Listen

Open a recording to hear the idea again and find the phrase you want to develop. The waveform helps you move through the recording, and Pro can add estimated chords, tempo, key and meter when the analysis is confident enough.

Tap a recording in the library, then tap the large play triangle at the bottom. It becomes a pause button while the recording plays. Tap it to pause the recording and its effects together. Tap play to continue from the same position.

The double arrows on either side of play jump back or forward 15 seconds. Use them to hear a phrase again while you practice. Loop song, at the left end of the row, plays the recording again each time it ends. It turns red when it is on. Output device sits at the right end. On iPhone, play sits where the recording button was in the library; on iPad and Mac, the two buttons line up.

The folder or list name sits beside the back arrow at the top left; tap either to return to the list. Favorite, Edit and More actions sit at the top right.

The time on the left below the waveform is your position in the recording. The time on the right is what remains. If the recording has been trimmed, playback and these times follow the saved trim region.

On iPad, playback opens in the detail column beside the library. Apple Watch's capture screen saves and transfers recordings; open them in the iPhone library to listen with these controls.

Highlight All to listen through all recordings, or choose a folder or Favorites to listen through that list. Beside the item count, tap Play folder to start at the first recording, or Shuffle folder to hear the list in a random order. Opening a recording and tapping Play starts from that recording and plays on in list order. The queue follows the displayed list order, including its place groups and search results. Playback stops at the end of the list, and the compact player closes.

Next song advances through the queue. Previous song restarts the current recording after more than three seconds; near the beginning, it returns to the previous recording. In a shuffled queue, Previous song retraces the order you heard. With Loop song on, a recording repeats when it ends; Next song still moves on.

Going back to the library keeps the music playing. The compact player shows the current recording and the list it came from, marked Shuffled when the order is random, with Previous song, Play or Pause, and Next song. Tap the title to reopen the player. On iPad and Mac, the compact player stays in the list column while music plays, also when the playing recording is open beside it.

To close the compact player, swipe it down, or touch and hold it (right-click on Mac) and choose Close player. Closing stops the music and removes it from the Lock Screen. Start a folder or a recording to bring the player back.

Browsing another folder leaves the current queue playing. Tap Play folder or Shuffle folder there to start a new queue. Each song uses its own saved effects. Favoriting the playing recording, in the player, the list or on the Lock Screen, does not remove it from an already started queue. Deleted recordings leave the queue.

Entering Record, Tuner or Edit pauses the player. Return and tap Play when you want to listen again.

Start playback, then switch to another app or lock the screen. The recording and its effects keep playing. The system player shows the title, progress and a photo as the cover, with Play or Pause, Previous and Next. Each recording keeps its own photo. Its controls use the same queue as Music Dawn. The Lock Screen can also favorite the recording.

A call or another audio interruption pauses playback. Tap Play when you want to continue from that position.

Tap a point on the waveform to jump to that moment, or drag it sideways to move through the recording. Drag left to move later and right to move earlier. The waveform follows playback, keeping long recordings readable rather than squeezing the whole recording into one small view.

With Pro, a chord lane appears beneath the waveform when there are usable analysis results. Tap a chord label to jump to the start of that chord, or drag the strip to find a change by ear.

On iPhone, turn the device to landscape while the playback screen is open. Turn it back to portrait to return. On any platform, open More actions and choose Full-screen waveform.

In full screen, tap the waveform to jump to that moment and drag sideways to seek, as on the normal playback screen. Touch the waveform to reveal Play or Pause and Close full screen for a few seconds. Tap the cross to return. On an iPhone held sideways there is no cross: turn it back to portrait.

Tap Output device at the right end of the playback controls to open the system output picker. Choose an available output, such as AirPods or an AirPlay device. Connected wired headphones can also carry playback.

This chooses where you hear the recording. It does not choose the microphone for a new recording; that choice is in Settings > Record With.

Musical analysis needs Pro. When results are ready, the caption beside the date can show BPM, a meter such as 4/4, and a key name. Music Dawn analyzes recordings automatically and gives the open recording priority if its results need updating.

Detected tempo, key and meter are estimates, not a score of what you played. Parts of the caption are omitted if the analysis is not confident enough, and an estimated meter is shown more faintly. Check the pulse and key by ear, especially in a loose performance or a short idea.

For a recording saved with the metronome still on, the tempo and meter come from the recording's metronome settings. They describe the click you chose, not a measurement of how closely you played to it. The key and chord labels still come from analysis and can be wrong.

Without Pro, a recording with available results can show Chords · Key · Tempo and a Pro tag instead of the caption and chord lane. Tap that label to open the Pro offer; ordinary playback, seeking and output selection remain free.