iTunes Match is awful in iOS6

[zhenya]

The method has changed slightly in iOS 6. In order to delete music, you must first turn off iTunes Match. I suggest first turning off Show All Music and then turning off Match. (This seems to speed up the process) Once Match is off, you can delete anything you like.

My feeling is that they did this because for most users, it would cause confusion because music that they listen to is downloaded to a temporary cache, and they didn't want people to be confused between what was downloaded and what was cached.

Like it or not, overall, for most people, Match is much better in iOS 6 than it was in 5. Permanently downloading everything you ever listened to led to a poor user experience.

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Yes but being a recently added smart playlist it updates regularly, does that mean I have to download each time?

That is a question I honestly don't know the answer to, because I don't use Smart Playlists in that way. My suspicion is that yes, you will have to periodically re-download the Smart Playlist. One would hope that you could again just hit the 'download all' button at the bottom of the playlist and it would get everything it didn't already have. I'm quite sure that it will not, however, delete songs that are no longer on that playlist. They should no longer be listed in that particular playlist, but if you were to track them down in their particular album, I bet they would show they were still on the device.

I know that there have been complaints from the beginning about Smart Playlists and Match, and I can see where this would be a very difficult thing to design in such a way that the behavior pleased everyone. If anyone else has experience with this particular setup, I'd be interested in hearing how it behaves.

 

[Dwalls90]

iTunes match sucks as an entire situation.

Now I just use it on my mac for matching songs with itunes, then downloading the itunes + quality songs.

 

[imacken]

You most certainly can.

My above point stands...

Fact: You cannot delete individual songs from the Music app in iOS6.
It's a known issue, that, IMO, will have to be addressed by Apple in the next update.

 

[MonkeySee....]

The method has changed slightly in iOS 6. In order to delete music, you must first turn off iTunes Match. I suggest first turning off Show All Music and then turning off Match. (This seems to speed up the process) Once Match is off, you can delete anything you like.

My feeling is that they did this because for most users, it would cause confusion because music that they listen to is downloaded to a temporary cache, and they didn't want people to be confused between what was downloaded and what was cached.

Like it or not, overall, for most people, Match is much better in iOS 6 than it was in 5. Permanently downloading everything you ever listened to led to a poor user experience.

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That is a question I honestly don't know the answer to, because I don't use Smart Playlists in that way. My suspicion is that yes, you will have to periodically re-download the Smart Playlist. One would hope that you could again just hit the 'download all' button at the bottom of the playlist and it would get everything it didn't already have. I'm quite sure that it will not, however, delete songs that are no longer on that playlist. They should no longer be listed in that particular playlist, but if you were to track them down in their particular album, I bet they would show they were still on the device.

I know that there have been complaints from the beginning about Smart Playlists and Match, and I can see where this would be a very difficult thing to design in such a way that the behavior pleased everyone. If anyone else has experience with this particular setup, I'd be interested in hearing how it behaves.

It was much better in iOS5.

If i'm out of an area where I have no data i know what songs that hadn't been downloaded because they had a little cloud next to it.

I could download albums on my wifi before a i travelled and just delete them off when i'm done without having to go through lots of steps.

The new process is great if you have full 3G/LTE or what ever you have and you don't mind streaming.

As is stands now, If you have no signal its very annoying.

 

[maricc]

So how do we know where and what is cached? What's the difference if a song is cached on my iPhone or completely downloaded?

 

[zhenya]

Fact: You cannot delete individual songs from the Music app in iOS6.
It's a known issue, that, IMO, will have to be addressed by Apple in the next update.

You are wrong. Once you turn off Match, you can delete anything you want. Try it.

It was much better in iOS5.

If i'm out of an area where I have no data i know what songs that hadn't been downloaded because they had a little cloud next to it.

I could download albums on my wifi before a i travelled and just delete them off when i'm done without having to go through lots of steps.

The new process is great if you have full 3G/LTE or what ever you have and you don't mind streaming.

As is stands now, If you have no signal its very annoying.

You do the same thing you would have done in the past. You make a selection of music that you want to have offline, and download it ahead of time. If you turn off Show All Music, or turn off Match entirely, you'll only see what has been downloaded.

This works exactly as it should. I am currently in Canada where I don't want to use too much data - knowing this, before I left, I downloaded a large amount of music. In fact I downloaded too much and filled up my phone. Once in Canada, I turned off Match and deleted a bunch of stuff and I now have 4 gigs free, yet still have the rest of my music.

