stuck on waiting for changes to be applied

After countless hours this past weekend with this same problem (iTunes stuck on "waiting for changes to be applied..." I finally have resolved it without having to completely rebuild my iTunes library (and losing my metadata in the process). For background, I updated my iPhone 4s while I was traveling, and when I returned home, I was no longer to update music in iTunes (it would hang).

The problem, it seems, is related to several factors:

1) you have enabled "Find My iPhone" in the iCloud settings on your iPhone

2) you have initiated a download of music through iTunes on your iPhone, and the downloads have not completed

3) you have a corrupted Voice Memo, causing duplication on each sync

Here's what I ended up doing:

on your iPhone / iPod / iOS device:

1) disabled "Find My iPhone" on the iCloud settings of my iPhone

2) gone to the "Downloads" section of the iPhone "iTunes" app and deleted every in-progress download

3) go to Voice Memos app and see if there are recordings in the list that may have been duplicated

you can also check the "Voice Memos" playlist on your iTunes library

- delete any duplicate Voice Memos; if some memos are gray and can't be deleted see below

4) do a cold reboot (hold down top bottom, power off, then on again) but do not dock your iPhone yet

on your iTunes:

5) change your iTunes -> Devices preference to "Prevent iPods, iPhones, iPads from syncing automatically"

you can now dock / connect your iPhone to iTunes

6) select "Manually manage music and videos" in the Summary tab for your iPhone within iTunes

7) go to the Music tab for your iPhone within iTunes

- you may see a list of music at the bottom called "manually added music"

if present, select all items in this list and Delete to remove them

8) uncheck "Sync Music" at the top of the Music tab and "Apply"

- this will remove all music from your iPhone

9) if the iTunes sync completes properly, perform a Local Backup of your iPhone (you may need this later)

10) re-enable "Sync Music" but uncheck "Voice Memos" and "Apply"

- if this fails, you have a corrupted memo - see below

11) if this sync completes, change your iTunes -> Devices preference to disable "Prevent iPods, iPhones, iPads from syncing automatically"

possibly optional steps needed:

a) make sure you have a backup of all of your Voice Memos (check iTunes)

you may want to copy off these files and then remove them from iTunes, especially if there are duplicates

b) if your Voice Memos database is corrupted, you may need to clear out the iPhone internal database

there are third party utilities (I used "iPhone Disk") that let you access the directory even on a non-jailbroken phone

b) remove all files from the "Recordings" directory

c) cold-boot your iPhone

d) repeat steps above

Again, this sounds painful (it was!) but after many tries, this is what finally allowed my iPhone 4s with iOS 7 to once again sync properly with iTunes 11.1. This process will preserve your iPhone settings, voicemails, Messages, etc. And, it will let you retain your iTunes library without rebuilding.

I am seriously irritated. My iPod touch version 5 was a fully functioning music player until I upgraded to iOS 7. I might take it to the a genius at the Apple store or wait for a fix. How could these computer programming giants screw up something SOOOO basic? SMH. Also, since I've had this darn thing the screen presses it's own buttons. They haven't bothered to fix that EITHER!!!

Sign Out of your appleID acount on Itunes Store > Sign Out

DONE

Close iTunes

DONE

Connect your iDevice (dont go opening iTunes just yet)

DONE

as defined in http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1451

Quit iTunes.

DONE

Locate your iTunes folder (this is the folder that contains the iTunes Library and iTunes Library.xml files).

DONE

Open your iTunes folder.

DONE

Drag the "iTunes Library.xml" or "iTunes Music Library.xml" file to the Desktop. If neither is available, learn how to add files back to the Library (because the XML file is not available, playlists and other information will not be available).

DONE

Drag the following file from your iTunes folder to the Trash:

DONE

Open iTunes.Important: Do not add any content into iTunes at this point (such as by purchasing something from the iTunes Store).

DONE

Choose File > Library > Import Playlist.

DONE

Navigate to the "iTunes Library.xml" file on the Desktop.

DONE

Check the Libraries you want to sync

DONE

Click "Sync" and if it gets stuck again on "waiting for changes to be applied" click on the small cancell 'x' and your content will begin copying on your iDevice

