Play Count & Recently Played Playlist Errors

My iPod doesn't sync the playcount and recently played playlist properly to my computer. I was wondering if anyone else has experienced this problem.
I've encountered it with all version of the software from the intial 1.0 to the new 1.0.2

Yes a known problem in this forum and there is at least one large thread dedicated to this issue. I am not sure if there is a fix yet, but I haven't heard of one yet.
Patrick

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Sync play count, last played, and rating with iOS 5

From other threads (https://discussions.apple.com/message/16563011#16563011 and https://discussions.apple.com/message/16505730#16505730 for example) it is clear that there are some problems with play count, last played, and rating information updating and syncing under iOS 5. I have at least a partial solution. I am posting it here instead of under one of the existing threads because 1) some discussions seem to be confusing the difference between updating the iOS 5 device data and syncing the updated data to the computer, and 2) some of the discussions are focused iPhone, and though the problem appears similar I only have an iPod touch to test the solution on.
First of all, this is not a new problem. Prior to iOS 5, I would plug my iPod Touch into the computer and not see any play count or last played data for songs I knew I had just listened to. I discovered that if I clicked (in my computer's iTunes display of the iPod) on one song that I had recently listened to, it would suddenly display play count and last played for all the songs played since the last update. I could then transfer this playlist data (more on this in a minute) to the corresponding songs on the computer. Under iOS 5, this no longer works, and in fact causes the new play count and last played data on the iPod to be lost. However, under iOS 5 there is a way to get this information to update, even though you don't see it when you first connect to the computer.
To make this work, you have your iPod set on Manually manage music and videos under the Summary tab of the iPod settings in iTunes. I have messed around with this for hours, including several restores and resets of my iPod touch, and have found no way to get this to work under various Sync Music options. I have been using the Manually manage mode for years because I use my iPod with numerous different iTunes Libraries on several different external hard drives.
Here's the trick: Manually manage must be in effect before you connect the iPod to the computer. After your iPod shows up in the iTunes interface on your computer, in the main view (where it shows the different tabs at the top and capacity at the bottom) there is a Sync button at the very bottom right. Click on this and wait for it to go through the Sync steps (don't worry, you're not losing anything), and, voila, when you go to the songs (on the iPod) you have listened to since the last time you connected to the computer, the play count and last played data will be there.
Unfortunately, it's not a simple matter to get this data synced to the computer, but it can be done. At first I thought that once I got the data to show up on the iPod I could go to the Music tab and Sync Music to get the playlist data to the computer, but this does not work. It will sync the play count and last played data that are on the computer to the iPod, overriding the newer data. The way I have been getting my playlist data from my iPod to my computer without ever changing the Manually manage setting is by using the Copy Tag Info Tracks To Tracks script from Doug's AppleScripts for iTunes <http://dougscripts.com/itunes/scripts/ss.php?sp=copytinforackstotracks>. This isn't hard to download or install or use and copies playlist information very quickly.
I have never had a problem with play count or last played on my 2nd generation nano, which still works beautifully. As far as I can tell, play count and last played have never worked well on the iPod touch; there are threads in discussions complaining about this from years ago. It would be nice if Apple would recognize that these are extremely important features to many users and make it a priority to make these basics work before (or while) adding a lot of other fancy features.

Just for posterity in case anyone else ever has a similar problem.
I found out I can work around my problem, but I have limitations. The only time it'll update the correct songs is after I restore it and then add the initial songs on to the Shuffle. The key is to not ever have a situation where I reshuffle the order of those songs. If I ever shuffle to better alphebatize or categorize things, the sync updating screws everything up. If say Song #3 on my Shuffle's playlist after the intitial transfer gets moved around to being anything other than the third song played, my Shuffle/iTunes will still think that song has been played although the Song #3 I actually listened to after the sync update will be different. Now I have to carefully compose and place what songs I want loaded on since I can't mess around with the playlist setup at all.
I know Apple support would likely blame my Shuffle for the problem (it's over 6 years old now). But it's funny how this only happened right after I installed 11.0. The update to 11.0.2 did nothing.

