There has always been one universal constant for purchasers of an iPod – that they would be using Apple’s iTunes to sync it. Apple’s iTunes has been downloaded millions of times and is adored by many, but what if you’re looking for an alternative?
Last year, we covered a similar topic entitled 6 Ways To Sync Music To Your iPhone Without iTunes. The article was very popular and it covered 6 great applications. There has since been many capable alternatives to iTunes, each program having its own pros and cons.
In this article, I am going to cover some of the best free alternatives to using iTunes to sync iPod to computer without iTunes.
[Note]: Depending on which model of iPod you own, you may want to still keep iTunes around for firmware updates, application downloads, and other advanced features that one or more of these programs may not be capable of.
Floola (Cross Platform)
Floola is a freeware application that will effectively manage your iPod’s music, videos, podcasts, and photos. It is a standalone application that can be run directly from your iPod and needs no installation under Windows, Mac OS X, or Linux. The current version supports every type of iPod except for the iPhone/iTouch.
Floola supports almost all of the features offered by iPods. It can convert incompatible audio and video files, add YouTube videos to your device, and sync Google Calendars. With Floola you can copy almost any file to your iPod. It is also very easy to uninstall, which makes it worth giving a try.
Songbird (Windows & Mac)
Songbird is a Mac and PC compatible application that handles all of your digital media management needs. It is an open source media manager that will sync your music, video, and photos to and from iTunes with ease.
Songbird allows you to set up watch folders to keep Songbird in sync as your media changes over time. It also supports hundreds of add-ons that can add features, integrate services, and customize the application. We have covered Songbird a lot in the past. Just click here to see the search results.
Amarok (Cross Platform)
Amarok is a powerful music player that is supported by Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux. It has an automated playlist generator, a similar artists and upcoming events applet, and support for the Last.fm database. Amarok is integrated with a lot of web services and features support for all iPods.
EphPod (Windows)
EphPod is a full-featured Windows application that connects with Apple’s iPod. It supports standard Winamp playlists and will synchronize an entire music collection with one click. It imports Microsoft Outlook contacts and can download the latest news, weather, e-books, and movie listings to an iPod.
On the download page it is noted that EphPod may not work properly with new iPods, but it is worth investigating.
YamiPod (Cross Platform)
YamiPod is yet another cross platform iPod manager that is supported on Mac OS X, Windows, and Linux. Like Floola, it is a standalone application which requires no installation. Your iPod is automatically recognized and synced with your computer. It supports multiple iPods and can copy/sync your music, playlists, and song lists.
Banshee (Linux)
Banshee is packaged for many Linux distributions and is even the default media player for several. According to the site, it will soon be available for Windows and Mac OS X as well.
Banshee allows you to sync your music and videos to your iPod, Android, and other devices. It supports audio, video, podcasts, album art, playlists, and more.
Conclusion
As I mentioned previously, we wrote a similar article last year for syncing music to the iPhone. Although I did not cover any of those applications in this article, I strongly suggest you explore those options as well because they are still relevant and continue to be viable alternatives to iTunes.
What did you think of the programs provided? Will you be ditching iTunes for one of these installations? I would love to hear your thoughts and ideas in the comments section below.
Image Credit: estyzesty
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I use foobar2000. Awesome lightweight music player and the most customizable one for sure. Works great for managing, playing, and syncing my music collection.
foobar2000 is an excellent app. Thanks for sharing kyled.
is there anything that will sync apps too? that seems to be the biggest missing piece for al of these softwear.
I invite you to try all the software and see Sean. I’m not positive if any of them will sync your apps or not, as that is the case for most software that isn’t iTunes.
Do any of these have a dual pane set up? I just want to be able to view the contents of my PC and ipod at the same time.. is that too much to ask?
You might want to check out MediaMonkey for that. It’s not too much to ask but for some reason it is hard to come by.
now i used apple i pod. its a good quality i pod. thanks for sharing this useful information.
thanks for such a great post and the review, I am totally impressed! Keep stuff like this coming.
http://www.articlesbase.com/he…
No MediaMonkey? I don’t have an iPod, but I hear that MediaMonkey is the best for iPod if you hate iTunes, and I know I love it for everything else.
You stole my thunder Beam!
I use MediaMonkey as my media player AND iPod syncer.
Works great.
The only reason I didn’t mention MediaMonkey is because it is listed on the other article I mentioned. Great app!
