Smart Playlists on Mac will NOT sync to iPhone

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Smart Playlists on Mac will NOT sync to iPhone

Recently upgraded to the public beta of Big Sur (not sure if this part of the problem or not). I'm on the latest official version of iOS.

None of my Smart Playlists (aside from Recently Added which I've had for forever) sync to my iPhone. I have Library Sync on on the Mac and the songs themselves sync fine in non-smart playlists. I've tried to log out of iCloud several times on my iPhone, forcing a fresh sync every time, but those Smart Playlists still don't come over. Then I thought maybe the Smart Playlists may have too many songs so I made one Smart Playlist with only 6 songs, still no go.

I've flipped the Sync Library setting on and off a few times on the Mac in the Music app, no go.

Any ideas?

iPhone XS

Posted on Nov 12, 2020 10:54 AM

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Answer 1

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turingtest2

Level 10

274,982 points

Nov 12, 2020 2:23 PM in response to meemster

Perhaps it is an issue with the beta. I've assumed you have Turned on Sync Library with Apple Music - Apple Support on the phone as well as signing into your Apple ID. You can see cloud status in the songs view of a playlist, but I don't think that is going to be the issue.

tt2

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Answer 2

turingtest2

Level 10

274,982 points

Nov 12, 2020 11:47 AM in response to meemster

See Identify cloud status icons in your music library on your Mac or PC - Apple Support. When you're using Sync Library (AKA iCloud Music Library) as part of an Apple Music or iTunes Match subscription then syncing of music should happen wirelessly. Not all playlists will be eligible for syncing. Any list that contains ineligible content, or is dependent on another list, will be excluded. You need to turn off Sync Library on the device and set up the sync selections in Finder if you want to sync directly with your library.

tt2

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Answer 3

meemster Author

Level 1

7 points

Nov 12, 2020 12:13 PM in response to turingtest2

Hi TT2,

Thanks for the reply. Using my Test Smartlist as an example since it only has 5 songs and isn't syncing to my iPhone or iPad, are you able to see any reason why this playlist wouldn't sync? The songs are all in Apple Music Library, not illegally downloaded, or purchased in iTunes. I have a valid Apple Music subscription. Please see pics.

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Answer 4

meemster Author

Level 1

7 points

Nov 12, 2020 1:49 PM in response to turingtest2

Do all the tracks have the status of matched or uploaded?

I'm not certain where you see this in the updated Music app. I used to see this in previous versions of iTunes, but not sure where in this version. If I right-click on a specific song in the Smart Playlist and go to Get Info, I can see that it is in Apple's Music Cloud. See pic attached.

Check the playlist entry in the sidebar. Does it have any cloud symbols alongside it? Try right clicking the title and use Add to Cloud Library if available.

I don't see any. See pic.

Try File > Library > Update iCloud Library.

Did this, nothing happened.

I also swapped out the songs from Broken Bells to a different band just to test if that made a diff. Nope.

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Answer 5

meemster Author

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Nov 12, 2020 4:45 PM in response to turingtest2

Oh, I'm saying it was on already, but somehow flipping it on and off again kicked it into gear.

Do you know if a Smart Playlist can have OTHER playlists (not Smart Playlists) in it? These are the rules for my current Smart Playlist ("My Music" I named it) that does not sync.

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Answer 6

turingtest2

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274,982 points

Nov 12, 2020 12:50 PM in response to meemster

Do all the tracks have the status of matched or uploaded?

Check the playlist entry in the sidebar. Does it have any cloud symbols alongside it? Try right clicking the title and use Add to Cloud Library if available.

Try File > Library > Update iCloud Library.

tt2

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Answer 7

meemster Author

Level 1

7 points

Nov 12, 2020 4:28 PM in response to turingtest2

Well, I'll tell ya what. I did have Sync Library turned on on my iPhone but I turned it on and off anyway and it forced my phone to re-sync the library and lo and behold, the Test Playlist appeared! So that's great. Thank you for your help with this!

I'm still trying to figure out why my other Smart Playlists won't sync, but I think that will be harder since there's like 3k songs in it. Basically I made a smart playlist called My Music and put other playlists (actual playlists, not Smart Playlists) into it via rules. I had to do this to exclude playlists like "White Noise" and "Baby Lullabies" from coming on when I told Siri to "play music."

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Answer 8

turingtest2

Level 10

274,982 points

Nov 12, 2020 6:19 PM in response to meemster

No, as I noted earlier, any list that contains ineligible content, or is dependent on another list, will be excluded. I stick keywords in the Grouping field and use rules based on Grouping to avoid playlist dependencies.

tt2

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