I can't manage my iTunes match library with the new Apple Music on Windows 11

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Level 1

6 points

I can't manage my iTunes match library with the new Apple Music on Windows 11

I just did 2 things I might now be regretting: I upgraded my Windows PC from 10 to 11. I also just upgraded my iPhone from an 11 to a 16. I have used iTunes match for years to manage my music library across several devices, but not I can't seem to find the right settings to make things work.

All of a sudden I'm told that iTunes (the Windows app) only handles audiobooks and podcasts (which makes no sense since it's still called iTUNES). Now I'm supposed to use the Apple music app to manage my music, playlists etc. But I can't find any of the settings that let me use my iTunes match data; it's all "Apple music", which I tried once and DON'T like; I want to sync my own files to my own devices.

Then there's this "Apple Devices" app, which I only discovered today is what I need to install for backing up my phone to my computer. And don't even get me started on Apple TV...

In Apple Devices under "Music" I'm told I'm using "Cloud Music Library", and to sync music from my computer I'm supposed to turn off "Cloud Music Library". Is this what they used to call "iCloud music library"? If I Google Cloud Music Library, all the hits are "did you mean iCloud Music Library?"

I can't figure out where to turn this off, or if I even want to.

On my new phone, some songs are showing up and others are not playing - with a message that they can't be downloaded. None of this makes sense.

Apple's online support docs seem to still want to point me to using iTunes for Windows. Well, that seems like it's gone?

Thanks for any ideas!

Tom in NC

iPhone 16, iOS 18

Posted on Oct 7, 2024 7:02 PM

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Answer 1

Oct 7, 2024 7:27 PM in response to tomguild

Tom:

I am an amateur ... smarter folks will hopefully jump in,

but the first thing I would do is inspect my list of

installed programs and see if any/all of the following are installed:

Apple Music

Apple TV

Apple Devices for Windows

If they are installed, uninstall them, reboot, and try again.

I still no go, uninstall & reinstall iTunes

The programs above and iTunes do not play

well together and the new suite of programs do not get the job done for some folks...

Including me :-(

Jim

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Answer 2

Oct 8, 2024 7:39 AM in response to tomguild

Yeah............... It seems a bit of a mess to me...

I am still using Win10 and sync. my iPhone to Microsoft Outlook, which requires iTunes.

So I have not messed with the new suite of apps yet.

Apple has announced that the iTunes sync-to-Outlook feature will "deprecated" at some future date...

That's gonna be a sad day for me :-(

Here's Apples official announce of the new stuff: Download iTunes for Windows - Apple Support

and some helpful stuff from ZDNet:

https://www.zdnet.com/article/goodbye-itunes-apple-officially-releases-replacement-media-apps-for-windows/

Jim

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Answer 3

tomguild Author

Level 1

6 points

Oct 8, 2024 6:53 AM in response to jimbob5941

Thanks Jimbob. I did uninstall and reinstall all those apps and began to see my library in Apple Music. but I'm still struggling with which app does what. Also, a few of my songs (which play fine on my iPad and in the Apple Music app) still show up as "unavailable" or something similar when I try to play them on my phone.

I don't see a common thread among those tracks, so I'm still futzing with everything.

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