By Dan Moren
December 7, 2016 1:56 AM PT
Quick Tip: View only Downloaded Music on iOS
Note: This story has not been updated for several years.
I’m in a somewhat data-constrained environment with my travels, which isn’t ideal when you also use iCloud Music Library–either via Apple Music or iTunes Match–to store all your music and want to listen to some tunes.1 In the past you’ve been able to view only local music on your iOS device via a switch in Settings > Music; in iOS 9 it moved to one of the Music app’s many pop-up menus. Now in iOS 10, you’ll have to do some digging to find its new home.
Fire up the Music app and make sure you’re on the Library tab. Tap the Edit button in the top right corner and you’ll get some view options, the last of which is Downloaded Music. Tap that and then tap done and you’ll now have a new Downloaded Music entry at the bottom of the list.2 Tapping that gives you a view of all the tracks stored on your device, which you can further view by playlist, artist, album, or song. A small banner at the top of the screen reminds you that you’re only looking at music on your device, just in case you accidentally navigate away.
Streaming’s great and all, but traveling overseas has definitely put back in perspective that you can’t yet depend on a ubiquitous and unlimited network connection. Sometimes good old fashioned downloading and local storage is still the way to go.
- Not great for updating my apps either. ↩
- I do appreciate this toggle is in the app as opposed to Settings now, but along with the non-intuitive “scroll down for more controls” this is another of the elements of the iOS music redesign that I’m not wild about; it seems not particularly space efficient, even on an iPhone 7. ↩
[Dan Moren is the East Coast Bureau Chief of Six Colors. You can find him on Mastodon at @dmoren@zeppelin.flights or reach him by email at dan@sixcolors.com. His latest novel, the supernatural detective story All Souls Lost, is out now.]
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