MacOS Music app bug when music is dragged & dropped to iOS device

Question

RedRhubarb Author

Level 4

1,316 points

MacOS Music app bug when music is dragged & dropped to iOS device

TEST Environment

MacBook Pro M3
- MacOS Sequoia 15.6.
- Music app (Mac OS) 1.5.6.11
iPhone 16 Pro
- iOS 18.5
Physical USB-C cable connection between MBP and iPhone.

This may become moot after the OS upgrade(s) to v26, but here goes.

Symptom

When a user drags & drops a music track from within the MacOS Music app onto the iPhone icon, the actual file transfer does not occur, but the track shows up in the list of tracks on the the track list shown for the iPhone within the MacOS Music app. When searched on the iOS Music app, the track does not exist. After the first attempt to transfer tracks using this method, context menus are no longer available in the device's track list view of MacOS Music app.

Remedy

Users with the above symptom should transfer tracks by using the "Add to device" context menu instead of drag & drop. If a drag & drop has already been attempted, the MacOS device must be restarted through Apple Menu > Restart...

HTH

Posted on Oct 23, 2025 9:13 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

RedRhubarb Author

Level 4

1,316 points

Oct 23, 2025 2:43 PM in response to RedRhubarb

An update with bad news.

Updated TEST Environment

MacBook Pro M3
- MacOS Sequoia 15.7.1
- Music app (Mac OS) 1.5.6.11
iPhone 16 Pro
- iOS 18.5
Physical USB-C cable connection between MBP and iPhone.

This may become moot after the OS upgrade(s) to v26

Updated Symptom

After updating to MacOS 15.7.1, the method to add a track to iPhone from the MacOS Music app through the "Add to device" context menu does not work any more, even after restarting the MacOS device. Whatever change they have made to the code seems permanent.

Workaround

Music tracks can be sync'ed using Finder's iOS Device sync feature. Individual tracks can be added to a Playlist, then the Playlist can be sync'ed to a iOS Device. It is not a one-step process

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