stuck on waiting for changes to be applied

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

After reading this, I checked what might be downloading on my iPad and found that the updates had crashed. I turned the iPad off and on again. This allowed the updates to restart and then I was able to transfer purchases and sync with no problem.

I continue to have this problem on my 4S with 7.0.2. I've tried following the instructions here, but without success. If I do let the "waiting for changes to be applied" thing continue, it eventually decides to resync all of my content.

This seems to allow syncs to work for a couple of days, but then things fail again.

I do not have any duplicated voice memos.

I do not have any Manually Added Music.

Help, apple, Help!

None of these have worked for me. Some suggestions are just dangerous. Erase this. Delete that. I think it is appalling that Apple have left us to resolve their problems. Really sick of the Apple's stragle-hold on my media. Android here I come.

Right there with you, Charrabank. I've restored my iPod several times. Reinstalled iTunes. Doesn't fix it. My only workaround (not a workable workaround) is that I can get it to load music onto my iPod if I do a full factory restore and reload. But then if I want to add music after that, I have to do another full factory restore. Nothing has worked so far.

This is for my iPod Touch. Was looking at an iPhone later this spring when I think I'll be able to afford it, but I'm not going to get one if this glitch isn't resolved by then.

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.

I have an iPad Gen 3 running iOS 7.02 and iTunes 11.1.1. I had to do the Restore from Backup option to get the iPad to load new content. I could make changes to apps, music, videos, but not books and photos. Just sat on 'Waiting to apply changes'. Now that I have completed the restore I am able to load the books and photots on the iPad. Never have had to complete the Restore option before iOS 7.0 to load new content. Unbelievable been with Apple since iPhone Gen 1 and never had to complete a Restore to add content.

This problem appeared to solve last week, but it's returned again today.

I tried to sync via USB (it had been a couple of days), but it got stuck on the final step for five-plus minutes. I cancelled the sync, ejected the device, unplugged and reconnected…and now the Sync buttons are greyed/inactive, and the content bar simply says Other (yellow), rather than Audio, Video, Photos, etc.

iTunes 11.1.1

iOS 7.0.2

i've been having the same frustrations including uninstall and reinstall of itunes, then a full restore of my phone to factory, 2 converstations with tech support, and finally

I FOUND THIS SOLUTION.....

with my iphone 5 plugged in to my laptop, when the iphone appears in itunes, i clicked the iphone to open the phone summary page. then on the top tabs, i clicked on "music", then i checked the "sync music" box where it allows you to chose if you want to sync certain playlists, your whole library, or whatever you prefer. i repeated the same process for tones, books, etc. For me it was a simple setting that i never knew existed in many years and many ipods.

hope this helps many.

Apple. You are a bunch of c***s. You want £25.00 off me to fix your problem on my phone. You can stick it where the sun don't shine. iPhone is going straight on eBay, I will be buying a Samsung next week. I will never buy one of your POS phones again!!!

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!

Have had this problem many times, had various solutions each time something different, but THIS time I noticed after the sync, that I had a podcast still downloading on my iPod... maybe this creates issues seeing as how I have several podcasts automatically downloading. Now iPod seems to be syncing nicely.

Thank you! This worked for me!

I updated to I07 the day it came out. I have hated it ever since. But the "waiting for changes to be applied" just started the last few days. I was so frustrated that I ended up wiping out my iPhone and setting it up as a new phone. Still didn't solve the issue. So I wiped it a 2nd time and did a restore from back from May of 2011 that was in the list. Waited for everything to copy and still didn't sync!!! So I restored to my most recent back up and that is where it is currently. I stays on waiting for changes to be applied. I had a talk with an Apple tech a couple of days ago over an entirely different issue and I expressed my frustration. He said there are many complaining about "bugs" with I07. He suggested I leave feedback for them. I said, "oh I did." I left comments on Apple's facebook page and told them I was close to leaving them as a customer. I've always been a huge Apple advocate but this last update really, really *****. Before that it was the new itunes update that totally changed everything! I hate the new operating system and I hate the new itunes too. At this point if I could get any money out of my iPhone 4S I am ready to sell it and move over to a Samsung Note II. My friend did the same and he said he will never go back to an iPhone. Maybe it's time.

Until Apple fixes the problem, I have stopped syncing my iphone to my computer. I'm using the Podcasts app to download the podcasts directly. And I'm using the Amazon cloud player to play my music. As long as I make all new music purchases through Amazon, I don't really need itunes.

The Podcasts app sometimes needs a few tries to detect all of the podcasts that need updating. But otherwise this works pretty well. Of course I still can't create playlists that mix podcasts and other media.

I just 'upgraded' to 7.0.3. and my phone was also stuck and the following worked for me;

1) Cancel the stuck sync in iTunes by clicking on the "x"

2) Disconnect the iPhone from the USB cable

3) Power down the iPhone

4) In iTunes, deselect "automatically sync when this iPhone is connected"

5) Close iTunes

6) Power up your iPhone again

7) Connect your iPhone to your computer/laptop

8) Launch iTunes

9) Click on "Sync."

It's syncing all songs again (I guess that's where the problem lies) so it's taking a little bit longer, but there is no need to do all sort of complicated stuff or following some kind of "short support guide" (yeah, riiight) which entails re-creating your iTunes music library.

10) Once you have manually done a sync, you can go back into iTunes and re-select "automatically sync when this iPhone is connected."

All in all it's pretty pathetic that Apple still has this issue! 😠