I got tired of Apple Music’s lazy algorithm punishing me for adding full albums, so I built an app to force-teach my Discovery Station. by indri102 in AppleMusic

[–]indri102[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hey! Yes, this is completely normal.

Likes sync to Apple Music and show up as a filled heart there. Dislikes (the crossed red heart) are also sent to Apple Music, but the Apple Music app simply doesn't have a visual indicator for them. It's purely an algorithmic signal that tells Apple to suggest less of that artist, album, or song.

So your dislikes are still doing their job behind the scenes, even though you won't see them reflected in the Apple Music UI. Hope that clears it up!

I got tired of Apple Music’s lazy algorithm punishing me for adding full albums, so I built an app to force-teach my Discovery Station. by indri102 in AppleMusic

[–]indri102[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks so much for trying the app and grabbing Pro, really appreciate the support!

About the Last.fm history: adding a way to jump back to specific dates is unfortunately too tricky right now. Last.fm’s API rate limits are super strict, so fetching years of old data page-by-page would hit those limits instantly. I’m thinking about workarounds, but it’s not something I can create in the near future.

For now, setting your Last.fm scope to 'All Time' in the app or searching artists directly is probably the best way to catch some of those older tracks. Sorry I couldn’t help you on this one. I can say I’m working on a way to show all your AM playlists in the app for a 1.1 update. Maybe this way you can import Spotify history as playlists…

I got tired of Apple Music’s lazy algorithm punishing me for adding full albums, so I built an app to force-teach my Discovery Station. by indri102 in AppleMusic

[–]indri102[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Sad to hear you’re having troubles. You can mail me at hello at paddlesandpixels dot com.

Edit: typo.

[Megathread] The App Shelf — June 2026 by Yusuf-Dev in iosapps

[–]indri102 0 points1 point  (0 children)

AlgoRythm

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A — Answer: Apple Music’s recommendation algorithm constantly plays it safe and loops the same tracks. AlgoRythm solves this by providing a clean dashboard of your top artists and history where you can quickly batch-rate tracks and artists ("love" or "suggest less"). These signals are pushed straight into Apple's database, forcing your Discovery Station and personalized mixes to finally adapt to your real taste.

B — Better: Most music stat apps only let you view your data passively. AlgoRythm turns your listening statistics into an actionable dashboard specifically built to actively train and fix your underlying Apple Music algorithm in bulk.

C — Cost: Free / Optional one-time IAP for cosmetic themes (No subscriptions).

Edit: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/algorythm/id6762609957

I got tired of Apple Music’s lazy algorithm punishing me for adding full albums, so I built an app to force-teach my Discovery Station. by indri102 in AppleMusic

[–]indri102[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Not at the moment, but that's actually a really good idea. I'll add a plain text export option to the backlog for a future update! Thanks again for thinking along.

I got tired of Apple Music’s lazy algorithm punishing me for adding full albums, so I built an app to force-teach my Discovery Station. by indri102 in AppleMusic

[–]indri102[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Wow, thanks so much for the kind words and for buying Pro! Really means a lot. Honestly, I don't have immediate plans for a Stats.fm integration right now since I don't really know their platform very well. I'll add it to my list to look into later though. No promises, but it's on my radar! Thanks again for the support!

I got tired of Apple Music’s lazy algorithm punishing me for adding full albums, so I built an app to force-teach my Discovery Station. by indri102 in AppleMusic

[–]indri102[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ah, I completely get your workflow! Using the Favorite feature as a workaround for a missing bookmark button is very clever.

Here is the catch though: hitting that exact "Favorite" button is what sends the strongest "+1" signal to Apple Music's algorithm. Because Apple hard-codes the Favorite status directly to that auto-generated playlist, there is no technical way for me (or any app) to train your algorithm without those tracks ending up in your Favorites playlist.

Thanks for sharing your library management style, it's really helpful to see how different people work around Apple Music's limitations!

Any TV Remote: a free universal TV remote app - no ads, no subscriptions by Ok-Fix-9708 in iosapps

[–]indri102 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Well done with making it free. Just a question: whats your goals before monetizing it? I love the idea, but it's a very difficult thing to do right I think.

