Music

This tweak adds audio and haptic feedback to music controls on iPhone

Josh Pasholk ∙ June 9, 2015

Listening to music on our iPhones is one of the most classic uses for the device. The Music app has been with us since the beginning, in the form of the old iPod app. It has gone through a few iterations and improvements throughout the years, but there is always something that third-party apps are doing differently or better.

Feedback, by Ron Thakrar (@ronthakrar) enables audio and haptic feedback for media controls. It only works when controlling audio playback remotely, like in the Control Center or Lock screen. For example, it doesn't work within an app itself, when you're in the Music app and press play or skip track it won't make any feedback sounds.

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Apple Music supports offline playback, paid-only Android support due in the fall

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 8, 2015

Reading through your comments about Apple Music, the iPhone maker's new $10 per month music-streaming service with 24/7 radio and other features, one crucial question seems to preoccupy the collective hearts and minds of those contemplating switching from Spotify: offline playback.

Thankfully, Apple's confirmed that its new streaming service will indeed permit music lovers to save their playlists and songs for offline playback, just like Spotify does.

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Apple Music has an ambitious goal to sign up 100 million subscribers, Beats Music to close down

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated July 24, 2017

Apple is aiming for a cool hundred million subscribers for its forthcoming streaming-music service, as reported Monday by both The New York Times and The Associated Press, potentially giving Apple Music an annualized revenue in the ballpark of $12 billion.

How does this figure compare to Spotify, the world's top streaming-music service hailing from Sweden? Well, Spotify has sixty million active listeners but only fifteen million paid subscribers worldwide, 4.7 million of which were in the U.S. as of last December.

In fact, Apple Music looks to dwarf all streaming-music services combined.

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Apple looking to change 70/30 iTunes revenue split for media services

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 18, 2018

Apple is planning a departure from the long-standing 70/30 iTunes pricing arrangement it has with digital media companies, reports the Financial Times. According to sources familiar with the matter, Apple is discussing new commercial terms with a number of players in the video, music and news subscription space.

The split, which doles out 70% of app and media sales to content owners/creators and 30% to Apple for hosting and distribution, has been around since the iTunes Store first launched in 2003. Apple hopes the change can improve its relationships with media firms, and reassure regulators that it's not abusing its power.

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Apple still negotiating terms with record labels for music streaming service

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 5, 2015

Apple is reportedly still negotiating terms with record labels for its rumored music-streaming service, just days before its annual Worldwide Developers Conference kicks off with a keynote next Monday, Bloomberg said today.

People familiar with the negotiations told the news organization that the labels are pushing to get a larger chunk of revenue than they receive under their current deals with Spotify.

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WSJ: Apple’s $10 per month on-demand music streaming service launching at WWDC next week

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 26, 2018

Contradicting a February 2015 report which asserted that Beats Music would get folded into a new on-demand streaming music subscription service, The Wall Street Journal said Monday that Beats Music will be maintained as a standalone service once Apple launches its new music $10 per month offering at WWDC next week.

Apple, the world’s leading music retailer, is apparently “prepared to cannibalize its download business in favor of streaming.” As part of an all-in bet, Apple may prompt people “who download a $10 album to instead subscribe to the streaming service for $10 a month.”

The new “set of music services” will cost $10 per month, like Spotify, and is said to include “augmented Internet radio” with DJs.

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iTunes Radio revamp rumored to include Drake, Pharrell Williams and David Guetta as guest DJs

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 1, 2015

Apple is reportedly in talks with some more A-list names to add as gust DJs to its Beats Music revamp, including Drake, Pharrell Williams and David Guetta, The New York Post learned yesterday.

These well know names in music should join the likes of BBC Radio 1 DJ personality Zane Lowe who was recently confirmed as leaving the radio giant for a job at Apple in March.

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‘Gauss’ spices up the Music app with impressive blur effects

Jeff Benjamin ∙ Updated April 18, 2018

Gauss—which is named after German mathematician Karl Gauss, from which the Gaussian Blur derives its name—is a jailbreak tweak that adds blur, tint color, and text color effects to the stock Music app. Gauss lets you change up the blur radius, saturation, and more. You can even preview the look of the changes via the tweak's preferences.

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