Music Artwork gone crazy after iOs26.1 has any one else experienced problems?

So in the end the Apple case Manager had me go to my service provider and transfer the E SIM to an old phone and erase the 17 back to factory settings status, then if it worked go back and get the e sim swapped back.

I was told to do a cable sync not a side by side - and whilst it jammed a few times, eventually the music art and Apple TV are all ok, but Books are still a rotating mess of art coming from music and Apple TV.

I’ve downloaded 26.3 no negative impact on music or TV but Books is still a mess. I deleted the books and re-synched but it made no difference when they came back - out of 56 Audiobooks purchased they all have the same art - a Natalie Cole album cover without the name or author of the book visible til you actually play it…..

funny how the bugs are in Apple Apps!

I’ve given up and just learned to accept that Apple ain’t what it used to be.

So it’s been since November working with Apple support. They say it’s a “known problem” that their engineers are working on - no idea why this is so hard to fix.

26.2.1 is still the same.

however my consultant had me back up and sync to an older phone within was still running iOS 18 something (iPhone 14 pro max). We then did a complete factory reset and sync everything was erased so it was like a new phone. Did the sync via computer cable tool around 20 hours all up as it jammed several times but eventually it got there.

I had to check through 9500 CDs to review. All art is back and correct and flowing through to playlists.

Apple TV and Music seems stable BUT Books are a mess still - I have a place holding image on 3 books (not the oldest or most recent purchases). They show CD art on 3 books - same artwork from an artist I don’t have any music of much screen sharing and diagnostics runs and nothing obvious.

Re Books - they don’t show what book they are or who the author is. I’ve removed them off the phone and resynced several times but that’s made no difference - always the same 3 audiobooks…. They’re fine on my Mac and my iPhone 14.

otherwise phone is now fine but not happy having a $4k phone that has taken almost 4 months to fix. Very disappointing. Going to look into Samsung or something else before my plan expires in 2028 in the meantime. And changing my iMac to a windows computer unless that becomes even harder to changeover.

just a very expensive phone that wasn’t able to do basic things since the new software was added.

I went through 3 different Apple techs over the phone finally the only way to correct it was to wipe the 17 back to factory settings and do a cable to my Mac resync - my music Apple TV is back to normal, the only remaining issue is Books - some are using an image of an album I don’t own (I don’t stream anything Apple Music is just an iPod for me - everything is from CD or iTunes purchases), always the same 4 audiobooks.

I solve it by removing download and redownloading on the phone (the Mac is all correct) and after a new download it is correct but every new sync the problem reappears (music and Apple TV is ok)

the tech said it’s a known problem - but I’ve been dealing with this since November - so the techs aren’t fixing this.

I downloaded 26.3.1 - music is all ok as is TV.

But books is still unpredictable.

After many calls with Apple, the consultant made me completely wipe the entire phone right back to welcome.

so there was nothing on the phone at all. Then I was told to do a synch via a cable and not placing the old phone which had old OS and music was fine, but not place them next to each other.

i have over 110,000 songs that and other media photos books Apple TV on the new 17 1TB model.

it jammed and I had to start again a couple of times but eventually it’s all fixed. I’ve been updating iOS each time but seems to be working fine.

I’ve only got approx 180Gb available on the phone but it’s working fine artwork is all correct as they are in books and tv shows etc.

its slow but it did fix it. Dreading when I get next phone in a couple of years…

My phone has been working fine after many months working with an Apple consultant who was based in Perth. Tried just removing the all music content, that didn’t work.

eventually they suggested I erase the 17 Pro Max entirely back to “hello” and resynch not with old phone and new next to each other but via cable to my iMac. It jammed a couple of times and I had to erase and start over again (probably as I have 107,000 songs) but eventually it worked and all of my books Apple TV purchases etc came back.

it’s been behaving ever since.