Problem when syncing: won't update itunes play count/last played etc

My old 2g shuffle was capable of updating play count/last played and adding songs to the recently played playlist when synced to my itunes.
Seems my new 3g shuffle can't do this.
I remember the trick with the 2g was to make sure it was switched off first before connecting/syncing, but I've tried all sorts of different combo's with the 3g and nothing will make it update song stats in itunes.
How can I make it update my itunes?

Ok, cool, I figured it out:-) Just in case anyone ever has the same problem, here's a quick rundown:
Basically it's the same problem you can get with 2nd gen shuffles if you're manually managing songs. So I just unticked manually manage music in the device summary and got the shuffle to sync music from a playlist I created/dumped all the songs I wanted into.

Ipod touch 4G IOS5 play count/last played song doesn't work

I have an ipod touch 4G updated to IOS 5 and itunes updated to 10.5.0.142. From the day I made the upgrade to ios 5 play count/last played song doesn't work.
Someone can help me?
tnx

I have update my ipod touch to IOS5 version 5.0.1 and my itunes to version 10.5.2.11 and the problem persist: play count/last played song doesn't work.
Someone has the same problem? Someone has a way to solve the problem?
tnx

Since updating my iPhone 4 to iOS5, my music stats (play count, last played, etc.) no long sync to iTunes. How can I fix this? Thanks for the help.

Since updating my iPhone 4 to iOS5, my music stats (play count, last played, etc.) no long sync to iTunes. How can I fix this? Thanks for the help.

If you have any podcasts in your iTunes library you should see a Podcasts sync setting tab to the right when you connect your phone and click on its name on the left sidebar (see image below). On this tab check to sync podcasts and sync your phone.

[All Platforms][Playlists] Play count and play history for songs to create personal charts

Hi guys, I switched from iTunes to Spotify about a year ago and I really do like the service. Lately I checked out Apple Music and in comparison Spotify still kicks ass. However, it was incredible to have access to all of my old iTunes playlists again. Why? Because I created playlists with my personal charts, meaning intelligent playlists which sort songs by play count. I would love to see this feature in Spotify. Additionally you could also track when a song has been played, so I could create a playlist which lists my favorite songs from a specific time frame. Best wishesDominik

Sup man! I made the switch from iTunes about 3 years ago, but I have never gone back. Especially since I have a $5 / mo deal for Spotify premium for students, so premium is sick to use on the computer and transfer music painlessly to your electronic device. Cool stuff. Also, the algorithms that Spotify employs have unique shuffling programs implemented internally. They get numerous complaints about similar songs/artists playing in close sequence to one another. When this would happen (the original random number generator would obviously play the same artist within 3-4 songs because of pure chance and logistics), so they implemented a different algorithm as a fix. The new algorithm implemented a fix for this complaint (which was considered to be along the lines of the gambler’s fallacy theory… but that’s another long explanations) so that people wouldn’t complain as much. This switch happened within the past year, so people are just starting to notice how the shuffle feature has “improved”. This whole thing brings on the discussion of “what truly is random?” when it comes to the world of random number generators and the gambler’s fallacy. If you want to check out my Spotify playlists, my acct is: chrisheishman and my most popular playlist actually is “acoustic indie mix” with about 400+ songs and 200+ followers. You should check it out! Cheers & good luck with your music journey! Chris

Play Count / Last Played inconsistencies

I have a smart playlist that simply shows all music that I've never played.
I set this up to simply show music where Plays=0.
I've noticed recently that music I know I've listened to is still in the playlist, looking at the screenshot below you can see that I listened to this album in February but the play count is still zero?
I can get around this by also filtering out music where last played is not in the last 1000 months, but that's a workaround rather than a fix!

