Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Star Ratings gone in iOS 18?

Doc69

Doc69

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Dec 21, 2005
648
85
I just upgraded to iOS 18, and to my horror, now can't find a way to rate my songs in the Music app anymore. The option to assign a star rating between one and five to a song used to be found in the ... menu, but the only option available now is to make a song a favorite. Does anyone know if they moved this option somewhere or if it's actually gone?

In the Music Settings I have enabled "Show Star Ratings" which says "Access star ratings in the songs menu". But I don't see any difference between having this option on or off. Enabling this option was how I was able to rate songs from the ... meny in iOS 17.
 
  • Like
Reactions: !!!
Doc69 said:
I just upgraded to iOS 18, and to my horror, now can't find a way to rate my songs in the Music app anymore. The option to assign a star rating between one and five to a song used to be found in the ... menu, but the only option available now is to make a song a favorite. Does anyone know if they moved this option somewhere or if it's actually gone?

In the Music Settings I have enabled "Show Star Ratings" which says "Access star ratings in the songs menu". But I don't see any difference between having this option on or off. Enabling this option was how I was able to rate songs from the ... meny in iOS 17.
Click to expand...

Seems like it's gone. In 18.1 Beta there is no option in the Music settings anymore.

I haven't used this app for years. So I don't know how it looked before.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Doc69
I called Apple support yesterday and spoke with two advisors. After checking and confirming the issue, they both believed that it was a bug and not an intentional removal. Especially since the "Show Star Ratings" option is still available in the Music Settings. It has now been reported to engineering, so hopefully it will come back in the next update. 🤞
 
  • Like
  • Wow
Reactions: twanj and !!!
Adora said:
Seems like it's gone. In 18.1 Beta there is no option in the Music settings anymore.

I haven't used this app for years. So I don't know how it looked before.
Click to expand...

Until Friday I have an 14PM with 18.1 Beta 4 and I see the rate song.

Click the three little dots to the right of the star.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_1825.png
    IMG_1825.png
    1.2 MB · Views: 136
  • IMG_1824.png
    IMG_1824.png
    1.4 MB · Views: 134
jpdunn13 said:
Until Friday I have an 14PM with 18.1 Beta 4 and I see the rate song.

Click the three little dots to the right of the star.
Click to expand...
Oh, nice! Thank you for checking that! Yes, that's the item that is missing from iOS 18. Nice to see that it's coming back in 18.1! I've used star ratings since iTunes 1.0 to sort my huge music collection with over 150K songs. So losing that function would be a huge oss for me.
 
  • Like
Reactions: twanj and !!!
Doc69 said:
Oh, nice! Thank you for checking that! Yes, that's the item that is missing from iOS 18. Nice to see that it's coming back in 18.1! I've used star ratings since iTunes 1.0 to sort my huge music collection with over 150K songs. So losing that function would be a huge oss for me.
Click to expand...

Hmm, I am on the same version and only see this. Is it maybe only for Apple Music subscription songs?

IMG_0050.PNG


Edit: Looks the same while playing a song. Like in the screenshot above your post.

IMG_0053.PNG


IMG_0054.PNG




IMG_0051.PNG
IMG_0052.PNG



Edit: Same on macOS 15.1. Only that one Favorite star.
 
Last edited:
Adora said:
Hmm, I am on the same version and only see this. Is it maybe only for Apple Music subscription songs?
Click to expand...
Have you enabled "Show Star Ratings" under Music Settings?
 
Doc69 said:
Have you enabled "Show Star Ratings" under Music Settings?
Click to expand...

Do you mean other settings than the ones I posted? In Settings/Apps/Music were those. In the App I found only account settings and editing what should all be showed in the Library.

I am normally using Cs Music or Ecoute (what seeems not to be in the Store anymore, only in my purchases). Both support also Apple Music and have the stars.

Wanted to post screenshots but PhotoSync is not working again like often in the last time and I am doing everything her on my Mac. I have to check my VPN settings on both devices...
 
Adora said:
Do you mean other settings than the ones I posted? In Settings/Apps/Music were those. In the App I found only account settings and editing what should all be showed in the Library.
Click to expand...
OK, I see now that you were on the correct Settings page. But on our phone, the "Show Star Ratings" option is missing. On my 18.0 it's located between the "Show All Purchases" and "EQ". So if that option is not there for you, then no wonder Star Ratings does not show up in the app. I wonder why it's missing though. Perhaps you have a different build of 18.1 than @jpdunn13?
 
