With the arrival of Apple Music, Apple has launched Connect, a social network that seeks to allows artists and fans to interact in new ways. Musicians can post behind-the-scenes sneak peaks, videos, pictures, and more.

Artists on Apple Music should have profile pages, from which your can follow them on Connect. Those pages also contain discographies, a biography, as well as what they’ve shared on Connect. If you’re not following the artist, you can tap the Follow button to begin doing so. In addition to seeing new pictures, videos, and lyrics from these artists, you can leave comments, and the musicians can respond.

But unlike Ping, Apple’s first attempt at a musical social network, Connect isn’t entirely walled off from the greater online social world. You can share the posts you see with your friends on Twitter, Facebook, and more, bringing it to those that don’t use or have not yet signed up for Apple Music.

For artists to get started on Connect, their music will need to be a part of Apple Music. Indie artists can either get in touch with their label, if they have one, or reach out to Apple directly to request a Connect profile.

The new Music app aims to present all your music, all in one place — including the music you own!

It’s not just Apple Music that’s new—the whole Music app on iPhone and iPad has been given a complete redesign. And while Apple Music gives you access to the complete iTunes catalog, with or without it, the new Music app still gives you a ton of features focused around your music. That includes local music management, playlists, the Up Next queue, and even AirPlay to your Apple TV or connected speakers. Here’s how to use it all!

Note: To use Apple’s new Music app, you need to be running iOS 8.4 or later.

• How to add, cache, search for, and delete songs from Apple’s new Music app
• How to use the mini player in Apple’s new Music app
• How to use playlists in Apple’s new Music app
• How to use Up Next in Apple’s new Music app
• How to AirPlay from Apple’s new Music app

How to add, cache, search for, and delete songs from Apple’s new Music app

For some, the advent of Apple Music will mean their own personal collections will become small seas in the giant oceans of the full iTunes catalog. For others, however, who don’t want streaming, Music is still the place or organize and enjoy all your iTunes—and iTunes Match music. That includes adding music, searching for it, caching it for local playback, removing it from cache, and deleting it from your library.

• How to add songs to Music
• How to browse for songs in Music
• How to search for songs in Music
• How to download songs for local playback
• How to remove downloaded songs from cache
• How to delete songs from your Music library

How to use the mini player in Apple’s new Music app

The mini player lets you maintain persistent access to controls and track information throughout Apple’s new Music app. Although the player itself is mini, its addition is one of the new Music app’s biggest new features. It sits at the bottom of the screen and stays there as you browse tracks, check out the radio, and even connect to your favorite artists. And by being there, the mini player makes it easy to not only control what you’re listening to, but escalate to the full Now Playing screen whenever and where ever the need arises. Best of all, it’s simple to use—once you get the hang of it!

• How to launch the mini player
• How to switch from the mini player to Now Playing
• How to switch back to the mini player from Now Playing
• How to access the mini player menu
• Can you hide the mini player?

How to use playlists in Apple’s new Music app

Playlists have always been the best way to group all the music you want to listen to together.

With Apple’s new Music app, you can not only create and manage playlists, you can give them distinctive and easy to recognize thumbnails, quickly add music to them, queue them to Up Next, and a lot more.

• How to access playlists
• How to play a playlist
• How to create a new playlist
• How to add tracks to a playlist
• How to reorder tracks on a playlist
• How to remove tracks from a playlist
• How to delete a playlist
• How to create a Genius playlist

How to use Up Next in Apple’s new Music app

Up Next is is like a priority intercept playlist—it lets you listen to music you’re suddenly in the mood for without killing the rest of what you had lined up. In the old days, if you were in the midst of a killer mix, but one track led you to remember another not in the mix, you could either forget about it and keep going, or play the serendipitous song and kill you killer mix. Now Playing put an end to that. With Now Play, and Apple’s new Music app, even if you’re in the middle of playlist or album, you can quickly stack other tracks—even another playlist or album—to listen to immediately, and then seamlessly merge back right back into your playlist or album when you’re done.

• How to quickly add music to Up Next from anywhere
• How to quickly play other music while preserving Up Next
• How to quickly clear Up Next from anywhere
• How to view your Up Next queue
• How to view your Up Next history
• How to add music to Up Next
• How to re-arrange what’s Up Next
• How to remove a track from Up Next
• How to clear Up Next

How to AirPlay from Apple’s new Music app

AirPlay lets you take whatever’s on your iPhone or iPad and beam it to your Apple TV or compatible speakers. With AirPlay, the content you have in iTunes is only ever a few taps away from filling your living room, bedroom, or entire house. That includes all the songs, albums, and playlists you have in Apple’s new Music app for iPhone and iPad. Best of all, you can engage AirPlay right from the Now Playing screen!

• How to turn on AirPlay from Now Playing in Music
• How to AirPlay from Control Center when you’re not in the Music app

Playlists have always been the best way to group all the music you want to listen to together.

With Apple’s new Music app, you can not only create and manage playlists, you can give them distinctive and easy to recognize thumbnails, quickly add music to them, queue them to Up Next, and a lot more.

