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Music - Missing Features, Bugs, Issues & Troubleshooting (Sonoma)

ErikGrim

ErikGrim

macrumors 604
Original poster
Jun 20, 2003
6,526
5,145
Brisbane, Australia
macOS 14.5 Sonoma - Music 1.4.5.36
Revision history:
macOS 14.5b2 Sonoma - Music 1.4.5.32
macOS 14.5b1 Sonoma - Music 1.4.5.25
macOS 14.4 Sonoma - Music 1.4.4.48
macOS 14.4b3 Sonoma - Music 1.4.4.44
macOS 14.4b1 Sonoma - Music 1.4.3.29
macOS 14.3 Sonoma - Music 1.4.3.27
macOS 14.3b3 Sonoma - Music 1.4.3.27
macOS 14.3b1 Sonoma - Music 1.4.3.17
macOS 14.2 Sonoma - Music 1.4.2.83
macOS 14.2 Sonoma b4 - Music 1.4.2.80
macOS 14.2 Sonoma b2 - Music 1.4.2.66
macOS 14.2 Sonoma b1- Music 1.4.2.53
macOS 14.1 Sonoma - Music 1.4.1.29
macOS 14.1 Sonoma b2 - Music 1.4.1.28
macOS 14.1 Sonoma b1 - Music 1.4.1.23
macOS 14 Sonoma RC - Music 1.4.0.118
macOS 14 Sonoma 14b4 - Music 1.4.0.98
macOS 14 Sonoma 14b1 - Music 1.4.0.58
macOS 14 Sonoma 14b2 - Music 1.4.0.76
macOS 14 Sonoma 14b3 - Music 1.4.0.83

macOS 13 Ventura 13.4b3 - Music 1.3.5.6
Big Sur 11.5 - Music 1.1.5.74
Catalina 10.15.5 - Music 1.0.5.14

Missing Features
  1. "Search Filter Field" for Local Library "Songs / Column View" and "Playlists" is not visible by default -> must manually invoke "Show Filter Field" (menu < view< Show Filter Field (short cut = cmd + alt + F ), or press the filter icon View attachment 2015804 - (The open field still does not persist between switching playlists )
  2. Album/song view: Can't view albums in place. Music has a separate page for every album. Artist view can view them in a list.
  3. No option for setting smaller grid size in album view. - previously in iTunes you could have 13 albums on each row, in Music limited to only 5 per row, makes scrolling through library tedious.
  4. Now Playing - Can't view a bigger version of the album art from Now playing. (previously in iTunes you could cmd + click to open a bigger artwork. This was separate from the mini player which wouldn't resize quite large and won't open in iTunes full screen) - alternative is ctrl + click for menu and select "Show Album In Library"
  5. Mini Player - "No Search Field" - as existed in iTunes - "History" is there, can toggle between "History" and "Playing Next" - but no search option
  6. Sync Play Info - from iOS device back to Music App on Mac: Some users report that "Play Counts" do not update / sync back to Music app on Mac as was the case in iTunes - this may be an issue on the iOS side - see post 276 for more info . . .
  7. Gestures missing in Apple Music - (compare to iTunes Store where gestures still work - I guess their solution was to remove gestures from the iTunes Store as well ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ )
  8. XML library is no longer automatically generated - the XML file was for "sharing info" to other apps (it can still be created via "Export Library") – missing this can cause issues for some DJ software and sound system apps like sonos etc. - creating a manual XML file can be a useful work around ( see file menu)
  9. Missing Icons - iPad version of Music has icons for playlists, macOS does not
  10. Playlist Rename - No way to rename playlists inline from the sidebar - work around - can be changed in the playlist header on the same screen. Possibly removed so you can double click playlists to start playing from sidebar (which still doesn't line up with how Finder works)
  11. Artwork for new music - Ripping old CD's into "Music" Still does not always add "Non Apple" Artwork - may require manually adding artwork
  12. No Visual Feedback When Adding Songs to Queue - There's no indication that a song has been added to Up Next Queue at all. Previously there was an animation showing the song being added, and the glyph would glow blue indicating that there were upcoming songs. Both of these indicators have been removed.
  13. Importing tracks progress (from CD or Finder) is no longer showing

