iTunes Match crippled in iOS 6

OK, so I had this dream last night. Really. I had been messing around with some digital cameras so I think that influenced things. Here is the dream:

I am using my iPhone 4S and the Music App equiped with iTunes Match. But, instead of the normal looking UI, the Music App had a very skeumorphric design...it looked like a compact digital camera. And just like a digital camera it had a dial that offered you various options for how the Music App would work.

There was an Auto Setting. The Auto setting made the Music App/iTunes Match function much like it does now. You had essentially no control over what happened. You just had to go with what Apple had decided was the best compromise for optimal functionality of the iTunes Match feature. Just like the Auto setting on a camera, it wasn't perfect. But, you didn't have to think. You could play music but there were prices to pay in terms of data management, etc. For some people, this would be the setting of choice. Because they don't want to think about how to make iTunes Match work best. They're willing to compromise some optimal functionality for the simplicity of "Point and Listen".

There was also a Program Setting. The Program setting made the Music App/iTunes Match function much differently than it does now...but, more like it used to. There were icons that gave the user options for how iTunes Match worked. These icons appeared next to each song . But they also appeared next to an artists name and next to an album by an artist. This way the functionality each icon represented could be applied to one song at a time...or to all the songs by an artist...or to all the songs in an album.

Here were some of the options/icons:

Stream Music to a Streaming Cache. Clicking this icon would stream an individual song, all songs by an artist, all songs in an album to a streaming cache. The cache would take second place to any other memory storage demands. So, as soon as memory was needed for any other activity, the cache would start to be emptied with the least used songs emptied first. This is pretty much how the streaming cache works now....I think. Personally, I am not sure at all how the cache REALLY works. How big can it get? What happens when you need memory immediately, but the cache is huge...leaving insufficienct room for memory needed right away. Does the cache know to empty itself right away so your current memory needs can be met? This points to one of the big problems I currently have with iTunes Match...awful documentation. I feel like Apple is trying to guard how iTunes Match really works as if it were the blue prints for the Atomic Bomb in the Manhattan Project.

Download Music from the Cloud to your iDevice. Clicking this icon would download an individual song, all songs by an artist, all songs in an album to your iDevice. It would be there forever...or, until you deleted it back to the Cloud.

Delete Music from your iDevice and put back in the Cloud. Clicking this icon would delete an individual song, all songs by an artist, all songs in an album from your iDevice and put it back in the Cloud.

Some of these "Program" functionalities are available now, but the big difference is the ability to apply the functionality to an individual song. Also, deleting a song from your iDevice can be done from right within the music app. No need to go through all the gyrations currently necessary to remove songs that have been downloaded to your iDevice....freeing up memory on your iDevice.

OK, that was essentially my dream. I forget a lot of the details.

I mean, it was...after all...just a dream.

A reality check -- the wife test...

Okay, most on this discussion are pretty tech savvy and know what they want out of ITM. My wife, on the other hand, knows nothing of the details. She just likes to listen to music on her iphone 4. A few weeks after updating her phone to iOS 6, she started bugging me about what was wrong with her phone. Some of the music she counted on being on the phone had mysteriously disappeared. I'm guessing this is the new "management" where the system deletes songs that aren't played frequently. Moreover, she was pi$$ed that she couldn't download individual songs. She doesn't think at the album level -- just songs. My kids and I buy music from the IT store and when the wife hears somethign she likes, she downloads the song from ITM. But now the little clouds next to songs are gone. What to do??? Also, given my wife's work and travels, her access to wifi/cellular is spotty. Definitely needs a core of hard copy music on her phone. So, for my non-techie wife, Apple has definitley screwed this up. I agree with M. Luigi -- give us a doggone choice as opposed to wrecking a system that previoulsy worked so well.

You're basically doing it the way I do. Create some master playlists (I recommend doing this on your computer, but it really doesn't matter), and then download them from Match to your phone when you're in a place with good wifi. You can also download individual albums from Match.

Another approach you can try is to turn off Match on your phone, and then sync the stuff you want from your computer. Then turn Match back on. I don't believe the music you synced will be deleted, although the phone will show you a message that will lead you to believe it will.

Sorry @Tricky205, but your first point is incorrect. iTM in iOS5 was most definitely NOT streaming. It was downloading. It would start playing immediately, giving the impression that it was streaming, but it was downloading. The cloud icon would disappear, indicating that it was now stored locally on your device.

It is unfortunate that iOS 6 seems to be giving you issues. I have not encountered those, and I too have over 100 GB in iTM. I guess if iTM in iOS 6 is not working for you at all, then whether the way its intended to work is better or worse than iOS 6 is quite beside the point.

Lets hope this stays for GM 6.1

Its all making sense why Scott 'left' Apple. iOS 6 has by far been the worst iOS out of the lot. Botched Maps and botched PAID iTunes Match. Not to say the other things riddled in it......

A little bit off topic, but since everyone here has an interest in music, I thought I would share an app that I came across that will likely blow your mind. It is called Audio Xciter. You can try the free version for 15 minutes a day or purchase the full version for something like $4.95. You will hear music like you have never heard it before. I read a little about how it works... basically a real time algorithm of sorts. It is not an equalizer, although it has an equalizer function associated with its own science. I just use the medium preset and it seems perfect. It also adds some color to the drab grey interface introduced with 6.0. You won't know how you listened to music without it. Use earphones / headphones to have a full appreciation for what it does.

