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Apple Music / iOS Playlist Syncing [<A
 HREF=http://blog.howtolabs.net/?file=main/iostips&area=0&mode=blog>edit</A>]
 rickatech, 2024-08

Work in progress ... essentially, music that is obtained outside
of Apple Music, imported into Apple Music on a specific machine and
added to playlists on the machine&apos;s Apple Music, should be
exportable/syncable somehow to other iOS devices.&nbsp;
Is seems Apple Music Library sync enabled gets in the way of this somehow?

Game Center
 rickatech, 2020-01

<div style="float: right;">Elsewhere
<ul style="margin-top: 0; overflow: auto;">
<li>Apple: <a class=exref
 href=https://www.cydiageeks.com/sign-out-game-center-create-new-account-ios.html>Game
 Center,
 multiple accounts</a>
</ul>
</div>

<a name=iosgamecenter></a>
Playing multplayer games on iOS devices usually requires a Game Center
account.&nbsp; Usually this is already in place based on the
primary email address used with the obligatory iTunes account
that enables many of the core Apple iCloud features.&nbsp;
However, in some cases it may be useful to have an alternate Game Center
account.

Apple TV 
 rickatech, 2024

Most Apple TV Remote&apos;s are able to be configured to send television volume signals.&nbsp;
Occasionally this feature stops working for some reason.&nbsp;
When that happens try reseting the remote thusly ... </[p>
<ul>
<li>Apple: <a class=exref href=https://support.apple.com/en-us/108769>Buttons
on your Apple TV remote aren't working</a>
</ul>

App Store Requires Credit Card, Even for Free Apps 
 rickatech, 2020-11

As inconceivable as it may seem, if your credit card expires
you can not download iOS applications from the App Store even if they are free.

iPhone / iPad Chiming Continuously with MacBook USB Cable 
 rickatech, 2020-08

Older iPhone 7 and likely other models seem to act inconsistently when very low
on power and connected to a Mac by USB / thunderbolt charging cable.&nbsp;
Especially if the iOS device is below 3% charged.&nbsp; Try to use a wall adapter
to get the charge of the iOS device > 5%, then it likely will charge
without disconnect / reconnect chiming using a Mac USB port.

This is also important when doing direct non-cloud iOS backups to a Mac.&nbsp;
It is critical the iOS device is not low on power initially, else
backup and syncing actions may not complete reliably.

There are reports that this inconsistency may be due to a worn
USB thunderbolt cable, which doesn't seem to be consistent with the
same cable charging the iOS device fine when attached to direct
USB wall outlet, or why above 5% reconnecting to Mac USB no longer
presents issues.

iPhone / iPad Cellular Data
 rickatech, 2018-08

<a name=ioscelldata></a>
Under some circumstances it may be helpful to disable all cellular data (web browsing, apps, ...)
leaving only classic text messages and voice calls enabled.&nbsp; Classic
use case is if you are traveling internationally on a limited bandwidth
plan and want to keep spurious data use tightly controlled when WiFi is not
available.

Confusion can result if this is disabled by accident.&nbsp; Find iPhone,
iMessage, and other features will not work.&nbsp;
A freakish consequence is iPhone can be on, but Find iPhone somehow
thinks it is offline.

iTunes iPhone/iPad Sync 
 rickatech, 2015-12

<div style="float: right;">Elsewhere
<ul style="margin-top: 0; overflow: auto;">
<li>Apple: <a class=exref
 href=https://discussions.apple.com/thread/6542914>waiting
 for ... applied/stuck during sync</a>
</ul>
</div>

<a name=itunesiossync></a>
Backing up iOS devices to iTunes is a time honored venerable process.&nbsp;
However increasingly iCloud is fulfilling this critical backup/restore
functions without the need to tether mobile devices to an OS X desktop.&nbsp;
iTunes OS X sync is still relevant because it uses no precious storage on Apple servers,
which depending on your usage may not be free for complex backups, nor
will it saturate your mobile data plan.&nbsp;
It also provides a more fine grained control over what, when, and where you back up.&nbsp;
That said, iTunes sync can be complicated, and there are all
sorts of quirks that can make it non-intuitive to use effectively.&nbsp;

Common Issues 
<ul style="margin-top: 0;">
 <li>Mobile Erase, Restore.&nbsp; Sometimes iTunes sync completes successfully,
 but many songs and play lists are missing.&nbsp;
 This tends to happen after both OS X, iTunes, and IOS devices have
 had multiple application and OS upgrades&nbsp;.
 If the missing asset issues persists on the iOS device, make sure you
 have a recent successful backup.&nbsp;
 If so wipe the device, restore from backup usually unsnags
 content syncing problems.&nbsp; Furthermore, this process is essentially
 how upgrading to a new iOS device to keep your content is done
 - so embrace the eventuality of wipe/restore.
 <li>Syncing stalls at the end.&nbsp; Often this can happen if both
 WiFi and a lightning cable are used at the same time.&nbsp; If you are
 using a lightning cable, make sure to disable bluetooth and WiFi on the
 iOS device before connecting to iTunes on OS X.
 </ul>

Apple TV / Remote App
 rickatech, updated 2015-08

<a name=appletv></a>
Remote App is free from Apple, allowing most features of iTunes and AppleTV
to be controlled from any iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch.