Click Spoiler to un-hide Features that are no longer missing
[*]Internet radio (old style streaming stations) - see apple support info - alternative = use a stand alone app such as "MyTuner". Streaming with direct URL (cmd-U) still supported.
[/LIST]


Bugs
  1. "Filter Field" Search does not persist when switching between playlists - Bug or Missing Feature ? - as mentioned above in missing features - Filter Field is the best option for searching local libraries, playlists etc. but disappears when switching to other views. Using the show lyrics icon at the top right also removes the Filter fields and wipes out any search text - losing the entry and requires re-opeing the "filter fileld" and re-entering the text again. Ventura at least now has an icon to quickly click to open it, but the opened state still does not persist.
  2. Main Search Box defaults to Apple Music - when using the main search box (left / top) to search "local library" search defaults / displays results on Apple Music even when there is already purchased music in local library. Fortunately the state of which library / store you searched last now seems to persist
  3. Main Search Box disappears - The search field, being part of the sidebar, disappears up with the scroll making it useless for searching playlists lower down on the list
  4. Artwork Handling and Bugs - Artwork handling is just terrible. They just don't show up for a lot of songs — sometimes it happens in the Songs view, sometimes in the Album view that pops up when Cmd+L, sometimes in the mini player up top. All the artworks are like 1800px max (usually 1400px)
  5. After a restart of the app the sorting changes from "Album by Artist/Year" to "Album" in smart playlists.
  6. Some of the advanced playback features (for example Sound Check, Equalizer settings, Volume Adjust and Start/Stop) are not working when AirPlay playback is enabled.
  7. On a wired (Ethernet) connection with WiFi off, try selecting an AirPlay output in Music. The primary network connection will immediately drop out and take some time to reestablish itself. Any network traffic (e-mail, file transfers, etc.) will be interrupted. (Holdover bug from iTunes)
  8. Dragging tracks into a playlist from Finder to the top, or anywhere within a playlist, adds the tracks to the bottom of a playlist instead
  9. Returning to a song you are playing in the main library (Songs) with cmd-L is now impossible as it displays it as part of an album always - even if it is not part of an album / the only song. Previously would return to the place in the list.
  10. Songs that are matched, but have been removed from the iTunes Store library for whatever reason (usually older compilations that have had songs taken off them when licensing has expired) will get stuck on download and cause the entire download queue to stop until they are manually stopped. These songs can not be removed from the library with Music. A workaround is to search for the song in Music on an iOS device and remove it there.
  11. Moving tracks in synced playlist will often put the track right back where you moved it from
  12. Quitting while downloading tracks will cause a beachball and take a long time
  13. Turning on AirPlay network cuts off ALL audio, including the intended streaming.
  14. Not persisting between launches:
    1. Playlist folder states
    2. If you were in a playlist inside a folder prior to quitting, Music will open up blank with no library or playlist selected
  15. Crossfade does not work if Lossless playback is enabled
  16. When in full screen and you are trying to add a cover from your photo library, that immovable modal goes under the immovable edit modal.

