iPad: The Missing Manual, 6th Edition

Chapter 13. 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, podcasts, and iTunes U lectures

• Create your own playlists and iTunes Radio stations

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. You can even spin the virtual dial on more than 200 preset streaming stations in the new iTunes Radio—or whip up your own channel to suit your whims. And if you like podcasts and iTunes U lectures, Apple offers free apps for both.

The iPad is a bit bulky to haul to the gym or schlep along for a jog, but it’s a nice flat jukebox 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 ...