Offline Confusion - Some Have Indicator Others Don't?

[bushido]

I dont get it. i have mobile data disabled for music so i see stuff that isnt on my device greyed out while i am not on wifi. so far so good.

some songs i made available for offline listening show the tiny smartphone icon in the corner yet as you can see on the screenshot others dont but i can still play them while i am not on wifi. are those cached songs? does that mean every song i ever stream over wifi actually stays on my device unless i may run out of space? i think i made this playlist available for offline listening yet they do not have the indicator. only one song

edit: just played a random song on wifi and once it was finished i could still play it after i disabled wifi so yeah it seems to cache all those songs. whats the point of making available offline then ^^

 

[flur]

Yep. If you make an individual song available offline, you get the phone icon. If you make an album available offline, all the songs are available but they don't get the icon. It's annoying, yes.

 

[bushido]

and stuff i stream gets stuck in the cache for whatever how long?

 

[flur]

and stuff i stream gets stuck in the cache for whatever how long?

I have heard there might be a memory leak.

 

[AdonisSMU]

I dont get it. i have mobile data disabled for music so i see stuff that isnt on my device greyed out while i am not on wifi. so far so good.

Where is this setting? i can't find it?

 

[flur]

Where is this setting? i can't find it?

In your library in the search (Artists, Albums, etc with a small down arrow next to it). The toggle is in there.

 

[AdonisSMU]

In your library in the search (Artists, Albums, etc with a small down arrow next to it). The toggle is in there.

I can make the songs themselves offline accessible. However, how do I enable offline mode without turning off cellular and wifi access on my phone?

 

[flur]

I can make the songs themselves offline accessible. However, how do I enable offline mode without turning off cellular and wifi access on my phone?

Maybe I misunderstood what you mean by "offline mode." The setting I directed you to will allow you to only see what's on your device and will exclude everything in the cloud, or when toggled the other way will show you both what's on your device AND what's in the cloud. Is that not what you're looking for?

 

[bushido]

I can make the songs themselves offline accessible. However, how do I enable offline mode without turning off cellular and wifi access on my phone?

go to settings > mobile data > switch toggle for music to off

 

[lagwagon]

Yep. If you make an individual song available offline, you get the phone icon. If you make an album available offline, all the songs are available but they don't get the icon. It's annoying, yes.

If you make the album offline the icon appears on the album art when selecting into the album.

 

[flur]

If you make the album offline the icon appears on the album art when selecting into the album.

Yes, but it does not appear on the songs, so if you're looking at songs, or a playlist (or anything else that isn't the album), it appears that the song is not downloaded when in fact it is.

 

[lagwagon]

Yes, but it does not appear on the songs, so if you're looking at songs, or a playlist (or anything else that isn't the album), it appears that the song is not downloaded when in fact it is.

This is by design. Because there are layers to it. Say you make an album offline (art shows icon) and you end up only liking 3 out 12 of the songs. So you make those 3 individual songs offline (songs within the album show icons.) You can then tap the album ". . ." and remove download on the album and keep those 3 songs you made offline from within the album.

Works this way in playlists too. Saving a playlist for offline, the songs won't show the icon, but if you tap the actual songs you like from it and make those offline (to show the icon) and then remove the playlist those songs you further made offline will remain in your My Music.

Overall it makes it easier to keep what you like and remove the junk.

 

[flur]

This is by design.

Yeah. I know. That doesn't make it any less annoying. If anything, it makes it moreso.

 

[lagwagon]

Yeah. I know. That doesn't make it any less annoying. If anything, it makes it moreso.

If you're really worried about streaming something by mistake just turn on the option to see only offline when not on wifi.

And as I edited in my post above. It actually makes sense and makes it easier to trim out the stuff you don't like from pre made playlists or albums.

 

[flur]

If you're really worried about streaming something by mistake just turn on the option to see only offline when not on wifi.

And as I edited in my post above. It actually makes sense and makes it easier to trim out the stuff you don't like from pre made playlists or albums.

LOL. YOU think it make sense, because it works in a way you like. I'm not you. I don't like how it works. And for anyone new to AM (like most folks at this point), it's confusing.

For me, unless Apple disconnects the trainwreck that is iCloud Music Library from AM, how it works is irrelevant. So you can stop trying to convince me this thing that I find annoying is a good thing, because I'm not going to use the service anyway unless Apple allows me to download songs and make playlists without having all my music mis-matched in the cloud.

 

[lagwagon]

LOL. YOU think it make sense, because it works in a way you like. I'm not you. I don't like how it works. And for anyone new to AM (like most folks at this point), it's confusing.

For me, unless Apple disconnects the trainwreck that is iCloud Music Library from AM, how it works is irrelevant. So you can stop trying to convince me this thing that I find annoying is a good thing, because I'm not going to use the service anyway unless Apple allows me to download songs and make playlists without having all my music mis-matched in the cloud.

But it does make sense. Using the same 3 out of 12 on an album. The way you would like it, you would have to A: delete the 9 other songs one by one and keep the three. Or B: delete the album, search for that artist and album again and download the three songs. The way it is now you can add the three songs from within the album already on your phone and with one button and no searching again and keep the three songs and delete the rest. THAT is why it's layered. (Same goes for doing it in playlists.)

I do agree iCloud Music Library should be separate and the matching can be atrocious. I've found workarounds for that, but it's long and tedious. My 7700+ songs library is all uploaded mismatch free now.

 

[flur]

But it does make sense. Using the same 3 out of 12 on an album. The way you would like it, you would have to A: delete the 9 other songs one by one and keep the three. Or B: delete the album, search for that artist and album again and download the three songs. The way it is now you can add the three songs from within the album already on your phone and with one button and no searching again and keep the three songs and delete the rest. THAT is why it's layered. (Same goes for doing it in playlists.)

And I disagree. It doesn't make sense to me to not show everything that's downloaded in the same way when in song and playlist view. No amount of you trying to convince me is going to convince me. You'll just have to accept that I'm not going to agree with you.

 

[Paco II]

And I disagree. It doesn't make sense to me to not show everything that's downloaded in the same way when in song and playlist view. No amount of you trying to convince me is going to convince me. You'll just have to accept that I'm not going to agree with you.

I'm with you. The phone icon should be a simple indicator that the song is available offline. If all songs in an album are offline, then the album also gets an icon. Making an album offline should put the icon next to the album and all songs. Remove one song's download, album loses icon, rest of songs keep it. current approach is is confusing and of little use.