If you’re syncing your music files with iTunes, but don’t like the iOS Music app, the third-party Cs Music Player is a great option. It works with the system’s music library but doesn’t try to push subscriptions or recommendations in your face. @dougeddy, this might help with your issues with Apple’s Music app, too.
Thank you for the suggestion. I just purchased it and downloaded it. At first glance not sure if it is an improvement on Music - saw one of my albums that was iTunes messed up despite the fact of the album was one that I imported directly from an Amazon purchase and I had used Fission (a fantastic app) to change info in a way that would separate it from the iTunes version which was an import from my own CD. Will work with it to get used to it and really appreciate your input on it.
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If you ultimately find you can’t get it to work for you, you should be able to ask for a refund from the App Store. Hopefully it can work for you though!
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Paul, I too am stuck at High Sierra on my iMac but I have all my music on my iPhone 10 (iOS 14.4.2), my iPad Mini 5 (iOS 14.4.2), and on my “iPod 3GS” (iOS 6.1.6). I just continue to sync with iTunes 12.6.3.5. I can’t go past iOS 14.4.2 because of one critical app that I use. If I go past iOS 14.4.2, I’ll lose access to that app. Anyway I just connect my iDevices to my iMac via an USB cable to sync. My iTunes settings are:
Summary Page Options Section: All unchecked
Music Page: “Sync Music” checked and then “Entire music library” radio button is selected.
The last version of iTunes that runs on MacOS 10.13.6 is apparently 12.8.2 but I don’t know if it will work with iOS versions 6.1.6 and 14.4.2. Oh, when I connect my iDevices to iTunes, I get a message I have to install a software update to connect. However, because I have never been able to find exactly what the update is or does, I just click the “Ignore” button and don’t have any problem connecting the iDevice.
Oh, if you don’t want to (or can’t) use iTunes, I suggest checking out iMazing 2 from DigiDNA.
Retroactive modifies several older Mac programs including iTunes, Aperture, and iPhoto to run on macOS releases through Monterey. Most features run fine, but some do not work. See the Read Me associated with the app for more information.
I have not used it for iTunes but did use it to create a version of Aperture that ran under BigSur and now runs under Monterey.
I consider it a Band-Aid, and, eventually, the programs it patches will become non-functional, but it may enable you to upgrade macOS to a later release while still running the programs you consider essential.
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I mentioned Retroactive a few weeks ago in this thread for those who don’t want or can’t use the Music app:
One user was able to install iTunes 12.9.5 under Big Sur. His post is near the end of the thread. I still use iTunes 10.7 CoverFlow on Catalina due to Retroactive so it is a very useful app.
Has anyone else found a way to handle this? The old non-iOS iPods had a “Shuffle, grouped by album” mode, but that was removed from iOS devices, and it drives me crazy - much of my collection is Classical, and playing randomly-selected movements is a terrible way to do a random walk through your collection. I’ve tried Adrian Schönig’s Longplay app, which writeups led me to believe could play albums at random, but in fact merely gives you an assortment of ways to select individual albums from your Library. I’d really prefer to Shuffle a playlist, an artist, a genre, or my entire library and have it play randomly selected albums, one after another.
That’s always been a concern of mine, given that I have a Library of 1,300+ CDs hand-ripped to my Mac server, but a quick bootup of iTunes shows that only amounts to 22,275 tracks, so I’m still less than a quarter way to that limit. Having a lot of classical recordings probably helps there, as the average number of tracks per CD tends toward eight (i.e., 2 four-movement works).
The initial problems with iTunes Match deleting people’s libraries or misidentifying albums leading to it substituting the wrong music has kept me from ever trying it. I’m still syncing my whole library via USB to an iPod Touch, giving me my entire library wherever I go, regardless of whether I have an internet connection. Prior to Apple’s releasing a 256 iPod Touch I was doing that with an iPod Classic, and once I switched over I really missed the ability to shuffle by album.
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Take a long look a Plex, it may solve all your problems:
Plex can manage your music library and stream it to all your devices. A subscription which goes to funding Plex software development is required to download an offline copy of your music to your mobile devices among many other benefits. There is a lifetime pass option. Plex Media Server will run on Mac OS Mavericks and above as well as Windows and Linux. There’s a metric ton of clients. Plex can handle all your media from TV / Movies / Music / Podcasts / Photos / personal videos, etc. You’ll want the Plex Amp app for music. You can stream to Sonos speakers and it works remarkably well.
I recommend trying it out as it’s free to use with most functionality intact without a Plex Pass subscription.
When you state that you need a subscription to download your own music to a mobile device when iTunes/Music does that for free, that doesn’t make sense unless you like to spend money. Most problems on this thread appear related to iTunes Match which I’ve never used and I have no problems with syncing music to my phone. I use the Onkyo HF player instead of Music on the phone since it has real EQ and crossfade which Music does not and that is free unless you want to listen to Hi-Res tracks. I suppose if you want a streaming setup to do it all in your home, then Plex might be viable but I tend to view movies the “old-fashioned” way with a higher quality UHD/BD/DVD player. I don’t want to overcomplicate things in general.
This is not correct. It seems to be what Apple want you to do, but you can turn it off.
I have iTunes Match turned off, do not use Apple Music.
I use the iOS Music app to listen to my songs on my iPad and iPhone, selectively synced from my 17,000+ songs on a MacBook.
