Music

Apple Music free trials expiring tomorrow, here’s how to disable auto-renewals

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 16, 2018

Apple faces a big day tomorrow as free three-month Apple Music trials are set to expire on Wednesday, September 30. Just yesterday, the firm posted a series of guided tour videos to help new and existing users understand the various features of the service.

Ahead of the initial wave of free trial expirations, Apple is pushing notifications to those who signed up for a free-trial to encourage them to renew their membership.

If you signed up for your first three months of free services and have forgotten to disable the Auto-Renew option, you can still do so before Apple charges your credit card on file, here's how.

Mass Fidelity Relay review: stream music from your iPhone to your analog speakers

Lory Gil ∙ September 29, 2015

The one thing I detest about streaming music from my iPhone is the subpar audio playback. I come from the record player generation, when people listened to music on vinyl, of which I still have many hundreds. Digital music just sounds flat when played through most portable speakers.

The best way to fix the problem with tinny, flat audio is to invest thousands of dollars in speakers that will play your music the way it is meant to be heard. However, many of us already have a kickass stereo system and aren't looking to buy a new one.

That's where Mass Fidelity's Relay comes in. It is a Bluetooth connected digital-analog converter (DAC) that connects to your existing speaker system for transmitting digital music to an analog stereo. That means, even if your stereo is 40 years old, as long as you can connect traditional RCA cables to it, you can stream music from your iPhone. We've got a hands-on review of the Relay for you today.

Shazam update brings support for iOS 9’s enhanced Spotlight Search and more

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 21, 2015

Shazam, the popular music and media identification software, has rolled out a brand new 9.0 update to its iPhone and iPad application in the App Store, bringing out support for Spotlight Search on iOS 9, improved Bluetooth listening and other tidbits.

Shazam songs and artists can now be searched from the Home screen on iOS 9 and tapping a Shazam result takes you directly into that content within Shazam's mobile app.

WaveFlow adds a visualizer to the iOS 8.4 Music app

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated April 30, 2018

Looking to add some additional pizazz to the Music app in iOS 8.4? If so, then you should consider giving WaveFlow a try.

WaveFlow, a new jailbreak tweak, adds a music visualizer to both your iPhone's Now Playing interface in the stock Music app, and on your iPhone's Lock screen. It only works with the stock Music app, but if that's your primary method for playing tunes, it's definitely work checking out.

Samsung and Sony take swipes at Apple’s ‘Hey Siri’ event announcements

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated March 19, 2019

Following Apple's action-packed media event yesterday which saw introductions of the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus smartphones with 3D Display technology, the new iPad Pro with Apple Pencil, the much improved Apple TV and more, both Sony and Samsung took to social media to poke fun of Apple's latest innovation.

As you may have guessed, Samsung especially took swipes at Apple's stylus, which isn't surprising given Steve Jobs' famous “If you see a stylus, they blew it” quote and the fact the Galaxy maker pioneered stylus-enhanced phablets with its Note lineup.

Review: WALTR for Mac converts & transfers any video to iPhone and iPad, no iTunes required

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 7, 2015

Getting DivX and MKV movies, FLAC audio files or audiobooks onto your iPhone, iPod touch or iPad is an incredibly cumbersome multi-step procedure, one that involves third-party apps like Handbrake to transcode “foreign” media files into iOS-friendly formats before importing them into iTunes for syncing with your iOS gadgets.

I've tried many, many apps which promise to get the job done before deciding to settle on WALTR by young European startup Softorino.

Now, I'm not exaggerating when I say that WALTR is an absolutely incredible piece of software. This nifty program literally takes the pain away from transferring media to iOS devices without worrying about file types.

Its lightning fast algorithm is hands down the best I've ever seen, on any platform, ever. I've been happily using WALTR for months now and couldn't be happier with it. And trust me when I say that you should be using WALTR, too, especially if you aren't jailbroken and want the simplest solution possible for transferring media to your device without going through iTunes.

Amazon Prime Music gains search suggestions, curated collections, sleep timer and more

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 4, 2015

Following a major update to Amazon's video-streaming client for iOS which now allows offline playback for Prime movies and television shows, the online retail giant today gave its Prime Music app a little love, too.

The new Amazon Prime Music 5.0 for iOS introduces curated collections featuring hand-picked music, search suggestions to make music discovery even easier, a brand new sleep timer feature and more.

Apple admits Apple Music needs more work, Android app and Sonos integration coming

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 3, 2015

Even though Apple Music Connect “is growing big-time,” there's still “a lot of work going into making” Apple Music better and “a bit of homework to be done” when it comes to improving Apple Music Connect, said an Apple executive in an interview with The Guardian newspaper this morning.

Apple adds The Weeknd, The Chemical Brothers and others to Apple Music Festival roster

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 30, 2018

Apple on Wednesday added The Weeknd and The Chemical Brothers to the list of performers for its upcoming Apple Music Festival. The announcement was made live on Beats 1 Radio this afternoon, as well as the official Apple Music Twitter account.

In addition to these two acts, Apple also revealed today that the English pop group Take That will be performing at the Festival, as will James Bay and Leon Bridges. Bay will be sharing the stage with Pharrell, and Bridges with Florence + The Machine.

New Apple Music commercial debuts during 2015 MTV Video Music Award

Christian Zibreg ∙ August 31, 2015

Continuing its strong marketing push of Apple Music, a brand new Apple Music commercial debuted during last evening's 2015 MTV Music Video Award ceremony. Consisting of a pair of videos running sixty seconds each, the ad features The Weeknd, a Canadian PBR&B singer, songwriter and record producer who is one of the most played artists on Beats 1 Radio.

Latest Vine update brings Snap to Beat feature and new audio discovery tools

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 13, 2018

Twitter-owned Vine has rolled out two major new features to its mobile app which are aimed at improving audio discovery and help “bring the magic of perfect-looping music to everyone.”

For starters, a brand new Snap to Beat feature lets you create Vines with With seamless audio looping. And in an effort to make music a core part of Vine, users can now take advantage of enhancements like a new Featured Tracks section and another new feature that allows them to find out what they're listening to as they watch Vines.

Beats 1 director Ian Rogers unexpectedly resigns from Apple

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated July 24, 2017

Ian Rogers, former Beats Music CEO and Apple Music's Senior Director, has unexpectedly left Apple less than two months following the launch of Apple's music-streaming service, according to The Financial Times newspaper on Friday.

The executive is credited with crafting Beats 1 Radio, Apple's free of charge 24/7 Internet radio available in more than a hundred countries, and shaping its playlists. He was also instrumental in hiring away Beats 1 DJ Zane Lowe from his post at BBC Radio 1.