Star Ratings Make a Return to Apple Music on iOS 10.2 Beta

[alternapop]

nice widget, thx for the link. but it says in the description that it only works if you sync your itunes library manually. That's a no-go for me. wish there was a similar one that works with the icloud music library.

hmm, I have it set for manually technically I guess but I do only choose a bunch of playlist, both smart and manual, that get synced to my phone. It is pretty automated.

What does 'automatic' syncing get you that you can't achieve with 'manual'?

 

[robantonelli]

Is there a dislike option in iOS 10's Apple Music? I'm on 9 and only have the option to like. Telling Apple Music I genuinely don't like a song or artist would be great.

Yes it's buried in the the 3 dots [...] on the bottom right of the music player.

 

[V.K.]

hmm, I have it set for manually technically I guess but I do only choose a bunch of playlist, both smart and manual, that get synced to my phone. It is pretty automated.

What does 'automatic' syncing get you that you can't achieve with 'manual'?

I kind of assumed the advantages of the icloud music library are well known but here goes.
firstly, it's automatic. I have several ios devices and several macs. I don't want to think what music is where. with icloud music library it's everywhere as soon as it's anywhere. also my music library is way too large to fit on my iphone. This way I don't need to pick and choose.

 

[justafew]

It works for me! So glad this is back as using Siri to rate songs just sucked (especially if in public). In addition, I could never confirm what rating I already had on a song (for example, if I wanted to upgrade or downgrade it from what I originally rated it).

In playing with the public beta, it actually works so-so. Yes, I can use the option and rate a song but if a song is already rated, the current rating does not appear. That is a bummer. It allows me to rate any song, but sometimes I want to review what my current rating of the song is and whether I want to change it. For example, this song is already rated but it doesn't show up in the rating on iOS.

 

[0958400]

Who said they changed course? When software is re-designed, often times things are pulled out with the intention of them being put back in later. They are not a development priority, so they are not designed, coded, or implemented. The Music App was entirely redesigned.

The Star Ratings was a low priority which was put off to 10.2. It's also possible that if there wasn't enough demand to bring them back, it would have been axed instead, but that's not what ultimately happened.

I don't expect most forum members to understand this because most of them have never designed software or worked for a software company. They will make up their own anti-Apple nonsense as they always do.

Well, you have a valid point here, many people do not know how software is being developed. However, keeping people in the unclear makes them guess that it was an intentional attempt to get rid of star ratings. Just as well, as it was a guess, that it was a low priority.

In this case, I think we can agree, it would have been so much better just to tell people: Guys, we didn't around the star ratings yet, they'll come back. Everything else outside an official statement is pure speculation - good and bad. The latter, however, hurts Apple and they should be more proactive in addressing it, which is the lesson learned to be here.

But then again, "Apple doesn't read forum entries..." Or maybe they do. Who knows.
[doublepost=1478031230][/doublepost]

I kind of assumed the advantages of the icloud music library are well known but here goes.
firstly, it's automatic. I have several ios devices and several macs. I don't want to think what music is where. with icloud music library it's everywhere as soon as it's anywhere. also my music library is way too large to fit on my iphone. This way I don't need to pick and choose.

I would love to use Apple music and iTunes match. I *own* too much music. And that makes it impossible for me, as I will not risk any deletions, any DRM-files for products that I have bought.

So the problem here is: If you really love music and own a lot of music - the new Apple Music isn't for you. And that is sad.
[doublepost=1478031336][/doublepost]

I'm very glad song ratings are back but think it's poorly done. It's too much of a hassle just to view if a song is rated, let alone what that rating might be.

I didn't know about this option till today but there is a widget in the App Store that brings ratings to the widget screen, Music Rating Widget.

I totally agree on both accounts, great widget. I only wish I could scrub the song playing.

 

[macduke]

I have the exact opposite experience. Apple Music's "Favorites" auto-generated playlist routinely surprises me with great songs I really do love, and the "New Music" playlist is fabulous for finding new music out each week. Much better luck than I ever had on Pandora or Spotify (although honestly I never put the time into the latter).