DONE

Still broken, Help! 😟

1. ipad 4 serial DMPKL2ZNFCYG 128GB
2. SYNCING 109GB or less
3. I am not syncing photos
4. I am not syncing ring tones
5. I am not syncing apps, i download any app I need from the store once music is synced
6. I am not syncing books
7. I am not syncing audio books
8. I am not syncing tv shows or movies
9. I am not syncing voice memos
10. None of the tracks I have are DRM protected.
11. all songs are playable in iTunes
12. all songs are mp3 only
13. iCloud is turned off
14. no password is set on pad
15. airplane mode is turned ON, no wifi or 3g
16. i am using USB cable to sync tracks, not wifi
17. No usb hubs are in use
18. I have tried different apple branded cables
19. wifi sync is turned off in iTunes
20. I have tried different usb ports on mac
21. doesn’t make a difference if I am syncing 1 playlist or 40
22. I have tried different profiles
23. Doesn’t make a difference if I am using conventional playlists or smart playlists
24. I have done 16 full factory resets from itunes
25. I have done 1 factory reset with new firmware (deleted iPad3,4_7.0.3_11B511_Restore.ipsw, connected to ethernet hardwired, iTunes had to download it again, restored iPad, set up as New iPad)
26. I have downlaoded iTunes 11.1.3 from www.apple.com, re installed
27. makes no difference if i am on OSX 10.8 or 10.9 Mavericks
28. I have no problems syncing my iPhone to iTunes same library
29. I can not rely on manage music manually as I am changing the library constantly
30. I have done 1 factory reset with new firmware 7.04, installed from DFU mode

I AM SO UNHAPPY WITH APPLE, PLEASE HELP!

I just found this

http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1627

Pretty much saying this (for Leopard)...

1. Open iSync.
2. Choose iSync > Preferences.
3. Click Reset Sync History.

Does it help? (sorry I really don't know anything about OSX so apologies if you have already tried this)

I tried doing what ever you said..

But dint work for me 😢

I just have 478 songs in my music library...

I am either stuck with this Waiting for changes to be applies issue or cancel sync issue...

I am so ****** 😟

I really dunno what to do to restore my music library..

Thank GOD other apps and data are intact...

Please check the image below... The music sync symbol is not loaded too

I have to update this. It looks like I actually am missing about 32GB of music. I have a 64GB iPhone. As you can see in the picture, the colored portions of the bar show that I would have about 9 or 10 GB free, but the text says I have 32.48GB free. The latter is more accurate, as I have found that - although my music shows up on my iPhone, when I try to play it, I get an error saying that it can't be found.

I have an iPhone 5s and have had the same problem where my iPhone gets stuck when I sync in "waiting for changes to be applied."

I was able to fix the problem by going into the Music tab of the iPhone and unchecking the box for Sync Music. When you sync after doing this, all of your music will be removed from your phone. I actually had to do this two times to get iTunes to remove the music.

Once all of the music has been removed (this will happen relatively quickly), you will have to select Sync Music to add your music back to your iPhone, which may take a long time. After doing this, I was able to get my new songs to be uploaded to my phone.

I'm having the same issue only, when I went to sync it, it randomly took off music and I can't get it back on because of the issue. I'm seriously irritated right now. Not a great way to enter into the new year. EARTH TO APPLE. IS ANYONE TRYING TO FIX THIS????

After hours of frustrations i finally found a solution and hope it helps everyone that comes across this post.

1. Disconect your iDevice

2. Sign Out of your appleID acount on Itunes Store > Sign Out

3. Close iTunes

4. Conect your iDevice (dont go opening iTunes just yet)

5. Follow this short support guide http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1451

6. Check the Libraries you want to sync

7. Click "Sync" and if it gets stuck again on "waiting for changes to be applied" click on the small cancell 'x' and your content will beggin copying on your iDevice

hope this helped, i worked for me after hours and hours of trying diferent methods.

5. Follow this short support guide http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1451

"Short support guide"? That involves nuking your music library and recreating it from an XML import, which is a huge deal for many of us who have large libraries, and don't want to lose metadata, dates, etc.

This "waiting for changes to be applied" bug has ruined the fun of a new iPhone 5s.

I've had a variety of issues with syncing music through several versions of iOS now. Sometimes the characteristics change a little, e.g., you can't sync all songs, syncing gets stuck, you can sync one song and it stops, music on the device doesn't match what it is iTunes, and grayed out "ghost" songs that you cannot get rid of. My sync this weekend also got stuck on "waiting for changes to be applied" just like many of you have indicated.

What I've not seen suggested here is a trick I picked up last year in another thread here:

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3909940?start=0&tstart=0

From what I've gathered, bugs in the iTunes software that have persisted over many versions seem to eventually corrupt the music library file on your device. I think the reason that some have been able to fix their problem by doing a full reset/restore of the device is that the corrupted library file is erased at the same time and then rebuilt from scratch.

Instead of going to that extreme, try what is suggested in the thread above. Basically, you use a file browser program like TouchCopy12 (what I use) to access the files on your device. You then rename the library file (MediaLibrary.sqlitedb) so that iTunes doesn't not recognize it when you sync again. iTunes thinks then you need one, and recreates it the next time you sync. Although this does result in your having to reload all your music, playlists, etc. again, it works like a charm and it fixed my problem this time, as it has for me many, many times in the past. NOTE: Doing a warm reset after renaming the file is CRUCIAL. I skipped that step once or twice and if you do, it won't sync properly.

