@katrina, I am syncing, not manually managing, and only to one device, on Windows. Not sure if my tags are uniform - I use the latest MP3Tag for all tagging, not iTunes, so possibly many are the latest, I could check that. I don't rip in iTunes either (use dbPowerAmp). I suspect that the issue with many of the playlist anomalies is that when I periodically notice albums that somehow have ended up not in iTunes, or when I rip a much-listened CD and don't want it to show up as unplayed, I use a java script to adjust playcount. That generates tracks that have a playcount above zero but no last played date and that confuses some of my smart playlists. (A few incidents are still mysterious to me though - I have occasionally e.g. had an album stay on a "not played in the last..." playlist after I just played it and then synced, but I am suspecting that my device-level music app, TapTunes, may be the fault there as it is sometimes a bit suspect in updating playlists on the device.)
Hmm. So I plugged in my iPod touch as usual and iTunes has decided to re-copy all the tracks on the ipod from the music library, all 4388 of them. I am not sure I dare interrupt it.
I must admit that is my view Katrina - wait a few weeks. My problem is that it has downloaded to my phone but not installed and is taking up an enormous amount of memory. I will leave it as long as I can though....
I upgraded my iPad and iPhone 6 last night. Took a while but both were relatively painless. I suspect battery drain is a problem, more or less what is to be expected with a new iOS these days.
So far no iPhone issues (however, I am not a heavy user of this particular drug). The iPad is fine as well, although Keynote (which I use every day for classes) uses the file system and dropbox locks up. It is possible it is not locked up but trying to deal with too many files.
An iTunes query. I've checked a couple of forums but no help there, so I wondered if anyone else has come across this issue. My wife recently bought a new car. Although it links well to my iPod, I've found it is much easier to use playlists, especially if you need to change whilst driving. I set up two smart playlists by the same artist, each meeting my slightly different criteria on iTunes. Yet when I check on my iPod Touch the two playlists are different from those in iTunes, and are, in fact, identical to each other. It looks like they could be just meeting the first criteria only. Anyone else come across this? Any solutions?
We recently got a new car too; they don’t even come with CD players anymore! I’m finally going to have to get used to playlists and devices and things. sorry I don’t know anything about smart playlists though
I have a Windows 10 computer with a small SSD (for programs etc) and a honking big HDD (for files etc). Not many months after putting this machine in operation, I found that the SSD was almost full! Cheated my way around it until I finally had to figure out what was eating all the space. Turned out I had *44 G* of iPhone update files, from a phone that I replaced at least two years ago. I don't think those files are being kept for my current phone, but I'm wise to this space-eating issue now, in any case! The file extension is *.ipsw, in case that info's helpful to anyone
That's interesting Doofy, thanks. I've got a similar set up with a small SSD and much larger HDD. I now keep all my photos on a couple of external drive (a normal wired drive and a WD iCloud) ie two copies of everything, so that saves some space. I recently discovered that some new photos had also been saved to my SSD automatically (I think a setting had been changed during an update but they did include lots of photos taken on iPhones) and they were taking up 45% of my SSD. I must admit though I am glad I went this route, as my computer gets going just as quick as my iPad.
Grrrr. Just had iTunes (12.9.4.94 on macOS) change the tracks in a couple of albums to 789 hours long... As far as I can see the audio files have not been touched, the meta data all looks unchanged, as are the time stamps.
This has now happened to three albums, all bought from 7 digital (doubt that is significant, but...). Doing a file compare against saved copies of the original downloads, shows the files being identical. As the files all play without a problem elsewhere, it looks as if the problem is with the data saved in iTunes.
Apple will be replacing iTunes with standalone Music, TV, and Podcasts
apps in the next major version of macOS, expected to be unveiled at WWDC 2019 next week...
I'm not sure how I feel about this, other than being glad I haven't used it much for the last 4 years or so.
Yeah, this is sad for me. It's been a part of my life nearly every day for 18 years. Yeah, they took away some features that I liked using about 15 years ago - and a few recent ones, but we'll see what they do to replace it. I've reached a million+ tunes on this and I'll miss it when the time comes to update the OS. Of course my last update was from Snow Leopard (which I still boot from another drive) to Capitan, so it may still be many years - probably 2025 - before I update. I'll have to say, tho, that the music and podcast bits were the only things I used.
I have a seriously dumb question about the iTunes discontinuation... I will still be able to use my iTunes library and upload my Bandcamp etc purchases to it, right? It's not going anywhere, just that Apple won't support it anymore and make updates to it. Will it become a security issue at some point if there's no more updates/support?
My understanding is that it’ll be like the other changes they do: When the new OS comes out, it’ll be without iTunes. You’ll be able to use iTunes as long as you don’t update. I was able, for example, to use all kinds of apps inside OS 10.6 for over 6 years until I relented and upgraded to OS 10.11. I can still use 10.6, but I have it on a separate drive and have to boot my machine into it. Unless they do something weird or stupid, my guess is that you’ll be able to continue with iTunes.