I have tens of thousands of songs in my library, which I had cultivated with 100% rating, smart playlists, etc. Really miss not being able to differentiate between a song I didn't really like, one that was okay, one that was the highlight of its album, and one that was an all-time classic. Dislike / No Opinion / Love just isn't enough. So, glad to see that coming back. Don't see the logic in those ratings not being used by Apple Music, but, as I said, Apple Music seems to be doing pretty damned well with the data it has already.

I really need to take the time to sit down and mess with it more. I usually listen to it at work while coding or while driving so I don't fiddle with it as much as I could.

 

[V.K.]

Well, you have a valid point here, many people do not know how software is being developed. However, keeping people in the unclear makes them guess that it was an intentional attempt to get rid of star ratings. Just as well, as it was a guess, that it was a low priority.

In this case, I think we can agree, it would have been so much better just to tell people: Guys, we didn't around the star ratings yet, they'll come back. Everything else outside an official statement is pure speculation - good and bad. The latter, however, hurts Apple and they should be more proactive in addressing it, which is the lesson learned to be here.

But then again, "Apple doesn't read forum entries..." Or maybe they do. Who knows.
[doublepost=1478031230][/doublepost]
I would love to use Apple music and iTunes match. I *own* too much music. And that makes it impossible for me, as I will not risk any deletions, any DRM-files for products that I have bought.

So the problem here is: If you really love music and own a lot of music - the new Apple Music isn't for you. And that is sad.

I have about 8000 songs (vast majority not bought on iTunes) and I certainly did have my fair share of troubles with iTunes match in the past but I think the worst issues happened to people who had both iTunes match (iCloud Music library now) and Apple Music. I never tried Apple Music and I don't think I've had too many problems in the last year. Still it pays to be careful. When I first subscribed to iTunes match I did a full backup of all my music first (good thing I did too).
But when it does work it's awesome. I would not give it up for all the vodka in Russia.

 

[Stuke]

Who said they changed course? When software is re-designed, often times things are pulled out with the intention of them being put back in later. They are not a development priority, so they are not designed, coded, or implemented. The Music App was entirely redesigned.

The Star Ratings was a low priority which was put off to 10.2. It's also possible that if there wasn't enough demand to bring them back, it would have been axed instead, but that's not what ultimately happened.

I don't expect most forum members to understand this because most of them have never designed software or worked for a software company. They will make up their own anti-Apple nonsense as they always do.

Interesting, how can star ratings, there since the dawn of iTunes and therefore gradually adopted by so many, be considered a "low priority" in the mobile interface. The only explanation is Apple's false belief that Love/Dislike are better. Yes, better for their "For You" but not for the user to experience actual music playback! I don't need to be a software developer to see the stupidity in their design. They built an entirely new interface for iOS 10 Music app and surely the artwork as a hyperlink/button revealing the star ratings still in the software ecosystem of Music/iTunes isn't a revolutionarily difficult coding exercise.

 

[C DM]

Interesting, how can star ratings, there since the dawn of iTunes and therefore gradually adopted by so many, be considered a "low priority" in the mobile interface. The only explanation is Apple's false belief that Love/Dislike are better. Yes, better for their "For You" but not for the user to experience actual music playback! I don't need to be a software developer to see the stupidity in their design. They built an entirely new interface for iOS 10 Music app and surely the artwork as a hyperlink/button revealing the star ratings still in the software ecosystem of Music/iTunes isn't a revolutionarily difficult coding exercise.

Well, seemingly not the only explanation. Certainly could be the explanation that some would go with as far as what they think is behind it, but that doesn't mean that's the only explanation (or the one that actually applies).

 

[petsounds]

When you compare Apple Music to the old Beats app, you can easily make that conclusion. All these redesigns seem to fall under the responsibility of Cue and Alan Dye (the UI chief), both of which have been at the helm during the worst software designs at Apple in recent years. I think the problem is at the top, there is no one there that invokes the kind of confidence about this that Jobs, Greg Christie and Scott Forstall did.

