Mac iTunes - Smart Playlists Not Updating?

[Cmd-Z]

Not sure if it is just my Mac, but since updating OS X and iTunes this week it seems that my smart playlists in iTunes are not updating. For example, if I change the rating of a song it remains in a rating playlist, even though the change no longer matches the smart criteria. I noticed that if I edit the smart playlist, then change it back, it then updates. But obviously I can't do this all the time.

My son's PC was updated to iTunes 12.3.3 and it does not have this problem, so I don't know if this problem is limited to Macs, or just some quirk with mine due to some weird conflict. Any other Mac users seeing this?

 

[Partron22]

Have you checked to see that "Live updating" is still checked in your smart playlist?
Right-click on the playlist name to get the Edit Smart Playlist menu item

 

[Cmd-Z]

Oh yes, that was the first thing I verified, and these smart playlists all worked fine until the iTunes update.

 

[Jessica Lares]

I just checked this on one of my smart playlists and it's working fine for me. I specifically checked and unchecked the "love" button and saw if it was added and removed from the list, and it worked both times.

I wonder if you duplicated one that the new one would have the same problem?

 

[Cmd-Z]

Thanks, you're using a Mac, right? PCs don't seem to have this issue.

I'll give this a shot -- though I cringe at the thought of replicating all my playlists. Can you try one based on star Ratings and/or Last Played? Those are the two criteria I use most.

 

[Jessica Lares]

Thanks, you're using a Mac, right? PCs don't seem to have this issue.

I'll give this a shot -- though I cringe at the thought of replicating all my playlists. Can you try one based on star Ratings and/or Last Played? Those are the two criteria I use most.

Yes, I'm doing this on iTunes running on a Mac.

I tried both criteria and they both updated.

I would at least just try it on one just to see if it makes a difference.

 

[Cmd-Z]

When I get home I shall try, thanks for checking!
[doublepost=1458871886][/doublepost]No dice, created a brand new smart playlist solely based on rating = 5 stars, will not update if I change a song to 4 stars (and yes, Live Updating is selected in the playlist definition).

This sucks! If other Mac users on iTunes 12.3.3 don't have this issue, then what the hell could cause this on mine? Maybe a plugin like Last.fm? Will try removing that ...

 

[Cmd-Z]

Nope, removing the Last.fm plugin had no effect. If I create a fresh smart playlist based only on rating, it will not update when rating changes are made at the song level, even if I leave the playlist, close iTunes, or reboot the Mac. The only way the SPL updates is if I edit it and save it w/o changes. I tried re-installing 12.3.3 and still no change.

How difficult is it to go back to 12.3.2? It seems that there are ways to remove iTunes (can't just trash the .app) but getting a (safe) copy of 12.3.2 may be an issue?

 

[hellob123]

Hi, I am having the same issue.

None of my smart playlists update and when I go to create a new smart playlist- most recently played and most played, regardless of the boxes I tick and untick I get this message: This smart playlist contains one or more conditions that are empty or conflict with each other. This may result in never matching any item. Are you sure you want to save this playlist?

So my iTunes smart playlists are showing blank, yet on my iPhone one is showing my whole song library and the other is selected songs- but one's I haven't listened to in ages..it's infuriating me! My iTunes is up to date, as is my iOS on my phone. I'm really stuck on what to do! I use a MacBook Air.

 

[Cmd-Z]

... I get this message: This smart playlist contains one or more conditions that are empty or conflict with each other. This may result in never matching any item. Are you sure you want to save this playlist?

That sounds like a playlist definition error. As part of the iTunes update it is possible that your smart criteria got messed up. I found several of my smart playlists which depend on other smart playlists had the "Playlist is ..." criteria altered such the the specified playlist name was nulled out. Once I corrected that, the playlist (and others that depend on it) would update.

So check your criteria very carefully, especially if you have playlists that depend on others -- check the smart criteria at all levels of playlists that have a dependency on each other.

Although this was a problem for me, it turned out to not be the complete root cause. In my case, my playlists were not updating because iTunes 12.3.3 can no longer handle the 100+ smart playlists I had in my library. iTunes 12.3.2 and earlier handled these just fine, but even though I checked each and every playlist for the error above, I was still not seeing smart playlists update. Once I eliminated some unnecessary playlists then things started working, albeit slowly. I pared down my playlists further and I could see the speed at which they'd update improve. For whatever reason, iTunes was choking on my complex library. But at least it prompted me to do some housecleaning!

 

[hellob123]

Thanks! How do I go about checking the smart playlist criteria, and what do I measure it against?

 

[Cmd-Z]

Thanks! How do I go about checking the smart playlist criteria, and what do I measure it against?

You go into edit mode -- either right-click on the smart playlist name and select Edit, or click on the Edit Playlist button in the header portion of the playlist (top right side).

