Apple Music Playlist NOT Syncing with iPhone

Hi Medeechee

I had the same issue myself. Nothing I did in iTunes on my iMac would sync to my iPhone (when previously it did), but vice versa it worked fine. Did the same thing as you, logged out of just about everything and logged back in; switched off iCloud Music Library then on again (deleting the content as I thought it would be simpler than merging), only to end up with nothing on my phone. Spent hours trying to fix it, but nothing worked. Finally contacted Apple support and did the following (which ended up fixing the solution for me).

1. Swipe up to close the Music app

2. Within Settings, switch off your Wi-Fi

3. Then Switch off iCloud Music Library within the Music setting (if like me you also had Mobile/Cellular Data already switched off (and I think this mobile data thing is the issue/key here); switch it back on again for both streaming and downloading). With Wi-Fi switched off, I needed mobile data switched back on before I was able to switch off iCloud Music Library.

If mobile data is already on, try to switch it off and on again (just a thought) after you have switched off iCloud Music Library.

4. When I switched iCloud Music Library on, I chose to delete any existing content. I wasn't told to, I just thought this would be the simplest option, rather than it performing a complicated merge.

5. Leave Wi-Fi OFF and Mobile/Cellular Data ON. Wait a few minutes and then launch the Music app

6. Select Playlists. Are they starting to refresh?

If Yes - then before your data allowance gets gobbled up with the downloads. Switch to Settings and turn Wi-Fi back on.

If like me - No, nothing happened and you eventually get an error message saying that iCloud Music Library could not be enabled. Switch to Settings and turn Wi-Fi back on. I then closed Music and relaunched. When I selected Playlists then everything was syncing correctly. I waited until all of my music had downloaded, then switched off my Mobile Data setting. Since then it all seems to be ok.

I think the issue lies with the Mobile/Cellular Data setting. I read something similar on another thread. I reckon something in iOS has got screwed up, and switching it back on when Wi-Fi was off has somehow reset something. Hope this helps.

Hi,

This work-around by switching off wifi, then closing the Apple Music app, then rebooting your phone and then going back into Apple Music with wifi still off whilst using cellular data works!. You can than simply enable wifi after your playlists start refreshing.

Thanks for the advice and support. This problem is limited to iPhones (I have a 7plus). My other devices work well.

I had the same issue, drove me crazy. I short fix was to simply turn on "use cellular data" in both the iTunes and app stores" and "music" settings, while also leaving my wifi connection turned on. Everything syncs perfectly now AND it seems to do it over my wifi connect, not my cellular data connection. Just have to remember not to update any apps or music while I'm away from wifi to avoid extra charges. This bug really should be fixed by now though.

workaround i found is by adding(forcing) iphone to interact with the library and then it will sync. Basically just add a random song to your library on your iphone and then remove it afterwards if you dont need it, by doing that it will update your iphone library with the changes you made on your mac. I have the same problem tho when i make changes on my iphone it will show up on mac, but not other way around. So basically i have to force iphone to update by adding random songs

Hi

I have th next same issue.

Playlists created on iMac do not sync with my iPhone. Playlists, however, created on my iPhone to manage to sync with the the iMac.

So the problem is that the playlists only sync 1 way.

What’s makes this even stranger is that a playlist created on my iPhone and synced to the iMac, is removed from the iPhone when I delete it from the Mac

Has Apple managed to solve this yet?

I am having the same problem. I've deleted many songs from a playlist on my Mac, and they aren't updating on the phone. Ever since High Sierra and iOS 11, I have had nothing but problems with Apple Music in general. Often times on my iPhone X, i'll try to add a new album or song to a playlist, and it never takes, regardless of how many times I do it. Sometimes rebooting the phone will help, but not always. I usually have to add it on my Mac for it to work.

Note: The reply marked as "solved" in this thread is not accurate, as all my settings, and others that have replied, are correct.

The iCloud library is turned on. All songs are availble on iTunes and iPhone. But the playlist doesn't sync. It keeps creating a new name for one like this:

Playlist A, then it creates

Playlist A 1 and

Playlist A 2

Why?

I've spent weeks trying to get itunes and my iphone to correctly sync artwork and playlists. I've concluded it's simply not possible to get it to work correctly

I have the same issue. Both my MacBook and iPhone are logged in with the correct Apple ID and iCloud Music Library turned on but everything I do to playlists on my MacBook does not sync with my iPhone. However, if I make a change on my iPhone it will sync with the MacBook.

I tried turning iCloud Music Library off/on as I read that in a different forum that may help, but all that did was delete my music and now nothing is coming back onto my iPhone.

I have definitely done something similar to this, just without turning cellular on and off.. It seems like quite a bit of work for something that should just be working though, especially for how frequently this issue happens for me. I have had the problem since iOS 11 released, on both an iPhone 7 Plus, and now currently my iPhone X. Both have had full restores from backup, as well as a fresh "set up as new phone". I wouldn't think that it being a cellular issue on one phone would carry over to another. Another negative to all of this is that if this does in fact turn out to only be a temporary fix, I would be wiping and redownloading my multiple thousand song music library pretty regularly.

I can confirm that this shortened fix works 🙂

Dam thing stopped syncing again!!!!! But only with my iPhone 7 plus (my iPod Touch and iPad are still working). So tried this fix instead and voila.

I am very much team Apple, but I'm saddened to say iOS 11 is a complete crock of sh*t.

I’ve had this same problem for a good while. But your suggested fix works! Thank you. But I’m very disappointed that the Apple person marked the issue as solved without waiting to hear from the person who posted.

Hi SalmonGram

You could try my solution posted above to Medeechee. I have an iPhone 7 plus. But it worked for me.

Thank you UKDazza!!! This fixed my problem!!!

I hope Apple comes out with a fix for this soon so I don't have to keep deleting/redownloading all my music.

Same. Ever since iOS 11, I’ve had nothing but trouble with iBooks and Apple Music.