Can't delete songs on iphone (itunes match) iOS6

macuser916 wrote:

This is clearly a bug in iO6 as it was working ok in iOS 5.

No, this isn't a "bug." Apple made a design decision to change the way this works in iOS 6. I also disagree with this change from the previous version, but just because we don't like the way something works doesn't make it a "bug."

Ok thanks but what I find frustrating is that it's now really a long winded way to get music off your iPhone, you're essentially back to plugging your phone into your mac the old way via a wire. (or wireless sync) but it means you need to be in front of your computer where iTunes main library is. Turning off iTunes match then going back into iTunes deleting what music you dont' want, then going back into settings again and turning it back on is something I'd expect from Microsoft. Disappointing.

Thanks for your feedback though. An odd changed but iO6 is a fantastic upgrade apart from that slightly annoying usability issue, maybe there is something method in that madness?

Hope they are able to change it in a future version. Is it so complicate ?

😠

Yup totally agree.

totally agree too... very stupid change!!!

+1 !!! It was much easier than it is now 😟

Permanently turn off itunes match, I want to delete ... pff ***** 😟

+1! This change makes managing my music on my iPhone very difficult.

There's a lot of upset people claiming the iTunes match doesnt work right with iOS 6 but that is because they do not understand how it works...which is understandable because I wasnt able to find any clear communcation from Apple as to how to actually work this in iOS 6. I wanted to post this to help people trying to find answers like I was last night. I think I have it figured out. When you have iTunes Match turned ON you are streaming music from your iCloud account. There have been many complaints about not being able to delete individual songs. The truth is you DONT want to delete songs from your iCloud account because then they would be gone completely. You have to remember that when you you have iTunes Match ON, you are not looking at songs on your device...you are looking at and accessing music in the cloud to stream. This is actually kind of cool because you have access to ALL your music anytime (provided you are connected to wifi or using your cellular data). When you have iTunes Match OFF, that is when you are looking at and accessing music on your actual device. That is when you have the ability to delete and listen to songs directly on your device. In theory, you never have to really have anything stored on your device because it can always be accessed though iCloud with iTunes Match turned ON (glad I got the 64 GB iPhone 5?!) What I did last night was...I erased everything off my iPhone then made 1 huge playlist on my iMac computer with songs/artists that I absolutely love and manually dragged them from my iTunes library to my iPHone (plugged in with the USB cord). That way if I had zero access to a network (like on an airplane for example) I could listen to them because they are stored on my phone (it was about 10 GB worth of music). I would turn iTunes Match to OFF and I could access the music I dragged to and stored on my phone. But...normally (day to day) on my iPhone I have it set to Itunes Match ON and will just stream from iCloud. Again, no need to delete here, its not on my acutal device. I understand that when you stream with itunes Match ON the songs get stored to a cache (a temporary storage not permanently on your device but in your memory). My question is that when you go to play that song again from your cache, are you using data download from your mobile carrier? That is something I am trying to figure out because I have a capped data plan with Verizon and I listent to music on my iPhone A LOT. Its possible that once they are cached they can be accessed again without being connected to a network. I am still researching that and will be monitoring my data usage. FYI this applies to movies too. I can access and play the 50 or so movies I have stored in my iCloud account on my iPhone and they never actually get downloaded to my phone. This new iTunes Match with iOS 6 is different and admittedly comfusing but you have to try to see it in a differnent way now. Apple will most likely work out some of the kinks but I think in the end this will be a lot better than the iOS 5 way which was accessing a song from iCloud and downloading it to your device no matter what. There were so many times I wanted to access a song from my iTunes library and was not on a wifi network. I could use the 3G download but it took forever and sometimes crashed my phone. Not only that, I had to watch how much music I had stored on my device cause I only had a 16 BG iPhone 4. I hope this helps people looking for answers. Try to remember before bashing the company and saying what they are doing is wrong, try really understanding how it works first. Good luck everyone!

We're not confused.

"The truth is you DONT want to delete songs from your iCloud account because then they would be gone completely"

Umm yes I do. I want to do that all the time. Why wouldn't I want to delete something completely? I only have 25,000 (non-purchased) songs I can store in the iCloud with iTunes match. So I frequently want to delete them entirely. Good thing I can go to my iMac and do that. But I don't want to.

Yes iOS 6 is different, but the only difference is that functionality was removed. No features have been added.* I want to know if the song is on my iOS device without having to shut off iTunes, then search to see if it is still there. An icon used to tell me that. Not to mention that turning iTunes Match back on takes several minutes while it downloads the XML data for the 25,000 songs. I used to be able to download a song from the cloud to my iPhone. Now I can't. I can download an artist, album, or a playlist but that's it. I can probably add it to some On the Go-style playlist and then download it, but that's cludgy.

"Try to remember before bashing the company and saying what they are doing is wrong, try really understanding how it works first."

We understand how it works. And we liked it better before.

* You note: "this will be a lot better than the iOS 5 way which was accessing a song from iCloud and downloading it to your device no matter what." Do you not know how data works? For you to play a song on your iOS device, it has to download to your phone. It may come in a stream, but it's going to end up on your phone. The same amount of data is coming whether it's a download (that starts playing immediately I might add) or a stream. The only difference is before you had the choice if you wanted to delete it from your device once you were done with it, or keep it for offline play. Now you don't have that choice. So next time you want to play it, boom that's another download (assuming the temporary cache has cleared). So now you're using twice the data to play that song twice. Thanks IOS 6.