Two ways to pair, access from Remote App, settings 
<ul style="margin-top: 0;">
 <li>Add an iTunes Library - a code will be shown,
 go to hosting computer iTunes or AppleTV separately,
 find remote menu, enter pairing code.&nbsp;
 This mode allow waking up a sleeping AppleTV.&nbsp;
 [ depending on your network complexity, this might require several attempts before iTunes
 &nbsp; will show the device icon prompt to enter a 4 digit code ]
 <li>home sharing - this requires having iTunes account, similar to above
 but doesn&apos;t seem to allow waking a sleeping AppleTV.
</ul>

Elsewhere
<ul style="margin-top: 0; overflow: auto;">
<li>Apple: <a class=exref
 href=https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204839>Add
 music from the Apple Music catalog
 to your library</a>
<li>CBS News: <a class=exref
 href=http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/apple-ios-9-wifi-assist-1.3248364>iOS
 9, Wi-Fi Assist</a> huge bandwidth bills?
<li>Apple: <a class=exref
 href=https://discussions.apple.com/thread/6725962>Apple
 TV won&apos;t wake up for AirPlay request</a>
 (also consider disabling sleep mode)
</ul>

Apple Music<a name=applemusic></a>
 rickatech 2015-07-18

<div style="float: right;">Elsewhere 
<ul style="margin-top: 0;">
<li>Apple: <a class=exref
 href=https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204839>Add
 music from the Apple Music catalog
 to your library</a>
</ul>
</div>

Apple entered the streaming music service with a bang in in July 2015.&nbsp;
The extensive library of music rights Apple has accumulated over the years makes
this a considerable offering.&nbsp; However, instead of offing the service as
a distinct separate application for iOS, it has been merged
into the existing Music application.&nbsp; Or perhaps more accurate, the iOS Music
application is a totally new application, which retains remnants of the original
offline iOS Music application.&nbsp;

The original iOS Music application harkens back to the original offline
music playing iPod - Rip, Mix, Burn manifesto.&nbsp;
Music was strictly managed by pairing an iPod with
a desktop iTunes library, and never the two should separate.&nbsp;

iOS Music now presents an almost exclusively Internet connected stream interface.&nbsp;
You manage what genre you want to list to, traditional playlists are relegated to a less
accessible areas of the application - the My Music bottom right corner.&nbsp;
Even from within My Music, the notion of playlists is made more complicated because
a song can be available for offline play (traditional), or pulled dynamically
from Apple&apos;s streaming library.&nbsp; Depending on various view
preference settings, certain songs and playlists that contain no offline music
are mysteriously hidden, so it is important to master view settings
if you want access to you established iTunes library and synced playlists.

Lastly, traditional playlist syncing has been made much more confusing.&nbsp;
Although it seems desktop iTunes music libraries are mostly unaffected, attempting to
sync playlists from iTunes desktop to an iOS device seems to skip/omit playlists
under certain circumstances, while for the most part still delivering the
underlying songs to the device.&nbsp; But without consistent playlists between desktop iTunes
and iOS devices, device music listening is made much more challenging than before.

I expect these are kinks Apple will soon unravel.&nbsp; The immense licened
library of music from Apple Music is a welcome addition to the streaming music
landscape and the potential to target streaming songs to your
personal iTunes curated library is marvelous.

Some concepts to ponder as you learn how to use Apple Music iOS application better ...

<dl><dd>Add to playlist
 Add to my music
 When viewing a playlist on iOS device under My Music
 &nbsp; &nbsp; ... Make Available Offline
 View: All Playlists | Apple Music Playlists | My Playlists
 &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; [ Show Music Available Offline ] (toggle)
</dl>

AirPlay<a name=airplay></a>
 rickatech 2015-09

Notable Vendors

Libratone: <a class=exref
href=http://www.libratone.com/support/help/live-troubleshooting/>LIVE</a>,
a very nice sounding stand-alone wireless AirPlay speaker.&nbsp;
Alas, it tends to scramble its wireless settings, and <a class=exref
href=https://www.facebook.com/libratone/posts/461578263896618>reconfiguring is rather unstable</a>.

Authcode: non-trivial