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endless17

macrumors member
Mar 8, 2011
96
1
thx, but how do I know if the iP4S has the songs in 256 bitrate.
if you're downloading songs that were matched and not uploaded by iTunes then it'll be 256kbps versions. for the most part, though, you shouldn't care what version is downloaded onto your device.
 

verwon

macrumors 68030
Jul 26, 2011
2,676
2
Seattle
Thx but how do you know the file on the phone is the 256 bitrate. I had assumed when iTunes Matched the songs would have a similar quality and play the same loudness.

I noticed my poor quality MP3s, play a lower volume and my higher quality tend to play louder.

And if they're that bad, use iTunes to fix them. That's what I had to do with some stuff from my old Palm Pre.
 

Mikedexter

macrumors newbie
Nov 17, 2011
20
0
I have "match" works on my iPad for music, also added most music videos, not sure why it didn't add one or two of them. Also movies I bought off iTunes, anyway for them to be available on my iPad/iphone 4s? My 4s doesn't show the music videos, but iPad2 does...weird? Any help or suggestions?
 

urkel

macrumors 68030
Nov 3, 2008
2,795
917
Im clearly not understanding the cloud so please tell me what I'm doing wrong beccause I thought iCloud was supposed to simplify things but instead its causing a mess.

Music:
Why is it that turning on Match on iPad/iPhone REQUIRES deleting all the existing playlists and for us to redownload each song manually and create new playlists? I like my playlists, I just want to have the cloud as a backup or a way to get ADDITIONAL songs without going to the computer.

Apps:
Slightly off topic but I want to rely on the cloud for Apps now rather than iTunes sync. But turning off the App checkbox says it will delete all my apps (and the attached settings).

Just like with music, why cant we just keep our existing playlists and apps the way there were because all these playlists and folder organizing took a lot of time so why can't we retain it if we change over to cloud reliance? It just seems odd to redownload stuff we already organized and configured so any advice is appreciated.
 
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DaffyDuck

macrumors 6502
Jun 18, 2007
472
3
Music:
Why is it that turning on Match on iPad/iPhone REQUIRES deleting all the existing playlists and for us to redownload each song manually and create new playlists? I like my playlists, I just want to have the cloud as a backup or a way to get ADDITIONAL songs without going to the computer.

This is just an unfortunate necessity. The iDevice is no longer syncing music with your computer but with the cloud library so a reset is necessary. They just decided not to dedicate time trying to figure out how to merge the data reliably.


Just like with music, why cant we just keep our existing playlists and apps the way there were because all these playlists and folder organizing took a lot of time so why can't we retain it if we change over to cloud reliance? It just seems odd to redownload stuff we already organized and configured so any advice is appreciated.

You don't lose playlists that you have in iTunes. Those will sync to iCloud when you turn on Match in iTunes and then to the iDevice when you turn on Match there. You'll have to re-download songs on your phone. Just create a playlist in iTunes of what you know you want downloaded and after turning on Match on the iDevice, go to the playlist and at the bottom select download all.
 

Tech Elementz

macrumors 6502
Jul 7, 2011
404
0
OK, I know it's a stupid question, and I must be the only person in the world who doesn't 'get' it, but what benefit does Match actually give?
I mean, you've got your Mac, iPad and iPhones all set up with the music you want on them. Where does Match provide a benefit - apart from the increased bit rate?
Why would you want to stream or download music from iCloud that you didn't sync to the device in the first place?

iTunes Match has the ability of matching your music not from the iTunes Store with versions in the iTunes Store with the quality you get from them and keeps them up in the Cloud.
 

MJedi

macrumors 6502a
Dec 16, 2010
897
383
iTunes match is amazing because the second I make a new playlist or change a rating on a song it reflects across all my machines.
I've never heard or read about playlists replicating, or being available, among all computers or iOS devices. Can someone confirm this? All the reviews I've read only mention the songs being available. No mention of playlists. I just assumed that you'd have to manually make playlists on the iOS device.

