FAQs

Does Albums! save the music on my mobile?

No. Albums! only administers references in your library. The music that you want to listen to has to be in your library.

It’s not possible to add any music titles to Albums!. Why not?

You either don’t have any music in your library, so you just need to add music to your library by using Apple Music or iTunes. Or you haven’t allowed Albums! to access your library. If you want to allow Albums! access to your library, open „settings“ in your iOS app, tap Albums!, and allow access to your library.

Why can I directly listen to music using Apple Music but not with Albums!?

Apple only allows third parties (third manufacturers?) [yes, we’d say third parties] access to music in your library. So first add music in Apple Music to your library. Then Albums! makes your music available to you either automatically by Auto Boxes, or you can add it to your favorite Box.

Can I play playlists with Albums!?

Yes, you can add playlists just like albums or songs to a Box. You can use each medium individually or the complete Box as a ”super playlist“.

Can I listen to music in Albums! offline?

Yes, you can. Music that you have downloaded to your library can be listened to offline when using Albums!

Why does Albums! show that music is not in my library?

This can happen for several reasons, including the chance that you have deleted music in your library. If you are offline, Albums! only has access to music you have already downloaded to your library. Other titles are indicated as unavailable. If you use a Box that you have received by mail and inserted into Albums!, it may be possible that the music from this Box is not yet available in your library. Add the relevant music to your library by using Apple Music or iTunes.[

Why aren’t covers sometimes shown?

You either have music in your library that does not have a cover or your library hasn’t added the corresponding cover to the cache. The cover can usually be seen after you have listened to it with Albums!

Can I create Boxes in Boxes?

Yes, you can. Just add further Boxes within one Box. You can insert subordinate Boxes just like music media. For a better overview you can structure your Box with dividing lines.

Why isn’t it possible to mark more than five favorites?

 Nun ja, die Box heißt ‚Top Five‘. 🙂 Wir wollen, dass in dieser Box nur deine fünf aktuellen absoluten Favoriten enthalten sind, damit die Box wirklich schnell und übersichtlich bleibt. Für alles andere hast du Boxes.

Why doesn’t the music or the audiobook continue playing from the position where I stopped?

Albums! can only memorize the position where you stopped if you stop it with the help of the Albums! player.

Can I play the Albums! app permanently in the foreground?

Yes, you can. In “settings“ you can define this. But we don’t recommend doing so, because it strongly impacts the running time of your battery.

Why can I see functions in videos that I can’t select?

This can happen if you don’t use the iPhone 6S or higher. Only these iPhones have a 3D touch, which offers the opportunity to press your screen a bit harder to trigger certain actions.

Can I copy music into another Box?

Yes, you can. Albums, songs and playlists can be copied. Simply swipe on the relevant medium in the view of the Box to the left and tap ”copy“.

Questions on sharing with your friends and with other devices

Can I share a Box or an album?

Yes, you can. You need to select ”to send as email“ among the functions for sharing. Albums! creates an email with the Box as attachment. This Box only contains the references in the library, not the music media itself.

I have received a Box by mail. Why can’t I play some music that is in this Box?

Albums! doesn’t send any music or songs, but only the references in the library, If you have received a Box by mail, add the missing songs or Albums to your library by using Apple Music or iTunes.

How do I transfer all my Boxes to another device - for example from iPhone to iPad?

In the default setting, Albums! makes a back-up of all the boxes that are in your personal iCloud. If your iPad is registered with the same Apple ID as your iPhone, you just need to tap ”restore“ in settings and select the relevant back-up. Then you will have the same content on your iPad and your iPhone.

If I de-install my app, will I lose all my data (Boxes)?

Not if you have activated your iCloud. By default, Albums! makes a back-up of all your Boxes in your personal iCloud. This back-up is kept even after de-installing the app. Use the iCloud app or your Mac to have a look at the data in your iCloud in the folder „albums“ and / or to delete it.