In the past, since everything you ever listened to was downloaded, you had to constantly manage your usage or you would fill up your phone. This was a poor implementation.

So how do we know where and what is cached? What's the difference if a song is cached on my iPhone or completely downloaded?

Music you've listened to recently will be cached, so you don't have to re-download the same song over and over using up data. If you click the Cloud with arrow icon next to any album, playlist or artist, it will download that music permanently.

 

[MonkeySee....]

You are wrong. Once you turn off Match, you can delete anything you want. Try it.



You do the same thing you would have done in the past. You make a selection of music that you want to have offline, and download it ahead of time. If you turn off Show All Music, or turn off Match entirely, you'll only see what has been downloaded.

This works exactly as it should. I am currently in Canada where I don't want to use too much data - knowing this, before I left, I downloaded a large amount of music. In fact I downloaded too much and filled up my phone. Once in Canada, I turned off Match and deleted a bunch of stuff and I now have 4 gigs free, yet still have the rest of my music.



Music you've listened to recently will be cached, so you don't have to re-download the same song over and over using up data. If you click the Cloud with arrow icon next to any album, playlist or artist, it will download that music permanently.

I don't want to turn off Match. Never had to before.

When I turn it back on it takes ages. This isn't practical.

 

[imacken]

You are wrong. Once you turn off Match, you can delete anything you want. Try it.

Of course, if you turn off Match! That is not what we are talking about.
The ability to delete individual songs has been removed in iOS6 with Match on.

 

[zhenya]

I don't want to turn of Match. Never had to before.

Of course, if you turn off Match! That is not what we are talking about.
The ability to delete individual songs has been removed in iOS6 with Match on.

It gets you to the same end point! Think of it this way - before you had to manage your music library constantly when using Match or you would eventually consume all space on the phone. Now turning off Match is akin to going in to 'management mode'. For most people, they'll never need to do this, so they've changed the paradigm around - previously MOST people would have to manage their music library when using Match. Now MOST people will NOT have to manage their libraries with Match.

You can turn Match back on when you are done with your 'management' and you'll be left with the remaining downloaded music just as you had, plus access to the rest of your Matched library.

If it is taking ages to update when you turn Match on and off, try turning off Show All Music BEFORE turning off Match. This is the method I recommend because it drastically speeds up the process. I have done this dozens of times since the release of iOS 6 (with a near 100 gig library) and it works consistently and quickly.

 

[MonkeySee....]

It gets you to the same end point! Think of it this way - before you had to manage your music library constantly when using Match or you would eventually consume all space on the phone. Now turning off Match is akin to going in to 'management mode'. For most people, they'll never need to do this, so they've changed the paradigm around - previously MOST people would have to manage their music library when using Match. Now MOST people will NOT have to manage their libraries with Match.

You can turn Match back on when you are done with your 'management' and you'll be left with the remaining downloaded music just as you had, plus access to the rest of your Matched library.

Did you use Match in iOS5? I got it from day one and the ability to swipe delete songs/albums was miles miles miles better than it is now.

What should I do if I just want one track off an album?

 

[zhenya]

Did you use Match in iOS5? I got it from day one and the ability to swipe delete songs/albums was miles miles miles better than it is now.

What should I do if I just want one track off an album?

I have used Match since the day it was released. I had been waiting years for Apple to release something like this.

I agree that for power users, that might have been a better method, but for most users, there would be confusion as to what was cached and what was downloaded. Overall this change makes things simpler for the average user. And ultimately that is what Apple prioritizes.

If you want just one track you do either have to make a playlist or start downloading the album, and then stop the other tracks from downloading. This could certainly be better.

 

[imacken]

I agree that for power users, that might have been a better method, but for most users, there would be confusion as to what was cached and what was downloaded. Overall this change makes things simpler for the average user. And ultimately that is what Apple prioritizes.

To an extent I agree, but I still cannot see the reasoning behind removing the ability to delete songs. What is the down side?
Why have an all or nothing approach to Match stored music? As others have said, not everyone has a large data allowance with their carriers, nor is everyone (certainly in the UK) within a 3G signal area, or in fact any signal at all area.

 

[MonkeySee....]

I have used Match since the day it was released. I had been waiting years for Apple to release something like this.

I agree that for power users, that might have been a better method, but for most users, there would be confusion as to what was cached and what was downloaded. Overall this change makes things simpler for the average user. And ultimately that is what Apple prioritizes.

If you want just one track you do either have to make a playlist or start downloading the album, and then stop the other tracks from downloading. This could certainly be better.

