a menu with more options.
  • Depending on the video, you can add it to a playlist or your library or remove it from your library.

7. Adjust the EQ

You can use Apple Music to change the way music sounds on iPhone with EQ, volume limit settings and Sound Check.

• To choose an equalization (EQ) setting: 
  • Go to Settings > Music > EQ.
• To normalize the volume level of your audio: 
  • Go to Settings > Music.
  • Turn on Sound Check.

Bonus: Save a little money by bundling Apple Music with other services in an Apple One subscription

Apple One gives you the ultimate collection of Apple services — Apple Music, Apple TV+, Apple Arcade and iCloud — for one low monthly price. It’s simple to sign up for and easy to manage, and there are multiple plans to choose from.

Plans include:

• Individual:
  • $14.95 per month
• Family:
  • $19.95 per month
  • Share with up to five other people
• Premier:
  • $29.95 per month
  • Share with up to five other people
  • Also gives you access to Apple News+ and Apple Fitness+ along with the other services listed above