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How to Disable Apple Music Auto-Renewal Before the Free Trial Ends

By
Kelly Hodgkins
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Apple this week kicked off its Apple Music service with a free, three-month subscription for everyone who signs up for the service. This free trial will help attract new customers, but, as most free trials, you need to read the free print. In the case of Apple Music, the “gotcha” is the payment process. When the trial period ends, Apple will charge customers automatically for their first month of paid service. Trial subscribers can avoid the hassle of being charged for a service they may not want by disabling the auto-renew option in Apple Music now. It only takes a few minutes and will provide users with three worry-free months of listening to Apple’s latest music offering

Apple, thankfully, has included the option to disable Apple Music auto-renewal within the settings for the Apple Music account. Customers can access this auto-renewal option as follows:

  • Open the Music app on the iPhone or iPad.
  • Select the My Account shortcut icon in the top-left corner.
  • Tap “View Apple ID” to login to your iTunes account.
  • Select “Manage” under the subscriptions header.
  • The Automatic Renewal toggle should be on the top of the page.
  • Auto-Renew is turned on by default — just tap it and confirm the change to turn it off.

Once auto-renew is off, subscribers can use Apple Music to its fullest for the remainder of their time without being concerned about an unexpected credit card charge at the end of the trial period.

How to Create A Radio Playlist for iPhone Using Shazam

By
Henry McIntosh
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0

It’s a common situation to be in- you hear a great, catchy song but you have no idea what it is. Whether it’s being played across the car radio or in the middle of a pub it’s easy to use Shazam to identify it.

An incredibly innovative and popular app, if you don’t use Shazam and you’re into music you should probably give it a go.

But for those who are already ahead of the game and use Shazam there’s one part of the service that is often quite annoying.

By this ‘annoyance’ I’m referring to the part where you have identified a great song and then it is just left sat idly on your Shazam account. Of course, you won’t face this problem if you’ve already connected your Shazam and Rdio accounts together!

Obviously, you could just search and stream the song in your chosen music player. But surely it’s a whole lot easier to just be easier to be able to create a playlist of all the great songs you ‘Shazam’ and then import these songs- all at once- directly into your Rdio account to be listened to at your convenience?

Fortunately, you can do just that with Rdio by connecting your account to your Shazam account.

You will need a premium Rdio account to be able to create playlist, but here’s how to do so if you have such an account:

Open Shazam -> Go to My Shazam -> Click the gear icon -> Click the option Connect to Rdio -> Click Play Full Tracks -> Sign in with your Rdio Unlimited account -> Shazam will tell you that your playlist has been created.

To access the Shazam playlist in your Rdio account, follow these steps:

Open the Rdio app -> open Playlists -> Click My Shazam Tracks

And there you have it, all those brilliant songs that you wanted to know the title of in one neat playlist on your Rdio account.

Enjoy.

How to Download and Get Started with Apple Music

By
Kelly Hodgkins
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0

Apple Music launched yesterday, bringing the music streaming service and the Beats 1 music station to the world. The service will be available on iOS devices, the Apple Watch, the Mac and PCs at launch. There’s a free three-month trial so you should check it out. Here’s how to sign up and get started with Apple Music on your iOS device or desktop.

Installing Apple Music on iOS

Apple Music is bundled into the new Music app on iOS 8.4, which Apple released yesterday. Before you can sign up for the service, you need to update your devices with the latest version of iOS using iTunes or Apple’s over-the-air update system.

To install the latest iOS update over the air, you need to open the Settings app on your iOS device, go to General and select “Software Update.” The phone then sends a request to Apple’s download servers. When the update is detected, you can follow the prompts to download and install it. Before the download begins, you should plug your device into a power source and connect it to a WiFi connection to ensure the download proceeds quickly and easily.

You also can update to iOS 8.4 using iTunes on your desktop as follows:

  • Install the latest version of iTunes on your computer if needed.
  • Plug your device into your computer using the USB port.
  • Select your device in iTunes.
  • In the Summary pane for your device, click Check for Update.
  • Click Download and Update.
  • Wait for the update to download and install on your device.

Installing Apple Music on the destkop

Apple Music also is available on the desktop via iTunes for the Mac and PC. On the desktop, you will need to open iTunes and check for an update by opening iTunes in the menu bar and then selecting “Check for Updates.” The app will reach out to Apple’s servers, look for an update and prompt you to download it if one is available.