I've read that there will be a new music programme which iTunes music will seamlessly migrate to. Similarly with podcasts. Given that I haven't updated iTunes for at least two years it may not impact me for a while. However, I am an iPhone user so I might have to change as I've set that to upgrade automatically. As far as possible I will wait as long as I can to change iTunes on my computer. I do wonder if they are doing it to improve, ie add to, music functionality on iPhones in particular.
"It’s likely that Apple will keep iTunes around for a short while, at least in some form. It remains the only way for people to manage older iPod devices that never had internet connections and so can’t stream music." <- From an Independent story, will spare you the link.
The iPhone already has separate apps that work just fine with iTunes/iPod, so I'm cautiously optimistic that any new desktop app will do the same. Will be sorry to lose iTunes playlists/play counts etc, but I suppose it's inevitable eventually.
I love my little iPod shuffle(s) and am quite dependent on it for working out...Hopefully there will continue to be some kind of way to manage it.
Will be sorry to lose iTunes playlists/play counts etc, but I suppose it's inevitable eventually.
I'll be devastated if I lose smart playlists and concomitant metadata, but I don't think it's obvious they'll drop those. As you note, the iOS Music app already deals with that metadata and afaik handles dynamic smart playlists.
@kargatron I don't expect those functions will be lost right away; indeed, the news story above suggests otherwise. The current iPhone music app works fine with playlists. Just anticipating that somewhere down the line, all that iTunes stuff will disappear into the mists of time.
This world is not built for those of us who have big, carefully curated libraries/playlists. I bet few music streaming customers are very attached to their playlists, or would be much inconvenienced by losing them.
Details dribbling out today, this from Ars Technica: "Going forward, Mac users will be able to sync their iOS devices' music libraries in the Mac's Finder. The backup-and-restore functionality for iOS devices that currently exists in iTunes will also be available in the Finder.
Apple did not say what will happen with iTunes for Windows. Apple also did not say how existing users will be able to port media libraries from iTunes to the new apps."
The good news is, there is a new iPod Touch with capacity up to 256 GB at a quite decent price of $399. And it has a headphone jack! It also does some gaming stuff that probably none of us care about https://www.apple.com/ipod-touch/ On the [probably] safe assumption that it will play nicely with my iTunes library, this will be a natural for me.
My goodness, that will hold lots of music! My Touch is half that size, and already holds a lot. I must admit though that at that price it will be tempting me.
Comments
Oh, and just in general, this guy Sam has written a lot of cool vb scripts for iTunes on Windows and is trustworthy, I vouch for him
Apologies if I've shared his website before and it's a repeat post - and apologies if I have not.
I've used his scripts for years. Wonderful, generous with his time & knowledge.
I suspect that the issue with many of the playlist anomalies is that when I periodically notice albums that somehow have ended up not in iTunes, or when I rip a much-listened CD and don't want it to show up as unplayed, I use a java script to adjust playcount. That generates tracks that have a playcount above zero but no last played date and that confuses some of my smart playlists. (A few incidents are still mysterious to me though - I have occasionally e.g. had an album stay on a "not played in the last..." playlist after I just played it and then synced, but I am suspecting that my device-level music app, TapTunes, may be the fault there as it is sometimes a bit suspect in updating playlists on the device.)
Plus, my Tivo app says it won't work with iOS11 ; 0
So far nothing is broken.
@greg, I'm not letting it download yet, until I can be sure Tivo will work.
@Plong42, good to know someone had success!
Yeah, they took away some features that I liked using about 15 years ago - and a few recent ones, but we'll see what they do to replace it. I've reached a million+ tunes on this and I'll miss it when the time comes to update the OS. Of course my last update was from Snow Leopard (which I still boot from another drive) to Capitan, so it may still be many years - probably 2025 - before I update. I'll have to say, tho, that the music and podcast bits were the only things I used.
When the new OS comes out, it’ll be without iTunes.
You’ll be able to use iTunes as long as you don’t update.
I was able, for example, to use all kinds of apps inside
OS 10.6 for over 6 years until I relented and upgraded to
OS 10.11. I can still use 10.6, but I have it on a separate drive
and have to boot my machine into it. Unless they do something
weird or stupid, my guess is that you’ll be able to continue with iTunes.
The iPhone already has separate apps that work just fine with iTunes/iPod, so I'm cautiously optimistic that any new desktop app will do the same. Will be sorry to lose iTunes playlists/play counts etc, but I suppose it's inevitable eventually.
I love my little iPod shuffle(s) and am quite dependent on it for working out...Hopefully there will continue to be some kind of way to manage it.
This world is not built for those of us who have big, carefully curated libraries/playlists. I bet few music streaming customers are very attached to their playlists, or would be much inconvenienced by losing them.
Details dribbling out today, this from Ars Technica: "Going forward, Mac users will be able to sync their iOS devices' music libraries in the Mac's Finder. The backup-and-restore functionality for iOS devices that currently exists in iTunes will also be available in the Finder.
Apple did not say what will happen with iTunes for Windows. Apple also did not say how existing users will be able to port media libraries from iTunes to the new apps."