Understanding the Symbols and Icons on Apple Music

Apple Music is a widely popular music streaming platform that offers a vast collection of songs, albums, and playlists across various genres. However, navigating through the app can be overwhelming, especially with all the icons and symbols scattered throughout. In this article, we will share the meaning of each icon and symbol on Apple Music, helping you make the most out of the app.

Apple Music Home Screen Symbols Meaning

1. Listen Now (Circle with Play icon)

Tapping this icon will show you personalized playlists, music recommendations, and curated content based on your listening history and interests.

2. Browse Icon (Four Squares)

This is where you will find a vast library of music and playlists categorized by genre, mood, activity, and other factors.

3. Radio (Sound Waves)

Tap this icon to access Apple Music's radio stations, live stations, curated playlists, and exclusive shows.

4. Library (Rounded Square with Music Note)

This is the place where you will find all your playlists, artists, albums, and saved songs.

5. Search Icon

This icon allows you to search for songs or artists on your Apple Music.

6. Profile Picture Icon

Tapping this icon will open your Apple Music account settings, where you can customize your profile, manage subscriptions, and more.

7. Floating Player

The small floating player at the bottom of Apple Music's home screen is called the Mini Player. You can use it to control playback and view the album art of the song you're currently playing.

Apple Music Player Symbols Meaning

1. Horizontal Line

Hitting this bar will minimize your music player to the mini player.

2. Circle With 3-Dots

This icon is universally regarded as the More button. Tapping it will open a menu with various options, including download, share, add to playlist, and more.

3. Progress Bar

This bar indicates the current playback progress of a song or audio track. You can drag the slider to move to a specific part of the song.

4. Lossless or Dolby Atmos Label

It indicates that the song is encoded in either lossless audio format or Dolby Atmos. Tapping on it allows you to play the song in higher quality.

5. Play/Pause, Previous and Next Button

Use these buttons to control your music playback. The play/pause button stops or resumes the music, while the previous and next buttons navigate between tracks.

6. Speaker Icon With Bar

This icon indicates the current volume level of your music. You can adjust the volume by dragging the slider.

7. Chat Bubble With Quotation Mark

Consider this icon as the Lyrics button. Tapping it will display the lyrics of the currently playing song in real-time.

8. Triangle With Signal

This is the AirPlay button, allowing you to stream your music to other Apple-compatible devices.

9. Three Horizontal Lines With Dots

Use this icon as the Queue button to view and manage the queue of songs currently playing.

Apple Music Playlist Symbols Meaning

1. Circle With Down Arrow

Think of this icon as the Download button. Tapping it allows you to download all the songs from the playlist for offline listening.

2. Three-dotted Icon (Meatball Icon)

Tapping this icon presents various options, such as play next, share, remove from the playlist, and more.

3. Audio Waveform Icon

This icon appears on the album art of the currently playing song from the playlist.

4. Criss-Cross Arrow

Treat this icon as the Shuffle button. Tapping it shuffles your playlist order.

5. Two Arrows Rotating Clockwise

Think of this as the Repeat button. Tapping it puts the playlist in repeat mode.

6. Infinity Symbol

Refer to this icon as the Autoplay button. When enabled, Apple Music automatically plays similar songs after the song or playlist finishes.

7. Three-Parallel Lines Icon

Use this icon to reshuffle the play order on your Apple Music Playlist.

8. E Icon

The E stands for Explicit. If you see this icon next to a song, it means that the lyrics contain explicit content.

9. Right Chevron (Arrow)

Tap this icon to explore more playlists available in a particular section or category.

10. Circle With Left Arrow

Use this icon to go back to the previous screen.

11. Circle with Plus Sign

Tapping this icon adds the playlist to your Apple Music Library.

Apple Music Radio Symbols Meaning

1. Calendar Icon

This is the Schedule button, allowing you to check the timing of playlists or shows scheduled to play on Apple Music Radio.

2. Circular Arrow With Number

The left arrow rewinds the podcast by 30 seconds, while the right arrow fast-forwards it by 30 seconds.

3. X Icon (Cross)

Hit this icon to exit the video from fullscreen.

4. Two Rectangular Box With Arrow (Mobile)

This is the PiP (Picture in Picture) icon. Tapping it turns the video into a small floating window, letting you use other apps while watching.

5. Speaker Icon With Sound Wave

This icon indicates that the audio is enabled on a video. Tapping it mutes the sound.

6. Rectangle With Triangle Icon

This is also an AirPlay icon, allowing you to stream audio or video to external devices.

Apple Music Artist Page Symbols Meaning

1. Star Icon

Think of this as the Subscribe button. Tapping it allows you to receive notifications whenever your favorite artist releases new music.

2. Play Icon

Hit the Play button to start playing music from the artist page.

3. Add Button

Tapping this button adds the artist and their playlist to your Apple Music Library.

Apple Music Symbols Meaning (Desktop)

1. Three-Parallel Lines (Hamburger Menu)

Clicking this icon displays various options, including Browse, Library, Playlists, Radio, Artists, and more.

2. Up/Down Arrow (Chevron)

Clicking this icon hides or expands all the options associated with the library and playlists.

3. Plus Icon

The Plus icon allows you to create new playlists.

4. Two Rectangular Box With Arrow (Desktop)

This icon appears when hovering over the album art currently being played. Tapping it minimizes the app to the MiniPlayer.

With this guide, you can now navigate Apple Music with ease. Happy listening!

If you're interested, you can also learn the meaning of every icon and symbol on Spotify and YouTube.