Alan Dye has definitely been a negative influence on Apple's user interface design. His former graphic design career in advertising (and then working at MarCom) obviously left him with no user interface experience. It must be the reason why the Watch app screen looks great in a print ad, but is probably one of the worst user interfaces I've seen. Certainly the worst Apple UI I've seen. The whole of watchOS 1.0 had terrible UX, and that was his baby. The guy should have been put back in MarCom, not promoted.

The player screen in the iOS 10 Music app is another misstep. Users have to close and open the card (and wait for the animation to finish) every time they want to see the album/playlist track listing or change to a different song. It's bad UX to have a player screen showing one song, which lacks any context for where it comes from. So many things crammed into spaces with no elegance, and the kebab/hamburger menus everywhere to make things people actually want to do quickly like rate a song become tedious actions. I'll give Dye the benefit of the doubt that the sub-par Beats design team did all this, but he's still the guy the buck stops at.

 

[duervo]

In iOS 10, Apple Music lost the star rating system that allowed users to personally rate a song on a scale of 1-5, which was then saved in their library so they could remember and later sort tracks via the ranking system. Following the release of the iOS 10.2 beta yesterday, iTunes expert Kirk McElhearn discovered that star ratings have returned to the Apple Music app on iOS, now appearing as a toggle option in Settings > Music.

After turning on "Show Star Ratings," users will be able to once more give each track a personal rating, through a few added steps, however. The process required to get to the "Rate Song" menu is as follows: tap the ellipsis menu at the bottom right of the screen when a song is playing to bring up its action sheet, scroll down to "Rate Song," choose the star rating, then tap "Done." In prior versions of iOS, users simply tapped on the artwork of a song to bring up the star rating menu.

As the Settings submenu clarifies, "Star Ratings do not affect For You recommendations," so Apple Music's binary like/dislike system is still the only resource for subscribers to teach the streaming service which songs they enjoy, and which they don't. Besides Star Ratings, it was also discovered that within the beta of iOS 10.2, there's a new option to sort playlists by type, title, and recently added, as well as new options for sorting songs and albums by title or artist.

Article Link: Star Ratings Make a Return to Apple Music on iOS 10.2 Beta

It wasn't that big of a deal to me that they were removed. It was a minor inconvenience having to tell Siri which rating to give to a tune, but still something with which I learned to live, even though it would interrupt playback of that song.

Glad to see they'll be back though, and takes care of the concern that they were going to remove them from iTunes too ... that would have been more of an inconvenience as I have some smart playlists that use star ratings in them.

 

[LinkinJunior]

I used to be a compulsive music organizer and star ratings were a big part of that. When AppleMusic came online, I stopped feeling the need to rate or even organize albums. A simple play count and a Like/Dislike if I'm that compelled by a song either way, has helped train AppleMusic to suggest music that I like. And whatever song I can think of, I can just ask Siri to play and odds are that AppleMusic will have it. No need to organize a strict collection.
I now realize that I spent way too much time organizing and so little enjoying music.

Ditto. Occasionally I'll make a "theme" playlist.
[doublepost=1478064545][/doublepost]

Music rating is the only reason I use iTunes for Mac. Glad to know its back on iOS.
BTW, I don't know why people hate on the like/dislike function. It works well in conjunction with the rating feature. I might have some songs I disliked, but I would still give it a 4/5 star because I appreciate what the artist have created.
Music management is so personal, and it involves many metrics. Having another metric does make it complicated, but at least you have options.

My only issue I had with star ratings was trying to understand why I would rate a song a 1 star or a two star and have it in my library. Ratings for most things aren't really helpful, either you recommend something or you don't, either you like or don't like. If you give an Uber driver a 3 star rating, he would be perceived as a bad driver.

 

[Detrius]

For this reason alone, I had downgraded back to iOS 9. I've already migrated away from Apple for managing my photos for reasons like this (now using Lightroom), and I was beginning to consider looking for alternatives to Apple for managing my music (hadn't found anything good yet). Like others in here, I have quite a sophisticated set of smart playlists I've developed over the past two decades for tracking my music.

