I just upgraded my Macbook pro to Catalina, but I never would have done that if I realized there is no way to manually manage my music on my iPod classic. My computer recognizes my iPod, but does not give me the ability to manage playlists and songs. I do not want to sync. I want to manage manually. How can I do this with the new upgrade?
iPod Classic
This is honestly a huge oversight by Apple and a major frustration as a daily user of an iPod classic. I did however find a clumsy yet effective workaround.
Like is said this is a sloppy workaround but the only method I found to work. Inexplicably some albums give the option to add directly to my device when right clicking in the library, others only from a created playlist. All I know for sure is that I was able to add music to my iPod.
Hope this helps!
This original post has touched on my problem exactly. I want to add music to my playlists and/or create new playlists but can't see them. I only see one long list of all my iPod music. Here is my workaround. Assuming your computer is recognizing your iPod classic and you are able to see a list of your music...
Use Genres as your Playlists. In Music/iTunes, I changed the music 'genre' on several songs to a custom name (ex: mix1). Then, I dragged them onto my iPod. Any new songs were added to my iPod. If the song was already on my iPod it only updated the genre, which is what I was hoping for. I then went into my iPod and chose the genre mix1. It played all the songs I added to this genre as if I had added them to a playlist.
I hope this help somebody, somewhere!
Apple needs to bring the function back. Create some kinda legacy patch for all of us Apple users. Who just want to play/manage music. I’ve had the exact same problem since I’ve updated to Catalina since Nov. My Mac reads it in devices, finder also reads it. Music app also sees it. I can read the music Library within my devices, (iPod Classic, IPhone 11 P.M.). But can not listen to. Or manage, create, delete playlists. Except those off of Mac Library. I have itunes gift cards Fr Xmas, that I don’t know what to do with.
So I’m hoping Apple engineers read all these complaints and create something , like a Legacy patch update. To fix this issue. If it was discontinued or removed?? Then w.t.*? Bring it back, please.
No doubt that going through Finder to fill/refill IPod is less than ideal, but doable. The biggest problem I have is that Finder only shows the title of the album, not album AND artist. That’s a big problem if you have an extensive music library and album names are similar, like Greatest Hits, Live, II, etc... I have over 70 albums that are “Greatest Hits” and that’s all that’s listed on Finder. No way to tell if it is Whitesnake or The Eagles, for example.
I would just like to say thank you to everyone here who provided solutions/workarounds to this problem. Luckily, I can just about manage the music on my good old iPod – adding and removing songs. I used to be so happy that even the newest iTunes worked with the old iPod, a decade and a half after I bought it. Now the Music app is a huge step backwards which I find absurd.
Unfortunately iPod classic is considered a legacy obsolete device. Apple has made no promises that these devices will still work with current software. If using a legacy iPod model is important to you then you may want to revert to a previous version of the Macintosh operating system.
Oh, I figured as much. It’s to bad with all the “ Advancements” in some of these products. That in order to make them work properly. We have to employ “work arounds”. And using apps from other developers in order to use them?
And “ Ancient“ products? What? We’re not supposed to buy these and use, keep them? One and done, I guess? They need to market that to everyone.
Who made that update anyway? This issue is wide spread. I’ve told a lot of people not to update. I think it’s highly suspect for developers that create these updates that remove features that were a part of, the main reason for the purchase in the 1st place.
And if a “tech” cannot figure, what a problem is? Then they, are not techs. Installers. Maybe. Idk? I’m considering using a different phone, MP3 player, from their rival.
Utterly frustrating. What a backward step to remove functionality like this. I switched to macs 15 years ago because 'everything just worked'. This is becoming less and less the case. Irritating in the extreme I have to use a 10 year old Mac to update an old ipod rather than my 8 week old laptop..
"Stop using Ancient technology"?
I just purchased an iphone 11Pro Max.. connected to my mac-2018, which is sadly running catalina. And the exact same issue as with ipod classic. You cant manage music thru the music app. You can add. (Thank the maker.) But you cant listen to, create playlist. 6month ago, you could. You did not have to go here, there. jiggle the handle. Also Before, you could transfer your data from one phone to another. Wirelessly. Connect it To your laptop, your data was all their. Now, you transfer, connect to catalina? Its gone. Now you should back up, BEFORE, you transfer. "Ancient, old, technology??"
Im beginning to see it. Dont update. Dont buy any of their new products. Its already old and outdated. And they dont know how to fix it. This should be their New marketing strategy.
It is almost as though they didn't realize how people interact with their iPods. Or, their strategy is to push everyone toward using their music service on a computer or iPad, which then updates the newer iPods automatically through the Internet.
Unfortunately I can’t see my existing old playlist from 2018 and 2019 on the music app on my Mac to be able to select them. I can create new playlists and drag and drop them onto the iPod but I can only manage them via the iPod.
How to add music from OSX Catalina to iPod Classic without iTunes.
1. Add new music to Apple’s “Music” app on Mac.
2. Close “Music” app.
3. Plug iPod into Mac.
4. Open two finder windows on Mac.
5. First window: Navigate to your music media library (possibly "iTunes Media"), specifically to the songs to be copied to iPod.
6. Second window: Open the iPod (the iPod icon, not the other one)
7. Second window: click [Manage Storage] button
8. Second window: click Songs in sidebar. You'll see the complete list of songs currently stored on the iPod.
9. Drag and drop music from window 1 to window 2. There is no indication that anything happened.
10. Second window: click [Done] button.
11. Either window: Eject iPod.
12. Check iPod contents for successful transfer.
Done
There seems to be some confusion about the issue.
Under the old iTunes, one could manage the music on the iPod independent of the computer's library. So before Catalina, one could plug the iPod into the Mac, see the iPod and its library, and create playlists on the iPod itself.
Now it seems, we have to wipe the iPod clean (and lose the existing playlists), reload the library onto the iPod from the Mac, and create playlists on the Mac and sync or drag them to the iPod.
Again this doesn’t work if you have a mostly full iPod with specifically produced playlists that were not copied to the computer, but only exist on your iPod. It’s an Apple ploy to get you off your own library design and to pay every time you play.
It’s a right pain having to follow this backwards process. They called my iPod nano “vintage” - hardly I only purchased it in 2017. FWIW, which is probably diddly squat I’ve told them when they can sell me a product thats able to do everything with a battery that doesn’t need charging every 24/36(at a push) hours I’ll move over. Until then I will have a separate music player, kindle and camera. They didn’t disagree and gave me a link to provide feedback. I’ll dig it out and copy it here.
Can't Manage Music with Catalina/Music App
