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iOS 7 and Smart Playlist Handling

In iOS 7, smart playlist handling isn't working as "smartly" as before. Here are two examples dealing with song ratings...



If you try to sync a smart playlist containing only songs assigned ZERO-STARS, the songs will transfer over to the iPhone, but the playlist will show up empty.


If you sync a (live-updating) smart playlist containing songs assigned FIVE-STARS, the playlist will appear as expected, but it won't "live update" as it did in iOS 6. For example, if you change a song's rating to FOUR-STARS, it won't move out of the FIVE-STAR smart playlist until you sync with your Mac.


If you guys know of any tricks to make this work again, let me know! :-)

iMac, iOS 7

Posted on Sep 20, 2013 4:04 AM

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110 replies

Sep 20, 2013 7:55 AM in response to Scott Russell

I have this same problem... have tried deleting and recreating the playlist, full restore, and nothing works. The only quirk I've found is that I have been able to get purchased music (aac) to show up, but not my own music (mp3), but it's not because of the file type (tried converting some mp3 songs to aac and they still did not show up).

Sep 21, 2013 6:31 PM in response to Scott Russell

Same problem here. I have a live-updating Smart Playlist for "zero-star" songs, and in the past this playlist has synced to my iPod Touch and the songs disappear from the list as I rate them. With the move to IOS7, the playlist appears empty on my iPod after the sync.


I've tried restarting my laptop (Macbook Pro) and my iPod (5th gen), and nothing has changed. Interestingly, the songs do transfer to the iPod and are searchable (e.g. by artist, etc), but they do not appear in the playlist. Hope this is just a small bug tht gets sorted out in an update - rating music is probably my primary use for my iPod!


And while I'm here... it'd be nice to see the remaining charge on an iPod as a %, just like on an iPhone.


Thanks

Sep 23, 2013 4:53 PM in response to Scott Russell

Similar problem for me--my smart playlist (which is set up for all my podcasts to update immediately) is not working either-- the playlist says "No Content". I know the smart playlist is set up correctly as it was working properly until I went to ios 7.


My other (non-"smart") playlists are fine.


I had the Podcast app from Apple, and thought that might be messing up my podcast playlist, so I deleted it. (It was crappy anyway!)


C'mon, Apple, fix this!!!

Sep 23, 2013 5:59 PM in response to Scott Russell

Same issue... I *adored* the live updating of the smart playlists automatically on my mac and my iphone. It would be a shame if Apple has removed this feature permanently. I basically only use smart playlists. I could make static playlists from all the smart ones on a regular basis, but man... I really don't want to do that.


Please Fix, Apple Overlord. I realize the last time I complained you broke my macbook's power supply, but I've since bought additional icloud space... have mercy!

Sep 23, 2013 6:11 PM in response to mOnZtre

iPhone 5 with iOS 7 and no problem with my zero star smart playlist. The difference in my case might be attributed to extra parameters I am using though:


- Media Kind is Music (try adding this if you aren't using it)

- Playlist is Summation (a "master" playlist that sums up all the things I want sync'd)


I have to use the 2nd criteria since my library exceeds the capacity of my device, yet I want to auto-sync. But this particular criteria breaks Live Updating (has since iOS 3). But you might try the criteria "Playlist is Music", where "Music" is the general music category in your library. This, however, will certainly break Live Updating.


One or both of those may fix the problem of an empty playlist on your device.

Sep 24, 2013 5:01 PM in response to Scott Russell

Yes, it appears iOS 7 itunes match isn't so smart and handling iTunes Smart Playlists. It apparently doesn't like qualifiers like "Last Skipped" "Last Played", "Time". When I remove these parameters from my smart playlists the playlist shows populated on my iPhone.


Interestingly, you can add these parameters back in and they music stays on your iPhone. The only problem is it doesn't follow the smart playlist rules. For example, I can add back in "Last Skipped - not in the last - 7 days". When I play the playlist in iTunes (on my iMac) and skip a song it shows the # of songs in the playlist decreases. However, the playlist on my iPhone does not recognize the update. In fact, I notice a interesting symptom.


The playlist on the phone has a "Download all (# of songs)" at the top of the playlist. When you add back in the offending parameters this option goes away and the only way to tell the number of songs is to scroll to the bottom of the page and it shows the number of songs but no option to download all. This is clearly a programatic issue--hopefully Apple will fix this soon.

Sep 29, 2013 12:17 PM in response to Rangeshooter

I've been having similiar problems and did soime testing. With the iOS7 update, it appears iTunes on the iPhone doesn't handle blank/null values. If the Rating is "No Stars" (blank), they don't show in the playlist. If the Last Played is blank/null (never been played), they don't show in playlists where "Last Played" in not in the last x days/weeks/months, etc.

Sep 29, 2013 2:06 PM in response to MFW19382

I noticed the same thing. Hopefully they'll fix it soon. I also noticed that if I turn off Match and sync playlists to the phone then turn on Match the playlists show up (when the device is connected) in itunes under Music with a checkbox next to them. These playlists will show on my iPhone but do not follow the smart playlist rules anymore. They won't update excetera. If I uncheck the box for the playlist in iTunes under Music then the playlist blanks out on my phone and no music is listed (this is for playlists with things like last skipped or last played).


I cannot begin to describe the funkyness that happens when I uncheck the "live upate" box on the playlist and how it changes my itunes match playlists on my phone. Also, I haven't figured out how my phone sorts those playlists since it's doesn't match any order of sort I've tried when compared to the playlist in iTunes.

iOS 7 and Smart Playlist Handling

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