Can you add music to a Keynote presentation?

[LaCroix]

Anyone know how to add background music to a presentation?

 

[Tim SPRACKLEN]

You cannot add music to a Keynote presentation on the iPad itself. However, a PowerPoint file with embedded audio can be imported and will play just fine. So the trick is to embed the audio on a desktop machine first of all.

Tim

 

[LaCroix]

Thanks for the reply. That's too bad, it would be a nice feature.

 

[Tim SPRACKLEN]

The problem is that the apps in an iPad are isolated ('sandboxed') so that one app does not have access to another app's filespace. So music, for example, stored in the iPod application cannot be accessed directly the Keynote app. It's not technically impossible because Keynote could register with iOS (the iPad's operating system) its ability to handle music or audio files. Then, in the iPod app, it would be possible to use the iOS 'Open In' facility, which asks iOS if there's another app out there that can process that format of file. If iOS finds it has an app that's registered its capability to process audio files, then it will be offered as a potential 'destination' when using 'Open In'.

If you selected Keynote iOS would make a copy of the audio file and transfer it to Keynote's private file space, where it would be available. Maybe for a future release - we can only hope....

Maybe other Members know of a workaround - there is often a way - so hopefully you'll get some more feedback. Our Member twerp poet seems to know almost every workaround there is, and he's posting at the moment, so I'm sure he'll soon be here with some better advice than mine.

Tim

 

[twerppoet]

There is a round about way to add music to Keynote. It's not very satifying and it only works on a slide by slide basis, not overall.

You need iMovie. The music must be in your iPod app on the iPad.

You open iMovie, make a new project, select a picture to give yourself a frame, then add a music track from the library. Tap on the frame and drag it so that it is as long as the music track.

When done you export the finished movie to the Photos app. From there you can import it into Keynote just like a photo.

It's big, clunky, and a memory hog, but it works.

If you don't know how to use iMovie there are some tutorials on Apple's site. They will be a lot easier to follow than anything I would post here.