July 25, 2011
In iOS 4 apps keep running when you open them, and there's an easy way to move among them as you work. Double-click the Home button to produce a scrolling list at the bottom of the screen showing all the running apps, starting on the left with the one most recently used. Scroll through the list as necessary and tap the app you want to switch to. This makes moving back and forth among your mail, calendar, and contacts satisfyingly simple, likewise moving between the book you're reading and changing the music playing through your nearby AirPlay speakers. To remove apps from the scrolling lists, press and hold one till they all start jiggling, then tap the X on ones you want to remove. (You'll need to restart them the next time you want to use them.)
If you scroll left when you first bring up the scrolling list you'll go directly to your music player controls -- play/pause, forward, and back on iPhone and iPod touch (and a control for locking and unlocking the screen in portrait orientation), and on the iPad, play/pause, forward, and back, plus volume, mute, and AirPlay controls.
July 18, 2011
Use the iPod app on iPhone, and iPad, and the Music app on iPod touch to create playlists directly on your devices, and then edit them there as well. On the iPhone and iPod touch, begin by tapping the Playlists tab on the bottom left, and then Add Playlist just below Genius Playlist at the top of the list. On the iPad tap the Add button (which has a plus sign) on the bottom left. In either case name your playlist, then use the Add button to add the songs you want. You can use the tabs -- Songs, Artists, Albums, Genres, Composers -- to navigate your library, and the Add All Songs or Albums option at the top of the lists you'll likely see. (If you've already navigated down a list, scroll down to see the Add All option if it's available.) When you've added all you want, use the Done button on the top left.
You can also edit playlists you've created on a device. On the iPhone and iPod touch, tap the playlist, then tap the Edit button on the top at the left and use the minus buttons on the left to remove songs, or the Delete button on the top right to remove the whole playlist (this will not delete any songs from your device). The Clear button removes all the songs from the playlist but not the playlist itself. To add songs to the playlist, tap the Add button on the top right and proceed as you did when you created the list. Tap Done at the top when you're finished. On the iPad, tap the playlist you want to edit and then the Songs tab on the bottom left. Use the Edit button that will appear on the top right and the minus buttons to remove songs or the whole playlist. To add songs tap the Add Songs button next to Done on the top. Tap Done when you're finished.
