Apple’s annual Best Of list for the App Store and iTunes Store is out with picks for the iPhone and iPad.
music
How to Use Apple Music and Radio Streaming in watchOS 4.1
watchOS 4.1 makes Apple Watch music playback a lot easier because you can get at your complete Apple Music library from your watch whether you’re on Wi-Fi or LTE. Read on to learn how Apple Watch music playback works with this new update.
Get Your Music on Apple Watch with watchOS 4
It’s not a difficult process, but you need to know where to look and how to maximize what’s synchronized to your wearable device.
Cool Stuff Found
Apple Releases iTunes 12.7, Removes iOS App Backups
Apple rolled out iTunes 12.7 on Tuesday with support for iOS 11, but it also does away with a couple features many users rely on.
BopPad Uses Smartcloth to Improve Drum Pad Response
There’s a new drum pad out there from Keith McMillen Instruments (KMI) that uses smartcloth to make the device more accurate and responsive. At least that’s what the company claims, and they’re using smart fabric sensors from BeBop Sensors to do it. Funded on Kickstarter last year, BopPad is a, “location and pressure-sensitive drum controller with a wicked-fast playing surface.” I’ve yet to meet an electronic drum I love to play, but I’m looking forward to checking out BopPad. Just watch the video. The device is $199 through the KMI website.
Hey Musicians, How about a Wearable Metronome?
Here’s something for musicians called Soundbrenner Pulse. It’s a wearable metronome that uses haptic feedback so you can feel the beat. The company says that haptic feedback is “up to seven times stronger than the vibrational alerts found in today’s smartwatches.” This is a standalone device that can be strapped around your arm or leg, or worn on your chest. Better yet, it’s controlled by an app that can sync with up to five Soundbrenner Pulses. That means five people in the band could be marching to the same beat! Come on, that could be game changing for musicians! Soundbrenner Pulse is $99 at Amazon, and it’s shipping now.
Goodbye Apple Music Festival, the State of the Mac Touch Bar - TMO Daily Observations 2017-09-05
John Martellaro and Bryan Chaffin join Jeff Gamet to Apple ending its Apple Music Festival, plus they look at the state of the MacBook Pro Touch Bar.
Apple Ends London Apple Music Festival
Don’t clear your schedule for this year’s Apple Music Festival in London because it isn’t happening.
Podcasts
iOS: How to Edit a Playlist's Image
This Quick Tip is all about adding a custom image to your iOS playlists, so if you don’t like the look of the default album artwork Apple uses, you can switch it up! We’ve got the music-picture-changin’ details inside.
A-ha's Take On Me Recreated with ARKit is Frakking Awesome
Loads of cool videos showing how compelling iOS 11’s ARKit is are popping up and the latest comes from Trixi Studios. They recreated the hand sketched style from the 1980’s A-ha “Take On Me” music video, but instead of working with a series of drawings they let ARKit do the heavy lifting. The result is a real-time version of the video you can walk through and watch as other people switch from themselves into drawings. It’s yet another example of the huge potential in ARKit.
Steve Jobs Opera Premieres in Santa Fe this Weekend
If you’re in Santa Fe this weekend maybe you can check out the world premiere of the Santa Fe Opera’s The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs. It’s an opera about the life of Apple’s iconic co-founder and includes key people from his world likeLaurene Powell Jobs and Steve Wozniak. The production has been in development for the past two years and includes top modern opera names like Mason Bates (composer) and Mark Campbell (librettist). The opera opens on Saturday, July 22 at 8:30pm mountain time. You can catch it again on July 26th and several dates in August, too. Tickets are available at the Santa Fe Opera website.
Kick Back and Relax With the New 'My Chill Mix' Apple Music Playlist
The personalized playlist promises to combine the most relaxing aspects of your favorite songs, artists, and genres into one chill experience.
Here's a Band that Uses Only iPads for their Musical Instruments
Plenty of musicians use iPads during their performances and some even use them to help enhance their shows, too. But iPads as all of the musical instruments? That’s what one band is doing, and it’s pretty amazing. They’re playing GarageBand instruments in real time and capturing their performance with SoundTap. It’s part of of a performance at the International Society for Technology in Education in Austin. The clip is short because it’s on Instagram, but it’s also long enough to see just how cool a full iPad band can sound.
Apple Wants to Pay Record Labels a Smaller Share of Apple Music Revenue
The music industry may actually be fine with a reduced cut as long as Apple can keep adding Apple Music subscribers.
The Big HomePod FAQ Show - TMO Daily Observations 2017-06-09
Today Dave Hamilton and John Martellaro join Jeff Gamet to dive deep into what we know about Apple’s HomePod and get you up to speed on what it does—and doesn’t—do.
8 Ways to See the Charge Level of Your AirPods
If you’ve got a pair of Apple’s bluetooth headphones, dubbed “AirPods,” then it’s good to know that there are tons of ways to check their battery levels. Considering that the AirPods don’t have a physical indicator of how much charge they’ve got, that’s a good thing! In today’s Quick Tip, Melissa Holt’s gonna go over a number of methods for finding out how much more listenin’ you can do.
RocksterTek Porta-Guitar Is a Portable Guitar Neck for Practice
I’m intrigued by the RocksterTek Porta-Guitar. It’s a collapsible guitar neck designed to let you practice chords anywhere. I imagine one could practice a subset of scales, too. This is one of those products that when I saw it made me instantly think, “Why hasn’t someone does this before?” And maybe they have, but I haven’t seen it. It’s a bit longer than 17-inches long when fully extended and just under 10-inches when collapsed. It can be restrung for lefties, and it comes with its own carrying back. I haven’t tested it yet, but it resonated with me when I first saw it. The RocksterTek Porta-Guitar is $39.95, and comes in black, pink, yellow, green, red, white, or sky blue.
How to Turn Siri into a Metronome (Video)
I love this! Drummer Richy Ramirez posted a video to Instagram where he used Siri as his metronome. Really, he used her as both metronome and backing track. It’s clever and entertaining, both, and I love the beat he lays down on top. Check it out.
Cool Stuff Found
Can WALTR 2 Really Be Your iTunes Replacement?
When you’re looking for an iTunes replacement, you want something that can do just about everything Apple’s software can do, but better. WALTR has been a good contender in this arena, and WALTR 2 offers functionality that iTunes doesn’t. The question is, does it work as designed? Come along with Jeff Butts as he reviews WALTR 2 and uncovers how well it performs.
