iPad Pro Using iPad Pro as Laptop replacement. How to manage music files?

[Drecca]

I've had the Pro for about a week now, and it has replaced my laptop for 90% of what I do. I can run my small business on this thing no problem.

My only concern is music management. I have all my songs in iTunes. Let's say I want to sell my laptop at some point, how do I manage my music then?

I do have a premium subscription to Spotify (via my cell carrier promotion), but it doesn't work well in my car. Songs randomly stop playing, playlists are fubar, not a cool experience. Apple music is the same.

But normal songs that are within itunes work well. So that's where I'm at.

How can I continue managing/adding/removing songs from my iPad Pro (along with iPhone) without a full computer? In my scenario, only actual files work, not streaming.

 

[Ghost31]

Only thing I can think of would be iTunes Match. But you said no streaming so that'll limit your options for sure

 

[flux73]

If you get iTunes Match ($25 per year), iTunes on all your devices will show all the songs you have ever had on your notebook or purchased from iTunes. Then you can select which ever songs you want downloaded to your iPad Pro. Voila, those songs will now play directly. Nice thing about this is if there are songs you haven't and won't listen to for a long time, just delete them. You can always re-download them later.

I am a bit confused though. If you have Spotify Premium and Apple Music subscriptions, you should be able to download the songs for offline listening. Perhaps you didn't realize that you have to select the option to make the songs "Available Offline"?

 

[Drecca]

If you get iTunes Match ($25 per year), iTunes on all your devices will show all the songs you have ever had on your notebook or purchased from iTunes. Then you can select which ever songs you want downloaded to your iPad Pro. Voila, those songs will now play directly. Nice thing about this is if there are songs you haven't and won't listen to for a long time, just delete them. You can always re-download them later.

I am a bit confused though. If you have Spotify Premium and Apple Music subscriptions, you should be able to download the songs for offline listening. Perhaps you didn't realize that you have to select the option to make the songs "Available Offline"?

Thanks for the advice! Offline listening isn't the problem. It's playlists. My car's media software is ancient by today's standards (it does bliuetooth audio but that's it) - playlists on spotify/AM work, but you can't control them from the car's radio or steering wheel. Any action to control a song makes the car go back to the phone's itunes library instead of just playing the next song in the playlist.

 

[flux73]

Thanks for the advice! Offline listening isn't the problem. It's playlists. My car's media software is ancient by today's standards (it does bliuetooth audio but that's it) - playlists on spotify/AM work, but you can't control them from the car's radio or steering wheel. Any action to control a song makes the car go back to the phone's itunes library instead of just playing the next song in the playlist.

Ah, okay I think I have a better idea of your problem now. But, if I'm correct, the problem really isn't fixable since the issue is more likely with your car's software interface rather than Apple's. The car manufacturers have been pretty terrible about keeping their software up to date (or charge you a ridiculous fee to update it).

I have a 2011 Infiniti and in the beginning, everything worked great. I plugged in my iPhone 4S and everything appeared on the car console and I could use the steering wheel thumb switch to select songs or move to the next song. Then I got a 5 and things started working less reliably. With my iPhone 6, it's so bad I just gave up on it and I simply have my phone mounted on my windshield directly above and in front of me so that I can use the iPhone interface and simply pass the audio through the car stereo system. Bluetooth connection is a complete fail. It shows as paired up and will even allow me to have phone calls, but no audio plays at all. I've tried literally everything.

I've come to the conclusion that the car manufacturers will simply get outdated. I think this is the major driving force behind CarPlay - Apple recognized this problem. I definitely plan on having CarPlay in my next car setup. Car manufacturers really truly suck when it comes to their software.