New updates are being added at the bottom of this story…
Original story (published on July 19, 2021) follows:
According to Apple, macOS Big Sur is the best macOS to date. It is aimed at unifying the desktop ecosystem with its mobile counterpart.
But lately, things are not going according to plan for Apple. The number of bugs and issues that plague Big Sur are bigger than the changes it brought.
While Apple works on fixing bugs, they certainly break things with the release of every new update to the macOS.
Having said that, several users have reported that after updating to Big Sur 11.4, Apple Music has an issue updating the play count and last played date.
This is certainly not the first time the play count bug has haunted Apple Music users.
In the last few years, several users have repeatedly complained about the same, indicating that it is a recurring issue and Apple probably knows it needs fixing.
This is really frustrating for those who use Apple Music daily and create playlists based on their listening behavior.
Upon further investigation, it looks like the issue only persists if the user plays music via HomePods, AppleTV, or AirPlay.
The music play count and last played date gets updated normally if you use speakers connected directly to the system.
It is still not known where the issue lies since everything except the speakers connected directly to the system results in the play count not getting updated.
In the meantime, some users suggest that turning off AirPlay has fixed the problem for them. Others suggest that you start playing music on your machine’s speakers and switch the audio to HomePod.
On the brighter side, Apple is allegedly aware of the problem and said they will fix the issue in a future release.
We hope Apple fixes the Apple Music play count issue on Big Sur 11.4 as soon as possible.
Update (August 09)
IST 01:21 PM: While this issue continues to bug users, new reports (1,2) now suggest that the situation is mildly better following the rollout of macOS 11.5.1, at least compared to the version.
Conversely, reports from other users (1,2) indicate that the situation remains just as bad. We shall continue to follow this and update as and when we get more info so stay tuned.
NOTE: We have more such stories in our dedicated macOS Section so be sure to follow them as well.
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