Prevent songs deleted on device from syncing back?

[KidSavage]

Hi. I was hoping for some help here. I know that in iOS 5 you can delete songs on the phone, but is there a way to prevent them from syncing back to the phone when you sync it after deleting them? If I have to go through itunes and manually remove them, then I'm not sure what the point of deleting on-device is, so I'm sure I'm just not clear on what the proper settings are.

Thanks for any help that you can give me!

 

[jeffrey1027]

Uncheck mark the songs you don't want to sync in iTunes music library

 

[KidSavage]

Ah ok. So there's no way to just delete them from the device and have them stay off without hunting them down on itunes to uncheck?

 

[Jzo]

I was excited about the feature initially, but I noticed the same thing.
You delete a song. You sync. It throws it right back on...
What a waste of a feature.

 

[v1nn1e]

Ah ok. So there's no way to just delete them from the device and have them stay off without hunting them down on itunes to uncheck?

You can delete them off your phone, but if you don't edit your library in iTunes, it'll show back up every time you sync. That's.. kind of the point of syncing.

 

[KidSavage]

You can delete them off your phone, but if you don't edit your library in iTunes, it'll show back up every time you sync. That's.. kind of the point of syncing.

Then...what's...the point of...being able to...delete them from your phone?

I think I figured out how to solve the problem:

1) Check "Sync only checked songs and videos" and 2) "manually manage music and videos."

Then what you'll have to do is uncheck all the songs in your itunes library and make sure that all future songs you add to your library are unchecked. This won't erase them during your next sync but if you delete them on your device, since they aren't checked in itunes, when you resync they won't be transferred. You can add new, unchecked songs by clicking and dragging them into your phone or adding them to a playlist like before.

So to test this (I already have, but please test it with just one album): do 1 and 2. Find an album in itunes and uncheck all the songs. Sync. Make sure album is still on your phone (it should be). Delete that album from your phone. Sync. The album should not reappear.

If you try this then please do it with just one album to test just to make sure. I've tried it and it seems to work.

 

[Stephxieh]

You can delete them off your phone, but if you don't edit your library in iTunes, it'll show back up every time you sync. That's.. kind of the point of syncing.

Defeats the purpose of deleting them from your phone.

Hopefully it will get fixed in an update to work like it does with videos and books, podcasts. stuff deleted in your device shouldn't get synced back on unless you tell it to.

 

[noaim]

Defeats the purpose of deleting them from your phone.

Hopefully it will get fixed in an update to work like it does with videos and books, podcasts. stuff deleted in your device shouldn't get synced back on unless you tell it to.

if you have checked in your itunes to sync "all music" its going to sync all music in your library regardless.... apple is never going to change that

 

[Stephxieh]

Oh okay. I didn't realize you personally knew everyone at apple and every decision they were going to make lol.

I'm just saying it would be nice if the device had a way of communicating to iTunes that it was "unchecked" and not to sync it anymore. It'd also be nice if I had a million dollars and a pony again I was just saying.

Since they had it working for other types of media it's not that much of a stretch for the smart boys and girls there to figure out a way. Until then there are many work arounds and that's fine by me.

 

[ilovebarolo]

I'm wondering if the point is they're thinking people won't be syncing to iTunes too much longer in the "post-PC world," but that seems far off. Unfortunately. iTunes is a real bore to me!

 

[rewNATION]

I guess it's good if you need more memory right away and can't get to your computer to sync

 

[DuLe22]

I think I figured it out. It's stupid but it works. You have to right click on your iphone on the left pane and click Transfer Purchases, then you can sync without iTunes copying the deleted songs back.

 

[Anthony Estes]

you are stupid and obviously mikssed the point of the whole thread. Please stop commenting on stuff that you are completely clueless about...

 

[DuLe22]

I realize this is for IOS 5 however IOS 6 is out and so is the new iTunes. Using the new version go to the top left corner and click the arrow then go down and select Show Menu Bar. Then just click on File -> Devices -> Transfer Purchases from "Device Name". After that you can sync and your songs won't be copied back to your device. (When you do update your device iTunes will automatically sync and that will copy them back however.)