 

[dallardice]

Ditto. Occasionally I'll make a "theme" playlist.
[doublepost=1478064545][/doublepost]
My only issue I had with star ratings was trying to understand why I would rate a song a 1 star or a two star and have it in my library. Ratings for most things aren't really helpful, either you recommend something or you don't, either you like or don't like. If you give an Uber driver a 3 star rating, he would be perceived as a bad driver.

I have 1-star and 2-star items in my library for completeness, for when I want to play complete albums. For example, I have a series of Beatles at the BBC albums which include clips from radio shows and interviews. I mark those as 1-star as I generally exclude 1-stars from all of my Smart Playlists and I don't want them to show up in Shuffle Play, but I still want them there in case I want to play the complete album as it was originally intended.

I also have this old-fashioned notion of a normal distribution in which 3 is "normal" - 4 and 5 are better than normal, and 1 and 2 are worse than normal. For me, Uber's insistence that drivers keep a rating over 4.6 is absurd - 5 should be for a truly exceptional driver, and the midpoint 3 should be "they did everything they should, no more, no less". But I'm aware we're in a world where that doesn't work any more. Leaked docs show that only 2-3% of Uber drivers are scoring below 4.6, which means that virtually everyone rates their Uber driver as 5. In which case there's no differentiation at all...

 

[trifid]

Sorry Apple, too late, already ditched iTunes and all my curated music and star ratings of 10+ years and replaced it with Spotify.

 

[mkaen]

For example, this song is already rated but it doesn't show up in the rating on iOS.

I really hope that's a bug! Being able to see and adjust current ratings is crucial.

 

[justafew]

I really hope that's a bug! Being able to see and adjust current ratings is crucial.

Ok, so I now have Beta 2 and just noticed that the current rating now appears when attempting to view/change a song that is already rated. Yeah!! While getting the ability to rate back was key, this piece was nearly as important to me so I'm glad to see this is now working correctly.

 

[Kaos13]

In iOS 10, Apple Music lost the star rating system that allowed users to personally rate a song on a scale of 1-5, which was then saved in their library so they could remember and later sort tracks via the ranking system. Following the release of the iOS 10.2 beta yesterday, iTunes expert Kirk McElhearn discovered that star ratings have returned to the Apple Music app on iOS, now appearing as a toggle option in Settings > Music.

After turning on "Show Star Ratings," users will be able to once more give each track a personal rating, through a few added steps, however. The process required to get to the "Rate Song" menu is as follows: tap the ellipsis menu at the bottom right of the screen when a song is playing to bring up its action sheet, scroll down to "Rate Song," choose the star rating, then tap "Done." In prior versions of iOS, users simply tapped on the artwork of a song to bring up the star rating menu.

As the Settings submenu clarifies, "Star Ratings do not affect For You recommendations," so Apple Music's binary like/dislike system is still the only resource for subscribers to teach the streaming service which songs they enjoy, and which they don't. Besides Star Ratings, it was also discovered that within the beta of iOS 10.2, there's a new option to sort playlists by type, title, and recently added, as well as new options for sorting songs and albums by title or artist.

Article Link: Star Ratings Make a Return to Apple Music on iOS 10.2 Beta

I can not be more happy... Very good news! (Still very complicated, but even if i need 2 minutes to rate it..)

I had a very strong message in Apple Community because this reason, it was respectful but they deleted... Seems that they dont like real critics in their forums.
Anyway, Im happy to see that they recognise the mistake.

 

[caseyfriday]

Thank god! I use a very complex smart playlist system for my music, and it's very deeply based on star ratings for each song. I just got an iPhone three weeks ago (Android since 2008), and when my Android music app (Rocket Player) had better integration with star ratings and smart playlists than an iPhone did, that wasn't very promising to me. Glad to hear the mobile OS will be getting this feature back!

