Apple Music & iPad Syncing Issues (Again)

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Had yet another syncing issue with Apple. A lot of tracks were greyed out on iPad. Said it was “territory Issue”. Spent 3 hours on phone with Apple tech support. To be fair they were very good. But it got late and we called it a day. This territory issue turned out to be a red herring. Another 3 hours trying to isolate problem on my own again this morning. Figured out the issue was…

Tracks in cloud can be played from Mac Music app, even though not in library. But when syncing when it hits one of these tracks an error occurs and it stops the sync, hence files may have been located initially but as sync was interrupted they are greyed out and can’t be played. I have not tried this on other device.

I think that’s useful to know. But of course, thats not the real issue. The real issue is that we have to use Apple Music to sync in the first place. Its well know how flakey it is. Whenever I have any serious, time wasting issues it’s almost always connected to Apple Music.

Ive posted about this many times. I just would like to know why we have to use Apple Music (please don’t offer workarounds - that’s missing the point completely). It’s all a bit house built on sand. I’ve considered moving from DJay, but, honestly I don’t have the time to start over.

Because of the way IOS is set up you cannot prep and edit files (meta data etc) on IOS you have to do in your computer, so you are forced to use Apple Music.

Why can we not edit metadata, create playlists, add grid info questions points etc (oh and notes I would so love to be able to add notes!) in the DJay Desktop app and sync it from there?

Most salient question: What is the problem? Why is this resisted?

Apple Music creates so much bad feeling, but it’s kind of accepted (and they do have very good support), so DJay gets the bad feeling directed at them by default because they don’t provide for what should be a fundamental thing and so when there are problems, when A LOT of time is wasted, like I said: bad feeling (again and again) and algoriddim cannot help because, well, its: an Apple issue.

Why don’t algorriddim seem to care about syncing? I just don’t get it.

If anyone can suggest another DJ app that does the syncing thing properly - without Apple - that a allows you to edit metatada, create playlists, cue points etc (oh and did I mention notes?) I’d be happy to hear and check it out (even though I’ll just paid another annual fee and would expect to pay much more for another app/subscription).

Thank you

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I absolutely feel your pain here! I have employed so many sync workarounds here over the past year or so, each producing a fundamental ‘gotcha’. It’s so frustrating. The best I have found now is to follow the advice from DJ Conversion Utility and go old school using USB and an empty Apple Music library to transfer files from iOS to Mac. You then transfer the Djay database from one to the other using a 3rd party file sharing app, taking care of cues and loops etc. Yes, it’s so regressive, but seems to be the cleanest and most reliable way IME.

But…it’s still using Apple Music in the equation, so not what you’re looking for here.

@Christiaan has advised a workflow in his Lexicon Beta using tracks and a database in iCloud. I have tried it with some initial success, but I am completely unclear what’s going on under the hood with this. And yesterday my cue points wouldn’t sync from iOS to Mac after trying this - not sure if it’s connected, but for reliability I ended up abandoning this yesterday in favour of the USB sync mentioned above. I haven’t reported this as a bug yet @Christiaan, as I wasn’t sure I understood where the problem was.

@Slak_Jaw, is there any possibility of having another source in the iOS and Mac apps that would allow sync of files between iOS and Mac? perhaps a 3rd party app (although anything that works would be fine) shared over the OS that would act as a proxy for Apple Music? For example, I had an old iOS app on my iPad called Flacbox which exists to serve up local music files. I did look to see if I could somehow use that to sync, but Djay couldn’t read it. So maybe something along similar lines?

A kind of related issue is the Apple Music service. Now that they have opened up to a whole host of other DJ software, it highlights how clunky its integration is with Djay - needing to use a separate Apple Music account to the main account you’re using on your device for one. It works so much cleaner with Rekordbox, I found out this week. Having an empty Apple Music app as the only sync files option with Djay has really highlighted this, for me at least - it basically means you can’t also use the Apple Music service without other complications.

Hopefully this doesn’t come off as a rant. I love the software, and the number of requests for a reliable and complete solution for the sync issues underlines how much better the software would be for many users. Thanks!

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What gen iPad or phone are u using and what update

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I use a 12 pro on my ultra mix and a 10 th gen iPad works flawlessly scarey flawlessly might I add only complaint is neural dosent work with iTunes sub.A lil birds has said since tidal hasn’t capitalized its neural option or upped the price I should say.Now this is just what I’m hearing spotifys is going to step on in and take advantage of what tidal is screwing up

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I came to sympathize. We need a way to organize our music without the integrated Apple Music. I want to be able to be able to integrate DJay with other software I use for gig prep.

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We can only hope now that most the major platforms now have Apple Music integration that Apple ensure syncing runs smooth. Looks like they investing in long term with DJ Apple Music. Let’s see what happens.

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I so wish we could simply have our files synced through iCloud Drive. What’s stopping me is: Recursive import of the Music Folders on iOS.

And I’m also heavily exloring Lexicon DJ for library management. Last i’ve tested (a month ago), a library exported on Mac did not work on the iPad - it just didn’t recognize the tracks from iTunes. I’m now preparing another set of tests to see if it will now work thrhough the iTunes sync mechanism (entire library Mac → iPad).

If iCloud Drive file-level sync + recursive import on the Dajy iPad can relink the files, Lexicon is simply GREAT for library management from what I see. There’s a lurning curve, and it’s not bugfree (MAKE BACKUPS!), but is definetely worth it. Yes, there’s the manual step to move around djayMediaLibrary files, but the extra tagging and the Library maintanence tools in Lexicon are very, very good. I’ve already had two DJ sets running out of Lexicon generated djayMediaLibrary.

I’m preparing to test iTunes library generated from Lexicon; Syncing this lib with iPad through the iTunes (offcloud) mechanism; and use the Lexicon generated djayMediaLibrary on both Mac & iPad. If iTunes manages to transfer all my files + the djay iPad can link to them properly, through the iTunes source, this would be just great! Will keep you posted.

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The best thing to do first is to improve the program.

  1. Synchronize the library via iCloud— MediaLibrary.db

  2. Synchronize the library by uploading and replacing the file— MediaLibrary.db

By synchronizing, I mean the following:

I’m on a macOS or Windows computer putting CUE points on tracks and creating playlists. I have the same tracks on my iPhone. I only synchronize the library, and I get the CUE points and playlists on the iPhone.

Synchronization should work the same way in reverse.

I create playlists and CUE points on my phone, then I open my computer, click “Synchronize Library,” and get what I did on my phone on my computer.

You should consider options beyond iCloud for synchronization. We should also think about Google Drive, MEGA, and other useful cloud services. And don’t forget NAS and other devices. It’d also be great to have the ability to export and import the library file (MediaLibrary.db).

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Moving the library file through iCloud across devices is fairly easy already, IMO.

The djayMediaLibrary is best to be cloud synced through a service with eventual consistency, and not as a file, in my opinion.

The dependence on AppleMusic/iTunes is something that I want to replace with File-level iCloud Drive sync. But we need recursive import of media folders on all platforms.

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