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Thank you iTunes 4.5...

iTunes 4.5, and most of you know, finally have us 'Playlist is' and 'Playlist is not', which lets me do something I've been wanting to do for quite some time. It does require two playlists, but hey, they're both useful.

Playlist #1: Everything Checked


Bit Rate is greater than 0 kbps

Match only checked songs

I picked bit rate because it's one of the few fields you can count on to always have data in it. Basically, it's a 'select everything' field.

Playlist #2: Everything Unchecked


Playlist is not Everything Checked

And, of course, make sure that 'Match only checked songs' is unchecked.

There you go, you now have a playlist of everything in your collection that's not checked. Mind you, this would be easier if Checked and Unchecked were playlist criteria but this does the job.

by Unseelie on May 19 | 8:00 am

[0] Trackbacks

You could also use:

Date added is After 01/01/00

(Or any other date before iTunes was released or you downloaded it.) That's bound to be the most reliable "catch all."

Still--Can you tell my something useful about this playlist? Why do you used checked and unchecked songs, and what does this list help you do?

by Nafai on May 20 | 8:09 am

Clearly I can't speak for others, but I primarily uncheck songs to flag a song that requires some action, like a bad rip for instance.

Generally I also take said song and add 'bad rip' to the comments field, but I want to ensure that the song does not sync to my iPod. I have iTunes sync my entire library, but the preferences are set up to exclude unchecked songs.

I also generally leave my audiobooks unchecked, as I don't keep those on the iPod for regular use. When I'm going on a long trip with a fair amount of uninterrupted listening time, I'll pick an audiobook and check it so it syncs. When I'm finished, I uncheck it so it's removed again.

by Unseelie on May 20 | 1:19 pm

I leave these unchecked:

Audio Books
Radio Programs
Christmas Music
Extra Long Songs (>10 mins)
Poor quality rarities

by dfbills on May 20 | 8:44 pm

the bit rate trick is avoidable!
If you want a smart playlist that respond to no particular conditions except the "only checked song" or "limit to xxx songs selected by xxx conditions" simply uncheck the "match the following condition:" box!!
the power of smart playlist seems infinite but we have to be smart enough!

by Xav on May 21 | 7:40 am

Maybe on your version of iTunes, but on mine, if I uncheck "Match following conditions" the OK button greys out. It only reactivates if I check a "Limit to" option.

by Nafai on May 21 | 9:06 am

Nafai,

I think Xav means checking "only checked songs" AND "limit to xxx songs selected by XXX conditions". As you have indicated, you have to have either "match the following condition" or "limit to..." selected for the OK button to be enabled.
I don't however see how doing this will help you get a list of unchecked songs like the bit-rate trick does, unless your song limit is set to a very high number to ensure you get 'em all.

by Trix606 on May 21 | 10:05 am

"unless your song limit is set to a very high number"
you have it :)

by Xav on May 21 | 5:58 pm

Speaking of 'checking' ... is there a way to mass check songs? I'd like to put all radio or songs over x minutes e.g., into a list and do the uncheck at once.

by mdtoipod on May 27 | 5:17 am

On the mac, holding the apple key will check/uncheck all songs in the current playlist.

by dfbills on May 27 | 8:49 am

as usual, thanks much.

by mdtoipod on May 28 | 2:39 am

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