Ask the iTunes Guy: Smart playlists

#1 Macworld

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Posted 15 June 2012 - 04:31 AM

Post your comments for Ask the iTunes Guy: Smart playlists here

#2 GeorgePetri

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Posted 15 June 2012 - 05:50 AM

I have a smart playlist that contains all the audio podcasts I haven't listened to yet. It is sorted in date order on my Mac so I can listen to the oldest first and continue in order. When I transfer the playlist to my iPhone to listen on the go, they playlist gets randomized. Is there anyway I can keep the playlist in chronological order on my iPhone?

Thanks,

#3 kirkmc

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Posted 15 June 2012 - 06:02 AM

GeorgePetri, on 15 June 2012 - 05:50 AM, said:

Playlist order is really messed up in iOS 5. I see the same thing with my Podcasts playlist. None of my smart playlists display on my iOS devices in the order in which they display on my Mac. I have no idea how or why this happens, and no idea how to fix it.

In fact, I've gotten this question many times; I would have used it in a column if I had an answer.

Macworld Senior Contributor - Macworld's iTunes Guy - Editor of Mac OS X Hints
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#4 kirkmc

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Posted 15 June 2012 - 06:06 AM

GeorgePetri, on 15 June 2012 - 05:50 AM, said:

#5 catfish

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Posted 15 June 2012 - 07:16 AM

For the second question, couldn't you use subrules?
E.g. Match All of the following rules:
1. Rating is greater than 3 stars
2. Any of the following are true:
2a. Genre is Metal
2b. Genre is Rock
[You can create subrules by Option-clicking on the plus button at the end of a rule. I wish Apple Mail could do this.]

#6 catfish

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Posted 15 June 2012 - 07:19 AM

"For the second question" - actually the fourth question

#7 kirkmc

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Posted 15 June 2012 - 07:46 AM

catfish, on 15 June 2012 - 07:16 AM, said:

That works. However, in many cases it's better to use plalylists, if you want to use those playlists on their own as well. That way, when you change the source playlists, the other playlist inherits the changes.

#8 maydupp

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Posted 15 June 2012 - 07:48 AM

GeorgePetri, on 15 June 2012 - 05:50 AM, said:

Buy a podcast App. I use iCatcher. A dedicated podcast app is so much more useful than the Music app. It can check all of your podcasts for new episodes on the go. And download them over cellular. Delete them from your phone when you finish playing them. Make playlists on the phone. I could never go back to using the built-in iPhone software for podcasts.

#9 Bairnsfather

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Posted 15 June 2012 - 08:54 AM

Referencing playlists from other playlists is very powerful. However, it now has a major drawback. Playlists that reference other playlists are not functional in iCloud.

To me, that is a major setback since I have some fundamental playlists I have always built the rest from.

#10 Knarleykd6s

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Posted 15 June 2012 - 09:23 AM

On my phone, I have music tracks from about 20 playlists I have and a specific playlist of stand up comedy albums. I want a playlist that is able to have all the music tracks from the various music playlists, so I can shuffle them, without the comedy tracks being mixed in. When I try to make a smart playlist on the computer that does that to transfer over, it just wants to sync my entire non comedy catalog. I want the playlist to just do this on the phone for what exists there.

Is there a way to do this? I frequently change what playlists of music i transfer to the phone, so establishing one smartlist of just certain playlists isn't a good option for me, because I would have to tweak it everytime I sync.

#11 NJ

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Posted 16 June 2012 - 01:34 AM

For single tracks from an album, I have been using my "Singletons" playlist fro years, and it work of me.

The primary criteria is "Track Number" "Is" "0"

#12 DougAdams

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Posted 16 June 2012 - 05:22 AM

NJ, on 16 June 2012 - 01:34 AM, said:

For single tracks from an album, I have been using my "Singletons" playlist fro years, and it work of me.

The primary criteria is "Track Number" "Is" "0"

That's an excellent Smart Playlist criteria for locating singles. However, it won't locate one-hit-Artist tracks that actually do have track numbers; those which may be part of a "various artists" compilation, the one track you've got from an album, an album track whose Artist contains a "featuring" co-artist, and so on.

the doug part of dougscripts.com

#13 k88dad

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Posted 16 June 2012 - 08:08 AM

Some people are already using the Comments field for other purposes. There are other fields in iTunes that can be used for sub-genres. The most obvious one is Grouping. Its intended purpose is to indicate the movements within classical works, but it is great for sub-genres.

#14 luciomarques

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Posted 18 June 2012 - 12:12 PM

Hello,
i am sorry to ask you, but will it be any way to change the iTunes library from PC to Windows Vista SP2 Macbook pro Lion?
I had had registered the iTunes PC 10.6.3 with all the Music, Mobile APPS, Movies, Ringtones, and now tranferi for the Macbook Pro and just my Music, Movies, Ringtones, could transfer them, is there any way of transferring my Mobile APPS, which are 400 apps for the Macbook Pro?
Please help me ... I do not know what to do ....

Thank you very much.

PS: I hope you can help me .... I am sorry for my English