Apple Music Users Report Seeing Other People's Playlists in Their Libraries

[MacRumors]

Apple Music appears to be sparking serious privacy concerns for some users, with multiple complaints on Reddit about other people's playlists randomly appearing in their music libraries in the Music app.

Redditor adh1003, who contacted MacRumors about the issue, has compiled several reports from users complaining about the appearance of strange playlists in the app that they do not recognize. MacRumors has since found other posts on Reddit from users reporting the same behavior.

In some cases, unknown playlists have been merged with users' existing playlists. In other cases, users' playlists have gone missing or been replaced by unrecognized ones.

Some users have expressed concerns that their Apple accounts have been hacked, but the more likely cause of the issue is an unspecified problem with Apple's iCloud server. Unsyncing and then re-syncing iCloud for the Music app (Settings -> Apple ID -> iCloud -> Show All) has worked for a handful of users, but not all.

Based on reports, the appearance of unrecognized playlists is only occurring in the Music app for iPhone, with the Music app for macOS remaining unaffected. User reports regarding the issue date back to mid February, suggesting the problem could be related to the release of iOS 16.3.1, which included a bug fix for iCloud settings.

Some users have contacted Apple support to resolve the issue but none have reported success. We've contacted Apple about the problem and will update this article if we learn more.

The issue is reminiscent of another iCloud bug that occurred last year in which some users reported videos and images from strangers appearing in their Photos library.

Article Link: Apple Music Users Report Seeing Other People's Playlists in Their Libraries

 

[Burger Thing]

As long as i don’t see a playlist with U2, I am cool with it…

 

[neuropsychguy]

This could be a fun way to get exposed to new music. (I know it's a bug but it seems like it's relatively harmless).

On a bug note. I have not seen this but there have been a few times I have not received pictures people send through iMessage.

Although, if we're talking about iCloud bugs, one time a few years ago my spouse sent me a picture of something through iMessage and I ended up with a random photo of someone’s child. I tried to figure why she sent me a random photo of a random child but quickly realized it was an iMessage/iCloud error. Bits crossed in the sending. Someone else likely received the image she sent — a picture of something at a store. That was the most random iCloud-related bug I've ever seen. It's mostly just funny because it was harmless (cute child playing and I quickly deleted the image) but it could have been a major issue if the crossed images had been more sensitive or private.

 

[Bryan Bowler]

I have been dealing with strange syncing issues for about a month now and it’s driving me crazy. I have not noticed it in Apple Music yet, but no matter how many times I change notification settings in Find My and Weather, weird synching issues keep changing things back.

It’s become a major annoyance because I get anywhere from 40-60 Watch notifications a day that I left an Item behind and I cannot stop the notifications from happening.

 

[Chester Stone]

I wonder if this has to do with older devices being reset and sold, without completely erasing device linkage to the original owner's iCloud account. (just a theory)

This hasn't exactly happened to me in Music, but I've seen it happen where even after erasing an old device, the new user can see certain remnants even after restarting, such getting a 2FA notice, a random notification/password request, or having access to an iCloud Shared Photo Album until linking/creating anew. It's clear that a factory reset doesn't completely nuke the device of all traces of old account, with some pointers still server-side. (i.e. the device is reset, but it's still linked to an iCloud account from the user's iCloud page, or server-side device list.)

 

[McWetty]

Maybe we are finally getting true collaborative playlists??

Realistically, it’s probably just a bug. I’ve been seeing my contacts get randomly deleted lately and I’m guessing iCloud sync errors are to blame.

 

[George Dawes]

State of mine I’d look on this as a bonus 😆

 

[mystery hill]

Not as bad as having strangers see your iCloud Photos.

iCloud for Windows Users Complain of Corrupted Videos, Photos From Strangers

Apple's iCloud for Windows software appears to experiencing serious issues for some users, with complaints on the MacRumors forums about...

www.macrumors.com

 

[testcard]

"What's mine is yours"

 

[ApplesAreSweet&Sour]

Nothing strange happening in my Music library. And it is all synced to iCloud.

Well, plenty of odd playlists and strange albums. But I’m to blame for all of it.

 

[siddavis]

I report that anything iCloud related is hot garbage.

