Tricks for a tip-top listening experience

1. Bring back star ratings

With Apple Music, Apple shifted to a Love/Dislike model for rating albums and tracks. This also impacts on the recommendations Apple Music gives you. But if you prefer something more granular, put a check mark next to Star Ratings in iTunes’ General preferences. (Apple recently restored star ratings in iOS; enable them in Settings > Music.)

2. Check your sound quality

If you find playback sounds flat or weird, check that Sound Enhancer and Sound Check under Playback in iTunes’ preferences aren’t the root cause. Also, try a different preset in Window > Equaliser, such as Small Speakers if you have an older MacBook.

3. Check your iOS apps’ size

Switch to the Apps from the media selector, then click Library to the right. If you download iOS apps to your Mac, they may use lots of space. If you’re low on storage, ≈- click an app, view it in Finder, and back up the entire folder. Then in iTunes, select the largest apps, press ç+∫ and pick Move to Trash.

4. Refresh the iTunes Store

The iTunes Store will sometimes show a blank page or just stop working. When this happens, press ç+R to reload it – it’s essentially a web page.

5. Back up your iOS devices

Now and again, connect your iPhone or iPad to your Mac, select it at the top left, click Summary in the sidebar, and then click Back Up Now. Even if your device automatically backs up to iCloud, having this extra copy may come in handy one day.

6. Use File Sharing

With an iOS device selected, pick Apps in the sidebar and scroll down to File Sharing; it lists apps that can transfer files to and from your Mac, which can be faster than using iCloud.