And does it really delete all your songs on the iOS device when you activate iTunes Match on it? That is the biggest negative for me. If I do subscribe, I'll just use it on my Macs, and keep my iPhone and iPad syncing locally.
 

verwon

macrumors 68030
Jul 26, 2011
2,676
2
Seattle
I've never heard or read about playlists replicating, or being available, among all computers or iOS devices. Can someone confirm this? All the reviews I've read only mention the songs being available. No mention of playlists. I just assumed that you'd have to manually make playlists on the iOS device.

And does it really delete all your songs on the iOS device when you activate iTunes Match on it? That is the biggest negative for me. If I do subscribe, I'll just use it on my Macs, and keep my iPhone and iPad syncing locally.

Yes, playlists sync. I just created new ones in iTunes and they're all listed in my 4S and iPad.

My music didn't delete, though others have said theirs did.
 

zhenya

macrumors 604
Jan 6, 2005
6,931
3,681
I've never heard or read about playlists replicating, or being available, among all computers or iOS devices. Can someone confirm this? All the reviews I've read only mention the songs being available. No mention of playlists. I just assumed that you'd have to manually make playlists on the iOS device.

And does it really delete all your songs on the iOS device when you activate iTunes Match on it? That is the biggest negative for me. If I do subscribe, I'll just use it on my Macs, and keep my iPhone and iPad syncing locally.

Yes, playlists, just like all other metadata, should stay in sync across all devices using Match. As noted, it will use your playlists from iTunes as the starting point, but after that, you can create new playlists from anywhere and they will show up everywhere else. Try to think of Match as a 'keep your music library in sync across all devices' service.

It should not delete the local music on your devices. If it does, it's a simple matter of creating a playlist that has all the music you want locally, and then on that device, scrolling to the bottom of that playlist and choosing 'download all'.
 

firestarter

macrumors 603
Dec 31, 2002
5,506
227
Green and pleasant land
Yes, playlists, just like all other metadata, should stay in sync across all devices using Match. As noted, it will use your playlists from iTunes as the starting point, but after that, you can create new playlists from anywhere and they will show up everywhere else. Try to think of Match as a 'keep your music library in sync across all devices' service.

How about smart playlists?

Smart playlists have always been one of the best features of iTunes - much easier to maintain than regular ones. Does Match support them at all?
 

ericg301

macrumors 68020
Jun 15, 2010
2,329
2,640
How about smart playlists?

Smart playlists have always been one of the best features of iTunes - much easier to maintain than regular ones. Does Match support them at all?

nope. they don't work properly. a smart playlist shows up on your iOS device with your entire library, not your criteria. bug.
 

zhenya

macrumors 604
Jan 6, 2005
6,931
3,681
How about smart playlists?

Smart playlists have always been one of the best features of iTunes - much easier to maintain than regular ones. Does Match support them at all?

Yes. As I said, all playlists in iTunes will become available on all devices and changes made on any device will sync across all devices. There is currently a bug in the built-in Top 25 playlist, but other than that playlists seem to be working fine.
 

BanterClaus

macrumors regular
Feb 19, 2011
195
25
UK
Im really confused... why is everyone saying its great as it can save space but it still requires you to download the songs to be able to listen to them? This isn't really streaming so how is it saving any space?

(Im in the UK and we don't have iTunes match yet so I might have misunderstood)
 

urkel

macrumors 68030
Nov 3, 2008
2,795
917
You don't lose playlists that you have in iTunes. Those will sync to iCloud when you turn on Match in iTunes and then to the iDevice when you turn on Match there. You'll have to re-download songs on your phone. Just create a playlist in iTunes of what you know you want downloaded and after turning on Match on the iDevice, go to the playlist and at the bottom select download all.
Anyone with an iPad able to confirm this? They pretty much destroyed the music app on iPad so Im not sure whats going on. I have cloud sync on and I do see my playlists but only some songs were deleted. Is there a way to redownload an entire playlist rather than going through each one to download individual tracks?

Its a shame they didnt implement true streaming because if the playlists sync then we should have the option of just streaming that playlist rather than wasting precious iOS space on gigs of music that you only occasionally listen to.

