iTunes 11.1.2 and iOS 7.0.3 Smart Playlists not working

Question

Level 1

10 points

iTunes 11.1.2 and iOS 7.0.3 Smart Playlists not working

I am unable to get a smart playlist of mine to update on my iPhone 4s. The smart playlist is updated on my iMac and the items in it are copied across to my 4s but the playlist on my 4s is not getting updated. This just started 2 days ago. When I sync the same smart playlist to an old iPod Touch 3g running iOS 4.3.3 it is copied across fine and all works. The items in the playlist are all podcasts and up to a couple of days ago were copying across fine (and the older items are still there in the playlist on my 4s).

iPhone 4S, iOS 7.0.3

Posted on Nov 13, 2013 7:11 AM

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Answer 1

sheila_m.

Community Specialist

Nov 15, 2013 6:35 AM in response to gortdromagh

Hello gortdromagh,

Thank you for the details of the issue you are experiencing when syncing your playlist to your iPhone. For an issue like this, I recommend resyncing the music to your iPhone.

If you are syncing automatically, resync content to the iPhone by unchecking "Sync Music" and click "Apply," then check "Sync Music" and click "Apply" again.

You can find the syncing steps in the following article:

iTunes 11 for Mac: Set up syncing for iPod, iPhone, or iPad

http://support.apple.com/kb/PH12113

Thank you for posting in the Apple Support Communities.

Best,

Sheila M.

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Answer 2

uhdmari

Level 1

0 points

Nov 16, 2013 11:03 PM in response to sheila_m.

The same thing with having trouble syncing playists is happening to me. Whenever it's in Step 5 (and waiting for changes to be made) it stops syncing.

This is preventing me from doing the suggestion above- unchecking "sync music" applying it and then repeating it. When I push "apply" after unchecking "sync music" itunes disregards what I told it to do and reloads the music before removing it off.

Help please.

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Answer 3

Nov 17, 2013 5:48 PM in response to uhdmari

It's the same trouble I am facing, and somehow the songs are there, but the playlists aren't...Please help...It's getting frustrating!!

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Answer 4

gortdromagh Author

Level 1

10 points

Nov 18, 2013 4:33 AM in response to sheila_m.

Hi Sheila, I bought an iPhone 5s and handed my 4s over to my daughter.

I setup the 5s from the backup from the 4s and saw the same problem.

I unsynced the music and had the same issue as the smart playlist contained podcasts and was therefore not removed.

I tapped on the podcasts tab in iTunes and iTunes has frozen (this is an issue mentioned in other threads and the only cure is to disconnect the internet - https://discussions.apple.com/thread/5339836?answerId=23099713022#23099713022 ). So, I disconnected the internet and iTunes responded again so I was able to switch off podcast syncing.

I then turned podcast syncing back on and resynced to the 5s.

On the 5s I went into the Podcasts App and My Stations:iTunes Playlists:Podcasts(a smart playlist containing my podcasts) and lo and behold the two most recent podcasts were still missing.

This has now taken me a fair bit of time and also included the purchase of a new iPhone (which I was going to do anyway).

This is a bug in iTunes and I would suggest you submit it as such.

The frozen podcast tab is another bug which also needs notification.

I am an iOS developer and my customers depend on a reliable platform (which includes iTunes) as my app is used for backing tracks for stage performers.

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Answer 5

jncobb03

Level 1

0 points

Nov 18, 2013 11:50 AM in response to Vaishali87

I'm facing the same issue ever since one of the many iOS7 updates. I just tried selecting ONLY the smart lists (recently added, top 25 most played, and recently played) and like you said, the songs show up but the playlist don't. 😟

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Answer 6

sheila_m.

Community Specialist

Nov 19, 2013 6:51 AM in response to gortdromagh

Hi gortdromagh,

Thank you for the additional information. Due to the nature of your issue or question you may find more information by using another one of Apple's support resources - https://getsupport.apple.com/GetproductgroupList.action

All the best,

Sheila M.

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Answer 7

gortdromagh Author

Level 1

10 points

Dec 3, 2013 7:48 AM in response to gortdromagh

Installing iTunes 11.1.3 appears to have fixed this issue (hopefully it stays fixed!).

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Answer 8

gortdromagh Author

Level 1

10 points

Dec 3, 2013 9:31 AM in response to gortdromagh

Nooo... just wishful thinking - it's not fixed in 11.1.3! No 'support resources' and no 'community specialists' are going to be of much use here until the programmers just test and fix this!

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Answer 9

Dec 3, 2013 6:14 PM in response to gortdromagh

Having the exact same issue! SO frustrating! I cannot seem to crack the code to syncing my playlists to my new 5S--

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Answer 10

Feb 3, 2014 5:22 PM in response to gortdromagh

I was having the same issue. I made a Genius appointment and went into the store, and a Support Rep was able to fix it - but that only lasted about 2 weeks.

The problem resurfaced again - and I came here to look for additional guidance. I tried Sheila_m's tip (un-syncing the music), and noticed something interesting.

After unchecking the "Sync music" check box and hitting "Apply" and syncing, the box checked itself, and my Mac informed me that I still had 8 songs that were going to sync. I let it finish, and unchecked "Sync music" a 2nd time. This time, it checked the box and informed me that 44 songs were going to sync. I let it finish, and unchecked it one more time. This time it worked. Nothing showed in the list of music for the phone - and after syncing, all songs were removed from the phone.

I then went back and added the playlists that I wanted to sync, and everything appears to have synchronized correctly.

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Answer 11

gjensse

Level 1

5 points

Jun 4, 2014 6:10 AM in response to gortdromagh

Same issue here with an iPhone 5 running iOS7. The "synched" smart playlist on my iPhone is just a random collection of tracks from my library.

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Answer 12

Sep 22, 2014 8:57 AM in response to gortdromagh

Try This:

In iTunes (on your computer):

Go to your connected iphone, then the SUMMARY BOX, the the OPTIONS BOX at the very bottom, make sure the last option for MANUALLY MANAGE is selected.

😉

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