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Inability to sync iTunes library with new iPhone

I followed the advice from several threads, which included deleting and re-installing the Music app on my phone.


Nothing worked until I subscribed to Apple Music and then found a setting on my phone to sync my library.


Oh and by the way I discovered this little titbit:


"To use Sync Library, you need a subscription to Apple Music. You can also use Sync Library with an iTunes Match subscription.

If you canceled your subscription to Apple Music or iTunes Match, your music library is removed on all of your devices except for the device your music library is stored on. Any music, including playlists, that you added or downloaded from the Apple Music catalog is also remove."


And so all those CDs that I own and painstakingly uploaded to iTunes and listened to for years on my iPhone XR, were not accessible to me on my new iPhone 16 Pro without an Apple Music subscription. After the free three month trial, they will disappear from my iPhone unless I begin paying to listen to my own CDs.


This is really really not a good look, Apple.



Posted on Dec 24, 2024 8:15 PM

Reply
1 reply

Dec 24, 2024 10:31 PM in response to josephbowtie

Assuming that the end of the Apple Music subscription does not destroy the master iTunes / Music library on your Mac or PC – just synced copies of songs on your iPhone – you could go back to "manual" synchronization. That's where you have a master music library on your Mac or PC, and you load your iPhone with copies of some, or all, of the songs in that master library, wiping out whatever different music selection was on the iPhone before.


This does not require a subscription either to iTunes Match or to Apple Music.


Mac (Catalina or later): Sync music between your Mac and iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch - Apple Support

Mac (before Catalina): Use iTunes to sync your iPhone, iPad, or iPod with your computer - Apple Support

Windows PC: Sync your Windows device and iPhone, iPad, or iPod - Apple Support


This is how I load music from my CDs onto my iPhone. I have an Apple Music subscription, but deliberately keep the Sync Library feature turned off, and control the synchronization myself instead.

Inability to sync iTunes library with new iPhone

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