You stole my thunder Beam!
I use MediaMonkey as my media player AND iPod syncer.
Works great.
It’s all about CopyTransManager.
Never tried it, but heard LOTS of good feedback about CopyTransManager.
Yes CopyTransManager was listed on the other article too. I’ve heard good things.
i use songbird, its really a good tool
Excellent! Thanks for the endorsement :)
Double Twist (Mac, PC), it syncs also Android phones and PSP, but I like just Banshee :)
Didn’t know about that one. Thanks for sharing!
Since itunes updated today I have been unable to sync my ipod. Itunes just says verifying ipod for ages, then freezes up and freezes the ipod classic. Had to use Copytrans to sort out the ipod!
are any totally free? i am trying to get what’s on my ipod touch to my new mac, and the majority of the music is burned cd’s from my personal music collection, not purchased on itunes directly. i’ve tried moving my files from my seagate hard drive (i’ve made te pc to mac upgrade), and havent been able to find totally free freeware, or any other solutions for that matter, to transfer my music from my ipod to my mac….
thanks for any help in advance :-)
Adrianna,
While some of the apps may offer some features at an upgraded price, I
assure you that you will find what you’re looking for here. If you’re just
looking to transfer music you shouldn’t have a problem using any of the apps
covered here.
are any totally free? i am trying to get what’s on my ipod touch to my new mac, and the majority of the music is burned cd’s from my personal music collection, not purchased on itunes directly. i’ve tried moving my files from my seagate hard drive (i’ve made te pc to mac upgrade), and havent been able to find totally free freeware, or any other solutions for that matter, to transfer my music from my ipod to my mac….
thanks for any help in advance :-)
Adrianna,
While some of the apps may offer some features at an upgraded price, I
assure you that you will find what you’re looking for here. If you’re just
looking to transfer music you shouldn’t have a problem using any of the apps
covered here.
I think you missed another software called sharepod. I actually tried both floola and sharepod trying to copy some audio books to Ipod. Floola is more convenient but it’s quite buggy. Sharepod lacks some floola’s functions but quite stable. Now I stay iwth sharepod.
Sharepod was covered on the other article I alluded to and is a solid app. I
tried to focus on the apps that weren’t previously covered, but I’m glad
Sharepod is working out for you.
Sharepod was covered on the other article I alluded to and is a solid app. I
tried to focus on the apps that weren’t previously covered, but I’m glad
Sharepod is working out for you.
I have had problems with some of these NOT working once you delete itunes from your computer…so, whats the point if you have to keep itunes on your computer anyway?
I have not heard of these problems you’re having and they sound pretty weird
to me. As I mentioned beforehand, you may still need iTunes depending on
what kind of iPod you have, so these programs should suit your needs music,
video, podcast, and information wise, but I can’t guarantee application
transfer.
I have not heard of these problems you’re having and they sound pretty weird
to me. As I mentioned beforehand, you may still need iTunes depending on
what kind of iPod you have, so these programs should suit your needs music,
video, podcast, and information wise, but I can’t guarantee application
transfer.
Thanks for the timely article! I am getting sick of Itunes updates that mess up my perfect setup…
In your opening statement, you mentioned that there were some pros and cons to each software. I didn’t see mention of some of the cons. I suppose that may be outside the scope of this article, but if there are any readers that are aware of some of the cons and peculiarities of each software, it would be great to be read what they had to say and possibly save some time! One other thing that I am specifically looking for is a program that can grab the media I already have on my ipod and sync it to my computer. I would also be interested in something that allows file transferring between my computers the way Itunes does Home Share!
You’ve brought up a good point. When I mentioned pros and cons, I mainly had
compatibility and features in mind. For instance, some of the apps don’t
work with the iPod Touch and some appear to be only for music while others
have video capability.
Thanks for the timely article! I am getting sick of Itunes updates that mess up my perfect setup…
In your opening statement, you mentioned that there were some pros and cons to each software. I didn’t see mention of some of the cons. I suppose that may be outside the scope of this article, but if there are any readers that are aware of some of the cons and peculiarities of each software, it would be great to be read what they had to say and possibly save some time! One other thing that I am specifically looking for is a program that can grab the media I already have on my ipod and sync it to my computer. I would also be interested in something that allows file transferring between my computers the way Itunes does Home Share!
how about SharePod ? drag n drop, babyyy :)
Apparently a lot of people like SharePod. Very nice.