Note: To use Apple’s new Music app, you need to be running iOS 8.4 or later.

• How to access playlists
• How to play a playlist
• How to create a new playlist
• How to add tracks to a playlist
• How to reorder tracks on a playlist
• How to remove tracks from a playlist
• How to delete a playlist
• How to create a Genius playlist

How to access playlists

You can access the playlist screen in one of two ways:

1. Tap the Playlist button in the tab bar at the bottom.
2. Or, use gesture navigation by swiping sideways on screen until you get to Playlists.

   

How to play a playlist

You can also play a playlist in one of three ways:

1. Tap the name of a playlist to play it immediately.
2. Or, tap the More button (looks like •••) and then tap **Play Next* to add it to the beginning of your Up Next queue.
3. Or, tap the More button (looks like •••) and then tap Add to Up Next to add it to the end of your Up Next queue.

   

How to create a new playlist

Playlists have more options than ever before, but they’re still easy to create.

1. Tap New.
2. Enter a Title.
3. Tap the Camera icon to choose a thumbnail.
4. Enter a Description.
5. Tap Add Songs to start adding tracks (see below).
6. Tap Done, top right, to finish.

   

How to add tracks to a playlist

To add tracks from the playlist screen:

1. Tap Edit.
2. Tap Add Songs.
3. Search or browse to the track you want to add.
4. Tap the + button to add the track.
5. Tap Done, top right, to finish.

   

To add tracks from anywhere in the Music app:

1. Tap the More button (looks like •••) to the right of the track you want to add.
2. Tap Add to Playlist…
3. Tap the playlist you want to add it to..

   

How to reorder tracks on a playlist

1. Go to the playlist you want to re-arrange.
2. Tap Edit.
3. Touch and hold down on the grabber button to the right of the track you want to move.
4. Drag the track to it’s new position, where ever you want it.
5. Tap Done, top right, to finish.

   

How to remove tracks from a playlist

1. Go to the playlist you want to remove the track from.
2. Tap Edit.
3. Tap the red – button to the left of the track.
4. Tap the red Delete button. .

   

How to delete a playlist

You can delete a playlist from the main playlist screen:

1. Tap the More button (looks like •••) to the right of the playlist.
2. Tap Delete.
3. Tap Delete Playlist to confirm..

   

You can also delete a playlist from the specific playlist screen itself:

1. Tap the More button (looks like •••) to the right of the playlist.
2. Tap Delete.
3. Tap Delete Playlist to confirm..

   

How to create a Genius playlist

Genius playlists are still a thing, if you prefer to let the iTunes algorithms do your mixing and matching for you. If you don’t see it enabled by default, however, you’ll need to switch it on in Settings.

1. Launch the Settings app.
2. Tap on Music.
3. Toggle Genius to on.
4. Tap to Accept the terms and conditions.

   

Once that’s done, Genius playlists are easy to create.

1. Tap on the More button (looks like •••) to the right of a song.
2. Tap on Create Genius Playlist.

   

You still have to have enough similar music for Genius to create the list, but if you do, you can listen, refresh, add to Up Next, or add to another playlist right from the More button at the top.

The mini player lets you maintain persistent access to controls and track information throughout Apple’s new Music app.

Although the player itself is mini, its addition is one of the new Music app’s biggest new features. It sits at the bottom of the screen and stays there as you browse tracks, check out the radio, and even connect to your favorite artists. And by being there, the mini player makes it easy to not only control what you’re listening to, but escalate to the full Now Playing screen whenever and where ever the need arises. Best of all, it’s simple to use—once you get the hang of it!

Note: To use Apple’s new Music app, you need to be running iOS 8.4 or later.

• How to launch the mini player
• How to switch from the mini player to Now Playing
• How to switch back to the mini player from Now Playing
• How to access the mini player menu
• Can you hide the mini player?

How to launch the mini player

The mini player should always be there, but if it’s the first time you’ve launched Music, including after force quitting it or rebooting, you may need to nudge it back onto the screen.

1. Launch the Music app from your Home screen.
2. Pick an artist, any artist.
3. Pick a song, any song.
4. Hit play.

   

The mini player should pop up—or pop back up—immediately, giving you access to a persistent pause/play button, among other things.

How to switch from the mini player to Now Playing

Just because there’s a mini player doesn’t mean there isn’t also a full Now Playing screen, and it’s easy to get to.

1. Locate the mini player at the bottom of the screen, just above the tab bar.
2. Tap the track information button in the middle to launch the full player. (Or touch and hold the mini player bar and drag it up.)

   

From the Now Playing screen, you can access shuffle, repeat, up next, AirPlay, and other options.

How to switch back to the mini player from Now Playing

Getting back to the mini player from the full Now Playing screen is just as easy.

1. From the Now Playing screen…
2. Tap the Dismiss button at the top right. (Or touch and hold the album art and drag it down.)

   

How to access the mini player menu

The mini player may be small, but it packs a lot of options… once you know how to find them.

1. Locate the mini player at the bottom of the screen, just above the tab bar.
2. Tap the More button (looks like •••) at the right.

