iOS 4 killed live updating smart playlist!

[TheConfuzed1]

On my previous iPods and iPhone, I've always used live updating smart playlists to keep my music fresh.

By adding the simple rule to not include anything played in the last "x" number of days, any song played would disappear from the playlist.

In other words, once you play it, it no longer fits the requirement for the playlist, so it drops off, creating a continuously updating, self-contained playlist.

I just noticed that my iPhone 4 no longer does this.

The playlists do not update until they are synced in iTunes.

Does anyone know a trick to fix this?

 

[danwms]

I use these playlists all of the time and i have noticed this as well.

no idea why though

 

[TruckdriverSean]

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The "smart playlist" was replaced in iOS4 with the ability to create and edit regular playlists right on the phone itself. (previously, that could only be done thru iTunes on a PC/MAC)

 

[TheConfuzed1]

That really irritates me. It's a huge step backward if you ask me.

 

[Eso]

The "smart playlist" was replaced in iOS4 with the ability to create and edit regular playlists right on the phone itself. (previously, that could only be done thru iTunes on a PC/MAC)

Ah, no. Smart playlists can not be edited on the device and editing playlists only replaced the "on-the-go" playlist feature.

Updating smart playlists have broken at least 3 times since the launch of the iPhone. It's a total joke that Apple can't get this right.

 

[Daveoc64]

Updating smart playlists have broken at least 3 times since the launch of the iPhone. It's a total joke that Apple can't get this right.

Add in the several years that it was broken on various models of iPod.

 

[TheConfuzed1]

I thought they may have finally done it right this time.

If you have a smart playlist, that has a dependecy for another playlist, you no longer have to sync both to your phone. I was happy to discover that.

But if this is the tradeoff, I prefer the old way.

 

[nagromme]

Weird for me too

iOS 4 finally made my "most recently added" smart playlists work that hadn't live-updated (without a manual toggle) since iOS 1.x!

But with iOS 4, my rating-based smart playlists no longer work! For example, I have a playlist for 4+ stars, with hundreds of songs, but far fewer appear on the iPhone 4. (The other songs ARE present playable in their albums, but not listed in the playlist.)

On Apple's boards and iLounge, some say to add some other field like "Media Kind is Music." That doesn't help me: I already do that to keep podcasts and certain audiobooks out.

Definitely this is a system that has been broken under iOS in one way or another for over a year, through many OS updates. And smart playlists are a widely-used key ability of iTunes!

I'm about to install iOS 4.1 and iTunes 10... fingers crossed for a fix!

 

[nagromme]

I reverse-jinxed it With iTunes 10/iOS 4.1, my smart playlists actually seem to be working again at last Hopefully they stay that way...

 

[acfusion29]

live playlists worked for me in:

1.0
2.0
3.0 beta
4.0

they never worked in 3.x but at least they work fine now...

p.s. they always worked for me in iTunes 9 + 4.0, not sure why they never worked for you OP.