As far as what you measure it against, you make sure the criteria is going after what you want, and not conflicting with itself (e.g. "Rating > 4 and Rating = 3"). What is the criteria inside this smart playlist? (be specific)

 

[kevinke]

Not sure if it is just my Mac, but since updating OS X and iTunes this week it seems that my smart playlists in iTunes are not updating. For example, if I change the rating of a song it remains in a rating playlist, even though the change no longer matches the smart criteria. I noticed that if I edit the smart playlist, then change it back, it then updates. But obviously I can't do this all the time.

My son's PC was updated to iTunes 12.3.3 and it does not have this problem, so I don't know if this problem is limited to Macs, or just some quirk with mine due to some weird conflict. Any other Mac users seeing this?

I'm having the same issue. I had my smart playlist set up to live update and to sort the songs by most recently added. After the update, my smart playlists on my phone were syncing in random order and were also not live updating. If I set the criteria to "Playlist is music" and sync with my phone the songs will appear in the correct order (sorted by most recently added), however when I purchase a song on my iPhone or on my Mac, it will not live update. I have to sync to get the song added to the playlist.

 

[Cmd-Z]

... when I purchase a song on my iPhone or on my Mac, it will not live update. I have to sync to get the song added to the playlist.

Live updating on an iOS device has largely been broken since iOS 3, only the simplest of smart playlists will Live Update on the device without having to re-sync. Perhaps you updated the criteria of the smart playlist in a way that the added criteria pushed it over the edge and it now requires a re-sync? For example, adding "Playlist Is ..." will definitely break Live Updating, and some others seem to as well. Or, perhaps whatever the problem is has only gotten worse with an iOS and/or iTunes update? Are you using iTunes Match or iCloud Music Library? Either of those could be the problem since they add a layer of complexity to smart playlists & syncing.

In my case the problem was iTunes itself not updating and I came to the conclusion that I had too many smart playlists in my library that depended upon others. By eliminating some smart playlists I could see Live Updating slowly get better, where the update would happen but very slowly. I removed a few more smart playlists and I was back in business. I think it was iTunes 12.3.3 at the time, since on the most recent versions I've been able to add back more playlists and haven't had this problem.

 

[Traverse]

I have about 16 smart playlists some of which reference other smart playlists and mine are still working correctly. This thread gave me a mini heart attack though.

 

[The Mad Hatter]

I have about 16 smart playlists some of which reference other smart playlists and mine are still working correctly. This thread gave me a mini heart attack though.

I hear — and thought — that myself!

 

[kevinke]

Live updating on an iOS device has largely been broken since iOS 3, only the simplest of smart playlists will Live Update on the device without having to re-sync. Perhaps you updated the criteria of the smart playlist in a way that the added criteria pushed it over the edge and it now requires a re-sync? For example, adding "Playlist Is ..." will definitely break Live Updating, and some others seem to as well. Or, perhaps whatever the problem is has only gotten worse with an iOS and/or iTunes update? Are you using iTunes Match or iCloud Music Library? Either of those could be the problem since they add a layer of complexity to smart playlists & syncing.

In my case the problem was iTunes itself not updating and I came to the conclusion that I had too many smart playlists in my library that depended upon others. By eliminating some smart playlists I could see Live Updating slowly get better, where the update would happen but very slowly. I removed a few more smart playlists and I was back in business. I think it was iTunes 12.3.3 at the time, since on the most recent versions I've been able to add back more playlists and haven't had this problem.

The weird thing is that it worked on my iPhone 6S, but when I got the 7 and set it up, it suddenly stopped working properly. I don't use iTunes Match, but I think I use iCloud Music Library.

I could remove the "playlist is music" criterion but then the playlist includes TV shows/movies that I've downloaded, which is a huge pain.

I also noticed that if I set up the rule "media kind is music" it shows up in date added order on my Mac, but when I sync with my iPhone suddenly it changes to alphabetical. I have to change the rule to "playlist is music" for it to sort properly (by most recently added) on my iPhone.

 

[Cmd-Z]

The weird thing is that it worked on my iPhone 6S, but when I got the 7 and set it up, it suddenly stopped working properly. I don't use iTunes Match, but I think I use iCloud Music Library.

You think you use iCloud Music Library? Go to Settings> Music and see if Apple Music is enabled, and if so then look below that to see if iCloud Music Library is also enabled. You can't have iCloud Music Library without also having an Apple Music account:

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204926

In any case, on-device Live Updating of smart playlists has had recurring issues over the years, such that they will update but only with very simple criteria -- otherwise you have to re-sync to iTunes to get them to update. But if you are using iCloud Music Library then smart playlist behavior could behave differently than not using iCloud Music Library (though I refuse to use it).

I could remove the "playlist is music" criterion but then the playlist includes TV shows/movies that I've downloaded, which is a huge pain.

I also noticed that if I set up the rule "media kind is music" it shows up in date added order on my Mac, but when I sync with my iPhone suddenly it changes to alphabetical. I have to change the rule to "playlist is music" for it to sort properly (by most recently added) on my iPhone.

Funny how this particular workaround has come to the rescue in the past, must be some bit of faulty code that keeps sneaking back into production.