Apple did say it was a known problem but clearly it’s still happening to people upgrading as I did.

once it was fixed I haven’t had a problem since and new CDs or iTunes purchases aren’t having any bad impact and all playlists have correct art.

i did spend days going album by album (10,000 CDs not fun) and checked it all and only a few were either blank or incorrect and once I added the correct art using images from the net they remained and have ever since 🤞 not an ideal way to launch an expensive phone.

Hi everyone with the same problem.

Apple have been working on it with me and confirmed that it IS the software update 26.1

Here's a response I just got from them. No ETA when a fix will be available though....

Yes, I can confirm that the issues you are experiencing with transferring your entire music library and chaotic artwork are related to a software issue within the current iOS, specifically concerning how music metadata and sync processes are handled.

This is not indicative of your phone being a "dud" or a hardware failure requiring an exchange at this stage. If in any case that there are other issues on the iPhone 14 Pro max, then we can check it further and check all options with your current apple care+ on it as well.

The issue is currently being reviewed by our engineering teams. And hopefully we can get this fixed as soon as possible.

It is still not syncing even the right amount of songs let alone the insanity of the artwork which isn't just affecting the Music App, it has also changed art on my Audiobooks, Apple TV purchases etc.

At one point during a sync, it REMOVED all of my playlists on my iMac so that's another thing to be careful with.

Crazy that such an expensive phone gets an "update" for bug fixes and security but completely corrupts the integrity of your library etc.

Update for all!

I’ve been speaking several times with an Apple tech and they’ve looked both my phone and Mac and have seen audiobooks books and Apple TV artwork overriding my audio library which is perfect on my Mac

im getting another call back on Monday but it does sound like it’s the new software 26.1 from what she said.

when I got the 17 it was working perfectly on 26.0 but after the update it’s done some really bad stuff beyond the artwork issues

it deleted all of my playlists ON MY Mac as well as 23,000 songs on my phone it just will not sync. I’m lucky I have back ups of my playlists though with 260+ playlists it took a long time.

Other examples they viewed whist operating my Mac and phone whilst taking pictures and videos for my case saw audiobooks like Anthony Hopkins purchased from their books app has a guitar on fire as the artwork.

i have American Dad Apple TV icons randomly and for example all of my ABBA albums have William Shatner art - I don’t own any William Shatner music or books - so no idea where that’s being imported from.

it sounded like there are a lot of problems affecting the Music App.

I did wipe all of my music library last week and reinstalled it uploaded only 79,000 songs - well short of my 103,200 songs. Music video clips I’d bought from iTunes were also affected by the art issue.

I’ve tried several syncs since and even new purchases off iTunes or CDs don’t sync to the phone and the sync completes in about 45 seconds.

Had art problems over the years. This this is off the charts wacky nothing stays the same funnier that much of the art is from artists I own nothing of!

nothing like previous bugs. Music App is still perfect

9,000 CDs and 102,000 songs and I’ve got

digging deeper some albums are in light text saying not avail in your region - yet they’re CDs I own and there are tens of thousand songs NOT on Apple Music which is why I buy physical as it’s mine and the quality is better. These are fine for the car but songs that have been in library since 2007 are now in fade… all was fine til update

Ive had discussions once with Apple sent so many screen grabs its deleted 30,000 songs off my phone

its using audiobook cover art apple TV icons audiobooks pod cast icons music album art i dont even own.

several books now have Lenny Kravitz as their covers!

it’s becoming a complete joke but its on us.

heard Zero back from apple. Theyve taken control of my mac and phone taken video to show these random changes

can only assume its very few affected or thered be a lot of responses ot a 26.1.1 out already…..

new iphone 17 Pro Max could also be a complete dud of a phone….

too scared to try and sync my 14 in case it wrecks that phone too.

really disappointed with Apples response and lack thereof i know theyve got millions around the world having issues but im paying a warranty not paying a tech to try to fix it - Apple caused it…..

so, unfortunately no luck. But if you have similar friends same prob get them to lodge a complaint