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Looking at the whole post from the OP, he was looking at how to transfer/sync his own music to his iPad and wasn’t sure of the process. The Music app on iOS can do different things some of which require a payment but since his music wasn’t there yet, it seemed confusing I would imagine. He was using an older computer with High Sierra. But as long as you have a copy of iTunes that is a later version of at least 12.5, then you can sync to an iPad or iPhone. The last version is 12.9.5.5 that I’m aware of. Once it’s synced, then he can use the Music app on the iPad and never have to pay for anything or could use a third party player such as Onkyo HF Player as I do.
The Music app on MacOS can do the same but since he has an older system, that wouldn’t be available and is probably inferior to the older iTunes apps. I don’t use iTunes Match either since I have all of my own music from CD’s or digitized records/tapes. The reason I do not use the Music app on iOS is that the Onkyo HF has a real equalizer and crossfade, two main features that Music does not have unfortunately. Some third party apps have been known to use excessive battery power but the Onkyo one does not.
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Yes. Apple split the multi-function iTunes app into multiple apps for macOS 10.15 (Catalina), with a few of the features having split-off earlier.
- Audio playback and the music store moved to the Music app. I think Music still manages music videos, but not other video content.
- Movies and the movie store moved to the Apple TV app
- Podcasts moved to the Podcasts app
- Books moved to the Books app
- iOS device management (including backup, restore and sync) moved to the Finder
- Home Sharing (to stream music within your LAN) was moved to macOS’s sharing services
- Apple Music radio streaming moved to the Music app. Internet radio was deleted
In other words, if your Mac is Mojave or older, you can use iTunes to perform all these functions.
On Catalina (and later, I assume), the individual split-off apps should be able to import their respective content from the iTunes database. It should happen automatically as a part of an OS upgrade (or migration from another Mac) and can also be done manually.
As I discussed previously, iTunes can still be used on Catalina and above by using the Retroactive app for installation. The original post only had to do with syncing music tracks. While the radio tuner was deleted in the Music app, you can still listen to internet radio if you know the url. The command is under the File menu, Open url. I have always saved a playlist of internet stations so you can let the Music app import the playlist and they’re ready to go.
Same here.
Just stay clear of iTunes Music, iTunes Match, and make sure to sync over USB or wifi (when that works, which is—unfortunately—only sometimes). You’ll need enough storage on your devices (or you’ll need to restrict syncing to certain playlists), but fortunately, that’s something money can buy, What it also gets you is peace of mind, unlike Apple’s butchering of your library once you let the camel’s nose into the tent (Match or their other ‘services’). Resist the temptation. Stay in control.
iOS Settings > Music > Show Apple Music → Off
No such setting on Monterey where annoyingly also all the Apple Music BS is at the top of playlist column. Just have to learn to ignore it. Never click on anything there.
Apple used to be about putting users in charge. Unfortunately, these days they allow their marketing creeps to readily push stuff in your face like 90s MS. I just got my 3rd notification about their arcade baloney (LOL, as if gaming wasn’t the one thing the whole world agreed Apple stinks) because I bought a new Mac a month ago. I don’t know what it takes for Apple to realize no means no. After the whole me too thing, you’d think even the corporate blow hards would have learned to take ‘no’ more seriously. It’s a super annoying trend, with no end in sight. Apple is far from alone of course, but where others always were like this, Apple stands out as the one company that went from “we don’t do that kind of BS” to “we can do it too and better”. Each time Tim talks about “services” what he means is forcing stuff down people’s throats against their will. And of course as much as users hate it, Wall Street loves it. We can hope that once Tim is sent out to pasture, this will change. But with stock market fixation on next quarter revenue increases and Apple’s executives willingly hostage to that sentiment (Stockholm syndrome anyone?), despite always trying to be optimistic about things, I wouldn’t hold my breath on this one.
Unfortunately, they left out the most vital function: app install and management. I could install/remove, update, organize home screens, etc. with iTunes on my iMac then sync the changes to my iDevices. Without, it is now a time consuming cumbersome process to do all that on each device individually. Apple needs to make an iOS Device Management MacOS application. Of course it is all moot for me anyway as I can’t go past MacOS 10.13.6 on my iMac.
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I agree completely. Unfortunately, Apple removed those features from iTunes long before the switch to separate apps (in iTunes 12.7, September 2017).
Which is why I never went beyond iTunes 12.6.5.3. But with iOS 14, the app management feature of that version no longer works, so I’m back to the slow and cumbersome process.
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I can still use iTunes 12.6.5 to install and remove apps and music from my iOS devices (iOS 14.8.1). I can also use iTunes to organize home screens.
I cannot purchase apps anymore with iTunes for Mac, but can using the Windows version of iTunes 12.6.5. I installed the Windows version using Wine.
And I cannot update iOS using this old version of iTunes so I have been using over-the-air updates.
Interesting. On my install of iTunes 12.6.5.3, not only is purchasing new apps disabled, I can’t even download updates to previously purchased apps so my app library shows I have 152 apps that need updating! Of course I’ve been doing the tedious & cumbersome app updates over WiFi, but the updates never register in iTunes, so I can remove & reinstall old apps only. I wonder if it is a limitation of MacOS 10.13.6? I can’t go past it without buying a new iMac.
I am limited to iOS 14.4.2 as I have a critical app that won’t work in 14.4.3 and later.
I am not able to update apps with the Mac version of iTunes – but the Windows version works fine. After updating using the Windows version, the Mac version sees the updates and offers to install them.
This is such a kludgey workaround that I don’t recommend it for anyone – I do it because I enjoy this kind of thing.
For most app updates I use iMazing. Download the app update once into the iMazing library and then install it on as many iOS devices as needed. iMazing is a worthwhile app and replacement for iTunes.