littlestar,
The Mimico Kid asked a couple of us on another thread if someone could offer some tips with this issue, so I'm here to try.
With playcounts that iTunes is not able to keep orderly, you may want to reset your entire iTunes library's play counts, or rebuild your iTunes library.
See if this thread is of any help for you:
Play count is screwed up- why?
Something else I just thought of that might do soemthing. Try this:
1 - Right-click "Recently played" in the left panel of iTuens, click on "Edit Smart Playlist".
2 - un-check "Live Updating".
3 - Click "OK".
4 - Play a couple of songs in the iTunes library (all you have to do is double-click a song, and drag the little location-of-the-song selector to the last couple of seconds, and it will count as a played song when it reaches the end).
5 - Close iTunes.
6 - Re-open iTeuns again.
7 - Right-click "Recently played" again, clicking on "Edit smart playlist".
8 - Now re-check "Live updating" again.
9 - Play a couple of songs in iTunes, and close iTuens when this is completed.
10 - Re-open iTunes. Play a song in it.
11 - Now, see "Recently played", just to make sure that it now shows what you played a few moments ago.
See if anything changes with iTunes not keeping your play counts.
Okay, I'm not sure if that was all useless or far-off the possible problem (I know, "Recently played" and "Live updating" may not have much to do with iTunes updating playcounts), but I guess it's a try. You sometimes never know what iTunes will positively respond to with a problem that's somewhat un-charted ground. (I've seen some strange solutions actually work with issues in iTunes).
Good luck,
-Kylene

Clearing play counts; turning play count off

Is there a way to turn the play count off in iTunes and on the Shuffle iPod? Also is there a way to clear their respective play counts? please no smart counting. I'm not a fan of play counts. I want random!

You can not turn it off but you can certainly hide it in iTunes. When you right click on the headers in iTunes you get a list of all the possible headers you can turn on or off. So one solution is to simply turn off that column in iTunes so you no longer have to see it.
To clear out play counts, Select All on your library, right click and pick "Reset Play Count".
Cheers,
Patrick

Has anyone managed to get play count/last played to sync?

I can live with the podcasts being borked, it's prompted me to use an app (hello iCatcher!) which I had been planning to do for a while. I'm still learning its ways, but it feels a lot more comfortable already.
The thing that I absolutely cannot understand is how ratings, playcount and last played times are not synchronising. I've a number of smart playlists based on these attributes and I haven't been able to get them to sync up since I enabled Match on my iPhone.
So I've got an iPhone which I sync with iTunes on a Mac. Everything's patched up to the latest version.
Has anyone successfully had any successful syncs? The smart playlists are just a joke - I'd expect the track listings to be comparable between devices, but they just aren't.
This is a beta product which some glaring functionality holes. How Apple can think it's worth paying for is beyond me. The smart playlist functionality has been working seamlessly for years on iTunes ... but it's broken. And I paid for the product that broke it. I'm feeling very let down.

I haven't managed to get any playcount, ratings etc to sync. There are so many issues with this version of iTunes Match I cannot believe Apple released it.
The order of tracks in playlists doesn't match iTunes on my Mac, selecting a folder of playlists in iTunes on my iPhone hangs the phone and sometimes crashes it, metadata doesn't sync, some albums are split into 2, etc.
Looking forward to an update soon.

My play count (& last played) does not work after itunes 11

I've read many posts claiming if you turn off crossfading that you can repair the new play couny/last playedt problem in itunes 11. That does not work for me ( I have never turned on the crossfading ever ).
Now when I listen to my audio books on a shuffle (has no screen), I can't see what chapters I have already listened to (when I plug my ipod back into my desktop).
Any other advice?
Kate

Apple needs to recognize this issues immediately, I'm a huge fan of Apple products like paulgarb said, it's a good product cause it works, every tv and mobile device in my home are linked because of homesharing, but now it does not work with no seemingly simple solution to solve the issue anywhere in site. I have always stood by Apple products and always recommend them, however I hope I did not put my foot in my mouth, my father has just spent a good amount of time scanning old family pictures and now he wishes to share them on his tv, tried multiple solutions for him with the devices he already has, none would work (ie streaming through googletv, ps3...) so I told him the simple solution is to just get an appletv for $99, he said fine get it for me for Christmas, usually I have a hard tie getting a gift for him, but now I finally have an opportunity to get him a gift I know he wants, but with homesharing issue apple has yet to acknowledge I feel appletv might be a moot point for him. Im praying that my father has not update his itunes yet. It would a great gift if apple could acknowledge the issue and fix it before the 25th.