Sharepod is a fabulous program as well.
You’ve brought up a good point. When I mentioned pros and cons, I mainly had
compatibility and features in mind. For instance, some of the apps don’t
work with the iPod Touch and some appear to be only for music while others
have video capability.
DO any of these work for the latest iPod Touch versions please?
Mike,
I own an iPod Touch myself and was searching for an answer for that as well while researching this article. The thing is that none of the apps’ websites explicitly say that they do support the iTouch, so you’re better off just trying them and seeing.
Your best bets are probably MediaMonkey and SharePod.
Mike,
I own an iPod Touch myself and was searching for an answer for that as well while researching this article. The thing is that none of the apps’ websites explicitly say that they do support the iTouch, so you’re better off just trying them and seeing.
Your best bets are probably MediaMonkey and SharePod.
I use SharePod. It’s a single executable I can run directly off the iPod.
http://www.getsharepod.com/
I use SharePod. It’s a single executable I can run directly off the iPod.
http://www.getsharepod.com/
none of the above worked, some of them were brutal to get – how many times must I click.
CopyTrans, installed and worked with iOS4 as well.
So CopyTrans works with the iPhone/iTouch? Excellent if that’s the case.
none of the above worked, some of them were brutal to get – how many times must I click.
CopyTrans, installed and worked with iOS4 as well.
Yamipod is not so great…. it has corrupted my ipod classic a few times. I’ve since switched to sharepod.
i have an ipod touch it is super frustrating to get anything on my dell latitude laptop
so i want to look into song bird and floola
I hope you find success, Jennie.
i have an ipod touch it is super frustrating to get anything on my dell latitude laptop
so i want to look into song bird and floola
sad that songbird abandoned linux users.
Media Jukebox by JRiver is free, very well featured, will auto-create and/or allows you to create your own custom playlists (and is compatible with mosy other playlist formats)—and is a great media player, re-tagger, converter and recorder. You can either drag ‘n drop or simply set it up to sync all files on command
Oh…and it syncs with iPod better and faster than most. It’ll even clear any tracks you’ve delete from your library at each sync.
The only downside might be that the free version doesn’t handle video files.
rstcrat
Wow sounds like a nice find. Thanks for sharing rstcrat!
Hi Steve. Is there any way I can put document files (i.e. – pdf,word,even notepad) onto my iPod nano 4th Generation? Also, is there any way I can get free games on there also? Or at least make it look different and better?
Wow that is a great question raven. I’m not sure whether any of the apps mentioned here are capable of that or not.
It may be best for you to post your question on our answer board so all of the geeks/geniuses can have a crack at it. Here you go: http://www.makeuseof.com/answers/
Media Jukebox by JRiver is free, very well featured, will auto-create and/or allows you to create your own custom playlists (and is compatible with mosy other playlist formats)—and is a great media player, re-tagger, converter and recorder. You can either drag ‘n drop or simply set it up to sync all files on command
Oh…and it syncs with iPod better and faster than most. It’ll even clear any tracks you’ve delete from your library at each sync.
The only downside might be that the free version doesn’t handle video files.
rstcrat
In your opening statement, you mentioned that there were some pros and cons to each software. I didn’t see mention of some of the cons. I suppose that may be outside the scope of this article, but if there are any readers that are aware of some of the cons and peculiarities of each software, it would be great to be read what they had to say and possibly save some time! One other thing that I am specifically looking for is a program that can grab the media I already have on my ipod and sync it to my computer.
I have tried loads of alternatives and CopyTransManager is the only one that works on my Ipod Touch. Some of them are horrendous to work out how to use and that ensures they get binned. Others like Media Monkey and Songbird work at times, not reliably, but screw everything up all the playlists, titles, artists making them useless. Not only is CopyTransManager free but it is easy to use which is what very very few of the others can claim.
Wow that is a great question raven. I’m not sure whether any of the apps mentioned here are capable of that or not.
It may be best for you to post your question on our answer board so all of the geeks/geniuses can have a crack at it. Here you go: http://www.makeuseof.com/answe…
if you have an iPod Nano or Something simpler it will work great for you because you won’t need anything more than music, vids, photos and stuff.. Thanks Steve!
SharePod is a great lightweight app that does everything I need.