ITunes is killing me!

[Guitars+gems]

I have an Ipod Touch that I use for my music. Itunes keeps removing music that I've previously downloaded and storing it in the Cloud of its own volition. So then if I'm using it somewhere I'm off Wifi, like the gym or the car, I'll try to listen to something I've previously downloaded and I'll get the "Connect to Wifi" message because it's been removed. There is enough room in the memory for it. I do not sync automatically, I do not even allow automatic updates, so I don't know why this is happening.

The fact that all the CD's that I manually ripped to my Imac cannot be stored in the Cloud is bad enough. Those albums get removed and then I'll have to go down to the Imac and physically re-transfer to the Ipod . Very frustrating but that's been going on for years. Now, music that I bought from Itunes and downloaded to the device, is being removed.

Worst of all, today I open Itunes on my Macbook Pro and see that all but 5 recently purchased albums have been removed! I need to redownload everything! And again, plenty of hard drive.

What am I doing wrong? And no, I don't want to call Apple because the last time I did I was on the phone with them for 2 hours and the only solution to the issue I was having at the time was to remove, from the Ipod and the laptop, all of the, videos that had come along with the purchase of the Beatles Complete Collection. (I had to get rid of them so that they wouldn't keep trying to load which caused the Ipod to hang.) Here is a direct quote from the Apple tech person who tried to help me, "Itunes has a ton of problems and it's very frustrating."

Has anyone here had similar issues? Am I doing something wrong, have some wrong setting or something?

[Bob Womack]

iTunes isn't a program, it is a virus. I try not to let it anywhere near my work DAW computers because it regularly seizes control of all media associations, demanding that I either use iTunes to play those media or go through the business of seizing back control, one media at a time.

Bob

[Basalt Beach]

I have had the same problem where songs I purchased and downloaded suddenly only become available via the iCloud. I have had to re-download them all, multiple times. Even now, there are nearly two dozen stuck in some cyber space for downloading.

In addition to that problem I have another problem. I have had the problem that iTunes removes songs from playlists on my computer when I sync my iPhone 6. It randomly removes CD downloaded songs and purchased songs from my playlists on my computer which are also on my iphone. It is quite bizarre as it randomly selects them and removes the songs from the playlist.

I have 130 playlists on my computer and have spent the last 4 weeks rebuilding 70 of them (thankfully I saved the lists) which are on my phone. The only way to restore the list is manually put the song back into it and it has been time consuming.

I currently have an active case open with Apple Support and they have analyzed my MacBook twice already. I am due a call back this week after our last session. It is quite frustrating. During our last session, we sync'ed the phone and watched it happen together. We confirmed there is no virus on my computer or phone, and Apple Support admits the problem is iTunes. The case advisor collected more data and said he would get back to me.

Stay tuned...

[imwjl]

It's pretty much always worked as supposed to for me and exceptions where my own folder structure. That worked fine when I put it all under the default path.

I forgot the service name but I used it to mirror all my music whether or not I bought it from Apple and it worked fine. I did have to be mindful of what I wanted synchronized where.

I'm also an Amazon, Google and Microsoft customer and any hiccups or issues with their platforms have been similar.

Yes there are brand fans and haters but calling iTunes a virus is silly or success envy. Apple and their competition could not have the market share they do without products that work and satisfy people.

Depending on one's free time, the free lessons at Apple Store are good for getting this sort of thing worked out.

[Guitars+gems]

Folder structures, default paths, mirroring services? What?
Why should a user like me have to deal with that stuff? I just want to purchase content, download that content, and keep it on my device! Why is that not easy? The use of Itunes should be simple and seamless.

With all due respect, I don't want to spend time at the Apple Store to get "this sort of thing worked out." It should work already. Effortlessly. Like it used to. And it shouldn't require constant vigilance to make sure my music doesn't get hijacked. There is no brand bashing here. I love Apple stuff and have a lot of it.

[KevWind]

Originally Posted by Bob Womack

iTunes isn't a program, it is a virus.

Bob

That is priceless I am going to remember that

[The Growler]

It has to be one of the worst written programs out there. Slow and a pig for system resources.

I agree with Bob. It's a virus.

[frankhond]

I believe this kind of problem is linked to Apple Music. Did you sign up for that? There is a setting in Apple Music which does exactly what you describe. It has messed up musician's computers where it uploaded and deleted their work in progress files. Lots of info on the internet. I was considering Apple Music but got rid of the idea quickly when I found that out.