Edit:
One more question. If playlists sync to the cloud and you have iTunes Match on two computers then does deleting a playlist on one computer delete it from the other one?
 

firestarter

macrumors 603
Dec 31, 2002
5,506
227
Green and pleasant land
Im really confused... why is everyone saying its great as it can save space but it still requires you to download the songs to be able to listen to them? This isn't really streaming so how is it saving any space?

(Im in the UK and we don't have iTunes match yet so I might have misunderstood)

That's why this thread is interesting! I think a lot of people have got it 'just because it's there' - but I still need to be convinced that it's worthwhile.

There seems to be a lot of confusion around playlists/smart playlists - and that needs to be sorted out before I would consider buying.
 

zhenya

macrumors 604
Jan 6, 2005
6,931
3,681
Im really confused... why is everyone saying its great as it can save space but it still requires you to download the songs to be able to listen to them? This isn't really streaming so how is it saving any space?

(Im in the UK and we don't have iTunes match yet so I might have misunderstood)

I don't know that people are really saying it will save space per we, rather that this allows them to have access to their entire library at all times from any device. In some sense that 'saves space' as the only way to do this before was to sync your whole library (if you had the room).

Anyone with an iPad able to confirm this? They pretty much destroyed the music app on iPad so Im not sure whats going on. I have cloud sync on and I do see my playlists but only some songs were deleted. Is there a way to redownload an entire playlist rather than going through each one to download individual tracks?

Its a shame they didnt implement true streaming because if the playlists sync then we should have the option of just streaming that playlist rather than wasting precious iOS space on gigs of music that you only occasionally listen to.

Edit:
One more question. If playlists sync to the cloud and you have iTunes Match on two computers then does deleting a playlist on one computer delete it from the other one?

Go to the very bottom of a playlist or album and choose download all.

Yes, once Match is on, ALL devices using Match will be in full sync, so deleting, adding, or altering a playlist on one will effect them all.
 

urkel

macrumors 68030
Nov 3, 2008
2,795
917
Go to the very bottom of a playlist or album and choose download all.

Yes, once Match is on, ALL devices using Match will be in full sync, so deleting, adding, or altering a playlist on one will effect them all.
Thanks. That works on the iPhone but on the iPad it doesnt have a download all button.

Also, the playlist sync is inconsistent. Not all playlists show up and even the ones that do are incomplete. And my playlists seem to be doubling so I have "New Music" and "New Music1" on my iPhone but not on the iTunes. I'll leave it alone a few hours and maybe it will sync up but from what it seems then its still a bit buggy and the iPad Music App has found yet another stack of problems.
 

zhenya

macrumors 604
Jan 6, 2005
6,931
3,681
That's why this thread is interesting! I think a lot of people have got it 'just because it's there' - but I still need to be convinced that it's worthwhile.

There seems to be a lot of confusion around playlists/smart playlists - and that needs to be sorted out before I would consider buying.

What is the confusion? There is a bug in the one playlist, but otherwise they work.

Honestly, Match is one of the best software updates Apple has released in a long time. The major problem I've long had with iTunes was that it was so restricted to a single computer. Home Sharing fixed that to some extent on your local network (and was quite useful with an Apple TV or Airport Express and AirPlay), but Match really takes that to the next level, making all devices and all computers stay in sync with one master library accessible from anywhere.

Other than some bugs, which are to be expected from a service launch of this magnitude, the only real complaints I see is the lack of true streaming from ios devices (streaming works from iTunes) and the loss of genius playlists on ios devices. I suspect the former isn't so much of a problem as we make it out to be, in that if we just listened to our music and kind of forgot about how it worked, it'd work just fine. And the latter I would expect to see changed in a future software update.

----------

Thanks. That works on the iPhone but on the iPad it doesnt have a download all button.

it's there on my iPad. At the bottom of the playlist, right in the center.
 

verwon

macrumors 68030
Jul 26, 2011
2,676
2
Seattle
Thanks. That works on the iPhone but on the iPad it doesnt have a download all button.

Also, the playlist sync is inconsistent. Not all playlists show up and even the ones that do are incomplete. And my playlists seem to be doubling so I have "New Music" and "New Music1" on my iPhone but not on the iTunes. I'll leave it alone a few hours and maybe it will sync up but from what it seems then its still a bit buggy and the iPad Music App has found yet another stack of problems.