Play Count/LastPlayed now only shows in shuffle playlists on shuffle

iTunes 8.1 (or the 3rd Gen shuffle) broke Play Count/Last Played again. Play Counts
only increment under shuffle in devices NOT in Recently Played or Top Most Played.
Worked in 8.0 with 2nd Gen shuffle and nano... haven't exposed my 2nd Gen to 8.1, yet...

iPod Whisperer wrote:
I see.
I actually almost exclusively use my shuffle for audiobooks. I have it set to sync just the audiobooks via the Music tab where you specify by checking what you want sync'd (Audiobooks is the first option). You can also create playlists of audiobooks if you like and sync with them so that your last played data, etc. stays updated between your system and your ipod.
I'll try that after I've listened to the ~3.GB of audiobooks (non-audible). Switchning now would requiring re-loading the shuffle.
Thanks...

Why are recently added and recently played playlists not showing on iphone 4s when they show in iTunes?

In my iTunes window, the playlists for my iphone 4s when it is connected show correctly. The playlists include 'top 25 most played songs', 'recently played', and 'recently added'. Although they appear in iTunes even after syncing, they do not show on my iPhone and I can not use them (they aren't there). But they continue to show in the iTunes list for the device. This is frustrating because I often like to play my recently added list or top 25. How do I fix this?
Thanks for any help.
James

I would also like to know this. =/

If I do a normal library and playlist backup, will that also backup song rating and song played count?

Hi everyone, just wondering if when I do the routine backup straight from the iTunes menu and I've exported my playlist and library.xml file. I've also backed up the entire /Program Files/iTunes folder. Will they also backup my 'Song Rating' and 'Song Played Count' for my playlist? Thanks.

Backup from iTunes has gone. The .xml file isn't enough to rebuild the library completely. The .itl file is the crucial one, though you need all the media too.
See this User Tip.
tt2

Play count and history

The new iTunes (11.0.1 (12)) does not accurately keep a count of tracks played or add them to the Recently Played smart playlist. It only seems to record a play count if an album is played in the correct order without interruption. If one plays the tracks of an album at random or plays their entire catalogue at random no history or play counts are recorded. I know it a small detail but I like to keep track of what gets played by choice or at random. The data is sometimes surprising - albeit only of interest to myself. Please fix this Apple.

I know it a small detail
Small detail my a**! Last Played is critical in managing how you listen to your library. Not having it work right seriously diminishes the value of iTunes.
There are several bugs in iTunes 11 that affect play count, Last Played date/time, and Smart Playlist logic. Hopefully they will be corrected in upcoming releases.
If you would like to leave specific comments for Apple, use the iTunes Feedback page:
http://www.apple.com/feedback/itunesapp.html

IPod touch play count dosnt work

ok my ipod touch doesnt update play counts. like i play though any song all the way throughand plug it in to the computer and it says is hasnt played at all. but when plugged in to the computer the play count works fine. any suggestions on how to get play count working on ipod too???

Play count is a sort of metadata that doesn't have a direct display implementation on the iPod (well it isn't data that is actually saved to the file, but instead stored as a preference in the library database ). It's there, you just can't see it! The exception is if you use smart playlists (see my comment below), where you can use logic to sort tracks by play count into distinct playlists.
With your iPod connected to your computer, playing in iTunes, you can choose to display play count in your track listing. Select View > View Options…, then check the Play Count checkbox.
You can build smart playlists based upon play count and last played, which is a very powerful and handy feature for those who prefer to manually manage their iPod content, allowing you to create dynamic playlists that propagate based on your listening preferences (such as "play only tracks I haven't heard in a while" or "play only newly added tracks I haven't heard yet"). Create a smart playlist in iTunes by holding down the option key and clicking on the create playlist button. This is the solution for new iPod users who complain that their iPod playing in shuffle mode keeps playing the same tracks.
The main problem is that iPod touch does not always properly keep track of play count, something that iPod classic excels at. It's like using a calculator that has an inconsistent math error -- how can you trust it?

Play Count & Recently Played Playlist Errors

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