If I had unlimited data and full 3G signal 100% of the time it would be a better solution but i'd say the majority don't which is why everyone is moaning.

To an extent I agree, but I still cannot see the reasoning behind removing the ability to delete songs. What is the down side?
Why have an all or nothing approach to Match stored music? As others have said, not everyone has a large data allowance with their carriers, nor is everyone (certainly in the UK) within a 3G signal area, or in fact any signal at all area.

Exactly.

 

[zhenya]

To an extent I agree, but I still cannot see the reasoning behind removing the ability to delete songs. What is the down side?
Why have an all or nothing approach to Match stored music? As others have said, not everyone has a large data allowance with their carriers, nor is everyone (certainly in the UK) within a 3G signal area, or in fact any signal at all area.

I think it's because of the confusion between cached and downloaded. If a user has a few songs downloaded, and a whole bunch cached, what should the behavior be when they try to delete a song that isn't downloaded but cached? If they don't offer the delete button, the user tries to delete all of their music, but the Music app still uses space. I agree that this could probably work, but I can also see how it could create confusion. I'm perfectly happy at the moment to work around the issue as described above, because once you do, the overall Match experience is much improved in iOS6.

If I had unlimited data and full 3G signal 100% of the time it would be a better solution but i'd say the majority don't which is why everyone is moaning.



Exactly.

I honestly don't understand how data plans have any relevance here? The cache system is specifically designed to try and minimize data usage by caching frequently listened to music. If you want to download music, do it over wifi. This is no different than it was previously.

 

[imacken]

I honestly don't understand how data plans have any relevance here? The cache system is specifically designed to try and minimize data usage by caching frequently listened to music. If you want to download music, do it over wifi. This is no different than it was previously.

Previously, one could 'manage' the music downloaded from Match over 3G. So, for example, in my case, what I do/did was to have an iPhone synced playlist on iTunes for all the music I wanted to be permanently stored on my device. Then when I was out and about and fancied listening to tracks/albums that weren't on the playlist I could via Match.
Following that, I would delete the songs that I no longer wanted on the device to maybe replace them with other songs (not on the synced playlist) I might want to listen to on another occasion, and repeat the process.
Can't do that any more.
Even though songs are now in the cache, they are taking up the same space. At what point does the cache management system kick in, deleting songs to make space for other apps/music?

 

[zhenya]

Previously, one could 'manage' the music downloaded from Match over 3G. So, for example, in my case, what I do/did was to have an iPhone synced playlist on iTunes for all the music I wanted to be permanently stored on my device. Then when I was out and about and fancied listening to tracks/albums that weren't on the playlist I could via Match.
Following that, I would delete the songs that I no longer wanted on the device to maybe replace them with other songs (not on the synced playlist) I might want to listen to on another occasion, and repeat the process.
Can't do that any more.
Even though songs are now in the cache, they are taking up the same space. At what point does the cache management system kick in, deleting songs to make space for other apps/music?

Things really haven't changed all that much in this version, except that they have tried to relieve you of having to do so much management of your library - this is exactly what I was referring to earlier.

You can still have a playlist that is downloaded, and then listen to other stuff via Match on the go. The difference is that you must now manually choose to download this stuff on the fly rather than having everything you listen to download and then having to go back and delete things you don't want.

I have not seen any information determining the size of the cache or exactly what the algorithm is that decides what is kept and what is deleted. I would expect that it is no more than 1GB max size.

I think you are still stuck in the 'constant management' mode that Match previously required. They are trying to make this simpler for most users. It won't please everyone, but it's probably quite a bit better for most people.

 

[bucksaddle]

But why still provide the ability to delete individual albums in iOS6 on the iPad without having to turn match off? If Apple are looking for a consistent experience over all devices then this certainly isn't one of them.
Even if you have only played (cached / downloaded / whatever) one song within an album on the iPad you get the chance to delete it via album view.
Either the iPad or iPhone version of iOS has a bug, right?

 

[newagemac]

You don't have to to turn off Match to delete music and save space. Just go to Settings > General > Usage and then select the Music app and swipe it to delete.

This works great because you free up all your storage in one go, but since Match isn't actually turned off, the metadata and album art are still there and so there is no wait for everything to be pulled down from the cloud again.

Turning iTunes Match off and on again causes it to basically start completely over. That's unnecessary if all you want to do is free up a bunch of space. And I certainly wouldn't want to tediously go through each and every song swiping to delete 5MB at a time like in iOS5.

