Create always-editable playlists on the iPhone/iPod
Aug 13, '09 07:30:00AM • Contributed by: Anticitizen
Aug 13, '09 07:30:00AM • Contributed by: Anticitizen
If you're like me, you like the fact that the iPod and iPhone gives you an On-the-Go playlist that you can edit while you're on the go. There's only one flaw in this setup: Once you sync your iPod/iPhone to the computer, the On-The-Go playlist freezes into place, and turns into a normal playlist. Normal playlists aren't editable on the iPod/iPhone. Sure, you could just select all the songs from the previous playlist if you're on an iPhone, and roll them into your new one. But that, too, will freeze once synced with the computer.
Fortunately, there is a way to keep the ability to edit playlists intact, and it makes use of the (if you haven't deleted iTunes' stock playlists) My Top Rated playlist. (Note: If you use iTunes' rating system for anything other than this purpose, this probably won't work. Just so you know.) The My Top Rated playlist is a Smart Playlist, which automatically adds songs that meet its criteria. It also dynamically updates -- if you rate a song as 0 stars, it'll be removed from the playlist. This dynamic updating happens both on the computer and on the iPod.
My Top Rated will add any song that is rated above three stars. So if you go to the song's rating on your iPod and rate it five stars, it'll be added to this playlist on the iPod -- without any assistance from the computer. If you're content with just one editable playlist, then you can just use the stock My Top Rated playlist. You may rename it if you so wish. But if you want to make multiple editable playlists, you need to edit the rules to the stock Top Rated playlist (or just delete it and follow along).
Go to File » New Smart Playlist. In the window that appears, set the playlist to: Rating » Is » x Stars (where x is the number of stars you specify, 1 through 5). Leave Live Updating checked.
Now, whenever you give a song the same rating you defined in making the smart playlist, it'll automatically add itself to that playlist. And as long as you can edit ratings on the iPod and iPhone, this will mean you can always edit these playlists on any of Apple's iDevices.
There is one relatively big drawback: If you have multiple playlists, a song can only be on one of these playlists. It can't be in two at the same time, as it can be with regular playlists.
Fortunately, there is a way to keep the ability to edit playlists intact, and it makes use of the (if you haven't deleted iTunes' stock playlists) My Top Rated playlist. (Note: If you use iTunes' rating system for anything other than this purpose, this probably won't work. Just so you know.) The My Top Rated playlist is a Smart Playlist, which automatically adds songs that meet its criteria. It also dynamically updates -- if you rate a song as 0 stars, it'll be removed from the playlist. This dynamic updating happens both on the computer and on the iPod.
My Top Rated will add any song that is rated above three stars. So if you go to the song's rating on your iPod and rate it five stars, it'll be added to this playlist on the iPod -- without any assistance from the computer. If you're content with just one editable playlist, then you can just use the stock My Top Rated playlist. You may rename it if you so wish. But if you want to make multiple editable playlists, you need to edit the rules to the stock Top Rated playlist (or just delete it and follow along).
Go to File » New Smart Playlist. In the window that appears, set the playlist to: Rating » Is » x Stars (where x is the number of stars you specify, 1 through 5). Leave Live Updating checked.
Now, whenever you give a song the same rating you defined in making the smart playlist, it'll automatically add itself to that playlist. And as long as you can edit ratings on the iPod and iPhone, this will mean you can always edit these playlists on any of Apple's iDevices.
There is one relatively big drawback: If you have multiple playlists, a song can only be on one of these playlists. It can't be in two at the same time, as it can be with regular playlists.
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