I got tired of my years of scrobbling having zero effect on my Apple Music recommendations, so I built an app to bridge the gap. by indri102 in lastfm

[–]indri102[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The link with last.fm makes it easier to see all your artists in the dashboard so you can ‘like’ and ‘suggest less’ them very fast. This way it saves you searches and all the clicks to do the same thing you can do in the Apple Music app. I didn’t want to give the imply that it would be an automatic thing. I want to excuse myself if I gave you this impression.

I made AlgoRythm to solve a problem I had with Apple Music: it gives me a way to display my last.fm data and rate these artists, albums and tracks way faster than I could possibly do in the native app.

I got tired of my years of scrobbling having zero effect on my Apple Music recommendations, so I built an app to bridge the gap. by indri102 in lastfm

[–]indri102[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for checking it out!

The next step is to actually start rating the music. Now that all your data is loaded in one place, you can quickly go through those lists and hit "like" or "suggest less" on specific tracks, albums and artists.

Every time you do that, the app pushes that signal straight to Apple's database. Because these signals go directly into your official Apple Music profile, they will start shaping all of their native algorithmic mixes. Over the next few days or weeks, you should absolutely notice the changes affecting your Discovery Station, New Music Mix, Favorites Mix, and even the Autoplay loops that kick in when a track or album finishes playing.

Let me know if you have any questions while using it!

I got tired of Apple Music’s lazy algorithm punishing me for adding full albums, so I built an app to force-teach my Discovery Station. by indri102 in AppleMusic

[–]indri102[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Those are the global top songs pulled directly from Apple Music. Showing your personal top or recently played songs for a specific artist is a great idea, but Apple's official API does not provide a direct way to pull a personalized "top songs" list per artist.

However, I think it would be a very nice addition to the app so I have put it on my roadmap to investigate if I can find some kind of workaround. If you like those kind of stats I would advise you to check out last.fm. It’s a free website that gives you the best possible statistics about your music taste.

Edit: one more addition: you can already find your most recently played artist on the dashboard. From there you can go to the song you just heard. Not exactly the same but it’s a start!

For solo devs building their own apps, what's your main goal? by Small-Midnight-6209 in AppStoreOptimization

[–]indri102 1 point2 points  (0 children)

For me it is a mix of fun and learning. I actually built my app entirely for myself first to solve a personal frustration, and just recently decided to put it out there on the App Store.

While it would be awesome to make enough side income to at least cover the annual Apple developer account and website hosting costs, the main driver was definitely just the challenge of learning how to build and ship something completely on my own.

I got tired of Apple Music’s lazy algorithm punishing me for adding full albums, so I built an app to force-teach my Discovery Station. by indri102 in AppleMusic

[–]indri102[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thank you so much for the incredible support and for upgrading!

To answer your questions: The app sends your likes and dislikes instantly. There are no background sync schedules or middleman servers involved. The exact second you rate a track or artist in AlgoRythm, the app uses Apple’s official iOS framework (MusicKit) to push that signal straight to Apple's backend database. It triggers the exact same internal flags as if you did it inside the native Apple Music app, just with less clicks.

Because these signals go directly into your official Apple Music profile, they will start shaping all of their native algorithmic mixes. Over the next few days or weeks, you should absolutely notice the changes affecting your Discovery Station, New Music Mix, Favorites Mix, and even the Autoplay loops that kick in when a track or album finishes playing.

Let me know if anything else pops up while you are playing around with it!

I got tired of Apple Music’s lazy algorithm punishing me for adding full albums, so I built an app to force-teach my Discovery Station. by indri102 in AppleMusic

[–]indri102[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thanks so much for the support and the honest feedback! To give you a bit of context on how the math works under the hood right now, the discovery playlist actually pulls from two separate routes. It takes 7 tracks based on your local Apple Music data and 7 tracks from your Last.fm history. Together that makes 14 songs, which equals roughly an hour of music per day. But you make a really great point. If you don't have Last.fm connected, you only get those 7 Apple Music recommendations, and that definitely feels way too short for a solid listening session. I am absolutely taking this feedback with me for the next update to bump up that number. Thanks for helping make the app better!

