iTunes Match Questions

[blairh]

1. After your initial upload is complete to iCloud, does your music need to remain in iTunes? Can you simply delete it all and then just add new music to iTunes when desired to sync with iCloud?

2. This is on the Apple site:

• Syncing music with iTunes will be disabled while iTunes Match is enabled on your iOS device.

This confuses me. So if I have iTunes Match enabled on an iDevice, how can I upload new music to iCloud after the initial upload?

 

[Donoghan]

No, music does not have to remain in iTunes after the initial upload. You can delete the files, but you'll still see them there available for you to download local copies again if you want. Anytime you add music to iTunes, Match will run and match those songs or upload them.

The "sync" they are referring to is syncing your music from iTunes to your phone. With iTunes Match you don't sync music to your phone anymore; it's already there for you to stream or download from the cloud down to your phone. No need to physically plug your phone to your computer to sync music.

 

[blairh]

The "sync" they are referring to is syncing your music from iTunes to your phone. With iTunes Match you don't sync music to your phone anymore; it's already there for you to stream or download from the cloud down to your phone. No need to physically plug your phone to your computer to sync music.

Okay. So let's say I do my initial upload to Match. My entire collection of music. And I enable Match on my iPhone to have access to my music. But then down the road I want to add albums to my iTunes library (not purchased from iTunes). Isn't Apple saying you can no longer sync music (i.e. add music) to Match once it's enabled on your iPhone?

 

[Donoghan]

You would then take that music, add it to you library in iTunes on your computer, then iTunes Match would upload that music so that it's in the cloud. Then you can stream it to your phone. Don't think of syncing and adding as the same thing. You can always add music to your library, which Match would then either match or upload, then it's available to all of your devices like the rest of the library. Syncing, is just that: plugging up your device and syncing it to iTunes, which you no longer do for music once you use Match. The whole point of Match is that your entire iTunes library is available in the cloud so that you don't HAVE to sync. You can add to that library anytime, from ripping CDs to buying through Amazon, so long as you add it to your library in iTunes it will push it to the cloud making it available.

 

[blairh]

You would then take that music, add it to you library in iTunes on your computer, then iTunes Match would upload that music so that it's in the cloud. Then you can stream it to your phone. Don't think of syncing and adding as the same thing. You can always add music to your library, which Match would then either match or upload, then it's available to all of your devices like the rest of the library. Syncing, is just that: plugging up your device and syncing it to iTunes, which you no longer do for music once you use Match. The whole point of Match is that your entire iTunes library is available in the cloud so that you don't HAVE to sync. You can add to that library anytime, from ripping CDs to buying through Amazon, so long as you add it to your library in iTunes it will push it to the cloud making it available.

Thanks for your answers. So if I understand correctly, when Apple says 'sync' they specifically mean plugging your iPhone into your computer?

 

[ZMacintosh]

Basically, you don't need to worry about syncing. What happens is this
You rip a new CD or import music that isn't iTunes purchased into your local Library on your Mac - iTunes match does it thing (Match or Upload) and it will be already ready to listen to on your phone, as the sync is referencing whatever is in iCloud/iTunes Match.

So essentiality acts like purchased music, purchase something on your iPhone it shows up in Mac Library, etc.

Additionally you can click Show iTunes Purchases (in The cloud) and it will show your Match + iTunes purchases on your Mac.

 

[blairh]

Basically, you don't need to worry about syncing. What happens is this
You rip a new CD or import music that isn't iTunes purchased into your local Library on your Mac - iTunes match does it thing (Match or Upload) and it will be already ready to listen to on your phone, as the sync is referencing whatever is in iCloud/iTunes Match.

So essentiality acts like purchased music, purchase something on your iPhone it shows up in Mac Library, etc.

Additionally you can click Show iTunes Purchases (in The cloud) and it will show your Match + iTunes purchases on your Mac.

I'm sorry but the line....

• Syncing music with iTunes will be disabled while iTunes Match is enabled on your iOS device.

still makes no sense to me. Whether you are syncing with a cable, or wi-fi, whatever, I don't understand what Apple means when they state you can't sync with iTunes Match enabled on your iDevice.

I have an additional question. Let's say you have iTunes Match on your iPhone and you have a lot of music pinned for offline use. If you do a complete restore on the iPhone, and you have the app data backed up via iCloud backups, will the pinned music reappear onto your iPhone after the restore? Or must you re-pin music after the restore?

