Danetrain83

Q: Shuffle repeats songs?


When I'm playing songs on my iPhone with the "shuffle" option on it repeats songs that have already been played before the remaining songs in the playlist have been played. I noticed this change with the iOS 8 update. Is this a bug or something I can fix?

iPhone 5, iOS 7.0.4

Posted on Jul 28, 2015 8:36 PM

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Q: Shuffle repeats songs?

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  • by Jarathen,Helpful

    Jarathen Jarathen Jul 31, 2015 12:58 PM in response to Danetrain83
    Level 1 (19 points)
    Jul 31, 2015 12:58 PM in response to Danetrain83

    I've noticed the same thing. It's like it loses its place and then goes back several songs and replays them. It's hard to pinpoint because if I try to duplicate it with smaller playlists I can't trick it, but I've noticed it while otherwise not touching my phone when I Shuffle All or larger playlists (40+ tracks even)

  • by OOLIE19,

    OOLIE19 OOLIE19 Aug 5, 2015 7:49 PM in response to Danetrain83
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Aug 5, 2015 7:49 PM in response to Danetrain83

    You're absolutely right.  I have many large playlist and the problem doesn't happen when I am first playing the list, but if I stop listening and return to the playlist later maybe the next day it starts either at the beginning or at least 10 songs back and repeats the same order.  My son said he was experiencing the same thing which is what put it on my radar as a glitch and brought me to this post.  I have been doing this playing style for years and just noticed the problem recently so I know it is a glitch.  I have an iPhone 6 and my son has iPhone 5 so it is not just related to one model and seems to be a software glitch.

  • by Abarylak,

    Abarylak Abarylak Sep 9, 2015 6:23 AM in response to Danetrain83
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 9, 2015 6:23 AM in response to Danetrain83

    I have also noticed this behavior.  I definitely noticed this when i was playing a playlist over the last few days, and was mowing the lawn the first day, then listened to the playlist at work the next day, then was line trimming yesterday, and explicitly heard the same songs as when i was mowing the lawn in the same order.  This was obviously after pausing and resuming the playlist.  My playlist has over 1000 songs in it, so i normally never hear the same song twice within a week of resuming the playlist.

     

    This has definitely started with iOS8.

  • by Jarathen,

    Jarathen Jarathen Sep 9, 2015 7:00 AM in response to Abarylak
    Level 1 (19 points)
    Sep 9, 2015 7:00 AM in response to Abarylak

    I hadn't had it happen for a little while but it reared its ugly head again yesterday during Shuffle All.


    This bug has actually caused me to alter my listening habits. For new albums, i just listen straight through. I only ever shuffle All Music and have to keep an ear out for the problem, which is the opposite of what shuffle is for.

     

    I hope iOS9 fixes this.

  • by CoJeff,

    CoJeff CoJeff Sep 22, 2015 1:22 PM in response to Abarylak
    Level 4 (2,969 points)
    iTunes
    Sep 22, 2015 1:22 PM in response to Abarylak

    I agree this started happening with iOS8. I have roughly 3500 songs on my phone and there is no way I should ever hear a repeat within a day along with a month. When I notice the shuffle being stuck I go back to the 'Shuffle All songs' again. Its really annoying! I spend a lot of time on my songs, rating and formatting them. When I shuffle all songs it gets the list from multiple playlists. A couple of them are smartlists and at least one static list.

     

    The other problem is iTunes losing my ratings!

  • by Abarylak,

    Abarylak Abarylak Oct 14, 2015 1:18 PM in response to Danetrain83
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 14, 2015 1:18 PM in response to Danetrain83

    I now have the new iPhone 6s with iOS 9, and I am still having the issue.  I suggest that everyone that is having this issue to please open a case with Apple if you're able (you can use the "Just upgraded to new iOS" or if you have a new device you get free support).  If you're not able to open a case with Apple, please submit feedback using the following URL: http://www.apple.com/feedback/

     

    Now that that is said.  I had an obvious occasion where i started a playlist on Saturday, then paused it.  Then, Monday Morning i resumed playing the playlist, and it started playing from the same first song from Saturday, and continued to play songs in the exact same order.  Now, i haven't had it re-start this playlist again yet, but i also have obvious instances where it is repeating songs.  I have also taken screenshots of this duplication within the "Up Next" list.  The first time i noticed that it was including already played songs in the shuffle later was when i again heard the first song that was played on Saturday as well as Monday morning.  I heard this song again on Tuesday.  I have also heard a few more duplicates again today (Wednesday), and have screenshots of those duplicates as well.

     

    This is definitely an issue which iOS 9 did not resolve.  I am also working with Apple support regarding this issue, but hopefully if more people report the problem, then it may be resolved sooner.

     

    Thanks.

