Ready for Karaoke Night? How to Use Apple Music Sing

Hosting a karaoke night this holiday season? Fancy some tunes on your own? Apple has just introduced Apple Music Sing, a new karaoke feature for Apple Music, with its latest operating system updates. It is available to all subscribers of the music streaming service via supported iPhones, iPads and Apple TVs. Here’s how to put your vocal talents to the test.

How to use Apple Music Sing

(Credit: Apple)

Many songs in Apple Music include real-time lyrics that help you follow along as the song progresses. However, only Sing-enabled songs are optimized for karaoke mode. On compatible songs, tap the quote icon to see the lyrics, then use the microphone icon to adjust the volume of the original artist’s voice. Background vocals are left intact with lyrics in a smaller font hidden under the headlines. For songs that have a duet, lyrics will line up on the left and right of the screen to indicate different singers’ parts.

How to find karaoke songs

(Credit: Tyler Hayes/Apple)

Apple says millions of songs are part of the Sing feature at launch, as well as 50 dedicated companion playlists. Currently, Sing-enabled karaoke-enabled tracks can be found in a dedicated section within Apple Music. On an iPhone, tap the Search icon at the bottom of the app, then select the compilation section for Sing tracks. Within this collection, there are more curated playlists of karaoke songs such as holiday and duets.

Which devices support Apple Music Sing?

To use the karaoke feature, you must be using a device with an A13 Bionic chip (or later). There was no explanation as to why this hardware is tied to the feature, but it means your supported options are limited.

To use Apple Music Sing on an iPhone, you need an iPhone SE (2022), or a device from the iPhone 11, iPhone 12, iPhone 13, or iPhone 14 family of phones running iOS 16.2 and up. For iPad models, you must have at least a 5th gen 12.9-inch iPad Pro, 3rd gen 11-inch iPad Pro, 4th gen iPad Air, 6th gen iPad mini, or 9th gen iPad, running iPadOS 16.2

If you plan to use the karaoke feature on a television, you’ll need the Apple TV 4K released in late 2022, running the latest version of tvOS. At this time, Apple Music Sing is not currently supported on Mac computers or via Apple Music for Android.

Are microphones compatible with Apple Music Sing?

Although Sing is intended to be used as a DIY karaoke system on your phone, the Music app is not directly compatible with hardware accessories, such as microphones. However, that doesn’t mean you’re out of luck when it comes to the setup experience.

You can connect your iPhone or iPad to an external speaker to increase the music volume, and a microphone can be used with that setup to create your own karaoke station. Microphone sets(Opens in a new window) can be purchased from a number of online stores, including Amazon.