iTunes 12.2.2: Permanently disable the iCloud column…everywhere

I recently noticed another new annoyance atop the steaming pile iTunes has become: every playlist (and the top-level “Music” list) suddenly had a new iCloud column (not actually new, but that’s another topic). You used to be able to disable this column everywhere by selecting the top-level “Music” list under the Music tab, then selecting “Only Music Available Offline” (instead of “All Music”) in the View menu. Unfortunately, as of iTunes 12.2.2, this no longer works.

You can manually hide the column by right-clicking the column heading and unchecking “iCloud Download”, but you’ll have to do that in every single playlist, and even if you do, the column just reappears in every playlist the next time you launch iTunes. Awesome.

The Solution

Turns out you now have to also go to the Movies and TV Shows tabs and set the same View menu option for each of those as well — “Only [Movies/TV Shows] Available Offline”). Then (and only then) will the iCloud column actually disappear everywhere. Obviously music playlists have nothing to do with Movies or TV Shows, so this must just be another delightful new bug.

If you actually want to be able to browse and watch Movies and TV Shows you’ve purchased without downloading them all first, well…too bad. iTunes and the tangled web of online services surrounding it are such a mess that this bug is probably way down the priority list, so I wouldn’t count on Apple fixing it anytime soon. It might help if you file a report through Apple’s iTunes Feedback form (I did).