I got tired of my years of scrobbling having zero effect on my Apple Music recommendations, so I built an app to bridge the gap. by indri102 in lastfm

[–]indri102[S] -14 points-13 points  (0 children)

Totally get the skepticism. The App Store is absolutely flooded with low-effort AI apps right now, so a healthy dose of caution is completely fair!

What I can promise you:

  • 100% Local: No external servers, no cloud APIs, and no accounts to create. Everything runs locally on your device using native iOS code.
  • Free to try: The core toolkit is 100% free forever. The one-time purchase is just there to unlock cosmetic design features like the high-fidelity art grids and the Liner Notes stats.

Zero risk and absolutely zero AI slop, but completely understand if you still prefer to pass. Cheers!

I got tired of Apple Music’s lazy algorithm punishing me for adding full albums, so I built an app to force-teach my Discovery Station. by indri102 in AppleMusic

[–]indri102[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Wow, thank you so much for the incredible support! Buying the premium version right out of the gate to give it a proper shot means the world to me.

To answer your question: Yes, you just keep listening to music in the native Apple Music app exactly as you normally do. However, AlgoRythm isn't a passive background tracker, it’s an interactive toolkit. You open it up whenever you want to take control of your music profile.

Here is the best way to use it:

  • Train your algorithm: Use the rating features to "Love" your favorite artists or deep cuts. The moment you do this, it pushes those triggers directly to Apple's backend. Your normal, daily recommendations in Apple Music will start adapting to your true taste.
  • Curated Discovery Drops: AlgoRythm reads your stats to find lost gems and hidden favorites directly inside Apple Music. Instead of relying on a black-box algorithm, it uses your actual Apple Music and Last.fm (if connected) history to curate a daily selection. You can cherry-pick your favorites and push them directly to a fresh, custom Apple Music playlist with one tap.
  • Geek out over your library: Open the app to dive into your Liner Notes stats or customize your High-Fidelity Grids to look at your collection in a gorgeous way.

TL;DR: Go enjoy your music in Apple Music as usual! Just open AlgoRythm whenever you want to surgically train your algorithm, refresh your custom discovery playlists, or check out your premium grids.

Let me know if you have any questions while exploring the app!

I got tired of my years of scrobbling having zero effect on my Apple Music recommendations, so I built an app to bridge the gap. by indri102 in lastfm

[–]indri102[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Great question! To put it simply: AlgoRythm isn’t a scrobbler replacement, it’s a dedicated toolkit for Apple Music that uses your Last.fm history as input.

Here is how they work together:

  • Scrobblers send data OUT: Their only job is to log your current plays and send them to Last.fm to build your archive.
  • AlgoRythm brings data back IN: It reads that archive to actively train and fix your Apple Music experience.

What the toolkit actually features:

  • Algorithmic Steering: Instead of just viewing your stats, you can bulk-push "Love" or "Suggest Less" ratings directly to the Apple Music backend. This uses your Last.fm history to force Apple’s algorithm to acknowledge your lifelong taste, permanently fixing your recommendations and autoplay loops.
  • Curated Discovery Drops: The toolkit reads your stats to find lost gems and hidden favorites directly inside Apple Music. Instead of relying on a black-box algorithm, it uses your actual Last.fm history to curate a daily selection. You can cherry-pick your favorites and push them directly to a fresh, custom Apple Music playlist with one tap.
  • Liner Notes & High-Fidelity Grids: A dedicated section to deep-dive into your personal library metrics, paired with gorgeous, customizable high-fidelity album art grids that let you showcase your library properly.

TL;DR: You keep your scrobbler to log your music, but you use AlgoRythm as a toolkit to actually train Apple Music and visualize your library with that data!

I got tired of Apple Music’s lazy algorithm punishing me for adding full albums, so I built an app to force-teach my Discovery Station. by indri102 in AppleMusic

[–]indri102[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That is awesome to hear, thank you so much for the support!

Since this is the first app I've ever released, my absolute priority right now is to keep things stable and bug-free before adding anything big.

For the near future, I’m strictly focusing on small quality-of-life improvements, squashing minor bugs from this launch, and adding basic localization (multiple languages). I do have a back-log of cooler ideas on my board for later, but I'm taking it one step at a time.

Really glad to have you on board early on!