Creating playlists of your favourite songs

 Learn about iPod app playlists and the magic of Genius

 TIME WAS WHEN PEOPLE HAPPILY SPENT HOURS

creating mix tapes on clunky tape-to-tape systems, or by recording specific songs From piles oPvinyl records. There's no doubt that the digital era makes seguencing a playiist so much easier.

The iPod app isn't as Fully Featured as the desktop version oFiTuneswhen it comes to playlists, but it nonetheless provides you with enough options For creating custom tracklistings on your iPad, and it also enables you to access and play any playlists that you have added using an iTunes sync.

When it comes to making your own playlists on an iPad,you have two choices. The first is to create a new static playiist. You can then add tracks using any oF the views in the iPod app. Static playlists can subsequently be edited -you can re-order and remove tracks-ordeleted.

The second method For building a playiist involves Apple's Genius technology. This aims to provide you with a single-tap means oFgenerating a playiist oF similar tracks. Results are a little variable and are entirely dependent on your having put enough music on your (Pad For the iPod app to make playlists From. Once you have a Few hundred songs stored, Genius tends to work nicely.

Note: next time you sync you r iPad with iTunes, any playlists you've created on the iPad will be transFerred across. You can then delete them From your iPad iF you wish, and restore them at a later date.




 
KIT LIST:

■ iPad with some music synced

Time required: 10 mins
Difficulty: Beginner

 Genius playlists

You can create and store Genius playlists, which are automatically generated by the iPod app using on a selected track as a foundation.
Accessing playlists

Playlists are housed in the IPod sidebar. Genius playiists have an 'atom' Icon, smart playiists have a cog icon, and standard ones have a musical note.
Create playiists

Although it's typically faster to create playiists in iTunes, it is possible to create new playiists on your iPad,

 1 Listen to a playlist Playlists that you added to your iPad via an iTunes sync are available via the iPod app's sidebar. Tap a playlist to select it and tap a track to play from that point.

 2 Use the Genius Tap the Genius button (like an atom symbol) while playing a track. 'Genius' is selected in the sidebar and a playlist is magically created of tracks similar to what you were playing.

 3 Set Genius options Refresh updates the playlist, and 'New' enables you to select a new 'master' track. Tap 'Save' to save the Genius playlist to the sidebar, or 'Delete' to remove it.

 4 Make your own playlist To create an  new static playlist, tap the'+' button at the bottom left of the toolbar. In the 'New Playlist' pop-up dialog, type a title and tap 'Save'.

 5 Add tracks The iPod app will automatically show an 'Add songs...' page. Use the 'Sources' button to select specific sources. When a tracklist is shown, use the'+' buttons to add tracks.

 6 Quickly add albums To add an entire album to your playiist, select it in album view and tap 'Add All Songs'. When you're finished, tap the blue 'Done' button towards the top right.

 7 Re-order tracks You can re-order tracks by dragging the drag handles to the right of each track's name. It's not possible to select multiple tracks at once, so this process can take a while.

 Be organised

 In the desktop version of iTunes, you can easily manage dozens of playlists by dropping them into folders, much in the same way files are managed In Mac OS X Finder or Windows Explorer. Unfortunately, iPod for iPad doesn't enable you to add folders, but it does assist you when you have many playlists. New ones added to the device are stored alphabetically, and the sidebar can be drag-or flick-scrolled.

8 Delete what you don't want Tap the red buttons to access 'Delete' buttons. Songs are deleted immediately; removing a playiist requires confirmation via a dialog box.