  • by -rye-=987=-,

    -rye-=987=- -rye-=987=- Nov 17, 2015 2:23 PM in response to Danetrain83
    Level 2 (307 points)
    Mac OS X
    Nov 17, 2015 2:23 PM in response to Danetrain83

    I'm also having this issue, and I have been having it for months actually. I've submit probably 5 complaints/requests via the feedback link, and today I finally called Apple about it. They said they'd never heard of it and suggest I restore my phone.

  • by bapriest1,

    bapriest1 bapriest1 Dec 17, 2015 4:49 PM in response to -rye-=987=-
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 17, 2015 4:49 PM in response to -rye-=987=-

    my best solution was to create a Smart Playlist ("Recently Played") where it captures songs played in the last 1 or 2 days (it's configurable) and then I create my main smart playlists with shuffle on that has the primary filter (ex: "Genre = Rock" AND "Rating = > 1 Star") along with the condition that is "Playlist <> Recently Played

     

    When you haven't played any music in the last few days (based on setting in the "Recently Played" Smartlist), the list is the sum total of all # songs that meet the primary condition.  As you play them the list shrinks because they've been played and the shuffle function can no longer find them because they are not on the list as they begin to show up on the Recently Played playlist.  Note that if you skip a song without it completing, it does not show up as played (either in the played count or in the date_last_played field) so it remains eligible to be repeated.

  • by finton13,

    finton13 finton13 Mar 13, 2016 8:36 PM in response to Danetrain83
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 13, 2016 8:36 PM in response to Danetrain83

    This problem seems to be way too common for Apple to not take notice.  My iPhone 6 repeats songs that makes listening frustrating.

  • by OOLIE19,

    OOLIE19 OOLIE19 Mar 21, 2016 5:13 PM in response to Danetrain83
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Mar 21, 2016 5:13 PM in response to Danetrain83

    I read months ago that the solution would be supposedly in 9.3 now that it is here hopefully we will hear success stories.  I am still skeptical but hope to be wrong.

  • by Minok,

    Minok Minok Apr 22, 2016 9:37 AM in response to Danetrain83
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Apr 22, 2016 9:37 AM in response to Danetrain83

    ((Why is this forum so mobile iPhone/safari unfriendly?))

     

    ive got got the same issue.  Just verified by checking the recent and future playlist.

     

    I Play my playlist on shuffle in small sessions- 10 minutes or so each morning, so covering maybe 5 songs a go.

     

    Thousand of songs in the play list Likely.

     

    THe the song coming up in 5 tracks was played about 55 tracks ago.  So it's repeating after about 60 tracks.

    SO while I have a huge playlist I'm trying to shuffle through I jeep gearing the same small section of it over and over.

    THis is was feature 1 of the iPhone from the iPod days: play music. How is this not working well ?!

     

    ios 9.3.1. So no thatching fix it.

  • by Taeyeong,

    Taeyeong Taeyeong Apr 26, 2016 8:29 PM in response to Danetrain83
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Video
    Apr 26, 2016 8:29 PM in response to Danetrain83

        I've found an answer to put an end with this endless strife with Apple,

    just abandon Original music player App by downloading diffrent one from Appstore,

    ( for there are several dozen of them of much better quality)


    <Edited by Host>

  • by Mordyfied,

    Mordyfied Mordyfied May 3, 2016 12:16 PM in response to bapriest1
    Level 1 (4 points)
    May 3, 2016 12:16 PM in response to bapriest1

    Thanks for this! This will work as a workaround until Apple (hopefully) fixes this issue.

  • by thiskneeguy,

    thiskneeguy thiskneeguy Aug 9, 2016 10:41 AM in response to Danetrain83
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Aug 9, 2016 10:41 AM in response to Danetrain83

    I've had this exact same issue which brought me to this thread. I, too, also had the problem where it would lose its place and a day later would go back and play 5-10 songs it previously played on the list. I also have issues where I would hit "Shuffle" on a playlist and I would hear songs repeated (sometimes several times) before other songs were played. The behavior used to be that I'd hit shuffle and it would play each song once all the way through the playlist until it got to the end, which at that time it would stop.

     

    Up until today, I struggled my way through this by just hitting "Next" and hope it wasn't a song I already heard. The last straw for me was when I hit "Next" the exact same song was played. I couldn't believe it so I hit "Back" and it was the same song.

     

    In my opinion, this is a MAJOR fail on Apple's part for this to have gone on as long as it has. I firmly believe that Apple Music is to blame. Well, I've abandoned the native iOS music player app and have purchased Ecoute for $1 from the App Store. Let me tell you, it's the BEST dollar that I've ever spent.

     

    And Apple... shame on you. Steve Jobs would be super-****** about this gaffe.

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