 

[JuicyGoomba]

This could be a fun way to get exposed to new music.

I have not seen this but I rarely don’t receive pictures people send through iMessage. That has only happened a couple times though. Although, one time my spouse sent me a picture of something through iMessage and I ended up with a random photo of someone’s child. Bits crossed in the sending. I tried to figure why she sent me a random photo of a random child but quickly realized it was an iMessage error. Someone else likely received the image she sent — a picture of something at a store.

Apple taking all the "Spotify has better curation!" comments to heart...

 

[Reason077]

Apple Music Users Report Seeing Other People's Playlists in Their Libraries

I've actually seen this happen in the past with Spotify. In that case, it's a warning sign that your account's been hacked. Change password and sign out other devices ASAP!

I still have a few of my hacker's playlists somewhere - they appeared to be from Colombia and actually had pretty decent taste, for the most part.

 

[JuicyGoomba]

I report that anything iCloud related is hot garbage.

Genuinely though, if anyone is unable to fathom why so many people buy iPhones yet continue to use all Google apps, this is one of the main reasons.

Whilst I'm currently still stuck on a Pixel 5, when the day comes that I move back to iPhone I will also not be using anything related to iCloud outside of device backups. Previously used iPhones from the 3G all the way to the 12, and my overall experience was that one year iCloud works fine, the next it doesn't. It continues to flip flop and then out of nowhere a major issue will pop up to remind you of how silly you were to trust such a service.

Again, I know so many on here hate Google for selling your data, but most people are fine with having their interest linked to a randomised ID which can be voluntarily wiped with a moments notice. People who are fine with that will get a much nicer cloud experience in return. That's not to say Google are the only alternative either. Microsoft have some very compelling apps themselves now, as they too look to exploit the services market.

As I still use Windows PC's regularly, I'm seriously considering going over to Microsoft apps for a trial run, especially now that Edge has caught up and arguably surpassed it's competitors.

 

[antiprotest]

At Apple, our top priority is your privacy and security...

 

[DrJR]

Odd…. Right at the same time our GPT‘s conversation titles were exposed to other users….. Wheird.

 

[TwoBytes]

is this new collaboration feature?

 

[ProfessionalFan]

I'd call this a feature, I want this. I can't think of good playlists myself.

 

[k1121j]

Lol privacy concern. Now that’s funny

 

[rlewisphilly]

I'm having iOS Music Library issues. I can see my music, but it won't play saying my iPhone is tied to a different Apple ID. It shows the ID, but it's MY Apple ID?????

 

[Sciomar]

I thought it was a feature!

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

"There's been a lot of press lately about AI... Artificial Intelligence. At Apple, we believe anything artificial is inferior to organic... that human creativity and intelligence is far superior to anything artificial. So today, we introduce OI... Organic Intelligence... in the new OI-driven Apple Music... where human intelligence-driven playlists are randomly shared with others. No AI can appreciate music as much as the collective ears and minds of our hundreds of millions of users. So now- with a flick of a switch- all of that organic, human curation is selectively shared person to person.

Only Apple can do OI. Only Apple people get to enjoy it. Only the new iPhone will make the most of it. Order now.

And one more thing...

Don't forget your new MFi USB-C charger & cable... bringing the very best feature of our advanced Lightning port to the USB-C standard: another revenue stream... I mean security, yes advanced security for you. Only Apple USB-C can deliver the best, most $ecure experience with the new iPhone. Order the new charger & cable combo today for only $49, no $69, no $99. We know that we- I mean YOU- will love it!"

 

[movielad]

I witnessed this problem myself yesterday. Thought it might have something to do with Apple Music Preview finally launching in English (United Kingdom) on Windows 11, but as the article says, only affects Apple Music for iOS. Saw other people's playlists and plenty of empty ones. Tried deleting them. Not always successful.

I deleted the Apple Music app, redownloaded it, signed back in and everything returned to normal.

 

[reubs]

Lol. Apple Music is so bad. I’m just surprised this is only on iOS and not macOS!

 

[ian87w]

Apple really has serious org problems internally, especially in software. It's already proven their HR is a mess. their main software and services are slowly crumbling. But keep pushing AppleTV+ to distract people. 🤷🏻