 

[james.dylan]

Thank God! (and I'm not even very religious). I just downloaded it and was pissed when I didn't see the star rating, but then found out I needed to go to the settings menu and turn it on. Odd. But at least I can rate my songs again. Very stupid decision, whoever deleted it.

 

[Laudanum1]

Great ;-(. Now it takes 4 instead of 2 steps to rate a song.

In iOS 10, Apple Music lost the star rating system that allowed users to personally rate a song on a scale of 1-5, which was then saved in their library so they could remember and later sort tracks via the ranking system. Following the release of the iOS 10.2 beta yesterday, iTunes expert Kirk McElhearn discovered that star ratings have returned to the Apple Music app on iOS, now appearing as a toggle option in Settings > Music.

After turning on "Show Star Ratings," users will be able to once more give each track a personal rating, through a few added steps, however. The process required to get to the "Rate Song" menu is as follows: tap the ellipsis menu at the bottom right of the screen when a song is playing to bring up its action sheet, scroll down to "Rate Song," choose the star rating, then tap "Done." In prior versions of iOS, users simply tapped on the artwork of a song to bring up the star rating menu.

As the Settings submenu clarifies, "Star Ratings do not affect For You recommendations," so Apple Music's binary like/dislike system is still the only resource for subscribers to teach the streaming service which songs they enjoy, and which they don't. Besides Star Ratings, it was also discovered that within the beta of iOS 10.2, there's a new option to sort playlists by type, title, and recently added, as well as new options for sorting songs and albums by title or artist.

Article Link: Star Ratings Make a Return to Apple Music on iOS 10.2 Beta

[doublepost=1481613513][/doublepost]Great ;-(. Now it takes 4 instead of 2 steps to rate a song.

 

[Armin2016]

[doublepost=1481613513][/doublepost]Great ;-(. Now it takes 4 instead of 2 steps to rate a song.

You are so right... It is sooo painful to see that a company once famous for usability has become so poor in one of its earlier core applications.
Like many others I am using star rating a lot while driving my car. Clicking on the artwork was super easy (and at present doesn't do anything, so it's not that they needed to take it away in order to put a different functionality there)... Clicking the three dots, selecting the right line for the rating... While driving this is damn dangerous...

 

[Laudanum1]

You are so right... It is sooo painful to see that a company once famous for usability has become so poor in one of its earlier core applications.
Like many others I am using star rating a lot while driving my car. Clicking on the artwork was super easy (and at present doesn't do anything, so it's not that they needed to take it away in order to put a different functionality there)... Clicking the three dots, selecting the right line for the rating... While driving this is damn dangerous...

Yes, I always rate when driving, too. Really bad now

 

[H4nn4hy]

In iOS 10, Apple Music lost the star rating system that allowed users to personally rate a song on a scale of 1-5, which was then saved in their library so they could remember and later sort tracks via the ranking system. Following the release of the iOS 10.2 beta yesterday, iTunes expert Kirk McElhearn discovered that star ratings have returned to the Apple Music app on iOS, now appearing as a toggle option in Settings > Music.

After turning on "Show Star Ratings," users will be able to once more give each track a personal rating, through a few added steps, however. The process required to get to the "Rate Song" menu is as follows: tap the ellipsis menu at the bottom right of the screen when a song is playing to bring up its action sheet, scroll down to "Rate Song," choose the star rating, then tap "Done." In prior versions of iOS, users simply tapped on the artwork of a song to bring up the star rating menu.

As the Settings submenu clarifies, "Star Ratings do not affect For You recommendations," so Apple Music's binary like/dislike system is still the only resource for subscribers to teach the streaming service which songs they enjoy, and which they don't. Besides Star Ratings, it was also discovered that within the beta of iOS 10.2, there's a new option to sort playlists by type, title, and recently added, as well as new options for sorting songs and albums by title or artist.

Article Link: Star Ratings Make a Return to Apple Music on iOS 10.2 Beta

[doublepost=1488454229][/doublepost]I have updated iPhone and am running on IOS 10.2 however when I go to music do not have an option to turn on star rating - any other suggestions