"iPhone is in use by another user on this Mac" weirdness in Retroactive-installed iTunes

[sandman12]

I have used iTunes on a 2012 Mac mini running macOS 10.13 to control playlists on my iPhone SE 2020 for some time. I have a number of playlists on the iPhone, and I have a smart playlist on the iPhone whose sole rule is "Plays>0". Every so often I empty that playlist and copy some new music files to the iPhone. This has been working well for me for some time now.

Then I got a new Mac mini (Intel 6-core) with macOS Catalina. This meant that I lost the ability to control those playlists in iTunes (or in Music.app or in Finder). (Why oh why did Apple take that functionality away?)

I used Retroactive https://github.com/cormiertyshawn895/Retroactive/ to install iTunes 12.9.5.5 on the Catalina Mac mini. And it looks like it's getting close to working, but it's not actually working yet.

I launch iTunes and then plug the iPhone in with a Lightning USB cable as usual. Then two things happen: (1) the iPhone shows up in iTunes and I can see the playlists, and (2) a notification appears in the upper right corner of the monitor that says

"iPhone in Use
This iPhone is in use by another user on
this Mac."

My account is the only account on that Mac. I dismiss that notification. Then in iTunes I can click on the iPhone playlists, but I can't get iTunes to sort them or delete any entries in any of them.

Playlists of music files that are actually on the Mac can be sorted, deleted, etc. But there's some weirdness that's making it show that notification and won't let me control the iPhone playlists.

Ideas on what's causing this and how to fix it?

 

[Jack Neill]

I have used iTunes on a 2012 Mac mini running macOS 10.13 to control playlists on my iPhone SE 2020 for some time. I have a number of playlists on the iPhone, and I have a smart playlist on the iPhone whose sole rule is "Plays>0". Every so often I empty that playlist and copy some new music files to the iPhone. This has been working well for me for some time now.

Then I got a new Mac mini (Intel 6-core) with macOS Catalina. This meant that I lost the ability to control those playlists in iTunes (or in Music.app or in Finder). (Why oh why did Apple take that functionality away?)

I used Retroactive https://github.com/cormiertyshawn895/Retroactive/ to install iTunes 12.9.5.5 on the Catalina Mac mini. And it looks like it's getting close to working, but it's not actually working yet.

I launch iTunes and then plug the iPhone in with a Lightning USB cable as usual. Then two things happen: (1) the iPhone shows up in iTunes and I can see the playlists, and (2) a notification appears in the upper right corner of the monitor that says

"iPhone in Use
This iPhone is in use by another user on
this Mac."

My account is the only account on that Mac. I dismiss that notification. Then in iTunes I can click on the iPhone playlists, but I can't get iTunes to sort them or delete any entries in any of them.

Playlists of music files that are actually on the Mac can be sorted, deleted, etc. But there's some weirdness that's making it show that notification and won't let me control the iPhone playlists.

Ideas on what's causing this and how to fix it?

Have you tired tried this?

If you connect an Apple device to your Mac, and either see nothing in iTunes, or "The device is in use by another user on this computer":

• Disconnect the device from your Mac, but keep iTunes open.
• Click on the Spotlight icon (magnifying glass) on the menu bar.
• Type "Terminal" and press return to open the Terminal app.
• Enter killall AMPDevicesAgent in the Terminal window, and press return.
• Connect the Apple device back to your Mac.

 

[sandman12]

Have you tired tried this?

If you connect an Apple device to your Mac, and either see nothing in iTunes, or "The device is in use by another user on this computer":

• Disconnect the device from your Mac, but keep iTunes open.
• Click on the Spotlight icon (magnifying glass) on the menu bar.
• Type "Terminal" and press return to open the Terminal app.
• Enter killall AMPDevicesAgent in the Terminal window, and press return.
• Connect the Apple device back to your Mac.

Thank you for your reply. Yes, I have tried that. I launch iTunes, then plug in the iPhone. iTunes then shows the iPhone playlists. Then the notification that

"This iPhone is in use by another user on
this Mac."

pops up in the upper right corner of the monitor. I dismiss that notification, unplug the iPhone and do

killall AMPDevicesAgent

in the Terminal window. Then I plug the iPhone back in and the notification pops up again, and the iPhone playlists show up in iTunes. But apparently since it thinks that the iPhone is controlled by another user on my Mac (mine is the only account on my Mac) it won't let me sort or edit the playlists.

Weird. Am I the only Mac user that is having this difficulty? I have posted to the Retroactive developer's github "issues" page, but have gotten no reply.

I wonder if I should use Retroactive to reinstall iTunes.

 

[Jack Neill]

Thank you for your reply. Yes, I have tried that. I launch iTunes, then plug in the iPhone. iTunes then shows the iPhone playlists. Then the notification that

"This iPhone is in use by another user on
this Mac."

pops up in the upper right corner of the monitor. I dismiss that notification, unplug the iPhone and do

killall AMPDevicesAgent

in the Terminal window. Then I plug the iPhone back in and the notification pops up again, and the iPhone playlists show up in iTunes. But apparently since it thinks that the iPhone is controlled by another user on my Mac (mine is the only account on my Mac) it won't let me sort or edit the playlists.

Weird. Am I the only Mac user that is having this difficulty? I have posted to the Retroactive developer's github "issues" page, but have gotten no reply.

I wonder if I should use Retroactive to reinstall iTunes.

I get the same thing with my iPod classic's but quitting music and killing AMP's usually get it to go for me.