Help me stop downloading music from the cloud

December 2, 2013 2:00 AM

I have all this music on my iPhone. But when I go to play it, it has to download it from the cloud first. Although the playlists are there, nothing is actually being stored on the phone. So it takes ages and chews through lots of data when I just want to play a song. How do I get rid of all this cloud nonsense and just store old-fashioned music files on my iPhone? (Relevant: I have iTunes Match switched *off* in Settings -> Music on my iPhone.)
posted by peter1982peter to Technology (4 answers total)

It sounds like the music actually ISN"T on your phone as you might think.
I add music to my phone by plugging it in the cradle or charging cord attached to my computer, cranking up iTunes, clicking on the iPhone icon in the upper right hand corner, then going to the music tab in the center.
That's where I can see (by a check mark) what music I have on my phone in "hard form".
If I want to add a song, album or playlist, I put a check mark, then sync the phone. To remove a song, remove the check mark.
It will load the MP3s on my phone (you can even see the colored bar at the bottom go up when songs are added). After it's done syncing, remove it from the cradle, plug in your headphones, open the music app, and your music that you just added will be there, and you can play it to your heart's content.

I apologize if you already know this and it's what you're already doing.
If it is, perhaps you need to give us more information as to how you think you are adding music to your phone.
posted by John Kennedy Toole Box at 3:45 AM on December 2, 2013

I HATE this feature. In ios 7, you can go to setting/music and untick the "Show All Music" feature. This hides all of the songs that have the cloud icon and shows just the music on your phone.

Then sync your phone like John Kennedy Toole Box said.
posted by kimberussell at 4:09 AM on December 2, 2013 [4 favorites]

The same thing is happening to me, and I don't even understand ... why is some of my music "in the cloud"? Am I somehow syncing my iTunes library with this iCloud thing without knowing it?

I feel like a damn fool not even being able to understand an *Apple* product at this point. :(
posted by mccxxiii at 1:10 PM on December 2, 2013

why is some of my music "in the cloud"?

The music "in the cloud" is the stuff you have purchased via iTunes (or subscribed to in Podcasts), but which isn't currently stored on your phone.
posted by mumkin at 7:30 PM on December 2, 2013