Click Spoiler to un-hide fixed bugs
  • No Longer can disable viewing "Apple Music" in left Side Bar: as of Monterey you cannot disable viewing "Apple Music" at the top of the left side bar - a waste of screen if you are not subscribed to monthly subscription of "Apple Music"
  • Playlist/albums scroll positions are now retained if you switch away from them. Clicking them more than once returns to the top
  • Can edit/add "work and movement" for a single track (for example Classical Music Tracks): Click the title button to edit.
  • Mini Player now retract to its original location gracefully when a lyric/playlist pane is toggled, when initiated from a lower section of the screen.
  • Music window does immediately receive focus when clicked. There is no longer a noticeable delay around half second before the window gets the focus.
  • Genres now autopopulate when editing in Song view.
  • Column widths in playlists now persists between launches
  • When switching between Get Info windows, the selected field does not persist
  • "Show Artwork" in View < "Show View Options" CMD+J - Disabling "Show artwork" in Column/Song view does not persist between launches - re-appears at next launch and often displays generic icons - why show artwork if the icon is generic - waste of screen space - Fixed in Music Version 1.1.6.12
  • Rating stars in list view are not retina! How? Fixed in 1.2.0.146
  • Display Bar Missing (affected by language selection) - Some "French" language users report that Music can crash (mini player) and "top bar / player is blank" in album view - see screen shot post 194 - workaround = switch APP language back to English - check - then back to "french language" - see screen shot post 213 (not reported for a while, presumably fixed)
  • Inconsistency in star ratings, some are coloured and low res, some retina and non-coloured for no apparent reason:
    View attachment 1712454
  • Mouse clicks in the song list view will often get stuck, fail to register, or cause brief "move" actions instead of playing tracks
  • Misaligned play/pause button introduced in 1.2.0.130, bit better but still misaligned in 146. Fixed in 1.2.0.158.
  • Beachball often appears when using the new search. - I can’t seem to reproduce this anymore on my 110K+ library
  • Listen Now doesn't load (new in 1.1.0.234) loads very slowly / does not load for some / crashes Music for some
  • Mini M1 with Apple Magic Mouse. Start Music and the mouse is unresponsive for about a minute
  • Removing lots of songs from the queue using the red minus button, the button disappears when you do it too quickly
  • When you enter the miniplayer it mutes the music for a split second
[*]Opening lyrics while the filter field is open will remove the filter field and any input in it. Data loss! merged with filter field line
[*]A new playlist is not created takes a long time to appear when creating from an album in Apple Music. To reproduce, click the "More" (the three dots (•••) button on an album in browsing mode of Apple Music, then select "Add to Playlist," which then provides a long list of playlists, including "New Playlist.". Takes a long time with a "Creating playlist in Library" in activitiy. Causes error 9,039. Resolved as of music 1.1.2.28
[*]Double clicking a track for the first time will sometimes skip the track
[*]Stars don't show up at all under Artist in Songs list when app is open in Dark mode.
[*]Checkboxes in Songs view are showing as checked even it's actually unchecked when selected.
[*]Cmd+L in Songs view doesn't scroll the list to show the song but instead opens a whole new view that covers up the songs list. Does nothing in full screen mode. (Works if song is playing from a different playlist)
[*]Cmd-F no longer works to activate search. (new in 1.1.0.186) Cmd-F now takes you to the Apple Music Categories page for some reason (new in 1.1.0.243)
[*]Music app will randomly stop registering double clicks on a song to play. I have to use the "Play" button when you hover over the song number. If I quit and reopen the app double clicking works for a while and then stops again.
[*]Shuffle and Repeat Icons don't work when clicked (new in 1.1.0.208)
[*]Shuffle and Repeat icons don't appear until you click Shuffle in a playlist.
[*]Random UI bugs. It will lag, sometimes flash when going between albums, and the animations are sometimes very abrupt.
[*]Playlist folders re-expand when deleting playlists.
[*]Playlist folders are always expanded when restarting the app.
[*]Genius results can’t be updated right now. An Unknown error occured (18004) (4001).
[*]The results box not appearing properly
[*]Right clicking on an item within the “Browse” and “Listen Now” content areas sometimes opens the contextual menu at a random location.
[*]When I am playing a song in the list view and then I click Controls -> Go to Current Song (cmd + L) it changes to the album view (and goes back to the song view after clicking on the back arrow). When I do the same thing playing a song from a smart playlist, it remains in the song view.
[*]Play icon is cut off

Issues
  1. Filter field state DOES NOT PERSIST between switching playlists.
  2. Playlists do not retain view and column width settings after converting iTunes library.
  3. Shuffle - Un-Shuffle Confusion - This is the difference between inactive / active state of "shuffle" and "repeat" - shuffle indicated by shuffle icon turning blue when active (not easy to notice if on or off) see post 226 shuffle info - "repeat" is a similar 3 way toggle on the right side
    full

