No More iPod Support: Is my iPhone the best portable substitute?

Question

Level 1

4 points

No More iPod Support: Is my iPhone the best portable substitute?

I have problems downloading my music library from the Music App to my iPod: not all the songs would play after downloading; the songs were identifiable because they were "greyed out" on my iPod. It is hard to pin down which songs since I would have to go through over 12,000 songs, and even if I could, after each synch, those unplayable songs would be replaced with new unplayable songs. After getting the run around from Apple, today I learned that not only is the iPod not being supported, but that all my songs could not be downloaded due to it being outdated, not being supported, and so the updates necessary to be applied to my iPod are non-existent. As per an Apple customer service representative, an alternate to my outdated iPod would be to use an iPhone or iPad. I was told that I could download 100,000 songs onto my iPhone; I have over 12,000 at the least. And I do not want to use an iPad.

My question is can I use my iPhone 16e as a substitute for my iPod and be confident that every song will be downloaded whatever the format (for me I have various formats including MP3, Wav, AAC, etc. all coming from various sources including my CDs, purchases and home recordings). Is there enough storage on my iPhone? I have a capacity of 128 GB with available 76.65 GB. Thanks

iPod, iOS 15

Posted on Oct 28, 2025 7:07 AM

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Answer 1

Phil0124

Level 10

216,086 points

Oct 28, 2025 9:39 AM in response to muzikgeye

The iPhone's Music App will work exactly the same as the iPod's music app (assuming it's an iPod touch, as they use the same type of OS).

No one can guarantee everything will play on the iPhone if it does not work on the iPod though. The first thing to determine is why some tracks are not playing on the iPod.

With that said, there's nothing specifically that should be stopping the iPod from playing the tracks. The lack of updates and support from Apple should not affect the iPod from doing whatever it has been doing.

I would start by identifying what exactly is not playing. Find a sing that is grayed out, and then go onto the computer that holds the iTunes library and see if the file is accesible. If it isn't it won't make any difference whether you use an iPhone or an iPod.

With that said, if every time you sync different tracks are grayed out, and its not consistent, it's possible something else is going on that an iPhone won't fix directly.

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Answer 2

muzikgeye Author

Level 1

4 points

Oct 28, 2025 11:00 AM in response to Phil0124

So, as I wrote previously, mostly, any song that is grayed out, I have checked the playability on iTunes, and now the Music App. 100% of the time they will play. Still, wondering why they are grayed on my iPod after one synch, and not grayed after another synch, I replace the existing file with another file, even though the original file works, but again the same thing happens: it won't be grayed out, and then after another synch, it may become gray.

Several weeks ago, before I got to this point, I was discussing this problem but using the iTunes app, which I love. The customer service rep downloaded something from my iTunes library in an effort to analyze the songs and determine the reason for the greying out. Two weeks later, the promised analysis was not forthcoming as promised, leading to today's customer service problem that since iPod has been discontinued, no analysis is possible (!).

Anyway, maybe there is a way to analyze the songs in my Music library that also will behave as the iTunes synch did. I wish there was someone with knowledge I could talk to directly, and have it analyzed personally. But I have a feeling this problem is unsolvable. And perhaps using my iPhone instead may or may not solve the problem.

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Answer 3

Phil0124

Level 10

216,086 points

Oct 28, 2025 11:34 AM in response to muzikgeye

Can't do much about the service rep and lack of analysis.

With that said, are you doing this on a Mac or a Windows PC?

If you are using a windows PC, uninstall the Music App, Devices and TV App and go back to iTunes and try to sync.

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Answer 4

muzikgeye Author

Level 1

4 points

Oct 29, 2025 6:19 AM in response to Phil0124

So, I am using Windows desktop. Before I do any uninstalling (and realize I uninstalled the Music App many months ago, and being convinced by Apple that iTunes was not the best vehicle to sync music to my iPod, reinstalled the Music App a few weeks ago. The greying out also occurred with iTunes. Anyway, as you know, the greying has continued on the Music App), I want to be assured that after I delete the Music App and reinstall it, all my music files will automatically re-populate the Music app.

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