iPad: The Missing Manual, 5th Edition

Chapter 14. Manage and Play Music and Other Audio

You’ll learn to:

• Import music from CDs

• Buy music in iTunes and other online stores

• Download audiobooks and podcasts

• Sync audio files from iTunes to your ’Pad

• Create your own playlists

WHEN APPLE ANNOUNCED THE first iPad way back in January 2010, many technology critics dismissed it as “a giant iPod Touch,” before going back to complaining about other things they hadn’t actually experienced. Although that particular response was snarky, it was also correct. Partly, anyway. Among many other things, the iPad is a giant iPod Touch. And what a handsome flat-screen jukebox it is.

Thanks to its larger size, the iPad makes playing music a breeze—it’s easy to find the tracks you want, create your own playlists, control your music, and admire full-screen cover art on the bigger screen. And if you like podcasts and iTunes U lectures, Apple offers free apps for both.

Granted, the iPad is a bit bulky to haul to the gym or schlep along for your morning jog, but it’s a great music machine for other situations—like when you have a stack of email to get through and you want to bliss out to a little Yo-Yo Ma.

Whether you’re after background music or front-and-center playback controls, this chapter shows you how to get your iPad singing. And if you pony up $5 for Apple’s GarageBand app for iPad, you may even find yourself singing along to your own songs. Play ...