So you’ve updated to iOS 8.4 to get Apple Music and Beats 1 Radio, but now you are running into all kinds of problems with the service, causing it not to work. From issues with playlists, songs disappearing, difficulty playing offline, syncing and more, iPhone iPad and iPod users have found Apple’s latest update to be a real challenge to get working properly. Scouring various Apple discussion boards, we’ve compiled a list of common problems users are having along with the fixes that are reportedly working. As we see more problems and solutions, we’ll continue to add them to this post, but for now, check out what we’ve got below. They should help get you on track and listening and using the new Apple Music apps.
Apple Music iOS 8.4 Problems: How To Fix Issues With Syncing, Playlists, iCloud Library, Offline Listening And More
Problem #1: Apple Music App Not Working After Update To iOS 8.4
So you’ve have updated to iOS 8.4 but when you tap the Music app icon it brings up the opening screen and Apple sign in but nothing else happens. There are a couple of ways to remedy this problem with the Apple music app not working.
The Fix:
- Restart your device.
- Sign out and back in to your account.
- If this doesn’t work reset your settings by going to Settings - General - Reset - Reset All Settings
Problem #2: Apple Music playback automatically pauses when connection type changes (LTE, 3G, 4G)
Have you noticed that when you go through an area where your service/ connection speeds change, Apple Music pauses and you have to hit play to resume playback even with offline streaming? Yeah, it’s kind of a quirky issue.
The Fix: Even if you are playing offline music, when away from a Wi-Fi connection you have to allow Apple Music to use cellular data for it to work properly. This can be done by going into Settings>Cellular> Music app and enable (set to green). This will prevent it from pausing during playback as you travel through different network connections.
Problem #3: Apple music won't connect using 3G
This is similar to the problem above. And so is the solution.
The Fix: Go to: Settings - Cellular - scroll down to "Music" and check that this is checked to allow cellular data.
Problem #4: Cannot sync playlists to Apple Music on iPhone, Playlists Appear Empty, Or Can’t Add Songs To Playlists
If you’ve tried syncing playlists to your iPhone, iPad or iPod, only to find them empty when you try to use them on your device there’s a simple solution that may work.
The Fix: Deactivate the "Show Music Available Offline" option and then activate it and all tracks should appear. (This can be found on tapping on the "My Music" Tab, and tapping on the pink words with an arrow under them (artists/albums/songs etc.). A menu should pop up, at the bottom of which you'll find the "Show Music Available Offline" toggle.
Additionally, if you’re just not sure how to sync playlists at all in the new iOS 8.4 and iTunes, then here’s how that’s changed.
- With your device plugged into your Mac through USB, open iTunes on your Mac.
- Select Music from the icon tabs on the upper left of the interface.
- Then under Playlists, select your playlist you want to sync with your phone.
- The playlist name will appear as a banner image under the Apple Logo.
- Select the three dots to the right of the Play and Shuffle controls.
- Select Add To.
- Then select Add To Device.
- Now that you have the playlist you want to sync added to the queue to sync to your phone. Let's sync the playlist to your phone.
- Select your Device in the top row of icons on the upper left of the interface.
- Select Summary.
- Check Sync only checked songs and videos.
- Then select Sync in the lower right to sync that playlist to your iPhone.
Problem #5: Upgraded To iOS 8.4 And iTunes 12.2, enabled iCloud Music Library And All iCloud Purchases Disappeared
This problem actually has a similar solution to other issues people are facing with playlists.
The Fix: Go to “My Music” and click on Albums. At the bottom is the option “Music Available Offline”. If it is enabled, disable it and everything you purchased and stored on iCloud should appear
Problem #6: Newly created playlist suddenly has its songs deleted?
Have you created a new playlist in the Apple Music app only to find it is empty when you try to play it? There is a solution for that.
The Fix: Go to “My Music,” press whatever your filter is set to (e.g. Artists) then turn off the “Show Music Available Offline” button. Some devices seem to be defaulted to on, others off.
Problem #7: Apple Music has removed music or music missing
Recently updated to iOS 8.4 to use Apple Music only to find when you try to play an album your purchased, it is missing. Or when you try to sync through iTunes it won’t work due to “not enough memory”? As a result you may be unable to play a lot of music you had before Apple Music. There is a way to fix that problem.
The Fix: Update iTunes to version 12.2 and then try syncing. You may see an iTunes warning that says you are over capacity but go forward with the sync anyway and it should work.
