Apple Music Smart Playlist not sorting correctly

samduffy

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Hi Rene I have a question that I am desperate to be answered and I please need help. I notice when I create a smart playlist in Apple Music with a set of particular criteria this criteria does not sync across all devices in the correct criteria(the songs selected do) but the sort order doesnt please see the screenshots to get a better understanding of what I mean.

As you can see this smart playlist I made is called "Apple Music" as you can see the first song on macOS is called "Rothesay'O" but on iOS its "Zoological Gardens" why is the sort order not the same ? Also the I chose to sort this playlist by name e.g A-Z in alphabetical order but it doesn't seem to do this. This is driving me nuts any help would be greatly appreciated

Thanks

Sam

Screen Shot 2017-01-10 at 18.56.54.png

Screen Shot 2017-01-10 at 19.04.41.png

IMG_0174.PNG
 

njlx2016

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Your Smart Playlist doesn't specify sorting of any kind. Check the "Limit to ..." box and specify something like 999 songs, then change the drop down after "selected by" to artist or album or whatever your preference is.

When you sort a Smart Playlist on iTunes by using the view options, you are only changing how the songs are displayed, not the actual order of songs in the playlist.
 
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njlx2016

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In iTunes, select the Smart Playlist in question then go to View > View As > Playlist then View > Sort By > Playlist Order

This will display the playlist the same way your iOS device does.

To change the order of songs in the Smart Playlist you will need to play around with its settings / rules.
 

samduffy

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that seems to have changed the order on the mac to the correct one but i cant yet view my phone. can you confirm will this new order(in screenshot) be copied to my device or will it still have its own order

Screen Shot 2017-01-23 at 18.25.21.png see how its going A - Z not a random order will this A-Z sort order copy to my iPhone and ipad
 

samduffy

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I noticed after my iPhone updated to iOS 10.2.1 that the order stayed the same on iOS devices however I could have the same way it was showing on my iPhone on my mac but not the other way in other words the iPhones sort order could be copied to the mac but not the macs A-Z order could not be copied to iPhone on the mac i have it sorted from A-Z as you can see above but on iPhone its sorted as Z-A (All songs starting in A are at the end not the top ) is there a way to have it A-Z on the phone as well
 

Rene Ritchie

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This, sadly, I'm not much help with. I don't really use Playlists so haven't had to figure this out. Some of the answers above are great, though, and if you still have problems let me know and I'll ask Serenity for an assist!
 

Tartarus

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Like I said in another thread of yours, when you make a smart playlist you can change the sort order to any of your choosing. I.e.: Artist, title, Year, date added, to sum a few.

Once you do this, this sort order will project onto other devices using the same iCloud Music Library.

I've been doing that since iCloud Music Library was introduced and it has been working great working me ever since.
 

samduffy

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. Was in talks with Apple and got a response back a few minutes ago turns out there is a bug but gave me a work around perhaps Rene or serenity could write this up to make others aware in case they are curious too

IMG_0014.PNG
 

samduffy

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Thank you Tartarus for some reason it didn't work for me when I did what you said but what you said was basically the same thing lol. Anyway it seems to be working this way. But yes it was a bug
 

samduffy

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Thanks Tartarus I was not ignoring your advice I was in talks with Apple for a long time about this they only got back to me tonight. Thank you for your advice too Tartarus
 

Tartarus

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Thank you Tartarus for some reason it didn't work for me when I did what you said but what you said was basically the same thing lol. Anyway it seems to be working this way. But yes it was a bug

You're welcome. Don't ever shy away from asking stuff. That's what makes this forum so great.
 

samduffy

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Yes I know. It is great thanks very much and thanks to Rene and serenity too. I just don't get why apple don't iron out these bugs before hand
 

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