Questions concerning your privacy and data protection

Why does Albums! want to access my position?

Depending on time and place, Albums! can automatically offer you music in the Box ”Here and now“. Albums! gets to know your listening habits. In the search function you can also see on a map when and where you listened to which music. Together with the photos you might have taken, you can experience this moment again. You can also create your own Auto Boxes to offer you selected music in the Auto Box ”Here and now“ when you are at a certain place.

Does Albums! share my position or when and where I listened to music with a third person?

No. Your private data should remain private. This is very important to us. Your data referring to your location are only stored locally in the device you used when listening to music with Albums!.

How long does Albums! store data concerning when and where I listened to music?

At the moment data are deleted when they are older than a year or if there is too much data.

Why does Albums! want to send messages to me?

Albums! usually analyses your listening habits and will create Auto Boxes automatically after some time—for example, all albums of the current year or of an artist you listen to very often. Albums! informs you when such an Auto Box has been created.

Why does Albums! want to have access to my photos?

Albums! accesses your photos on two occasions: when you create a Box and want to use one of your photos as a cover and when showing you appropriate photos for a local search.

Does Albums! share private data such as photos with a third person?

No. Your private data should remain private. This is very important to us. Albums! doesn’t share your data automatically with a third party. It’s up to you to decide what should be shared. At the moment, only contents of Boxes that you can send by mail can be shared. The contents only show the references, but no information about when and where the songs were listened to. Using the text editor, you can see the content if you re-name them in *.txt.

Is all the music from Apple Music added to the Auto Boxes?

Only when you add music from Apple Music or iTunes to your library can it be used in your Auto Boxes. If you create an Auto Box ”My jazz albums“ for example, only albums of the jazz genre that are already in your library are added, although there are more albums of jazz in Apple Music.

Is it possible to reactivate the use of my position or the access to my photos again?

If you tap Albums! in your iOS settings of your app, you can decide what the app is allowed to do. In the settings of Albums! itself you can activate and deactivate further functions.

Why doesn’t Albums! sometimes show music on the map?

The app has to be played in the foreground to record when and where music was played with the Albums! player. The map function should be fun, so it doesn’t claim completeness.

Questions concerning the Apple Watch

How can I stop playing the music for a short time?

Select the Albums! app on the Apple watch and press the watch face a bit more strongly. You will be able to see several buttons to pause and to play the music, and to load the list of the Boxes again if something has gone wrong during the data transfer between iPhone and Apple watch.

Why should I add „complications“ (the small logos on the watch face) to the Apple watch?

Although the Albums! complications only show the Albums! logo, they offer a quick and handy way to open the Albums! app on the Apple Watch.

Why do I sometimes see no or only blurred covers on my Apple Watch?

If your Boxes change very often, a lot of data has to be transferred between iPhone and Apple watch. It might take time until the covers reach the Apple watch. But it is possible to play the music in the meantime.

Questions on the YouTube player

I can’t add some YouTube videos to Albums! or I can’t play them. Why not?

Google allows only certain videos to be played by external players. You have to use the original YouTube app to play all the other videos.

Why do some YouTube videos not appear in a search?

Google allows only certain videos to be played by external players. You have to use the original YouTube app to play all the other videos. Most videos are filtered out when searched for in Albums!.

Why does the YouTube search in Albums! sometimes fail to work?

Only a certain number of searches per day in Google are free of charge. Try again the next day, please.

Can I add a certain YouTube video to Albums!?

If you don’t want to use the search function in Albums! then search for the videos in the YouTube app and tap “share“. Share the video as a link. Then open Albums!, and in a Box select „add/add as video Id“. You can add the copied video Id to your Box.

Why can’t I play YouTube videos in the background?

Google only allows videos to be played in the foreground.

Can I play the Albums! app permanently in the foreground?

Yes, you can. In “settings“ you can define this. But we don’t recommend doing so, because it strongly impacts the running time of your battery.

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