    full

    Apple's attempt to solve this issue is to now add a dot below the active icon:
    screenshot-2022-06-13-at-15-04-45-png.2018565
  4. Play list Header Can’t remove playlist header in Song view. This seems to be intended behaviour, which sucks. This is the same as it was in iTunes - and in Music, this is where to edit the Playlist title / name now that you can no longer edit it from the side bar
  5. AppleScript / Scrobblers / Keyboard remote apps addressing “iTunes.app” no longer working. Last.fm scrobblers for Music now exist.
  6. Deleting multiple playlists is a hassle. Deleting one at a time causes beachballs. Extremely annoying if you run into the duplicated playlist bug. Why can't we select more than one at a time?
  7. Loading the library can take a long time, especially after a force quit. Even on SSD.
  8. Updating artist artwork takes a long time / lots of CPU.
  9. Font weight and size for differencing primary/secondary text are extremely minimal. Harder to read and scan - especially on non-retina screens.
  10. "Show Only Downloaded Music" option is now universal. Not per playlist.
  11. Transport bar only shows time elapsed/remaining when hovering.
  12. Can't cmd + select to multiselect songs when youre searching apple music
  13. Scrolling is not as nice as in other apps like safari
  14. No download all automatically option, I have a smart playlist just for this
  15. Even if a playlist is set to download, adding new songs to it doesn't automatically download the new songs
  16. When viewing all songs, clicking the column header to sort but that doesn't work, you have to spam click it until it responds
Click Spoiler to un-hide fixed issues
  1. UI conventions from iOS are unwelcome, especially the slide-in lyrics / playing next panes which covers content and hides the filter and sort buttons. Slide in panes move content instead of covering it now, but only in playlist view. Frustratingly inconsistent.
  2. Apple Music is slow to load and navigate - even on very fast connections / 2020 iMacs. – This seems to have improved significantly with 12.2.2.x but is still not as instant as you'd want it to be.

Troubleshooting
  1. To rebuild your library from iTunes: Hold option when launching, select your old iTunes library in ~/Music/iTunes/iTunes Library.itl
    1. OR: try deleting ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.Music.plist then
      1. Move your music out of the Music folder and delete everything left in it.
      2. cd ~/Library and remove any folders that have Music or iTunes in the name
      3. cd ~/Library/Caches and delete any folders with Music or iTunes in the name
      4. Reboot
      5. Put your music folders back where you had them before. You may need to Import your music again to let the Music app organize them in a way that makes sense to it
    2. OR: This Applescript will force playlist re-build from original "iTunes Music Library.xml"
      https://github.com/dimecho/iTunes-Catalina
  2. Music Store can be enabled under view and in preferences.
  3. Home Sharing has moved to the Sharing pane in System Preferences (Media Sharing)
  4. Some sync issues for older iPods fixed by installing ItunesAccess https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/has-anyone-gotten-an-ipod-shuffle-2nd-gen-to-work.2196567/
  5. Switching all your playlists (back) to song view is quicker if you add a keyboard shortcut (System Prefs -> Keyboard) to this View item:
    View attachment 870422
  6. Doug Adams have started updating all his scripts for Music
  7. You may need to connect the remote app manually and not with home sharing:
    open remote app => tap settings in upper right corner => add iTunes library => in the music app in your Mac: look for the remote app symbol (arrow with your iPhone name) and enter the 4 digits
  8. Music always starting in full screen mode? Close Music, run

    defaults delete com.apple.Music

    in Terminal, and reopen Music (and re-set your preferences).
  9. The new Favourite function that replaces "love" is for AM/iCloud libraries only. Continue to use the old rating function for your local only library.
  10. If you are not a fan of this lobotomised iTunes, your best solution might be to just install iTunes again. Yes, this still works in Sonoma!


New welcome features:
  1. New top bar View attachment 857531
  2. New Listen Now screen: View attachment 926401
  3. Real-time lyrics in pane, mini-player and full screen mode (1.0.4.89)
  4. New Full screen mode activated from mini-player zoom button or keyboard shortcut
    Screen Shot 2020-02-19 at 9.46.16 PM.png Screen Shot 2020-02-19 at 9.48.28 PM.png
    Thanks to @Internet Enzyme for discovering and screenshots
  5. 1.0.5.9 allows you to two-finger scroll the volume and track bars.
  6. Selection outlines now appearing when hovering over the lyrics and upcoming buttons, however nothing yet for the play/pauses buttons which also have outlines in Podcasts.
  7. Animated playlist artwork in Listen Now are now present, the same as iOS
  8. Mute and full volume glyphs on the volume slider are now selectable and change colour when clicked
  9. 1.1.0.186 has the iOS 14 icon
    View attachment 936556
  10. You can now add descriptions to Playlists (from 1.1.2.25)
  11. Apple Music backend rebuilt with native views (from 1.2.2.23)
  12. Filter and sort icons (from 1.3.x)
  13. New Favourite function (✩) replacing Love for adding to library and recommendation algorithm in line with iOS 17.1 (from 1.4.x). Your favourited tracks show up in the new Favourites playlist. This is an AM/iCloud library only feature. Use the old rating function for your local only library.
  14. You can now go to the page of any artists and select "Suggest Less" to hear less of that artist in mixes (previously only available for individual songs)
  15. From 1.4.2.53 (14.2) On launch, AM no longer has to wait for the library to load before you can interact with the app. Very welcome improvement!
  16. From 1.4.3.17 (14.3) Favourite playlist and Collaborative Playlists are added
This article is a summary of the failings of Apple Music as a whole, with suggestions of fixes.

