How Rating and Favoriting Songs Are Different
Rating and favoriting songs on iPhone and in iTunes are similar ideas, but they’re not the same. Ratings are done on a scale of 1-5 stars, with 5 being the best. Favorites are an either/or proposition: You either add a heart to indicate that the song is a favorite or you don’t. Ratings have been present in iTunes and the iPhone for a long time and can be used for a number of different things. Favorites were introduced with Apple Music in iOS 8.4. You can give a song or album both a rating and a favorite at the same time.
What Star Ratings Are Used for in iTunes & Apple Music
Ratings for songs and albums are used in iTunes to: A Smart Playlist is created based on criteria you select, including the rating you assigned to songs. For example, you can create a Smart Playlist that includes all songs you’ve rated 5 stars. It even automatically adds new songs to the playlist as you rate them 5 stars. If you view your iTunes music library by song, you can click the Rating column header to sort your songs by rating (either high to low or low to high). Within standard playlists you’ve already created, you can order songs by rating. To do this, click a playlist to select it and click Edit Playlist. In the playlist editing window, click Sort by Manual Order and then click Rating. Click Done to save the new order.
What Favorites Are Used for in iTunes & Apple Music
Favorites are used to help Apple Music: When you favorite a song, that information is sent to Apple Music. The service then uses what it learns about your musical taste — based on the songs you’ve favorited, what other users like you enjoy, and more — to make suggestions. The playlists and artists suggested to you in the For You tab of the Music app and iTunes are chosen by Apple Music staff based on your favorites.
How to Enable Star Ratings in iOS 12 and Up
While star ratings used to be an obvious part of the iOS Music app, Apple hid the option in iOS 12 and up. In fact, you actually have to turn on a star ratings preference in order to use the feature. Here’s how:
How to Rate Songs on iPhone
To rate a song on the iPhone, follow these steps:
How to Favorite Songs on iPhone
To favorite a song on the iPhone, follow these steps: To unfavorite a song, repeat the first two steps and then tap Dislike. You can also favorite entire albums by tapping … when viewing the tracklist for the album.
How to Rate Songs in iTunes
To rate a song in iTunes, follow these steps:
How to Favorite Songs in iTunes
To favorite a song in iTunes, follow these steps: Just like on the iPhone, you unfavorite a song by clicking the heart a second time so it looks empty.
In the Song view, click the heart icon in the heart column. You’ve favorited a song when the heart icon is filled in.In the Artist view, hover your mouse over the song, and then click the heart icon when it appears.
You can also favorite an album by going to the Album view, clicking on an album, clicking … and then clicking Love.
