Sync iTunes with non iPod mp3 players
I do not know why some users swear on iTunes and prefer to use it as their main software to manage and play their music collection. The biggest drawback in my opinion is that iTunes was designed to only work with iPods and not other mp3 players from different manufacturers. I personally think that it does not really make sense to install iTunes if you do not own an iPod but apparently some users are doing it.
And one of them decided to write a program called iTunes Sync that syncs the playlists in iTunes with third party mp3 players from different manufacturers such as Creative Labs, iRiver and Sandisk. Not all players are working yet but the author is trying hard to implement support for them in future versions.
The software requires only three steps to sync your mp3 player with iTunes. They are:
- Setup a playlist in iTunes that you want to sync to your MP3 player
- Configure your MP3 player in iTunes Sync by giving it a name, selecting an “identification file or folder and selecting a playlist from iTunes
- Now just click Synchronize and watch the magic happen!
Update: iTunes Sync has been updated, you can check out the latest release version here. The program ships in three interface languages, namely English, German and Spanish.
Update 2: Note that the program has not been updated since 2009. While that is usually a good indicator that a program may not run that well anymore, especially since it depends on another program that is updated regularly, it is not the case for iTunes Sync which appears to be working just fine. Note that the program is fully compatible with all recent versions of the Windows operating system.
If you want, you can try an alternative such as Nod Pod which can also sync iTunes music with third party mp3 players.
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I am just curious. We have MAC people that windows bash and Windows people that MAC bash. Now we have people that are upset that ITunes will not sync with anything other than an IPod and predominantly these will be the MAC bashers. Now Microsoft comes out with their own Music player and Oh look at that, it won’t sync with anything other than ZUNE player. Where are the MAC bashers now that Microsoft has done the same thing At least MAC had the insight to at least make the software run on a PC too but Microsoft has not done the reciprocol. So if you are going to Bash one product or the next make sure you look in your own backyard before doing so. I am a converted MAC user and I really enjoy not getting security updates every hour and actually having software and hardware that works. Just my 2 cents.
Steve you should not confuse one with the other. Someone saying iTunes should be compatible to other players does not necessarily care about the Zune and its compatibilities. If you look at the Zune userbase and compare it to iPod you probably understand this. It’s just not big enough to be important.
Which leads to your next assumption. Some say that the MAC, or more precise the MAC user base, is not big enough to attract hackers and virus writers.
That does not mean that the MAC is more secure than Windows. Take a look at Firefox for instance. It is getting market share over the years and this in turn makes it a valuable target for criminals.
i feel that itunes should be able to work with more than just iPods. I have found that itunes is a more organized way to keep all my music, and i always make my itunes perfect with sonf titles and artist plus the ablum cover. so i think that after doing all that work i should just be able to sync the song from itunes to my mp3 player which is not apple.
i run os x and i get sick of not being able to sync to my generic player with itunes.
i wish someone would make a plugin.
i think that apple should have a community set up to make plugins for itunes osx and windows alike
because i think itunes is a brilliant program
but i get sick of the lack of features
I’d like a plug-in that works with the iTunes on my macbook. I’ve tried iTunes Sync and when i click on it, it gives me the text edit with a bunch of characters that i don’t understand.
i spent like 10000000$$$$$ on this mac.. thinking of all the ood songs i would get and listen to on my mp33…… turns out it doesnt even sync.. a moment when i miss my windows:(
I finally got an ipod (120gb classic), i am very happy with it.
anyway, the reason i am writing is that i have realised that if apple let the scripts to be written to sync ordinary mp3 players it would mean that sales of ipods to mac users would go down, and that their reputation of having software that works perfectly would be spoilt by people complaining that their mp3 doesnt work with their copy of itunes.
I would like iTunes Sync to work. It doesn’t “see” any other drive than a usb stick: not even the C- drive (My Documents) nor my Zen. What is wrong? Yes I went through all the moves to select a MP3 Player.
thanks for answering
i now have over 10k of songs for itunes, and theres is absolutely no way i would leave itunes now. not only would i have massive transfer problems, itunes 8 is just so much better than anything else.
its not really that big of a deal, not being able to sync mp3 players with osx, you just go to itunes folder and pick what you want and move it onto mp3 player.
p.s
my ipod 120gb was stolen so i have been living with a cheap mp3 2gb again.
Is there any way at all to sync music to y mp3 without a download? my computer has one gb of memory left after its fail. And i am trying to use it wisely. So i cant download much. (I know, why have iTunes on your 1 gb computer anway? long story short i didnt know right away it only had 1 gb.) So is there any way to anipulate the program to get it to accept a sansa SanDisk?
I thinks stripping itunes music drm is more efficient, just burn songs on iTunes. Insert a blank CD. (You’d better use a rewrite CD which can be used circularly and use some software like Nero to wipe off the music files you have processed.), keep in mind that you need to change iTunes settings in “Edit”->” Preferences” before burn and import.