I've done two of these today. The first time it worked to get music on, but I was still having some issues with my iPhone wanting to redownload songs I already had in iTunes. As I pay for data, I didn't want to have to do an unnecessary re-download of music I already had. Research in other threads suggested that downloads in iTunes that had not completed cause that problem. It took me two tries, but I was able to get those downloads fully removed. After that, I went through my usual routine of renaming the library file, warm rebooting, and resyncing with complete success.

I admit it was a little scary for me to do the first time (rename the file), but I also figured that if it didn't work I could always just do a full restore of my device. I've never needed to do that. Understand that you may need to repeat the process in the future if the library file gets corrupted again (it likely will unless Apple fixes the bugs). It really doesn't take long to do, though, although you should allow plenty of time to get music resynced to your device if you have a large library like mine (nearly 7000 songs, so about an hour or so). I've used this process on all my devices over the last year or so (iPad2, iTouch 5, iPhone 4s and now iPhone 5). Same goes for fixing similar issues on my husband's Apple devices.

Hopefully this helps some of you. I use a PC, not a MAC, but I know there are programs out there that work on either type of computer.

Follow this guide here! It works like a charm! 😀

L3nn1n

After hours of frustrations i finally found a solution and hope it helps everyone that comes across this post.

1. Disconect your iDevice

2. Sign Out of your appleID acount on Itunes Store > Sign Out

3. Close iTunes

4. Conect your iDevice (dont go opening iTunes just yet)

5. Follow this short support guide http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1451

6. Check the Libraries you want to sync (for me i only tick sync music, untick all the others"i mean the tv shows, movies etc")

(p,s: it sync after this step, so i assume most of you might not need step 7)

7. Click "Sync" and if it gets stuck again on "waiting for changes to be applied" click on the small cancell 'x' and your content will beggin copying on your iDevice

hope this helped, i worked for me after hours and hours of trying diferent methods.

Credit to L3nn1n! Cheers!

This post below fixed it for me. It looks like the iTunes Library.itl file somehow gets corrupted during the update. The steps in the support link below basically outlines the steps to rebuild the .ITL file.

One thing to add is that when you connect/sync the iPod you may be prompted to erase the iPod'slibrary (makes sense since the .ITL files will be different since the last time you synced the iPod) and use this iTunes Library or some such message (I was/am tired so I wasn't paying attention since I though this was another failed attempt). Select yes or ok to the erase/delete message. Also note that it didn't work right away. I tried one time and it didn't sync. Then I selected my iPod in the list, selected "music" at the top of the list box, unChecked Include Voice memos and things started to flow from there. I really feel for you guys and girls. I hope you all get your devices back in working order soon.

Kianhow23

igster99 wrote:

Just to add that I've tried most of the solutions here (rebuilding library etc) and most did not work. It has been solved by me deleting all the songs on my iPad (from Settings / General / Usage / Music) *and* the empty playlist shells left behind (from music app, by long hold on playlist name) and then syncing after that. God knows it took a lot of fiddling though, and who knows, it'll probably occur again...

This might be part of another "symptom". I just finished giving a long winded explanation of why my setup seems to be at least 12 days stable (I broke down and upgraded to itunes 11.1 & ios 7.0.4 12 days ago).

It's far too early to tell if it's truly stable or if I haven't encountered the problems yet, but it might be partly due to the way people sync their devices.

While I have the "waiting for changes" problem, it's usually limited to 5 minutes now (first night I upgraded to ios 7.0.4, the sync was horrible and I instantly regretted it... it got better... a bit). No other problems just yet beyond the first night's format/reinstall several times.

The various sync problems might have something to do with "automatic downloads" and "show media not on device", but others see things like an ever growing "other" category (meaning no room left for actual music).

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/5324398?start=720&tstart=0

cpaulPHL... THANK YOU

This solution worked.

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/5324684?answerId=23128451022#23128451022

20+ hours of futility prior... Some additional notes:

1) I didn't have any voice memos nor did I have "find my iphone" selected prior to fail

2) That leaves downloads in progress as culprit for me (did you (do you) see the cloud with a down arrow on your music files?- I did)

3) My phone was remotely wiped (long story) - I successfully got it all back from my PC itunes back up except the music.

4) My recent itunes purchases were cloud / arrow downloads in perpetual progress - although they played just fine on the phone. Deleting these did the trick with the steps also listed.

5) FYI... i disabled all WiFi sync on my phone, all iCloud backup options and all other sync/backup options except the PC itune option - Sync to this Computer only. Didn't want to have any sync/backup competing options

Thanks Again for this post