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Apple Music doesn't sync across devices

I have a Macbook Air, a current iPhone 13 and an old iphone 6S that I use as an ipod. I am creating/editing playlists on both the Macbook and the iPhone 13.


Invariably, changes in one place do not propogate elsewhere, many changes revert or do not stick (particularly changing playlist names or adding/removing songs or changing song order).


I have read every support article I can find and I'm stuck. I have ensured that syncing in on on all devices, they are connected to the same wifi network, I've turned syncing off, then on again to try to get things to re-sync, but each day, I find my devices are out of sync.


Here's one example - created a Rolling Stones playlist on my computer with 10 songs on it yesterday.


On both iphones, it's this (note it's only got 4 songs on it)


This is true across many playlists.


Another example - created three Dylan playlists - here's the directory on the computer


On the iphone 13 (not updating, 2 playlists missing)


On the iphone 6S, the names are duplicating and each playlist has 3-4-6 songs on them, not 10.



Can anyone help? I make playlists and am trying to organize my library in a way that is useful to me, but I can't make progress on having the music come with me.


I also had lots of problems with songs greyed out, but that seems to have gotten better in the past few days.


MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 12.4

Posted on Jun 7, 2022 10:55 AM

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3 replies

Jun 8, 2022 11:18 AM in response to hanfrac

Hello Hanfrac ,


Thank you for reaching out to Apple Support Communities.


We see you viewed the article "Turn on Sync Library with Apple Music" before posting your question. This article explains how music syncs automatically between devices. Do you have Sync Library enabled on all of your devices? If so, disable it and enable it again, as that may help:


"Turn on Sync Library

With the latest version of iOS, iPadOS, and macOS, Sync Library is turned on by default. If you turned off Sync Library, you can turn it back on. Just follow the steps below for your device.


On your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch

  1. Go to Settings > Music.
  2. Turn on Sync Library. If you don't subscribe to Apple Music or iTunes Match, you won’t see an option to turn on Sync Library.


On your Mac

  1. Open the Apple Music app.
  2. From the menu bar at the top of your screen, choose Music > Preferences.
  3. Go to the General tab and select Sync Library to turn it on. If you don't subscribe to Apple Music or iTunes Match, you won’t see an option to turn on Sync Library.
  4. Click OK."


More details can be found here: Turn on Sync Library with Apple Music


If the issue persists, can you provide a few more details? When did you first notice this? Does this happen regardless of which device is used to make changes? Also, have you tested on another network?


Good Luck!



Jun 9, 2022 8:35 AM in response to mingoslkd

The issue persists, although turning syncing off and on on all devices seems to help somewhat.


This has been an issue since I purchased Apple Music about 6-7 months ago.


The inability to get in sync and stay in sync appears to be independent of whether I make changes on a computer or a device. For instance, right now, I have a Rolling Stones playlist, created on my computer, that has 10 songs in it. I opened my ipad with Apple Music on it, turned syncing off, then turned it back on again after waiting 30 seconds. The same playlist on the ipad has 4 songs on it and says "UPDATED MONDAY" under the name. Same experience on my iphone 13.


It appears to be sporadic. For instance, there are a number of playlists I edited on the computer yesterday and those display corrected on the iPad.


I have not tested on another network. Cannot think how I would do that when I have one network in my home.

Apple Music doesn't sync across devices

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