The whole point of iTunes Match is to free yourself from all the hassle of manually managing your music and storage. If you wanted to do that, just go back to syncing with iTunes which you could always do for years.

Never understood people who complain about iTunes match using their data. That's like complaining that Netflix uses your data. It's a streaming service. That's the point.

 

[zhenya]

Yes, of course you can delete everything in one go. We've been largely addressing the concerns that deleting music was all or nothing. That rumor has been circulating widely and it's absolutely not true.

 

[bogatyr]

Delete a song from iPhone: In Songs, swipe the song, then tap Delete.
The song is deleted from iPhone, but not from your iTunes library on your Mac or PC, or from iCloud.
When iTunes Match is turned on, you can’t delete music. If space is needed, iTunes Match removes music for you, starting with the oldest and least played songs.

From:
http://manuals.info.apple.com/en/iphone_user_guide.pdf

If you want to delete an individual song, you have to turn off iTunes match and kill the music player process first (double tap Home, hold down Music till X shows, click X). Then open Music again, find the song, and delete it.

Keep in mind that all the cached copies of songs are wiped out when you turn of iTunes match. Only the songs you clicked the cloud to download will show up.

EDIT: And when I turned it back on, it killed any local copies anyways. It replaced the local music.

 

[zhenya]

From:
http://manuals.info.apple.com/en/iphone_user_guide.pdf

If you want to delete an individual song, you have to turn off iTunes match and kill the music player process first (double tap Home, hold down Music till X shows, click X). Then open Music again, find the song, and delete it.

Keep in mind that all the cached copies of songs are wiped out when you turn of iTunes match. Only the songs you clicked the cloud to download will show up.

EDIT: And when I turned it back on, it killed any local copies anyways. It replaced the local music.

In other words, RTFM.

 

[rrr]

If I had unlimited data and full 3G signal 100% of the time it would be a better solution but i'd say the majority don't which is why everyone is moaning.

Indeed. Or there are people who, you know, ride subways or fly in airplanes.

 

[zhenya]

Indeed. Or there are people who, you know, ride subways or fly in airplanes.

yes, I travel on planes and internationally outside of my home areas all the time, yet I still don't see what the changes to Match have to do with this. If I want music in these circumstances, I make sure it's loaded on my phone before departure. I don't moan to Netflix because I can't watch their movies on the airplane; I make sure to have some stored locally first.

Match can be either a streaming solution OR a local storage solution that ALSO gives you access to your entire library when you want it. How you use it is up to you.

 

[maricc]

From:
http://manuals.info.apple.com/en/iphone_user_guide.pdf

If you want to delete an individual song, you have to turn off iTunes match and kill the music player process first (double tap Home, hold down Music till X shows, click X). Then open Music again, find the song, and delete it.

Keep in mind that all the cached copies of songs are wiped out when you turn of iTunes match. Only the songs you clicked the cloud to download will show up.

EDIT: And when I turned it back on, it killed any local copies anyways. It replaced the local music.

It would be cool if you could set a limit on how much it caches before deleting.

Also, can you download ONE song permanently from the cloud? or only full albums?

 

[rrr]

yes, I travel on planes and internationally outside of my home areas all the time, yet I still don't see what the changes to Match have to do with this.

And what, in iOS 5 was a clear, obvious, intuitive way to (1) see what tracks are stored locally on the device, and which tracks aren't, (2) to remove tracks from local storage, and (3) to download individual tracks for local storage has been rewritten in iOS 6 in a way in which all three of these things are still technically possible, sure, but are anything but intuitive or elegant.

I'm sorry, but any instruction that begins with "first, disable iTunes Match" is a step back in UI design from iOS 5.

If Apple was concerned about some users not understanding the paradigm of locally stored vs streamed music and hence not understanding why their storage capacity was depleting over time, they could still have modified iOS to stream/cache (instead of auto-download) non-local tracks as they are played, AND left in the "cloud download" button (so that there is a visual indication to users who want it as to what tracks are not local) AND left in the ability to swipe/delete a locally-stored track.

Each track could have three possible states:

(1) Non-local
(2) Local (cached)
(3) Local (downloaded)

In state 1 and 2, the "cloud download button" would be shown. If pressed, the track would be downloaded and now be state 3. If the track was simply played (without pressing the "cloud download button") then it would become cached (or remain cached).

In state 3, the "cloud download button" would not be shown. A swipe/delete on this track would remove it from the device, and it would now be state 1.

The current behavior of iOS 5 would be preserved, with the ostensible concerns being addressed in iOS 6 covered as well.