Actually now you mention this, it makes perfect sense. This is the intuitive way and this is the way it always should have been.

If I had never used iTunes Match before this is the way I would have expexted it to work.

The problem is perhaps that we got used to the other way, in which you never turned on or off your itunes match, you just deleted and downloaded songs.

Now we will be using that on/off switch a lot more: on when in wifi/3g/4g range and off when not.

Thanks, Aaronfromlivermore, hope apple shows us all the new way so we stop complaining.

Thanks for your in depth reply, if that is the case that music is now just streamed and not downloaded then that is awesome and how it should be... however, you mentioned that the song is cached, doesn't that mean it's downloaded and how many songs get cached before being removed as obviously that would use up memory. I would take a guess that a certain number are cached then over written when more are downloaded.

It would be interesting if Apple have moved to streaming only as that would be a quiet change of direction and something I would have thought they would have promoted given the popularity of the feature.

With that said, there must be a simpler way to get music permanently onto your device without going via the wire / wireless connected to iTunes and drag n drop option. I haven't tried it but the better way to do it would be that you press the cloud icon to download it and if you just want to stream you press the song title? However, in either case, when music is on your device (phyiscally and not virtually as in the cloud) you should be able to easily remove it to free up more space for songs that you do want to download from the cloud to your device to play on an airplane for example.

I'm sure there is some method to this madness and but some clarification from apple might help get users better understand the feature, limitations or advantages.

Thanks

So I frequently want to delete them entirely. Good thing I can go to my iMac and do that. But I don't want to. - that is how you got non purchased music there in the first place right (imported on your iMac)? Whats wrong with managing music on your computer sometimes? Its a personal preference I guess.

I want to know if the song is on my iOS device without having to shut off iTunes, then search to see if it is still there. - if you are looking at iTunes Match ON you are not looking at anything on your device (at least permanently). If you have it set to iTunes Match OFF your a looking at music permanently stored on your device...delete away if you want.

Not to mention that turning iTunes Match back on takes several minutes while it downloads the XML data for the 25,000 songs. - I agree that would be annoying with that many songs, I have about the same amount. I dont really plan on switching back and forth that much unless I run into data issues. But thats just me

I used to be able to download a song from the cloud to my iPhone. Now I can't. I can download an artist, album, or a playlist but that's it. - I totally agree and I would bet that is one of the first things Apple fixes. I cant imagine it would be that hard for them to fix.

For you to play a song on your iOS device, it has to download to your phone. It may come in a stream, but it's going to end up on your phone. The same amount of data is coming whether it's a download (that starts playing immediately I might add) or a stream. - I know how data works...once you download to your device use a certain amount of data to get it there but after that you can play the song a million times and no data is transfered because it is being played straight off your device. The question is when you stream, how long is music kept in your cache memory before it gets replaced by other newer cached music and you have to use data to stream it into your cache again? If you play a song 100 times over a period of time, how many times did it leave your cache and you have to re-stream it? its a cache capacity question which becomes a data question.

Now you don't have that choice. So next time you want to play it, boom that's another download (assuming the temporary cache has cleared). So now you're using twice the data to play that song twice. Thanks IOS 6. - exactly, thats my question and concern right now.

I agree its not perfect and that is why they will likely get these things fixed. My whole point is I see people posting things saying not being able to delete individual songs is a bug in iOS 6 which is not true.

Thanks for your in depth reply, if that is the case that music is now just streamed and not downloaded then that is awesome and how it should be... however, you mentioned that the song is cached, doesn't that mean it's downloaded and how many songs get cached before being removed as obviously that would use up memory. I would take a guess that a certain number are cached then over written when more are downloaded. - you're exactly right, and I have the same question about how many songs get cached before being removed myself.

It would be interesting if Apple have moved to streaming only as that would be a quiet change of direction and something I would have thought they would have promoted given the popularity of the feature. - Personally I like having the ability to store music permenently on my device if I want to - as well as be able to stream. I would hope they dont take that away as it is a personal preference.

With that said, there must be a simpler way to get music permanently onto your device without going via the wire / wireless connected to iTunes and drag n drop option. I haven't tried it but the better way to do it would be that you press the cloud icon to download it and if you just want to stream you press the song title? However, in either case, when music is on your device (phyiscally and not virtually as in the cloud) you should be able to easily remove it to free up more space for songs that you do want to download from the cloud to your device to play on an airplane for example. - I totally agree

I'm sure there is some method to this madness and but some clarification from apple might help get users better understand the feature, limitations or advantages.

Thanks

I just want to add something that i believe some people dont know.

You CAN deleta all songs at once FROM your iphone WITHOUT turning iTunes match off.

How? Settings/general/usage/music/edit/delete

Hope it helps more than one!

Thanks Chantos, that worked, I had an issue where an old cache of iTunes was kept on my phone, deleting that way, solved the issue, nice one. (Note you have to swipe right to delete).

However, as much as that fixed my problem, you still can't selectively delete individual tracks but it does clear all music from your device in one easy sweep. Let's hope the individual delete music as it was before comes back. Untill then we have work arounds.