   

From there, you can select Start Station, Show in iTunes Store, Add to a Playlist…, or Delete.

Wait, can I hide the mini player?

This isn’t the Music FAQ! But no, as of right now we’ve seen no way to hide the mini player.

Up Next is is like a priority intercept playlist—it lets you listen to music you’re suddenly in the mood for without killing the rest of what you had lined up.

In the old days, if you were in the midst of a killer mix, but one track led you to remember another not in the mix, you could either forget about it and keep going, or play the serendipitous song and kill you killer mix. Now Playing put an end to that. With Now Play, and Apple’s new Music app, even if you’re in the middle of playlist or album, you can quickly stack other tracks—even another playlist or album—to listen to immediately, and then seamlessly merge back right back into your playlist or album when you’re done.

Note: To use Apple’s new Music app, you need to be running iOS 8.4 or later.

• How to quickly add music to Up Next from anywhere
• How to quickly play other music while preserving Up Next
• How to quickly clear Up Next from anywhere
• How to view your Up Next queue
• How to view your Up Next history
• How to add music to Up Next
• How to re-arrange what’s Up Next
• How to remove a track from Up Next
• How to clear Up Next

How to quickly add music to Up Next from anywhere

You can quickly and easily add a track to Up Next at any time.

1. Browse to the track, album, or playlist you want to add to Up Next
2. Tap the More button (Looks like •••) to the right.
3. Tap on Play Next to add the music to the front of your Up Next queue, or Add to Up Next to add the music to the end of the queue.

   

How to quickly play other music while preserving Up Next

If you find a track, album, or playlist you want to listen to immediately, you can start playing it right away without losing your existing Up Next queue.

1. Find the track, album, or playlist you want to listen to immediately.
2. Tap the track, album, or playlist to start playing it.
3. Tap Keep Up Next to preserve your existing queue.

   

When the song, album, or playlist finishes, your Up Next queue will resume without interruption.

How to quickly clear Up Next from anywhere

If you want to remove everything from your Up Next list all at once, you can easily do that too.

1. Find a track, album, or playlist—anything will do.
2. Tap the track, album, or playlist to start playing it.
3. Tap Clear Up Next from the menu.

   

The track, album, or playlist will start and your Up Next list will be completely cleared at the same time.

How to view your Up Next queue

You can see what’s queued in Up Next at any time via the Now Playing screen.

1. Locate the mini player at the bottom of the screen, just above the tab bar.
2. Tap the track information button on the mini player to bring up the Now Playing screen. (Or touch and hold on the mini player and drag up.)
3. Tap on the Up Next button.

   

From here you can fully manage your Up Next list. To exit the Up Next screen, tap Done at the top right.

How to view your Up Next history

Whether you simply want to remember what you player, or you want to play something again, Up Next’s history list makes it easy.

1. Go to the Up Next screen.
2. Swipe down to reveal your Up Next history.
3. Tap a track if you want to play it again.

   

Your current Up Next queue will continue to play when your replay is done.

How to add music to Up Next

If you’re on the Up Next screen, you can add more music right from and to the queue.

1. Go to the Up Next screen.
2. Tap on Add.
3. Search or browse for the music you want to add.
4. Tap the + button on the right to add a track, album, or playlist.

   

You can keep adding music this way just as long as you remain on the Up Next screen.

How to re-arrange what’s Up Next

Whether you added tracks to Up Next as fast as you could find them, or your mood has changed since you added them, you can easily rearrange their order so you hear exactly what you want, when you want.

1. Go to the Up Next screen.
2. Touch and hold the grabber button to the right of the track you want to move.
3. Drag the track to the desired position.

   

You can reorder tracks as often as you want, and any time the mood strikes you.

How to remove a track from Up Next

If you add a track to Up Next and later change your mind, it’s easy to delete it.

1. Go to the Up Next screen.
2. Swipe left on the track to reveal the red Remove button.
3. Tap the red Remove button.

   

Repeat the same steps to remove additional tracks; as many as you want.

How to clear music from Up Next

If you’re on the Up Next screen, you can add more music right from and to the queue.

1. Go to the Up Next screen.
2. Tap on Clear at the top.
3. Tap Clear Up Next at the bottom to confirm.

   

You can keep adding music this way just as long as you remain on the Up Next screen.

Apple has released iOS 8.4 to the public, and with it, the Apple Music streaming music service. The service allows users to stream music an unlimited number of tracks on-demand from the iTunes catalog, brings along Beats 1, a live radio station broadcasting globally 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and introduces Connect, a new way for artists and their fans to interact.

You can find Apple Music in the brand new Music app. You’ll have the option to sign up for either an individual account for $9.99 per month, or a family account, which allows up to six people to share a subscription for $14.99. These charges will come into effect, however, only after your free, three-month trial. If you sign up today, that should end on September 30, 2015.

iOS 8.4 also makes improvements to iBooks, and fixes a number of bugs that have cropped up.

For more on how to make the most of the new Music app, with an Apple Music subscription or not, check out our ultimate guide.

You can download the update either over-the-air on your iPhone and iPad, or through iTunes.

How to upgrade to iOS 8.4