Playing tunes and podcasts with the iPod app

Browse and play back your favourite music from your iPad

WHEN STEVE JOBS FIRST DEMOED THE iPAD, HE talked of how it sat between desktop and mobile devices. Appropriately enough, then, the iPod app for iPad is an app that sits halfway between iTunes for desktop computers and the iPod app for the iPhone.

The interface is definitely reminiscent of iTunes, to the point that it feels like a version of the desktop app streamlined purely for playing audio. The toolbar provides touch - and drag-based controls, and the sidebar gives access to your audio collection. To the right, your music (or podcasts and audiobooks) are listed, and you can choose from a number of different views.

The iPad version of the iPod app also borrows some tricks from the iPhone version, most notably, tracklistings in album view which spin into place -a feature that's both beautiful and usable. Importantly, the app also retains the iPhone version's ability to play in the background while you use other apps. All you need to do is start playing some music, close the iPod app, and launch something else. At any point, double-clicking the Home button should bring up a dialog with information about the currently playing track, playback controls (back, play/pause, forward and a volume slider), a 'Close' button and an 'iPod' button to launch the iPod app.

Usefully, iPod for iPad also provides features that enable you to create playlists and rapidly build automated track listings via Apple's Genius technology. There's more on these features in the tutorial after this one.

 KIT LIST:

■ iPad with some music or podcasts

Time required : 10 mins
Difficulty : Beginner

 Playback controls

At the top of the iPod app is a large toolbar housing a volume slider, playback controls and a bar for scrubbing quickly through a track.

Sidebar

The iPod app's sidebar enables you to select your music library, podcasts, audiobooks, purchased items, or a playlist.

Show tradelists

There are several ways to view what's on an album - see the next page for more.

View options

The buttons at the bottom of the screen enable you to switch between five different views.

 1 View your albums IntheiTunes-like view, tap 'Albums' to view a scrollable list of albums in alphabetical order. Tap an album to bring up a tracklist window (which can also be scrolled).

 2 Play a track Tap a track to play it and view full-screen cover art. Tap the artwork to bring up various controls, including a scrub bar. The button in the bottom right shows the full album tracklist.

 2 Play a track Tap a track to play it and view full-screen cover art. Tap the artwork to bring up various controls, including a scrub bar. The button in the bottom right shows the full album tracklist.

 4 Songs view Tap'Songs'to see an alphabetical list of the songs on your iPad. Tap a letter at the right-hand side to 'snap' to a group of tracks starting with that letter.

5 Artists view Tap 'Artists' to view your albums, grouped by performer. Select an artist arid 'Play All Songs' to play all tracks by that artist, or tap a track to play an album from that point on.

 6 Search for songs Whichever view you're in, available items can be filtered by typing in the search field. Note that in songs view, the matches displayed could be for artist, album or song.

  

  Go full-screen

 Full-screen mode gives access to a number of controls not present in the more iTunes-like  iPod app views. 

 For standard songs, you will see 'repeat' and 'shuffle' controls positioned either side of the scrubbing bar.

For podcasts, you get an email icon in the top left to tell someone about the podcast, and a speed control (which cycles between half-, regular-or double-speed playback) on the right.

 7 Play podcasts The iPod app lists all podcasts on your iPad, but it only plays audio ones {via a tap, just like a song). Tap a video podcast and It will open in the Videos app.

 8 Need to recap? If the podcast Isn't in fullscreen mode, tap the art at the bottom left, then tap the full-screen art. You can now use a useful 'back 30 seconds' control at the bottom.