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Play music on iPhone, does not update plays or last played on Apple Music for Mac

iPhone 14 Pro Max

iOS 17.1

Sonoma on Mac

Apple Music subscription recently bundled into Apple One


So when I play music on my iPhone, I later attach it to my Mac for charing and syncing. However, if I play 10 songs on a given day, it does not update the number of plays or the date and time the song was last played. Is there something I need to do on my phone, my Mac, or both so that the number of plays and last played both get updated after every period I play songs on my iPhone.


Dan

Posted on Oct 30, 2023 7:28 PM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Dec 11, 2023 6:30 PM

Downloaded 17.2 and still not updating recently played... Anyone else still with this problem after updating?

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94 replies

Nov 14, 2023 4:25 AM in response to dgaichas77

Issue is within the app settings ,go settings on device apps ,apple music and permmissions ,the update ,completely tokk away the music and audio which you need to toggle to allow ,that allows you then to toggle on add music as it uploads your library without these options to be allowed your screwed ,spoke to apple support may as have talked to the dustbin there as thick as pig ,**** ,apple are useless do an update roll it out b4 they check to make sure it works properly typical apple ,not bothered as long as the cash keeps rolling in

Nov 14, 2023 8:11 AM in response to dgaichas77

Ok ,i have samsung note 20 ultra and untill 8 november everthing was fine ,apple do a poxy update ,and bang nothing works i didnt want to sign out as i know after every update to the music app you can never ever be able to upload your music that stupid icon in top right never toggle,s to red so you aint getting your music till it does ,But every one will have same issue as i noticed as in evety app you use you have to have permmissions .Right so go in to your phone settings scroll down to apps ,click on it ,scroll down to apple music all apps are in alphabetical order ,so when you get to apple music you will find within the app permmissions you need to go in to that and toggle allow music and audio ,but you wont find those 2 options as apple have left them out and as we all know without music and audio permmisdions none of your music or add to music will gk red it will be greyed out ,and no matter what you do ,sync music on you computer mac phone ie iphone it wont upload your music ,well done apple another stupendous mess up as usual ,but wait dont call apple suppodt there as thick as pig muck ,but we will get an update to rectify there screw up in 6/8 months till then be very ****** off like md as all my music dissapeared in heart beat soon as i signed out ,why roll out an update till you know the **** thing will work properley ,typical apple useless as ever

Nov 14, 2023 8:15 AM in response to Craig9357

Settings ,apps ,apple,music ,allow permmisdions for music and audio toggle on to allow ,but you cant as apple,s lovely update they forgot to add those 2 options so no music add music will be till apple get there finger out stay greyed out till then youd have thought some tech geek at apple would have known this or made sure everthing worked b4 throwing out another useless update ,well done apple ,useless as ever

Nov 14, 2023 10:23 AM in response to Craig9357

What a big clusterf--k apple are how on earth can a tech giant not make sure what there doing actually works only at this useless money grabbing company ,as i said the music and audio permmisdions have dissapeared after this latest useless update rendering the app useless for prob millions untill apple get therecfinger out there arse and put it right but wont hold my breath that happening anytime soon

Dec 4, 2023 9:06 AM in response to Steve Denton

I have the same problem. I play music from my MacBook Air but my iMac, iPad and iPhone don't update. This is on top of another problem where some songs stop after 14seconds ... The Genius Bar was unable to solve the issue. It's seems like many others have these problems but I don't see any solutions. Is Apple just not working much with the Music app?

Dec 4, 2023 9:12 PM in response to dgaichas77

Just want to say -- me too! My iPhone (12 mini) went through an update on 11/20/23. Ever since then - no syncing between iPhone and Mac. It had been working perfectly for years before IOS Update 17.1 . I have called for service many times -- they always sound confused, despite the number of other people calling with the same problem. Then they say there's nothing more we can try - and pretty much say they hope it will be resolved at the next software update. Very very frustrating!

Dec 5, 2023 2:56 AM in response to dgaichas77

Does the next update solve the problem completely. That is - I currently have the very same playlist, one which should remove a song from the playlist after it has been played, on iMac, iPad, Apple TV and iPhone. And all are at different 'positions.' The only one that does update the playlist, is on the iMac. If I play any of the others, nothing happens, no updating.

I thought iCloud meant that each unit could update the playlist and accessing that playlist from another unit, would access the updated central playlist. Play a song on one, it is removed from the playlist, open the playlist on another, the playlist is minus one (as it were) on startup.

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[Edited by Moderator]

Dec 7, 2023 1:06 AM in response to JDoGinc

That’s partly my problem. The playlist I have on my iMac, based on a certain number of plays, at the moment anything with under four plays, is on the iPhone, iPad and the Apple TV alright, but ‘stuck’ in different stages. None of which update based on what has been played 4 times and therefore been (in theory) ‘removed’ from the playlist. None of the versions of the playlist, match. I’m not sure quite when they stopped being updated, but it is several months in some cases.

I tried logging totally out of Music on my iPhone, then restarting the phone, then adding Music again…the iPhone playlist was exactly the same as it was before, about three months out of date - according to Music on the iMac.

and…it’s stopped scrobbling to Last.fm. Really irritating. Especially as Mr Cook et al, tout the ability to update ACROSS devices, as one of the (no-brainier) ‘features.’

If one can do them for false advertising, I don’t know…

Dec 15, 2023 12:04 AM in response to dgaichas77

Confirmed to be solved here. Tested and functions (again) using Apple M1 MacBook Pro with MacOS Sonoma Versie 14.2 (23C64), iPhone 13 mini with iOS 17.2.


For all that still are experiencing this issue I have to point out that it is elementary to update to the latest versions of the OS on all your devices. If you for instance only update your MacBook and not your iPhone, it still won't work properly. If you have hardware that doesn't support the latest versions anymore, the error probably still is unsolved.


[ Ger ]

Dec 15, 2023 9:55 PM in response to maringuy_

Yes -- Here's how I did it:


-- Go to Apple Music on Mac

-- Under "Music" on top of toolbar, go to "Settings"

-- UNcheck the red box that says "Sync Library", press OK button - wait about 20 seconds

-- Then check the red box that "Sync Library", press OK button and wait a few minutes


This is how I usually force a syncing between iPhone and Mac.

Let me know if it works!


Dec 16, 2023 4:41 AM in response to dgaichas77

The only way I have gotten my play counts to update consistently is by turning off 'Sync Library' on my iPhone and then when I physically connect my iPhone to my MacBook Pro via Lightning, I have to have the Music App on my MacBook Pro set to be the master. Then whenever I connect my iPhone to my Mac, I manually tell it to Synchronize, my Play Counts will update.

Play music on iPhone, does not update plays or last played on Apple Music for Mac

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