Save result list from SmartPlaylist as normal playlist

Yes, finally, after ten years, I have found out how to save the result list from SmartPlaylist as a normal (non-smart) playlist in Music. There, you can rename it, play it, reorder titles, edit it, sync it, delete it.

You will get this feature with v13.2, in the list view options (upper right corner).

Each time you tap "Save as Music playlist" a new playlist is created with the (same) name (e.g.) "SmartPlaylist X - Name of your list" and description "Created: date/time".

iOS 11: Problems with play count / last played, rating not syncing

Some users observe that when they have played a song in SmartPlaylist the play count / last played date are not updated. Some also say that the rating they do in SmartPlaylist is not synced to iTunes.

In all these cases it is iOS 11 which causes those problems. It is the Music app in the background which sets (or should set ...) the play count and last played date. But sometimes this does just not happen. SmartPlaylist can only read the values from the Music app. Also, if the rating does not sync to iTunes, it is a iOS 11 problem, since SmartPlaylist has nothing to do with the syncing process.

Personally, I had the play count and last played date problems only at the very beginning of iOS 11. After a while it got okay again, but I don't know when/why exactly. Make sure you update to the latest version of iOS 11.

iOS 10 Music app and iTunes syncing woes

It seems to get worse and worse ...

With the latest iTunes 12.5.3 not all lyrics (which now are marked as "custom lyrics") are synced to the iPhone. Many are, some are not ...

Some songs spontaneously got the lyrics "{{instrumental}}" ... ??? ...

Un-ticking a song used to delete it from the iPhone with the next sync (with the corresponding option set to true) -- but that does not happen any more, all songs seem to stay on the device ...

(I do not use Apple Music, nor iTunes Match)

⊕⊖ Exclude/Include tutorial

Yesterday I downloaded 4 songs from the iTunes Store. Then I synced them to my iPhone. Then I discovered that each song was copied twice to the iPhone:

1. One copy was OK (artwork, rating, playable)
2. The other copy was "empty" / corrupt: no artwork, not playable, NOT DELETABLE!!!

In iTunes it just shows the 4 songs on my iPhone ("iPhone4"):

But on the iPhone I actually do have those corrupted duplicates:

... and I can NOT DELETE THEM on the iPhone!!!

Maybe I could erase all music on the iPhone and re-sync it. But unlike the music app, SmartPlaylist can do the following trick: You can hide (exclude) certain songs from one or all playlists.

You just navigate to the details of the undesired song (here: one of the 4 corrupted duplicates) and tap "⊕⊖":

In the pop-up dialogue you just tap on the playlist  A / B / C ... or F where the selected song should be excluded.

1. With the first tap you get "⊕" (e.g. "A⊕"), i.e. "Include in A" -- like that you can manually add songs to a playlist
2. With the second tap you get "⊖" (e.g. "A⊖"), i.e. "Exclude from A" -- like that you can manually hide (exclude) songs from a playlist (or from multiple or from all playlists).

Those excludes/includes are shown as a rule for each playlist:

With the blue/white ">" you can manage them:

• Delete all (red button at the bottom)
• Change playlists and/or ⊕ or ⊖

To apply the excludes/includes you have to requery the playlist with "⏎". As long as you don't use "⏎", songs with "⊖" are still in the list, but they are skipped and not played.

The 3 steps:

1. That's what I got at first in my "Saban" playlist:

 2. Then I marked them for excluding (as described above):

3. Then I ran the search again with "⏎" and was free of those 4 undesired duplicates:

So, that's how you can manually add or hide individual songs from one, multiple or all your playlists.

New in v5.3: Search, read, copy lyrics!

As already announced, with SmartPlaylist v5.3 you can also search in the lyrics stored inside your mp3-titles:

Extracting the lyrics takes a while, that's why this search rule is rather slow and that'y why SmartPlaylist puts the lyrics in a cache to make the search faster the next time (and that's why you have to use "Empty cache after sync" once you change the lyrics in iTunes).

You can also read the lyrics in the detail infos for a song, where you can copy some text as usual, or look up the meaning of a word:

Prerequisites:

1. Store the lyrics inside your mp3s in iTunes or with other tools. (SmartPlaylist does not search for lyrics in the web)
2. Get the lyrics to your iPod / iPhone / iPad by syncing to your device. Currently this does not work for songs downloaded from iTunes directly to your device (see other posts)

New in v5.3: Empty cache after sync

So far SmartPlaylist automatically switched to the rules page and emptied the cache whenever the MediaLibrary was changed by a sync. With iTunes Match this is rather annoying, because each time a song is downloaded from the cloud to listen to it on the device, this happened.
So now, with v5.3 nothing will happen in SmartPlaylist when the MediaLibrary changes (for whatever reason). As long as you add new titles, everything is OK, you don't need to do anything in SmartPlaylist. But once you change some attributes (like lyrics, genre, composer, cover artwork, etc.) you need run "Empty cache after sync" to make sure that the new values are used in SmartPlaylist.

The reason behind this is that SmartPlaylist stores certain values, which take time to get, in a cache, in order to speed up search and display. This happens with the hierarchical browser (Genre>Composer>Groupings>Artists>Albums>Titles), the cover artwork (for the list view only), the lyrics and the realeaseDate.

So whenever you think that SmartPlaylist does not take the latest values, it is time to "Empty cache after sync". On older devices with iOS 4, where apps don't run in the background and have to be restarted each time, this is not necessary, since like that SmartPlalyist is always started with an empty cache.

If you still don't see what you expect, then probably there is a problem with syncing/iCloud/iTunes Match.

General problems with lyrics, syncing and iTunes (Match)

UPDATE (iOS 8 / iTunes 12):
Today I purchased some songs on the iPhone and later added the lyrics in iTunes - but the lyrics did not show up on the iPhone after syncing back to it -- this is the known problem.
But then I simply deleted the songs on the iPhone and then synced again from iTunes - after the second sync the lyrics were on the iPhone. Maybe this is the way to solve this problem.
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With iCloud, iTunes Match and downloads directly to the iPhone it really get's complicated. You are no longer master of your own songs. When you add lyrics in iTunes on the mac and sync back to the iPhone, the lyrics don't show up! In other cases the old lyrics before the change show up!?

It is a problem with iOS 5. All this iCloud and Match stuff is even confusing Apple, it seems.

Deleting the song on the iPhone and then sync it back from the computer does not help.
What you have to do:

1. Copy the song from iTunes to your desktop (or any other folder) -- the lyrics are contained within this file
2. Delete the song in iTunes (with "move to trash")
3. Delete the song on the device (in the built-in music app, with a swipe gesture)
4. Sync from computer to device by cable
5. Add the song back to iTunes
6. Sync again

--- Now the song will display the lyrics both in the music app and in SmartPlaylist (in SmartPlaylist you must empty the cache with the new ⌘-command "Empty cache after sync" or do a complete restart)

Like that you will loose the Rating, Play Count and Skip Count and get a new Date Added. It is a pain.

Maybe it's better to download songs from Amazon, after all. Then you don't have those troubles.

Quit before sync with iOS 4

As mentioned in the help section of SmartPlaylist, you should quit SmartPlaylist before syncing your device.
With the new iOS 4, "to quit" means to really shut it down, not just hide it in the background (new "multitasking" ...).
1. Press your home button to close/hide SmartPlaylist
2. Double-tapp the home button
3. Press your finger on the SmartPlaylist icon in the bottom, until the "Quit"-badge appears
4. Tapp on the "Quit"-badge
 --> Now it is really closed.