Problem #8: Some songs from an album are greyed out or you cannot play them
If you are experiencing problems with certain songs from albums on Apple music not playing or greyed out there are a couple reasons this could be happening.
The Fix:
A) Certain songs are not available for streaming.
B) There was a problem with the download. In this case, try to download again, or delete and download again.
Problem #9: Can’t get Apple Music playlist to stop repeating first track
Noticed whenever you hit the "Play" button right next to a playlist, instead of all the tracks in that playlist being added to the list of songs playing next, the first track is added "on repeat" endlessly?
The Fix: Turn repeat option off in “Now Playing” screen. To see “Now Playing” screen, click a blank part of the bar next to the “play/next track” buttons. “Repeat” and “Shuffle” functions are bottom left of the screen.
Problem #10: Can't turn off shuffle in Apple Music
Ok, so problems with turning off shuffle and repeat mode are being reported like crazy and I think this is largely a design problem with Apple. Check out the solution below.
The Fix:
A) Press on The Grey bar at the bottom of the screen that shows the song currently playing. A new screen will come up, on the bottom of which you will find the shuffle and repeat buttons. If the shuffle button is greyed in, then it is activated. Just press it to deactivate shuffle mode.
B) Tell Siri to "turn off shuffle"
Problem #11: iPhone won't download entire playlist for offline playback on iOS 8.4
Have you been trying to download all your music for offline use? Maybe you made a smart playlist with all your songs but found after a while your device started freezing or running really slow during the transfers. Well, there is an answer to that.
The Fix: The problem arises when you try downloading a lot of songs from only one playlist. You’ll start experiencing problems with playlists of over a couple hundred including everything from freezing, stopping, running slow and rebooting. Plus you may discover none of the songs you thought downloaded, did. The solution is to break those large playlists into smaller ones and then transfer.
Problem #12: Can’t STOP queue for downloading to listen offline
If you already tried to start downloading all your music for Offline listening and it is just taking too long or slowing your device down too much, you may want to stop that action. The solution for how to do it is below.
The Fix: Scroll all the way to the bottom of the downloading list. It should say "Delete all downloads".
Problem #13: Apple Music says I'm offline?
When you open the new Apple Music app and attempt to use various features, you get a message that says "You're offline. Connect to the Internet, then give it another shot."
The Fix: Go to Settings --> Cellular --> Roll down "Use Cellular Data For:" --> look for Music and activate.
Problem #14: Siri will only play songs from My Music, not Apple Music
Siri will only play music from My Music, and won't play anything from Apple Music? There is a simple solution.
The Fix: Siri didn’t recognize you as subscribed to Apple Music. A simple reboot should fix the issue
Problem #15: Apple Music Radio not working. Get the error message: 'Unable to start station. There was a problem starting the station. Try again later'.
A lot of people outside the US are running into an issue with Apple Music Radio is not fully working and are getting the error message: 'Unable to start station. There was a problem starting the station. Try again later.' While people in the US aren’t experiencing this problem, there has been one solution offered that worked for some.
The Fix: Sign up for the free 3-month trial for Apple Music and all radio stations should start working.
Problem #16: Songs start to download when "iCloud library" turned on
Since updating to iOS 8.4 you may have noticed every time you turn on iCloud library, a ton of songs start to download and may have even led to your iPhone or other device freezing up. There is a way to solve this problem but it isn’t a pretty one. See it below.
The Fix: Restore iPhone WITHOUT using iCloud backups. This does set the phone up as a brand new one, remedying the problem but it means you will lose all your saved data and information.
Problem #17: Can't find Genius playlists
If you upgraded to iOS 8.4 for the Apple music update but now find your Genius playlists are missing, I’m sorry to say you’re out of luck there. iOS 8.4 does not have Genius enabled despite it showing up in the settings app.
Problem #18: Cannot Unfollow artists in Apple Music @Connect
Some are finding when they go to @connect in Apple music and follow some artists, they are later unable to unfollow them. There is a simple way to do this.
The Fix: Tap on your account (The icon in the upper lefthand corner with a person's head). Tap on "Following." Unfollow anyone you choose.
Problem #19: Songs showing up twice in the 'My Music' section
If you’ve added the same song to My Music from album and from a playlist then you may have noticed the song started showing up twice in the “My Music” section, but if you try to remove the duplicate, both of the songs disappear. When removing one of them from My Music both songs are removed. No solution has currently been found. If you know one, please share!
Have other solutions to any of the above problems with Apple Music? Please share them in the comments or let us know if the post was helpful.
