Hi folks,
Wondering if anyone else experiencing this issue when attempting to play music that is on the iPhone and not on the iWatch (Series 5).
The album details (tracks, artist, etc) appears and are selectable; however, choosing and tracks returns an the above noted error.
Standard reset & repairing performed; still no luck ... was working as expected pre-watchOS 6.1.
Cheers
Apple Watch
Like others, I typically play an entire album start-to-finish and have any media iCloud Library syncing options disabled on my iDevices and iTunes respectively.
Additionally, I typically drag-n-drop albums via the iTunes (Mac and/or Windows) interface after physically connecting my iDevice via USB. This approach yields individual tracks as albums. Using the "Add To Library" option in iTunes and then drag-n-dropping from the iTunes Library to the iDevice instead yields the desired result on the iDevice - still doesn't solve the problem introduced as of watchOS 6.1.
That said ..
*UPDATE*
Created a "test" playlist on the iPhone (8 /w iOS 13.3) and added an entire album to it. Selecting the playlist on the iWatch (S5 /w watchOS 6.1.1) plays the content of the "test" playlist as expected.
Also took a moment to compare the "Song Info" properties via iTunes of a track on the iPhone against the Library version; visually, the track metadata appears consistent.
Like others, I typically play an entire album start-to-finish and have any media iCloud Library syncing options disabled on my iDevices and iTunes respectively.
Additionally, I typically drag-n-drop albums via the iTunes (Mac and/or Windows) interface after physically connecting my iDevice via USB. This approach yields individual tracks as albums. Using the "Add To Library" option in iTunes and then drag-n-dropping from the iTunes Library to the iDevice instead yields the desired result on the iDevice - still doesn't solve the problem introduced as of watchOS 6.1.
That said ..
*UPDATE*
Created a "test" playlist on the iPhone (8 /w iOS 13.3) and added an entire album to it. Selecting the playlist on the iWatch (S5 /w watchOS 6.1.1) plays the content of the "test" playlist as expected.
Also took a moment to compare the "Song Info" properties via iTunes of a track on the iPhone against the Library version; visually, the track metadata appears consistent.
*UPDATE*
Once I initiate playback of a track from an album on the iPhone (8 /w 13.2), I see it appear on the iWatch (S5 /w 6.1) "Now Playing"; I can select any track of the album and it plays as expected.
Thanks!
When you can spare a moment, use an metadata viewer/editor (ex: TagScanner, etc.) to view all of the .M4A file metadata ... assuming the file isn't DRM'ed by Apple.
Since the problem is reproducible on macOS, Windows, and the latest iTunes on either platform, I suspect the .MP3 metadata libraries were either revised (or broken) on iOS and/or watchOS.
Apple Support just phoned me to say a new update was released this morning (6.1.2) and to see if the problem still occurs and let them know. Will try it tonight...
@automatox:
If you can spare a minute, can you post screen captures of the SONG INFO tabs from one of the tracks of an Apple Store Album that plays correctly? All of my MP3 audio files are properly tagged so I'd be curious to match up what I see in iTunes against an actual "working" file as you see it in your iTunes.
... might shed some light as to what could be going on; could be Apple changed how they're handling tags (album artist, etc.) or file format (LAME, ID3Tag version, etc.).
Hmmm ... does that mean that the audio files *are never* downloaded to your device? If you right-click on a file in Windows iTunes, is there a menu option to locate the file(s) on your device?
If you run a metadata viewer/editor (ex: TagScanner, etc.) what audio file details are reported? Would be interesting to know the audio File tab information (bitrate, channels, encoder, etc.)
What's your process to get the files onto your iPhone; I typically select the album(s) and drag-and-drop to the connected iDevice in iTunes.
I'd be surprised if they weren't aware of the issue.
When the iTunes/iOS issues began a while back, it meant my having to rework my ID3Tags as they appear in the example. It took quite some time to isolate the root cause - ID3Tag: Group, Work, Work Name being the source of the issue.
Additionally, audio enthusiasts typically prefer to manage the organization of audio files on the file system differently that what Apple envisions. iTunes and by extension iOS handle the file organization differently; this can be seen for iTunes by looking at how the files in the Library folder. On iOS, one can use a tool (ex: iMazing, iExplorer, etc.) to view how the files have been renamed and stored. One would assume properly tagged files would be the only requirement but it appears that physical file organization also plays a part.
In all cases, Apple hasn't/isn't forthcoming about changes to iTunes which makes problem resolution extremely challenging. It certainly isn't making it easy for those of us with decades-large libraries.
Just updated to iOS 13.3.1 (iPhone 8) and watchOS 6.1.2 (iWatch S5); as reported, issue persists.
Steps to reproduce (in my case):
Remainder of post in this thread continue to be applicable.
As a test, I transcoded some test albums as follows:
Channels: Joint Stereo
Bitrate: 192kbps
Sample Rate: 44.100 kHz
Encoder: LAME 3.10
Format: MPEG-1, Layer 3
Tag: id3v2.3 + apev2
Album Cover: 1 only, Front
Volume Levelling: Yes, MP3Gain
Notes:
Reference URL's:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MP3Gain
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LAME
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ID3
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/APE_tag
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musepack
Quick update ... watchOS 6.1.3 released in the past 24 hours ... problem playing items on iPhone as covered throughout this thread remain present.
A few other websites have on-going discussions on this issue ... the prevalent theme being that Aple purchased audio (music) files appear to play as expected.
Ref
Possible to post a complete set of Song Info tabs for that track? On iTunes 12.9.5.5 (macOS Mojave), I see six tabs - yours seems to be missing Lyrics/File. Here's a sample of one of my tracks ...
I'm glad you have mentioned this, as I have the exact same issue, and also found it began with watchOS 6.1.
After what you mentioned here I too can confirm it seems to be when navigating via Artist or Album, but doesn't affect navigating by Song.
I'm installing watchOS 6.1.1 tonight, and will see if I get the same result as you did with it..
iPhone Xs Max with iWatch 4...
I have 1000 CD's that I have ripped thru iTunes to my phone. I also own a few albums thru thru apple store.
The rips of my CD's give me the error on my watch like everyone else, but the apple store albums play fine.
Being able to pick an "Album" and play it from beginning to end in order is important to me.
I'm tired of having to "Shuffle" the "Artist" to get my music to play.
And with 1000 CD's I'm not going to thumb thru the very long list of "Songs"...
Alrighty; did some digging in my thread archives ... seems the issue is related to what many of discovered and discussed in this thread:
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/8088791
I'm fairly certain that Apple has made (is making) changes behind the scenes to its music platform which is now breaking their implementation of ID3Tags. Just went through the process documented in the above-noted thread and sure-enough, the issue still persist.
If I didn't know any better, I'd get the impression that Apple is expecting all audio to have been purchased via their platform and in .M4A format.
I've logged a support ticket with Apple and spoken with a product specialist and uploaded videos of the fault plus diagnostics logs. BUT I'd encourage other owners to do the same because she did not find any other reports of this exact issue, so it may not be something they are aware needs fixing if there aren't multiple reports.
I dont know what the logs contained; There was a Send option that only appeared in the Privacy settings while I was talking to her (after providing my Apple ID and phone model) and took several minutes to gather, compress, then upload.
If you can consistently reproduce it, then that's a good reason to contact Apple Support.
watchOS 6.1: Music on iPhone “Cannot Play This Item”