 

[ZMacintosh]

I think you're over analyzing it a bit - but i get your point

Think of the options to sync to your iPhone or iPod in iTunes, you can let iTunes fill it with whatever will fit. or you can manually manage, or you sync specific playlists, etc iTunes Match works in a similar fashion as Manually Manage

For example, if you select manually manage my music, you can hand pick your songs, tracks and playlists that sync - almost exactly what iTunes Match does for your iPhone. you manually pick the ones you want stored - or not - either way you can stream them on your phone.

So there is no need to sync, because what will you sync? redundancy? you can create playlists in iTunes for example on your Mac, and iTunes will sync/Match your playlists and they'll be on your iPhone to download or stream.

so the whole syncing process is sort of removed because they want you think of it as a streaming service or if you were to buy a track on iTunes it will either stream or download to your device.

 

[mpayne2k]

I'm sorry but the line....

• Syncing music with iTunes will be disabled while iTunes Match is enabled on your iOS device.

still makes no sense to me. Whether you are syncing with a cable, or wi-fi, whatever, I don't understand what Apple means when they state you can't sync with iTunes Match enabled on your iDevice.

I have an additional question. Let's say you have iTunes Match on your iPhone and you have a lot of music pinned for offline use. If you do a complete restore on the iPhone, and you have the app data backed up via iCloud backups, will the pinned music reappear onto your iPhone after the restore? Or must you re-pin music after the restore?

iTunes Match specifically takes away the option to manage your synced music on an iOS device when you plug in your phone into iTunes. The "tab" for Music has a single grayed out box and reminds you that all Music is to be synced with iTunes Match (ie. download the cloud file directly in the Music app on your phone).

This statement has nothing to do with how you manage your collection in iTunes. You still have a physical copy of the downloaded files and an iCloud backup. If you lost your copies on your computer, and went to iTunes, you'll see the cloud icon next to the music sitting there ready to redownload your files.

 

[blairh]

iTunes Match specifically takes away the option to manage your synced music on an iOS device when you plug in your phone into iTunes. The "tab" for Music has a single grayed out box and reminds you that all Music is to be synced with iTunes Match (ie. download the cloud file directly in the Music app on your phone).

I think that answers my original question. The Apple literature speaks specifically about syncing with a cable from iPhone to iTunes.

Do you have knowledge regarding my restore question? With Google Play Music, any pinned music is gone if you restore your device. Even if you backup the date via iCloud backup. Is the same true with iTunes Match?

 

[soy]

iTunes Match specifically takes away the option to manage your synced music on an iOS device when you plug in your phone into iTunes. The "tab" for Music has a single grayed out box and reminds you that all Music is to be synced with iTunes Match (ie. download the cloud file directly in the Music app on your phone).

I think that answers my original question. The Apple literature speaks specifically about syncing with a cable from iPhone to iTunes.

Only if you turn on Match on your iPhone as well.

 

[mpayne2k]

Only if you turn on Match on your iPhone as well.

Correct, the grayed out box I referred to in iTunes only shows up when you have iTunes Match turned on in your Phone's Music settings.

In regards to restoring your iPhone. If/When you restore, if you had iTunes Match turned on your phone before, and you backed up an iCloud back-up, then when you restore it will, to my knowledge, turn all your settings to what they were before, but all downloaded music files will not sync. They'll be available for download once again.

This is different than when you sync'd to a computer. Previously, you'd backup a larger file to the computer because it would remember specifically the synced music to your phone and restore as is.... Unfortunately if you do cloud based backups, then it will just save settings and app data, not physical downloads like movies, tv shows, podcasts and music. That is why Apple has pushed the idea that a 16gb phone is fine in today's "everything in the cloud" culture.

 

[blairh]

This is different than when you sync'd to a computer. Previously, you'd backup a larger file to the computer because it would remember specifically the synced music to your phone and restore as is.... Unfortunately if you do cloud based backups, then it will just save settings and app data, not physical downloads like movies, tv shows, podcasts and music. That is why Apple has pushed the idea that a 16gb phone is fine in today's "everything in the cloud" culture.

Forget iTunes Match for a moment. So if I sync via wi-fi with my computer (assuming all my music is in iTunes and on my iPhone) and I do a restore, and the music app is backed up via iCloud backups, all my music will automatically re-download onto my iPhone?

