Q: iTunes only seems to register a “skipped” song when I skip a song in iTunes itself. When I skip a song playing on my iPod or iPhone it doesn’t seem to register in iTunes’ skip count. Interestingly, when my wife skips a song on her shuffle it seems to register in iTunes.
Is this a common occurrence, and is there a solution that will allow me to keep track of skips so that my Smart Playlists exclude recently skipped songs?
– Richard
A: Unfortunately, the “Skip Count” feature has not bee consistently implemented on all iPod models and firmware versions at this point.
Specifically, only the following iPod models actually support the “Skip Count” at this point:
- Fifth-generation iPod with firmware v1.2
- Second-generation iPod nano
- iPod classic
- iPod nano (with video)
- Second-generation iPod shuffle
At this point, skip counts are not tracked at all on the iPhone, iPod touch, or Apple TV, although this may certainly change with future firmware updates.
Even on the iPod models that do support tracking skip count, the skip count is only incremented when the track is skipped between the two second and thirty-second time intervals.
Skipping a track before two seconds have elapsed or after you’ve listened to thirty seconds or more will not increment the skip count. Further, the skip count is only incremented on the iPod and in iTunes when you actually hit the “Next” button—skipping in reverse or simply exiting the track (by choosing a different track) does not increment the skip count either.
If you are using one of the supported iPod models and still find that the skip count is not incremented properly, you may wish to try a different firmware version, as it is entirely possible that this may not work reliably on all firmware versions.
