Apple Music Connect

How to have the Music app only show songs stored on your device

Thanks to the introduction of goodies like the iCloud Music Library and more recently Apple Music, your Music app on iPhone and iPad has not only turned from a luscious red color into a plain icon, but has also become decidedly more convoluted.

The main change since the coming of the cloud-based additions to the Music app? Songs no longer have to be stored locally on your device in order to be visible and playable. In case you haven’t yet found the trick hiding in plain sight to only play the songs downloaded to your device (and prevent exorbitant data charges), let’s fill you in now!

Apple looking into manufacturing iPhones in U.S.

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump repeatedly said during his campaign that he would force domestic technology companies like Apple to build its “computers and things” in the United States.

One time, he even openly called for boycotting Apple products unless the company doesn't bring back manufacturing jobs it had outsourced to China many, many, many years ago.

Japanese outlet Nikkei is reporting today that iPhone contract manufactures Foxconn and Pegatron were approached recently by the Cupertino firm regarding the possibility of establishing iPhone manufactories in the United States.

How Apple can get users to connect with Apple Music’s Connect

Apple’s Connect service, the company's own aspiring social component to Apple Music, has visibly taken a back seat in iOS 10. In its original conception, Connect was resourceful and prominently placed in Music. Fast forward one year and you would be forgiven for thinking that Apple’s network for musicians and their followers had been as good as abandoned over night.

While we know that such is not the case just yet, Connect has undergone cosmetic changes with iOS 10 that have arguably ousted the service to a place now pretty much neighbouring on irrelevance. It's the consequence of a succession of ill-advised calls. Name-giving aside, Apple should have also known better when it comes to launching a barren product offer centre stage inside an app as meaningful as Music. Connect was not engaging or relevant in 2015, and as a result it went unsung in 2016. Is it too late or could an Apple still turn the ship around?

Dedicated Connect tab is going away in iOS 10’s Apple Music overhaul

Apple is going to pull plug on the dedicated Apple Music Connect tab when iOS 10 launches this fall, if a new report from 9to5Mac's Mark Gurman is anything to go by. Citing sources familiar with the upcoming Apple Music overhaul, the publication claims that the Connect tab will be “demoted,” its functionality integrated into the For You recommendations section.

“Connect will still exist within applicable artist pages as it does today, but its demotion from the set of Apple Music tabs indicates that the feature has not lived up to Apple’s expectations from last year,” reads the article.

Logic Pro X update adds a new synthesizer, Apple Music support, and Force Touch compatibility

Apple's professional recording software, Logic Pro X, just received a big update that brings several new features to the table. The update, which beings Logic Pro X to version 10.2, introduces a new sample manipulation synthesizer dubbed Alchemy.

Alchemy is labeled as a next-gen synth plug-in with multiple sound generators and over 2,000 presents for all types of music genres like EDM, dance, and rock. It brings the ability to combine up to four synthesizer modules to create multi-layered sounds, and includes a wide selection of analog and special effect filters for producing complex sounds.

I personally use Logic Pro X to mix our two podcasts, but I know that I'm just scratching the surface of what this incredibly powerful app can do. And now, it just got that much more powerful with the introduction of Alchemy, support for the Force Touch trackpad, Apple Music Connect sharing, and more.