 

[mpayne2k]

Forget iTunes Match for a moment. So if I sync via wi-fi with my computer (assuming all my music is in iTunes and on my iPhone) and I do a restore, and the music app is backed up via iCloud backups, all my music will automatically re-download onto my iPhone?

I don't have experience with wi-fi syncing so maybe someone else can step in.... If your primary mode of backup is iCloud, you will have to manually sync your playlists as iCloud backups don't store music files. Only when you choose to backup to the computer does it make a large file backup size (ie. an 128gb iPad backup on my computer is a 1:1 restore, meaning all synced videos, tv shows and mp3s). iCloud just restores your installed apps. So for the Music app, you'll have to resync your collection. I couldn't tell you what it does when you enable wi-fi sync.

 

[blairh]

I don't have experience with wi-fi syncing so maybe someone else can step in.... If your primary mode of backup is iCloud, you will have to manually sync your playlists as iCloud backups don't store music files. Only when you choose to backup to the computer does it make a large file backup size (ie. an 128gb iPad backup on my computer is a 1:1 restore, meaning all synced videos, tv shows and mp3s). iCloud just restores your installed apps. So for the Music app, you'll have to resync your collection. I couldn't tell you what it does when you enable wi-fi sync.

I wish there was a simple way to reload the music onto my iPhone in case of a restore. It appears all cloud solutions from any platform requires you to manually pin your music back onto your device.

 

[mpayne2k]

I wish there was a simple way to reload the music onto my iPhone in case of a restore. It appears all cloud solutions from any platform requires you to manually pin your music back onto your device.

There is a simple way, just go to iTunes, change "backup to Cloud" to "backup to this computer." Then you can restore the phone all you like (using a cable) and it will restore all synced music and playlists as you're looking for.

Now, if you mean you wished there was a simple "cloud" based solution, then yes, you're right to be frustrated.

 

[blairh]

There is a simple way, just go to iTunes, change "backup to Cloud" to "backup to this computer." Then you can restore the phone all you like (using a cable) and it will restore all synced music and playlists as you're looking for.

Now, if you mean you wished there was a simple "cloud" based solution, then yes, you're right to be frustrated.

Could this be done over wi-fi instead of using a cable? And I'm assuming all my music would need to remain in iTunes for this to work?

Yes, I wish there was a cloud solution for this. I think the easy answer would be a 'pin my collection' button in an app, assuming you have the storage to pin your collection. Or even a pin by artist option, which the Amazon Music app provides (the Google Play Music app does not) and I'm not sure if iTunes Match offers that option in the Music app. I believe it doesn't.

 

[ZMacintosh]

pin?


But you can backup to your Mac and sync to your Mac without a cable, you just need to select sync via Wi-Fi - on iTunes and your iPhone.

 

[mpayne2k]

pin?


But you can backup to your Mac and sync to your Mac without a cable, you just need to select sync via Wi-Fi - on iTunes and your iPhone.

Yes, pin, it's more a Google/android term for keeping a digital hard copy on your device. He wants confirmation that iTunes WiFi syncing will restore a music file to a device when restoring an iPhone instead of showing the item available in the cloud? As I stated previously I don't have experience with WiFi sync, just iCloud and computer with a cable backups.

 

[blairh]

Does anybody know if there is a song limit to playlists with iTunes Match? I looked online and could not find an answer. Also can you pin your iTunes Match playlist to your iPhone for offline use?

 

[Gav2k]

Does anybody know if there is a song limit to playlists with iTunes Match? I looked online and could not find an answer. Also can you pin your iTunes Match playlist to your iPhone for offline use?

No limit and yes you can download a playlist.

 

[blairh]

No limit and yes you can download a playlist.

Let's say I choose to manage my music locally with iTunes. If I add all my music onto my iPhone, and then delete it from my computer, can I still use wi-fi sync for future additions to my iPhone, or must all the music on my iPhone reflect what is in my iTunes library?

 

[Gav2k]

Your music won't be stored on your phone unless you download it to your phone via match. But everything will show up for you to stream should you wish.

 

[blairh]

Your music won't be stored on your phone unless you download it to your phone via match. But everything will show up for you to stream should you wish.

But what if I don't do Match and I opt to manage my music locally. If I get all my music on my iPhone via a USB cable and iTunes, and then want to add future music with wi-fi sync but don't want my initial upload stored in iTunes, will that work?