Getting Started with Apple Music

Once you have installed iOS 8.4 or iTunes 12.2, you can begin using the new streaming service. Simply open the Music app on iOS and begin the sign up process. On the Mac or PC, you only need to fire up iTunes 12.2 and find the Apple Music section. You then will be prompted to join Apple Music by starting your free three-month trial. If you agree, the service will ask you to choose either an individual membership for $9.99 monthly plan or a family plan for $14.99 per month. The family plan requires family sharing which must be configured for your Apple ID. Once you select your plan, just agree to the terms and conditions screens to access the Apple Music service.

Android Users: This Is How to Change Your Music Player

By
Henry McIntosh
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0

I’ve mentioned it many a time on this blog. But one of the things I love about the Android operating system is the level of personalisation available to users.

Previously, we’ve explored how to change your Home Screen Launcher and your camera.

By making these changes you can make small, but enjoyable changes to your interface which can immeasurably improve your experience.

After all, who doesn’t want a phone that is customised to meet their exact needs?

Changing the music player on your device is one more way in which you can personalise your phone to make it suit your needs.

It’s a pretty simple process. But rather than being stuck using the default music player you can choose a provider that suits you.

Whether it’s Spotify, Poweramp, Google Play Music or Shuttle there’s something for everyone within the vast array of options out there.

If you’re unsure which player will suit your needs best, then why not take a look at our top 3 music players for Android article?

So don’t confine yourself to the default, start mixing it up. Here’s how to change your Android Music Player:

Open Play Store -> Search Music Player -> Choose a player and install it.

It’s that simple, the hardest choice you will make is deciding which music player is right for you and while our article can help with that, there’s nothing better than trying a few for yourself.

Once you’ve selected your optimum music player you will want to set it as your default music player. To do this follow these steps:

Settings -> Application Manager -> Click on preferred music player -> Click Set Default

If this doesn’t work with your phone, you can try to use a Default App Manager to help you setup your default preferences.

The one I personally recommend is Default App Manager Lite- a free app which is available in the Play Store. Not only will the app allow you to set your default preferences it will also help your clear and reset your defaults should you want to switch back to your original settings.

Three of the Best Android Music Players

By
Henry McIntosh
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0

The customization Android provides is great. If you’re into your music you’ll undoubtedly want to change the default player to something more appropriate to your needs.

Lucky for you that there’s a whole lot of choice when it comes to music players for Android. But sometimes too much choice can be overwhelming and we don’t all have time to scour the Play Store for the perfect music player to suit our needs.

So I’ve narrowed it down to three of my personal favorites. Each has their own pros and cons but there’s something for everyone within this list.

If you’re unsure how to change the music player on your Android device then read this how to.

  • PowerAmp

I love PowerAmp’s design and functionality. If you love your music you’ll love it too.

There’s a serious amount of features packed in to this music player but despite all that functionality this is one easy to use app.

One of the great elements of its design is the crisp and clear layout which makes navigating the app a delight.

All the basic functionality you would expect is readily accessible such as the apps ability to scan your device for all your music, create playlists, queue items up etc. Moreover, if you’re a real music aficionado you’ll love the more advanced functions.

These include the ability to play around with the equalizer and mix up the bass, treble, tone and volume- a neat addition.

I’m guessing if you’re reading this you like to personalize your stuff. PowerAmp is brilliant in this respect to; it gives you plenty of themes to choose from. The themes change the look but not the actual placement of controls, so the app remains incredibly easy to use whichever theme you choose.

It does cost $3.99 but once you’ve bought it all future updates are free. If it sounds like a music player that would suit you fear not, PowerAmp offers users a 15 day free trial- more than enough time to figure out whether it’s worth the investment.

  • Shuttle Music Player

If you’re not one for vast functionality and prefer your music player simple and refined then Shuttle Music Player is for you.

They describe themselves as having the best ‘user interface’ of any Android music player and while I’m not going to bestow them with that honor, they’re certainly up there with the best.

Apart from the commendable interface, one of the best things about Shuttle is the incorporated social and music services.

Album artwork will automatically download and it’s easy to share your tracks through social media and favourite them to.

Creating playlists and all the generic functionality you would expect such as: deleting and queuing tracks, playing with the equalizer are readily available too.

Shuttle is free, but there’s a paid version with additional functionality that might interest some users too.

  • Google Play Music

Google Play Music provides a pretty seamless experience. It would be rather surprising if it didn’t, as both the Music Player and Android are Google products.

Thus Google Play Music was designed with Android in mind. This means it will fit perfectly with Android enabled devices and true to form it does provide a highly user friendly interface.

It’s also a very decent music player too. The main pro is the huge cloud library that is available to you when you use Google Play Music and this means that your music is always there no matter what Android device you are using.

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