Also, and update...
Yes, the zombies are back. Interestingly enough, the Air stayed clear until I had to connect my iPhone to transfer some photos, after which the zombies showed back up on the Air as well. But, meanwhile, I started having some other weird problems with the phone, all since the iOS update (stick with me on this, because there's a possible connection):
- The new Music app (replacing iTunes) has all sorts of difficulties in connecting with the Bluetooth in my car. Or, rather, it doesn't have difficulties, because it keeps doing it on its own. Tra-la-la. On its own. It goes like this: I am signed into the App Store and Music (they now run in tandem; since the iOS update they are linked) when I get in my car, but neither app is open on the phone, and the phone is actually on but not open. Yet once the Bluetooth connects from the car, for some reason Music starts playing on its own. On its own. If I shut down the app, it will stay shut down, but only until the Bluetooth is next called into action, or until I get out of and into the car again. Music comes back and plays whenever the audio is on in the car but something else stops "speaking" (phone call, maps audio, or whatever). The only way to shut up Music completely is to go into the phone and fully sign out of the Music app, which empties it out completely -- unless one or more songs or albums somehow gets stuck on the phone and has to be deleted (slider) one by one, which happens frequently. Plus, Music on the phone is only pulling down a limited number of songs and albums, so the playlist is limited, which has its own issues (see below).
(Disclosure: I was never a iTunes guru, and haven't even tried to make sense of Music since its introduction, but I am supposedly subscribed to iTunes Match, etc.)
- There have been days and days now of not being able to update old or download new apps. Like something got all clogged up somewhere.
- Oh, and once (so far) Music has turned itself on when I wasn't even in the car, on the phone, or anything. I'm just walking through the kitchen and the phone just started playing on its own. On its own. When I went to try to sign out -- I wasn't even signed in and the app wasn't even open. I couldn't open the app. The music was just playing on its own. The only way to shut it up was to shut down and restart the phone.
Note: Just so you know, this is beyond annoying, to the point of inducing episodes (and I don't have episodes). I happen to own a copy of "The Wizard of Oz" (OCR, purchased from iTunes), and you just try driving and having those Lollipop Kids loudly and gleefully welcoming you to Munchkin Land every bloody time some other function of your audio drops out.
OK, so all of that is swirling around while I still have zombie issues, even though The Engineers and The Developers supposedly cleared out whatever deeply buried files there are supposed to be in my Apple ID account. Too much. Can't take it. So, I called Apple about the misbehaviors of Music, and -- naturally -- ended up starting into discussion of the zombies because, you know, maybe the problems are related?...
I pushed my way up to a senior tech right away, and -- credit where it's due -- she seems not only competent, but comprehensive in her approach. She's looking at the problem holistically, which is more than anyone else has done to date.
Among other things, she discovered that my Apple ID remains in troubleshooting mode -- despite the fact that it was supposed to have been released from that status weeks ago. (No idea if that has anything to do with the Music or app quirks.) We also discovered that the phone shows one bundle of music data being accessible through Music, but iTunes (still the only name in the OS) on my Air shows a more complete catalog of music. But, when the phone is accessed through iTunes on the Air, iTunes then says there is nothing on the phone. Storage use from each point of access confirms. Wha?...
Something is deeply screwed up, and it all appears to relate not to iCloud as a storage repository, and not just to the Apple ID, but to how the iOS interacts with the Apple ID.
I'm supposed to hear something for this new Senior Tech tomorrow. Will report.
Argh.
Someone say something funny, please...
