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Turn off iTunes Match Permanently, and....

I do not like the way iTunes match works, so i am discontinuing service. I went into my account and turned it off, downloaded all 15,000 songs and thought I was done. But the iTunes match seems to want to keep doing something.....it still periodically goes through it's whole sync process (where the icon spins next to iTunes match, it goes through the three steps. It is not uploading or anything (to the best of my knowledge)...how to i get rid of it. And the cloud is still next to my music category...HELP!!!! I'll pay another $25 to get rid of it!

Steve

iMac, Mac OS X (10.7.3), 12 GB ram, iPad, iPhone 4s and etc.

Posted on Apr 27, 2012 7:46 AM

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Question marked as Best reply

Posted on May 3, 2012 11:02 PM

Steven,


I decided to stop using iTunes match also. I couldn't find a way to stop Genius from forcing its way onto my iPhone and iPad. Then I found this in Apple's Terms of Service:

You will not be able to disable Genius while using iTunes Match, so if you prefer that we do not collect and use information from your iTunes library in this manner, you should not use iTunes Match.

They should have also added "and force you to view Genius Mixes above all your playlists and not allow you to delete them" also. Anyway, that did it for me. So here is how I disabled it and what worked for me:


Step 1: Turn off iTunes Match on your computer
(iTunes: store > Turn off iTunes Match).


Step 2: Turn off iTunes Match on all your devices
(iPad: settings > music > iTunes Match [off]).

(iPhone: settings > music > iTunes Match [off])


Step 3: Sign off of your iTunes account
(iTunes: store > sign out)


Step 4: Disconnect your iPhone and/or iPad if they are connected to your computer. Then reconnect.

(Now you see the Sync Music dialog back and you should no longer see the iCloud message).


Sync away and enjoy your new found freedom.


Hope this helps.

90 replies
Question marked as Best reply

May 3, 2012 11:02 PM in response to Steven Wilson

Steven,


I decided to stop using iTunes match also. I couldn't find a way to stop Genius from forcing its way onto my iPhone and iPad. Then I found this in Apple's Terms of Service:

You will not be able to disable Genius while using iTunes Match, so if you prefer that we do not collect and use information from your iTunes library in this manner, you should not use iTunes Match.

They should have also added "and force you to view Genius Mixes above all your playlists and not allow you to delete them" also. Anyway, that did it for me. So here is how I disabled it and what worked for me:


Step 1: Turn off iTunes Match on your computer
(iTunes: store > Turn off iTunes Match).


Step 2: Turn off iTunes Match on all your devices
(iPad: settings > music > iTunes Match [off]).

(iPhone: settings > music > iTunes Match [off])


Step 3: Sign off of your iTunes account
(iTunes: store > sign out)


Step 4: Disconnect your iPhone and/or iPad if they are connected to your computer. Then reconnect.

(Now you see the Sync Music dialog back and you should no longer see the iCloud message).


Sync away and enjoy your new found freedom.


Hope this helps.

Apr 30, 2012 9:32 AM in response to Michael Allbritton

I tried your suggestion of signing out and then signing back in. It didn't work. I turned off the iTunes match on the STORE submenu in iTunes. Now it says: "Turn On iTunes Match." But when I connect my iPhone with a cable to my MacBook Pro and try to manually put some of my music in my iPhone, the message I get is: "I Tunes match in On." !!!#@#@#

Any other suggestions?

Jul 12, 2012 6:39 PM in response to Steven Wilson

i was having this problem so i looked it up to see if i was alone. in the course of doing that i noticed that iTunes Match has seemingly fixed itself. Im guessing the issue was a slow wifi connection because i got the error message only in the Apple store (the guy there couldnt help either) and at home before replacing my slow connection. but now it had a chance to clear out whatever its been doing and no error.


so far...

Jul 24, 2012 12:43 AM in response to Steven Wilson

It's official, I HATE iTunes match. It is SO annoying.... no control for when to tell it to update, instead it does it EVERY time I open iTunes. NOW, it is replacing my original artworks for my Bollywood hits with its own boring iTunes artwork. So my iPod has the originals and iTunes has different ones........ really! Apple.


So, goodbye iTunes Match, guys I was able to turn mine off. It's really easy to do. Thanks for the Q & A 🙂 ................ back to doing damage control.

Oct 15, 2012 6:39 PM in response to Rod_V

Thanks, Rod.


Like other responders, I found iTunes Match a terrible annoyance. I couldn't readily locate helpful Apple documentation about this issue, which is particularly troublesome given how intrusive and unsettling the iTunes Match approach is. It may work for others, and some day something like it may even work for me, but iTunes Match is a solution worse than any problem.


My guess is that many other users will find your explanation understandable, simple to implement and immediately effective -- in other words, the kind of answer every user hopes to discover in forums, but rarely finds in a single, succinct post. No balderdash, no unnecessary criticism of posters, just solid info.


Nicely done.

Turn off iTunes Match Permanently, and....

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