Doc69 said:
OK, I see now that you were on the correct Settings page. But on our phone, the "Show Star Ratings" option is missing. On my 18.0 it's located between the "Show All Purchases" and "EQ". So if that option is not there for you, then no wonder Star Ratings does not show up in the app. I wonder why it's missing though. Perhaps you have a different build of 18.1 than @jpdunn13?
Click to expand...
Could also be it's only for Apple Music users now. I could test it, they offer me 3 free month again, but I don't need it at the moment and don't want to waste it now.
 
I bought this app many years ago and still get updates:

apps.apple.com

‎Cs Music Pro

‎Cs Music Pro reimagines the classic iOS Music app—updated, enhanced and ad-free. Experience the familiar tabbed interface you loved, enhanced with powerful features and seamless Apple Music integration. Effortless control: • Intuitive organization: Browse by artists, albums, playlists and...
apps.apple.com

IMG_0057.PNG


And an older version of that one before:


I thought it's gone, but it's just not available in my region anymore. Seems still to work without getting updates for several years.


IMG_0058.PNG
 
Last edited:
Adora said:
Could also be it's only for Apple Music users now. I could test it, they offer me 3 free month again, but I don't need it at the moment and don't want to waste it now.
Click to expand...
I don't use the Apple Music Service and have it turned off, probably same as you then. I only have my own Apple Lossless files. I'll check out the apps you recommended above.
 
Last edited:
Adora said:
I bought this app many years ago and still get updates:
Click to expand...
I just downloaded the Cs Music Pro app. Thanks for the tip! It synced with my library and works way better for me than the Apple app since Star Ratings are available directly on the front page. This saves me some time and a couple of clicks. It's also nice to be able to see that star rating on the front page. So thanks again!
 
  • Love
Reactions: Adora
Doc69 said:
I don't use the Apple Music Service and have it turned off, probably same as you then. I only have my own Apple Lossless files. I'll check out the apps you recommended above.
Click to expand...

I confused the screenshots from the other guy with you where I saw "create station". That's why I thought you use Apple Music.

Doc69 said:
I just downloaded the Cs Music Pro app. Thanks for the tip! It synced with my library and works way better for me than the Apple app since Star Ratings are available directly on the front page. This saves me some time and a couple of clicks. It's also nice to be able to see that star rating on the front page. So thanks again!
Click to expand...

That's nice to hear. Happy I could help you. 😊
 
  • Like
Reactions: Doc69
I had luck quitting Music, going to Settings, toggle Ratings off... back-out of Settings.. go back into settings, turn Ratings back on, then open Music and the option is there....

HOWEVER, it goes away when I'm in the car....
Wireless CarPlay (3rd party dongle thing): No ratings
Bluetooth to car itself: No ratings
USB CarPlay (when parked): Ratings!
USB CarPlay (when moving): No ratings

So maybe their idea was a safety issue while driving? But that seems dumb because you can still Favorite or "recommend less", "add to playlist" etc., ... and use other apps like Facebook that are way more distracting! Also, no way to say "I'm not the one driving".

I use long stretches in the car to listen to and rate newer music I've added to my library, so I can keep the good stuff and lose the less good.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Doc69
After engaging Apple chat support, receiving a call-back, and escalating to a Senior Advisor (more testing)... it seems like the thing that breaks "Rate song..." being an option, is not being connected to wi-fi internet! It actually seems consistent with the testing I did previously.

As an aside, having updated to iOS 18 Beta, the senior advisor could not offer any further support. He would've needed me to downgrade to iOS 18 public version (at which point, I'd use an iOS 17 backup, so it'd actually work.

My plan now is to submit a beta bug report. If you've experienced this as well, please report it, so it gets bumped up the priority list and gets fixed!
 
  • Like
Reactions: Doc69
Since I’ve been using the Cs Music app due to the Ratings issue, I hadn’t opened Music for a while. But today, I checked it, and now it works again! It’s strange because I’m still on iOS 18.0 (22A3354). Maybe this is a new build that was automatically updated in the background?

Interestingly, the “Rate Song” option is available again when you tap on the “…”, but oddly, the “Show Star Ratings” option is now missing. It used to be located between “Show All Purchases” and “EQ” in the Music settings. So that's even stranger. But at least I’m glad it’s working again!
 
I just updated to 18.0.1, and Star Ratings still work normally. :)
 
On my phone star ratings are there if I'm connected to WiFi, not there if I'm not.
 
Note1: Apple is still trying to phase Star ratings out.
Note2: Star ratings issue is probably linked to trying to autosync ratings

From https://support.apple.com/en-bh/guide/iphone/iph744ea4009/ios:
Rate music in your library
Go to Settings > Apps > Music.
Turn on Show Star Ratings.
This option appears only if you already have star ratings from a synced library on your device.
Go to the Music app , touch and hold a song in your library, tap Rate Song, then choose a rating from one to five stars.
Song ratings sync to all devices that are signed in to the same Apple Account.
are
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back