Apple Music is a popular streaming music service that enables you to access a library of over 90 million songs right from your iPhone. A key feature of Apple Music is the ability to save music for offline listening, by syncing songs, albums or playlists to your iPhone. However, sometimes issues can arise that prevent Apple Music from properly syncing to an iPhone. In this article, we’ll explore some of the common reasons why you may be unable to sync Apple Music to your iPhone, and provide troubleshooting steps to help resolve the issue.
Your iPhone lacks enough iCloud storage space
One of the most common reasons that Apple Music fails to sync to an iPhone is that your iCloud account lacks sufficient storage space. In order to sync Apple Music content to your iPhone, you need to have enough available iCloud storage. Each song or album you sync takes up a portion of your overall iCloud storage. If you max out your iCloud storage, then Apple Music will be unable to sync any additional content.
To check your iCloud storage on an iPhone, go to Settings > [your name] > iCloud > Manage Storage. This will display a bar chart showing how much of your total iCloud storage is currently used. If your storage is almost full, this is likely the culprit behind sync issues.
You have a few options to remedy this:
- Upgrade your iCloud storage plan to a higher tier, giving you more available space.
- Manually manage your iCloud storage by deleting apps, messages, photos and other content you no longer need.
- Turn off syncing for Apple Music and only stream content over the internet when needed. This prevents using iCloud space to store music.
Checking your iCloud storage usage and freeing up space is typically the quickest fix if Apple Music won’t sync due to storage limits.
Background App Refresh is disabled
Another common culprit behind Apple Music sync issues is having Background App Refresh disabled on your iPhone. Background App Refresh is an iOS feature that allows apps like Apple Music to sync and update content in the background when you aren’t actively using your device.
If Background App Refresh is disabled, Apple Music can only sync new content when the app is open and running in the foreground. So you may notice that new songs, playlists or albums aren’t syncing to your iPhone unless you have the Apple Music app open on your screen.
To check if Background App Refresh is enabled:
- Go to Settings > General > Background App Refresh.
- Ensure the Background App Refresh switch is in the ON position (green).
- Also check that the Music switch is enabled within the list of apps below.
Toggling on Background App Refresh allows Apple Music to once again sync content in the background as expected.
You have downloads disabled
Downloaded music refers to any Apple Music content you’ve explicitly saved for offline playback. If your iPhone’s Downloads setting is disabled, then Apple Music cannot actually save music to your device as expected.
To verify your downloads setting:
- Open the Apple Music app Settings.
- Select Music.
- Ensure the switch for Downloads is ON (green).
With downloads enabled, you should once again be able to sync and save Apple Music content for offline playback when disconnected from the internet.
Your iPhone lacks enough device storage
While Apple Music syncs content to your iCloud storage, the downloaded songs and albums also take up a portion of your iPhone’s onboard storage. If your iPhone is low on storage, Apple Music may have difficulty syncing large amounts of content.
To check your iPhone’s available storage:
- Go to Settings > General > iPhone Storage.
- Review the breakdown of used/available space.
If your available device storage is low, you’ll want to free up space in order for Apple Music syncing to work properly again. Some options include:
- Offloading unused apps
- Deleting photos/videos stored on your device
- Turning off Music downloads and relying on streaming
- Upgrading to a device with more internal storage capacity
Routinely managing your iPhone storage helps ensure Apple Music can save content when syncing.
You have a poor internet connection
While some Apple Music content may be stored locally on your iPhone, syncing also relies on having a solid internet connection. If you have a poor WiFi or cellular connection, Apple Music may struggle to communicate with Apple’s servers and properly sync your library.
If you consistently notice Apple Music fails to sync when you’re in a particular location, the issue may be poor connectivity. Try the following:
- If on WiFi, move closer to your router or reset it
- Disable WiFi and use your cellular data connection instead
- Try toggling Airplane mode on/off to reset your connection
- Disable VPNs or proxies that could interfere with Apple’s servers
A weak internet connection interferes with Apple Music’s ability to sync. Check that you have a strong WiFi or LTE signal wherever you are experiencing problems.
Your Apple ID is not signed into Apple Music
In order to sync Apple Music content across your devices, you need to be logged into the Apple Music service using your Apple ID. If you’re signed out from Apple Music, your iPhone will have no access to your music library in iCloud.
To check that you’re properly signed in:
- Open the Apple Music app Settings.
- Select Account.
- Confirm that your Apple ID email is displayed here.
If you were somehow signed out, re-enter your Apple ID credentials to sign back in to Apple Music and iCloud.
Music permissions are disabled
The Apple Music app requires your permission in order to sync music content to your iPhone. If you previously disabled music permissions, this could block Apple Music syncing.
To re-enable music permissions:
- Go to Settings > Music.
- Ensure the switch for Music is in the ON position.
Granting music permissions allows Apple Music to once again save downloads and sync content as normal.
You have a corrupt download
In rare cases, a partially downloaded or corrupt song or album can interfere with syncing in Apple Music. The app gets stuck trying to sync the problem content over and over.
If you suspect this issue, try deleting the download and re-syncing:
- In Apple Music, tap Downloads > Edit.
- Delete the problem song, album or playlist.
- Resume the download to re-sync a fresh copy from iCloud.
Deleting corrupted downloads forces Apple Music to properly re-download the content, which often resolves intermittent sync issues.
Your iPhone is running an outdated OS
Apple Music requires iOS 12.2 or later in order to sync music. If your iPhone is running an older iOS version, it may fail to sync even if Apple Music appears to work.
To update your iPhone OS:
- Go to Settings > General > Software Update.
- Install the latest iOS update shown.
Updating to the most recent iOS provides compatibility fixes and improvements that may resolve Apple Music syncing problems.
You need to reset Apple Music
If you’ve tried other troubleshooting steps without success, you may need to fully reset Apple Music on your iPhone. This clears out any corrupted data and reloads your content fresh from iCloud.
To reset Apple Music:
- Open the Apple Music app Settings.
- Tap Reset Apple Music.
- Tap Reset to confirm.
Resetting Apple Music often resolves persistent sync issues that cannot otherwise be fixed. Just be aware you’ll have to re-download any local music content afterwards.
Your iPhone is defective or needs serviced
In rare cases, a hardware or software defect on your iPhone itself could impede Apple Music syncing. For example, faulty flash memory could cause repeated download errors. Or a glitching CPU may struggle to process music data.
If you still can’t get Apple Music to sync after trying all other troubleshooting, your iPhone likely needs serviced. Contact Apple Support to arrange a repair or replacement.
Conclusion
Syncing issues in Apple Music are usually caused by an underlying iOS, iCloud or connectivity problem. Checking your iCloud and iPhone storage, network signal, Music permissions and OS version can help identify common culprits. Resetting Apple Music clears out any corrupt data that may be interfering with syncing. Contacting Apple for hardware service is the last resort if your iPhone has a deeper defect preventing Apple Music downloads. With the right troubleshooting steps, you should be able to get your Apple Music library reliably syncing to your iPhone again.