When it came to iOS 10, one of the biggest gripes of long time Apple users wasn’t the slight pivot to the overarching design language. It was the removal of the Star rating feature in the Music app. For someone who’s been using this feature in iTunes for more than a decade, seeing it disappear from the iPhone would of course not be pleasing. Well, Apple heard your outcry and they’ve brought it back, kind of. It’s not enabled by default and it’s only available if you upgrade to iOS 10.2.
Read: What’s New in iOS 10.2
As it stands, iOS 10.2 is the latest update to iOS operating system. First, go to the “Settings” app, open “General“, then “Software Update” and make sure you’re running iOS 10.2.
How to Enable Star Rating
Now, in the “Settings” app, go to the “Music” section and toggle the “Show Star Ratings” option. Just like that, the feature is enabled.
How to Use Star Rating in iOS 10.2
Even when enabled, star ratings in the Music app are kind of hidden. You won’t find the feature prominently displayed in the Now Playing screen.
Instead, if you have an iPhone 6s or above, you’ll have to 3D Touch a song title to bring up the contextual menu. There you’ll find the “Rate Song” option.
Tap on it and a popup asking you the star rating between 1 and 5 will show up. Rate it and tap on “Done“. As you can see, Apple clearly hasn’t made this easy for you.
Of your device doesn’t have 3D Touch, you can get to the feature using the three dotted options menu. It’s the button in the bottom-right corner of the Now Playing screen, as highlighted in the screenshot below. Tap on it to find the same “Rate Song” option.
Starting to Warn up to the Music App?
It’s no secret that the big iOS 9 redesign of the Music app left a lot of long time users confused and frustrated. Seems like Apple has been redesigning parts of the app to make it more hospitable for such users. Is it working? Share with us in the comments below.
