Everyone loves a good karaoke night (unless you hate fun, that is), and soon you’ll be able to partake in the beloved past time from the comfort of your own home. And no, you don’t have to buy one of those bulky karaoke machines from the early 2000s, because Apple Music is bringing the sing-a-long fun straight to the music streamer so you and your besties can cue up your favorites solos, duets, and power ballads whenever you want. Here’s what you need to know how to use the Apple Music Sing karaoke feature on iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV to throw the most epic parties.
Whether you want to get some practice in at home before taking your skills to a karaoke bar, or you’re looking for an excuse to spend a night at home with your roomies, Apple Music Sing is about to totally upgrade your karaoke experience. The new feature, which launched on Dec. 13 alongside the new iOS 16.2 update, lets you channel your inner pop star with tens of millions of your favorite songs (not the weird off-brand cover versions) with real-time lyrics that keep the rhythm of the music. Plus, you can choose to sing a long with a vocal track or own the stage all on your own, partner up with your bestie on a heartfelt duet, and so much more. Apple Music subscribers can access the feature from their iPhone or iPad, and if you have an Apple TV 4K, you can also bring your impressive vocals to the big screen, too.
With so many New Year’s Eve festivities just around the corner, you probably want to know how the feature works so you can start compiling some fire playlists. Here’s everything you need to know about what Apple Music Sing has in store, including volume control and the duet tool, as well as how to access the feature on your Apple devices.
Apple Music Sing Features
You don’t need a microphone to for your at-home sing-a-longs, but Apple Music Sing comes with all the usual features you’d expect to see at a real karaoke bar, starting with animated lyrics that guide you through the song. But the lyrical fun doesn’t end there, because there’s also a feature that animates the background vocals of a song in a smaller font as well, so your besties can double as your backup singers while they wait for their turn.
The new form of karaoke is also packed with plenty of features that sets Apple Music Sing apart from regular karaoke, including the Adjustable Vocals tool. With Adjustable Vocals, you can adjust the levels of the original track vocals to be as loud or as quiet as you’d like, which means you don’t have to perform solo if you don’t want to (or if you don’t know all the words).
One of the best parts about karaoke are the epic duets, and thankfully Apple Music Sing’s Duet View allows for multiple vocalists to jump on a track by splitting up lyrics on opposite sides of the screen to help you pull off the duet of a lifetime.
How To Use Apple Music Sing On iPhone
Before you get too excited to use the feature, you should know Apple Music Sing is only available on iPhone 11 and later, as well as the third generation iPhone SE.
To use the feature on your iPhone, the first thing you’ll need to do is make sure your phone is up to date with iOS 16.2 or higher (and that you have an Apple Music subscription, obviously). Once you’ve done that, tap the Music app, navigate to the Apple Music tab, then select the song you want to listen to. Start the song, tap the quote box icon the access the lyrics, and tap the microphone icon to turn on Apple Music Sing. The microphone icon also allows you to adjust the vocal levels by hold and dragging the slider up or down.
If you’re not sure which songs are Apple Music Sing-friendly, you can access a bunch of karaoke playlists via the Browse tab that’ve been organized based on genres like Sing The Hits and Festive Favorites.
How To Use Apple Music Sing On iPad
Just like on an iPhone, Apple Music Sing can be accessed on iPad by opening the Music app, navigating to Apple Music, and turning on Sing mode by selecting a song and tapping the microphone icon. If the microphone icon doesn’t appear, the song isn’t compatible with Apple Music Sing.
Apple Music Sing is only accessible on iPad Pro 11-inch (third generation and later), iPad Air (fourth generation and later), iPad mini (sixth generation), and iPad (ninth generation or later) that are up to date with iPadOS 16.2 or later.
If you want to AirPlay the lyrics to your TV, it is possible to view real-time lyrics with SharePlay, but singing live is not supported, according to Apple.
How To Use Apple Music Sing On Apple 4K TV
If you have an Apple TV 4K, you can access Apple Music Sing the same way you would on an iPhone or iPad — open the Music app, select a song, then tap the microphone icon and adjust the vocal volume accordingly.