This is a bit of an old thread that got off topic but, I can give you some information that may be helpful if you or someone else is experiencing issues dealing with iTunes Match in iOS 6.

First, you can delete items individually, you just need to go into Settings > Music > then turn off iTunes Match. If your music app is still running you may need to close it fully by double tapping the home button and holding on the icon for music in the recently used (backgrounded) apps section at the bottom of the screen. Keep holding it until it shivers and hit the red and white - in the circle at the top left. Restart the music app and you can swipe left to right on individual songs, etc to delete them one by one.

Second, regarding downloading only what you want. This feature was gimped a bit in iOS 6, now the best you can do is open the album, not the artist and from that view you can download an album. If you only want one song you can hit the square inside the circle icon before the blue circle makes it all the way around. This cancels that song from downloading; do this for all the songs except the ones you want from a given album.

Hope this helps some...

Hi WhyDidIUpdate!

Thanks for your tip about Audio Xciter. I download the free version and gave it a whirl. I can definitely hear the improvement in my music...especially my older music which has more room for improvement despite been upgraded to 256 kbps by iTunes Match. However, because this forum is composed, I assume, of subscibers to iTunes Match, I thought I would pass on some discoveries I've made regarding Audio Xciter.

When I used Audio Xciter, the app said almost my entire iTunes music library is DRM encoded! So, it could NOT play hardly any of my songs (Several thousand). Maybe I'm confused, but I subscribe to iTunes Match and almost all my music has been been converted to 256 Kbps .m4a files by the iTunes Match service. The music that couldn't be matched is still .m4a even if it couldn't be improved to 256 Kbps.

So, what gives? I have no .m4p music.

None of my music is DRM protected.

Why this is happening?

This app is fairly incompatible with iTunes Match. Let me explain...Unless you have downloaded your song from the Cloud to your iDevice so it is stored locally, this app will not play the song. It will be grayed out and tell you it is DRM protected. It is misinterpreting the problem. The song is not DRM protected. It's just not on your iDevice for Audio Xciter to access. Unfortunately, Audio Xciter does not have the ability to download a song stored in the Cloud via iTunes Match from within the app. So, you're stuck unless you want to leave Audio Xciter and go to the Native Music App. Download the song from the Cloud. Return to Audio Xciter where you will now be able to play the song.

Audio Xciter will play a song that you have played from the Native Music App but not actually downloaded. Those songs, as we all know, are stored on your iDevice in a streaming cache. BUT!, Audio Xciter will only play one song from the streaming cache. Then it will crash every time you try to play another song from the streaming cache. Again, Audio Xciter will play songs that have been "formally" downloaded from the Cloud, but try to play a second song from the streaming cache and it's Crash City Baby. This is why I say above that Audio Xciter is, essentially, incompatible with iTunes Match. You could download your entire music library from the Cloud to your iDevice. But, that defeats a large reason for iTunes Match...to have access to your music library without having it consume huge amounts of your iDevice's memory.

Short Term Solution: If you want to listen to a song using Audio Xciter and it is not stored locally on your iDevice but rather in the Cloud, go to the Native iTunes Music App, download the song onto your iDevice from the Cloud. Go back to Audio Xciter and it should no longer be grayed out. It's ready to go and be played with the audio enhancements this app provides. That is not so convenient. However, it works.

Long Term Solution: Update Audio Xciter so that songs that are in the Cloud via iTunes Match can be downloaded or streamed from WITHIN Audio Xciter…just like the native music app. I don't know if Apple will allow this. If they do, PLEASE UPDATE THIS APP TO INCLUDE THIS ENHANCED FUNCTIONALITY! If they don't, then all those who use iTunes Match should consider using this app with caution.

Mr. Luigi...over and Out.

Hi,

Thanks for this chain. I would like to add my small weight to this argument. Can we please ask The Biug Men at Apple to have the abililty to download playlists as well as albums? The most important for me is the playlist I have called 'Dentist' that I play when at the dentists to take my mind of what's going on in my mouth. Also, work-out playlists, jogging playlists, 'singing rehearsal' playlsists etc. Bloody irritating to say the least.

//Peter

You can download complete playlists. Scroll to the bottom of the playlist and tap the "download" button.

I'm having the same issues...on all my devices.

REALLY hating the changes to music and iTunes Match.

I can deal with turning match off to be able to delete songs from my ipad.

What annoys me is when you have show all songs on you can't tell what's on the ipad and what's in the cloud due to the cloud icons being removed.

Mostly not being able to d/l an individual song to the ipad. Yes you can d/l the whole album then individually stop the ones you don't want but try do that when you only want 1 or 2 songs from an album with 50 or more songs!! So inconvenient.

Also even though playing a song makes it appear to be on your ipad, it's not. The second you turn iTunes Match off and on they dissapear.

Only way it stays on the device is to use the cloud icon which isn't available for individual songs.

Seems the best way to do it is to make a playlist on the device and use the cloud icon.

How do we complain? People used to email Steve Jobs. How do we email Tim direct?

Oh heavens I hope so. I raged so much that my favourite feature was crippled I almost did something stupid and joined amazon music.

Phew.

Bring on 6.1. Can't wait. I can now sleep tonight.

Thanks Steve.