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How to Turn On a Music Visualizer While Playing Music on iPhone, iPad, and Mac

How to Turn On a Music Visualizer While Playing Music on iPhone, iPad, and Mac

Artem Meleshko
Artem Meleshko Founder & Engineer at Everappz

Short answer: Evermusic and Flacbox both have a full-screen music visualizer that paints moving, colorful visuals in time with your music. Open it from the Now Playing player (⋯ More > Visualization) or from Settings > Visualization, then pick a preset or Auto and tap Start visualization. On the visualizer screen, tap once to show or hide the controls and use the Previous and Next arrows to change the look. It uses the well-known Milkdrop (projectM) engine with 500 presets, renders with OpenGL, and works on iPhone, iPad, and Mac. The steps are the same in both apps. Full steps are below.

Music visualizer: Starfield Sectors preset

What Is the Visualizer?

The visualizer is a moving light show that reacts to your music in real time. As the song plays, the sound drives the shapes, colors, and motion on screen, so quiet moments look calm and loud moments burst with energy. It is great on a big screen, on a Mac, or just to enjoy the music in a new way. The same visualizer is built into both Evermusic and Flacbox, and it works the same way in each.

Under the hood it uses Milkdrop-style presets through the open-source projectM engine, the same family of visuals many people remember from desktop music players. Each preset is a different animated scene, and the app ships with 500 of them. The visuals are drawn with OpenGL for smooth, GPU-accelerated animation.

How to Turn On the Visualizer

There are two ways to open it, and they are the same in Evermusic and Flacbox.

From the player (fastest):

  1. Open the Now Playing player screen.
  2. Tap the ⋯ (More) button.
  3. Tap Visualization.

From Settings:

  1. Go to the Settings tab.
  2. Tap Visualization.

Either way, you land on the preset picker.

The Preset Picker

The preset picker is a simple list where you choose how the visualizer starts:

  • Auto sits at the top of the list. Pick it to let the app shuffle through the presets on its own, changing to a new one every 30 seconds with a smooth crossfade. This is the easiest way to enjoy the show without touching anything.
  • Any named preset (the list is sorted by name) starts the visualizer on that exact look. The preset you used last is remembered and highlighted, so it is easy to find again.

Once you have made your choice, tap Start visualization and the full-screen show begins. As the app puts it: “Select a preset to start with it, or use Auto mode which shuffles through the presets, switching every 30 seconds with a smooth crossfade.”

The Controls on the Visualizer Screen

The visualizer runs full-screen so nothing gets in the way of the visuals. Tap anywhere once to bring up the controls, and tap again (or just wait a few seconds) to hide them so you get a clean, full-screen picture.

When the controls are showing, you will see:

  • Preset title and counter (top center). The name of the current preset, with a counter underneath, like 429 / 500, so you always know which one you are looking at and how many there are. In the screenshot above, the current preset is Starfield Sectors.
  • Previous and Next arrows (bottom). Tap Next (>) to jump to the next look, or Previous (<) to go back. This lets you flip through the presets by hand until you find one you love.
  • Close button (top corner). Tap it to leave the visualizer and return to the app.

The screen also stays awake while the visualizer is on, so it will not dim or lock in the middle of the show.

How to Change the Preset

You have two easy ways to change the look:

  1. By hand. Tap the screen to show the controls, then use the Previous and Next arrows to move through the presets one at a time. The title and counter at the top update as you go, and the app remembers the last preset you landed on for next time.
  2. Automatically. Start the visualizer in Auto mode (from the preset picker). The app then shuffles through the presets for you, switching every 30 seconds with a gentle crossfade, so the show keeps changing on its own.

iPhone, iPad, and Mac

The visualizer works in both Evermusic and Flacbox, on iOS and macOS:

  • On iPhone and iPad, it fills the screen and is drawn with OpenGL ES, so it stays smooth even on a Retina display.
  • On Mac, the app opens the visualizer in its own window and draws it with native desktop OpenGL, so you get the same reactive Milkdrop visuals on the big screen.

Either way, the visuals react to the exact audio you are playing, whether that is a local FLAC file, a track from a cloud drive or media server, or an internet radio stream.

Tips

  • Tap once to hide the controls for a clean, full-screen picture, then tap again to bring them back.
  • Try Auto mode the first time, then switch to picking presets by hand once you find styles you like.
  • The counter (like 429 / 500) helps you remember favorites, so you can flip back to a preset you enjoyed.
  • Keep it playing. The visuals follow the music, so the more dynamic the track, the more the scene moves.
  • On Mac, resize the visualizer window to fit your display or a second screen.

FAQ

How do I turn on the visualizer in Evermusic or Flacbox?
Open the Now Playing player, tap the ⋯ (More) button, and choose Visualization. You can also open it from Settings > Visualization. Then pick a preset (or Auto) and tap Start visualization. The steps are the same in both apps.
What is the visualizer based on?
It uses the open-source projectM engine, which plays Milkdrop-style presets. These are the animated, music-reactive visuals many people know from desktop music players. Both Evermusic and Flacbox include 500 presets and draw them with OpenGL.
How many visualizer presets are there?
500 presets. Each one is a different animated scene, and you can move through them with the Next and Previous arrows, or let Auto mode shuffle through them for you.
Does the visualizer react to the music?
Yes. The visuals respond to the audio you are playing in real time, so the shapes, colors, and motion change with the beat and energy of the track. It works with local files, cloud drives, media servers, and internet radio.
How do I change the visualizer preset?
Tap the screen once to show the controls, then use the Previous and Next arrows at the bottom to move between presets. The name and counter at the top (for example, 429 / 500) update as you change them. You can also start in Auto mode to have the app switch presets automatically.
What is Auto mode?
Auto mode, chosen from the preset picker, shuffles through the presets on its own, switching to a new one every 30 seconds with a smooth crossfade. It is the easiest way to enjoy the show without touching the screen.
How do I hide the on-screen controls?
Tap the screen once to hide the controls for a clean, full-screen view, and tap again to bring them back. The controls also hide by themselves after a few seconds.
Does the visualizer work on Mac?
Yes. On Mac, both Evermusic and Flacbox open the visualizer in its own window and draw it with native desktop OpenGL, so you get the same music-reactive Milkdrop visuals on a large screen.
Does the visualizer work on iPhone and iPad?
Yes. On iPhone and iPad it runs full-screen, drawn with OpenGL ES for smooth animation on Retina displays.
Will my screen dim or lock while the visualizer is running?
No. The app keeps the screen awake while the visualizer is on, so the show will not be interrupted by the display dimming or locking.
Does the app remember my chosen preset?
Yes. The last preset you selected is saved and highlighted in the preset picker, so it is easy to return to your favorite.
Where does the current preset name show?
At the top center of the visualizer screen, along with a counter such as 429 / 500 that shows which preset you are on out of the full set. In the example screenshot, the preset is Starfield Sectors.
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