It's on my iPad 2, right at the bottom of the playlist.
 

urkel

macrumors 68030
Nov 3, 2008
2,795
917
It's on my iPad 2, right at the bottom of the playlist.
On the iPad I only have it at the bottom of one playlist. The rest (maybe 15) either some of the tracks local and i have to dl manually or just wont offer a download even though they're matched.

As for another big problem, I have the Steve Jobs audiobook as well as some others that were purchased through audible. One of the books is there but match erased Steve Jobs and I cant re-import it without disabling Match.


Its frustrating so im going to toggle it on and off again and see if anything changes.
 

ArcAngel66

macrumors regular
Jun 26, 2009
156
8
What is the confusion? There is a bug in the one playlist, but otherwise they work.

Honestly, Match is one of the best software updates Apple has released in a long time. The major problem I've long had with iTunes was that it was so restricted to a single computer. Home Sharing fixed that to some extent on your local network (and was quite useful with an Apple TV or Airport Express and AirPlay), but Match really takes that to the next level, making all devices and all computers stay in sync with one master library accessible from anywhere.

Other than some bugs, which are to be expected from a service launch of this magnitude, the only real complaints I see is the lack of true streaming from ios devices (streaming works from iTunes) and the loss of genius playlists on ios devices. I suspect the former isn't so much of a problem as we make it out to be, in that if we just listened to our music and kind of forgot about how it worked, it'd work just fine. And the latter I would expect to see changed in a future software update.

----------



it's there on my iPad. At the bottom of the playlist, right in the center.


I love Match. But honestly hate the "Match" feature, for however weird that sounds.

I wish they gave us the option to override the Match and choose to Upload instead if we wanted.

Sure, the Match feature is great for maybe 1/4 of my library because of the free upgrade to 256k. But it sucks for the other 3/4 of my library that sits at 320k and gets matched. When this happens, sure, my PC can still play that 320k song, but my iPhone, and two other Mac laptops are stuck with downgraded versions. Given the option to override a Match and Upload it instead, this would be alleviated.


I know the first answer to this complaint is "iTunes Match isn't for you." But really, it's a wonderful service and I love the idea of having all of my iTunes libraries in sync. There simply isn't another service that allows this.
 

zhenya

macrumors 604
Jan 6, 2005
6,931
3,681
I love Match. But honestly hate the "Match" feature, for however weird that sounds.

I wish they gave us the option to override the Match and choose to Upload instead if we wanted.

Sure, the Match feature is great for maybe 1/4 of my library because of the free upgrade to 256k. But it sucks for the other 3/4 of my library that sits at 320k and gets matched. When this happens, sure, my PC can still play that 320k song, but my iPhone, and two other Mac laptops are stuck with downgraded versions. Given the option to override a Match and Upload it instead, this would be alleviated.


I know the first answer to this complaint is "iTunes Match isn't for you." But really, it's a wonderful service and I love the idea of having all of my iTunes libraries in sync. There simply isn't another service that allows this.

Fair point. One option for you would be to turn off Match on your device, and manually sync the music that you most care about having at full bit-rate. Then turn on Match. The synced music will remain at the higher bitrate, and everything else will be available on an as-wanted basis.

Edit: I just came across this from another thread.

According to this link http://support.apple.com/kb/TS4054
Additional Information
About file formats and iTunes Match

Songs encoded as MP3 or AAC that have been matched to the iTunes Store will be made available for download as 256 kbps as AAC from iCloud.
Songs encoded as MP3 or AAC that cannot be matched to the iTunes Store will be uploaded as is. These songs will be made available for download in the same format it was uploaded in.
Songs encoded as MP3 or AAC with a bitrate of 96 kbps or less will not be matched or uploaded to iCloud.
Songs encoded as ALAC, WAV, or AIFF, will be transcoded in iTunes to 256 kbps AAC when uploaded to iCloud.
Song files over 200 MB will not be uploaded to iCloud.

So it sounds like your higher bitrate MP3's will be uploaded just as they are.
 
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