I remember the 24-hour interval when I ’d get a young atomic number 48 , pull it to my iTunes subroutine library , connect my click - wheel iPod , and have the music sync in less than a minute . Ah , the good one-time day were so much better … .
Now , syncing an iOS machine — iPhone , iPad , or iPod — is too often an ordeal . And it is because it ’s become untrusty . Will the sync work at all or will your message go away and be transformed into something that fulfil the unstructured “ Other ” category in iTunes ’ capability taproom . Will all of your content sync or just your music , or music , or apps ?
Sync problems between iTunes and iOS devices are all too common . ( Seethe last thirty days of posts in Apple ’s support forums about iTunes sync issues . ) In a way , this may be a predictable side effect of Apple ’s push to online Service . The company wants everything to be in the cloud , and it would choose that you buy all your medicine and movies from there as well . Local syncing is n’t really a part of that program and so may be process as an reconsideration . The difficulty is that not all drug user are right for the cloud framework . For those with large iTunes libraries , or with limited broadband bandwidth , cloud storage simply is n’t usable .
Given that , it ’s time to revisit local syncing . In its current state , iTunes synchronize is broken and it can only be fixed by Apple . Here are some of the most common sync problem , and , in some cases , solutions or workarounds to get medium file onto your iOS twist .
Waiting for items to copy
When you sync an iOS twist , iTunes displays a turn of step as the sync procedure advances . One vulgar trouble is that iTunes gets stuck on the “ Waiting for items to copy ” or “ Waiting for changes to be made ” footfall . And this can take hours . ( Here’sone thread on Apple ’s backup forum discussing this problem . Users offer several root , but most of them are n’t definitive as they act upon for some mass , but not others . )
iTunes is parsimonious in its communication with users — there ’s no logarithm you may view , even in the Console utility program that gives you entree to organisation log . If there were , you might be able-bodied to trouble-shoot whatever ’s stuck . In some case , a single , bad filing cabinet can cause problems . If you know which file that is , you’re able to remove it and potentially get the sync to work . ( See below : It ’s the dupes ’ fault )
When the “ Waiting for items to copy ” trouble happens regularly , there are two solutions you may try . The first is to wait , even overnight , if necessary . It might eventually sort itself out ; but it might not . The second , more heavy - handed result , is to restore the twist , which is something I ’ve had to do many time since the tone ending of iOS 8 .
To do this , set out by back up the twist . dawn on your machine in the iTunes navigation bar and then click Summary . Near the top of the windowpane you ’ll see a Restore [ gadget ] clitoris , as below . Click Back Up Now , just below the Restore button .
Restore your iOS gimmick to fix some sync problems .
Next , tick Restore iPhone ( or iPad , or iPod ) , and follow the instructions . iTunes will reinstall the machine ’s software system and then prompt you to doctor from the backup . This can take a long time if you have one of those newly - fangled 128 GB iPhones and want to put lots of medicine and video on it .
It’s the dupes’ fault
Macworldcontributor Rob Griffiths ran into an annoying sync job with his new iPhone 6 . He chance on , with the aid of Apple backup technician , that parallel purchased item in an iTunes library can have syncing to stop . iTunes never alerts you to any problem , it just wordlessly finish syncing . In Rob ’s case , there were about 20 such duplicates , and after he weed them from his iTunes subroutine library , the sync worked ; for the most part . ReadRob ’s accountfor more about this trouble .
Album art won’t sync
It ’s more and more common to find that album artistic production does n’t synchronise to iOS devices , or that sealed vocal or albums display the wrong artwork . For the latter problem , the only solution I ’ve incur is to cease syncing euphony . To do that connect the iOS machine , select its image in iTunes , select Music in the sidebar , uncheck Sync Music to the right , and click the Sync push . Then return and turn on the Sync Music pick and then chatter Sync again .
But there ’s one issue wherealbum fine art wo n’t sync because of its size . It seems that artwork gravid than 10 MB does n’t sync with music files . avowedly , this is a very large epitome file , but it would be nice if iTunes could alarm users to this bound .
Free space isn’t, and Everything becomes Other
This trouble seems to have appeared follow the release of iOS 8 or iTunes 12 . Many exploiter are finding that iTunes record a certain amount of free space in its electrical capacity bar . Yet when they taste to sync something , such as a picture show or a lot of medicine , iTunes tells them they do n’t have enough space .
One iTunes Guy message I experience recently summed up the situation :
Since the leverage of my iPhone 6 Plus , I ’ve had to restore and re - sync my speech sound at least five times due to a mysterious way out that pop up whenever I set about to add new euphony or videos to the machine . When plugging in the telephone set to synchronise the extra content , the iTunes “ Other ” part of the capacity meter balloon from about 2 GB to around 40 GB . My 128 GB iPhone 6 Plus tells me that my phone is over capacity . iTunes either refuses to sync , indicating that the iPhone is full , or it hangs .
This happened to me as well , in the abbreviated time I had an iPhone 6 , and happen , from sentence to time , with my other iOS devices :
You acknowledge you ’ve got destitute space , but iTunes does n’t .
A related problem , which has been around for years , is the amount of space reported as “ Other ” in the iTunes capacity measure . Here ’s aGoogle searchfor this problem on Apple ’s support forums , limited to the last 90 days , usher how many people are affected .
In some cases , all the music on a twist somehow becomes “ Other . ”
Sometimes , all your metier becomes “ Other . ”
I suspect that these related problems are stimulate by some sort of database on iOS devices that gets corrupted . The equipment thinks it has a sure amount of gratuitous blank and iTunes disagrees ; hence the confusion . The cyberspace proposes a mickle of supposed resolution for this one — that you should delete old text edition subject matter and browser app caches , for example . But none of these solve the problem . The only solution I ’ve found is to restore the iOS equipment , as explained above . But that does n’t come along to be a permanent localisation . After a few syncs you may find that the Other blank space begin ballooning again .
What Apple needs to do
orchard apple tree need to posit syncing . While users who do n’t sync their iOS gadget in this agency are n’t affected by these issues , those citizenry with diminished and large iTunes libraries alike report synchronize problems . It ’s frustrating , and the fact that there ’s no way to encounter out what ’s incorrect lay down it even more so . In an ideal world iTunes would have some kind of sync log or synchronize diagnostic peter , akin to the connection Diagnostics public-service corporation , that would help ferret out problems and let the great unwashed get on with revel their medium .
