iPhone: The Missing Manual, 3rd Edition

Chapter 5. Music and Video

Of the iPhone's Big Three talents—phone, Internet, and iPod—its iPoddishness may be the most successful. This function, after all, is the only one that doesn't require the participation of AT&T and its network. It works even on planes and in subways. And of all the iPhone functions, this one gets the most impressive battery life (almost 24 hours of music playback, or 30 hours on the iPhone 3GS).

This chapter assumes that you've already loaded some music or video onto your iPhone, as described in Chapter 14.

To enter iPod Land, press the Home button and then tap the orange iPod icon at the lower-right corner of the screen.

List Land

The iPod program begins with lists—lots of lists. The first four icons at the bottom of the screen represent your starter lists, as follows:

• Playlists. A playlist is a group of songs you've placed together, in a sequence that makes sense to you. One might consist of party tunes; another might hold romantic dinnertime music; a third might be drum-heavy workout cuts.

  You create playlists in the iTunes software, as described on Editing and Deleting Playlists. After you sync the iPhone with your computer, the playlists appear here.

  Scroll the list by dragging your finger or by flicking. To see what songs or videos are in a playlist, tap its name. (The > symbol in an iPod menu always means "Tap to see what's in this list.")

  Tip

  Here's a universal ...