Wiki post: everyone is welcome to add to and edit.
 
Last edited:
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Nermal

Nermal

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Staff member
Dec 7, 2002
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New Zealand
ErikGrim said:
Welcome to another year of no updates to the Mac app. This is becoming a familiar story!
Click to expand...
I saw something in one of the Apple documents about an update coming "soon" (or maybe it was "later this year") but at this point I'll believe it when I see it!
 
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gank41

gank41

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Mar 25, 2008
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ErikGrim said:
Welcome to another year of no updates to the Mac app. This is becoming a familiar story!
Click to expand...
Yeah, I understand that they wanted to take time to talk about Vision Pro, and Apple is notorious for sliding in new features no one expected under the radar. but I was really hoping that there would be some Apple classical music features added here. At least something that shows they're working on it. This could also be a case of “Beta 1” syndrome like how they tend to dump in new features at beta three or so. And then slowly things start to break more and more 😆
 
jkelol111

jkelol111

macrumors newbie
Oct 6, 2021
11
13
The Lossless/Dolby indicator has been moved to the leading edge. Not sure whether this is even intended or not as it still has this misalignment bug:
1686134245674.png
 
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Nermal

Nermal

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Dec 7, 2002
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ErikGrim said:
No Longer can disable viewing "Apple Music" in left Side Bar: as of Monterey you cannot disable viewing "Apple Music" at the top of the left side bar - a waste of screen if you are not subscribed to monthly subscription of "Apple Music"
Click to expand...
Is someone able to double-check this? I'm still on 12.6.6 and the option to hide Apple Music is there. Did it disappear in a future version?
 
G

galad

macrumors 6502a
Apr 22, 2022
610
492
It's available if you don't have an active Apple Music subscription. It was already that way in Ventura and even before.
 
Haminski

Haminski

macrumors newbie
Sep 25, 2022
29
56
Does the Songs list view remember the sort order when restarting the app? I like to sort the Album column by Album by Artist/Year and it always resets when I open Music on Ventura, so I have to manually click the Album column header twice after starting it up.
 
tomtad

tomtad

macrumors 68020
Jun 7, 2015
2,085
5,519
Just spotted that the playlist note symbol does a nice little bounce animation when you drag a song into a playlist
 
B

berniemacmac

macrumors newbie
Jun 17, 2019
13
3
I have the problem that when I am in the title view and want to edit a song, the input field is displayed over the entire window. Not across the column width as in previous versions.
Bildschirmfoto 2023-06-25 um 06.52.55.png
 
Kohji Matsubayashi

Kohji Matsubayashi

macrumors newbie
Jun 16, 2020
19
5
Is this already reported here?

Playlists and Smart Playlists are always displayed in the view “as Playlist” after I launch the Music app, even though I manually set the views “as Songs”. Sonoma's Music app won't remember the “View as” settings for Playlists, while Ventura's Music app did.
(FB12588086)
 
ErikGrim

ErikGrim

macrumors 604
Original poster
Jun 20, 2003
6,526
5,145
Brisbane, Australia
Kohji Matsubayashi said:
Is this already reported here?

Playlists and Smart Playlists are always displayed in the view “as Playlist” after I launch the Music app, even though I manually set the views “as Songs”. Sonoma's Music app won't remember the “View as” settings for Playlists, while Ventura's Music app did.
(FB12588086)
Click to expand...
Not reported, but can confirm
 
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nortonandreev

nortonandreev

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Jan 11, 2016
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Europe
I can't edit the Wiki post?

macOS 14 Sonoma 14b1 - Music 1.4.0.58
macOS 14 Sonoma 14b2 - Music 1.4.0.76
macOS 14 Sonoma 14b3 - Music 1.4.0.83
macOS 14 Sonoma 14b4 - Music 1.4.0.98
 
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