Music playlists out of sync between Mac and iPhone

I have a dozen Smart Playlists in Music, created on my MacBook Pro (Ventura). Most of them just limit the list to songs with less than a certain play count to ensure that I hear all of a genre or artist and not the same songs over and over. At the moment I'm listening to a Holiday playlist.


The problem is that the Music app on my iPhone 14 Pro (16.2) shows fewer songs than are in listed in Music on the Map. At the moment, Music on the iPhone shows one (1) song, while the same playlist on the Mac shows fifteen (15).


A change to the playlist parameters on the Mac, is immediately reflected on the iPhone. For example changing the criteria from Plays < 1, to Plays < 2, the playlist shows 146 songs on the Mac, and 144 on the iPhone. Close, but not correct. Changing it back to Plays < 1, the Mac again shows fifteen (15) and the iPhone shows one (1). So they sync immediately, but they don't agree in how many songs are in the playlist.


All of the songs have an iCloud status of Apple Music. The only criteria in the playlist is the play count and genre.


Shouldn't the playlist have the same songs on both devices?


iPhone 14 Pro

Posted on Dec 24, 2022 02:57 PM

Reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Dec 26, 2022 05:20 PM

If I turn Sync OFF, it says it will delete all Apple Music content from my phone. So turning it back ON would then require downloading 30GB+ all over again on both my iPad and iPhone.



Similar questions

2 replies

Dec 26, 2022 04:38 PM in response to Boat Guy

Hi Boat Guy,


Thank you for participating in the Apple Support Communities. We understand your Smart Playlists aren't syncing properly between your Mac and iPhone. You may want to turn Sync Library off and then back on again on your iPhone to see if the issue persists. This article explains more about this: Use Sync Library to access your music library across your devices.

"

How to turn on Sync Library on your iPhone or iPad

  1. Make sure that your iPhone or iPad is signed in with the same Apple ID that you use with your Apple Music subscription.
  2. Go to Settings.
  3. Tap Music.
  4. Turn off Sync Library.

"

Then restart your iPhone and turn it back on again. This article has some additional information that may help as well: Use Sync Library to access your music library across your devices.


Beyond that, you may want to contact Apple Support for further assistance. Contact Apple Support



This thread has been closed by the system or the community team. You may vote for any posts you find helpful, or search the Community for additional answers.

Music playlists out of sync between Mac and iPhone

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple Account.