[Guitars+gems]

Originally Posted by frankhond

I believe this kind of problem is linked to Apple Music. Did you sign up for that? There is a setting in Apple Music which does exactly what you describe. It has messed up musician's computers where it uploaded and deleted their work in progress files. Lots of info on the internet. I was considering Apple Music but got rid of the idea quickly when I found that out.

No, I have not signed up for Apple Music and I don't stream anything through Itunes. But in case it is causing problems I just went into Restrictions Preferences and disabled Apple Music.

I would like to go to another program to manage my music and other media, but I don't think it's possible now. I mean I don't think I could get all my Itunes purchases into a non-Apple program. Years ago I used the mp3 players made by Creative and I managed my music with Media Monkey, which was excellent.

[Dirk Hofman]

I moved off it for similar reasons years ago. I don't want it to be a mystery to know if I can access my music.

Spotify makes it obvious when you've downloaded something and leaves it there, always. Default behavior is streaming, download is intentional. Much more clear and explicit.

Also having access to basically anything I want to listen to, any time, is unbelievable.

Gary Gulman does a HILARIOUS bit on how technology has changed:

[Thumbwrapper]

We switched to an all Apple compute household about 8 years ago and haven't looked back. iPods, iPhones, iMac, Macbooks, all iterations through the years and heavy iTunes users.

I will agree 100% that the latest versions of iTunes are more confusing and not as user friendly as versions a few years back and i'm sure Apple Music has something to do with that. Case in point, shortly after the launch of Apple Music paid service Apple did away with the iTunes Radio feature which was basically free Pandora style music streaming except 100% commercial free. i used it extensively and now its gone.

I honestly can't say I've had any real problems with iTunes through the years starting when kids were 12-14 and now 19 and 21. I too have burned every single CD I've ever had into iTunes, its all still there and available on my mobile devices. I use Apple Music Match service, $25 for the year which basically uploads your entire iTunes library into the Apple cloud and makes it all available on your mobile devices that you have iCloud services enabled on. Works perfectly for me and its not a data hog. DISCLAIMER...I do not pay for my mobile service, its provided through my employer so I don't really monitor it BUT I do pay for wife and Kids plans, 10gb / month shared over 3 devices and we've gone over the limit once in 3 years. So I can say with some certainty that the Music Match feature isn't really a data hog.

I do not use the iCloud Drive service or enable "music" in my iCloud settings since it would easily blow past my allowed iCloud storage usage. And that is what amazes me about the Music Match service...for $25 / year it basically gives you unlimited Apple Cloud storage for all your music independent of the iCloud settings for music.

Understood all this stuff does take some effort and its not like popping a CD into a CD player anymore. I'm a threshold guy, last year of the boomer generation so I sometimes long for the simpler days but I'm also in the IT industry and appreciate the convenience of having what I want, wherever I am, on any device I have. But like I said, that freedom or convenience does come with a bit of a complexity payload.

[gimme789]

I do not know what generationiPod you have, but I have an old iPod classic 120 which is compatible with the "WinAmp" free application to add/delete songs to my library. Google "WinAmp".

I tried iTunes when I got the iPod and hated it, a buddy of mine showed me WinAmp, and I never looked back.

Unfortunately, somewhere along the line, they started producing iPods which will not work with WinAmp, so you may not be as lucky.

But, I would suggest you look into WinAmp. Works great for me and no dealing with crappy iTunes software. I can even create my own mp3s using Audacity and load them onto the iPod through WinAmp.

[David M123]

The simple fact is that Apple thinks it knows better than you do about how you want to use your technological devices. And it is aggressive about enforcing their ideas.

I have experienced this several times while using an iMac, an iPod and an iPad. The iPad is now useless due to Apple peremptorily requiring a password to use it. I never set a password, so cannot open it and Apple wanted me to pay for service to solve the problem!

As a result, I have abandoned all Apple products.

[blue]

being old, I never activated the Cloud. Itunes still regularly messes up my Ipod. But it's about 10 years old. A big fat classic. Its operating system is probably less than an aftethought for them.

[SMan]

Originally Posted by The Growler

It has to be one of the worst written programs out there. Slow and a pig for system resources.

I agree with Bob. It's a virus.

Must admit this is my feeling as well. Trouble is people kept giving me itunes gift cards and they sit in a desk unused because I have nothing but trouble using it.