Copy stuff from PC/iTunes to my girlfriend's iPhone without "erasing everything"

[brdeveloper]

This is embarrassing... I never had any problem to copy from/to a Symbian-based phone (I miss you N95 8GB and N8). Then I moved to Android and I saw the first problem with file copying: I need an external app (Android File Transfer.app) to transfer anything from/to my Galaxy Note.

So I gave an iPhone 5C to my girlfriend in the last Christmas. In terms of filesystem protection, this is the stupidiest thing I have ever seen on a smartphone. Sorry for my complaints, but I'm really nervous. I'm just trying to copy a music library she has on her PC and iTunes says "I can only copy stuff from here if you erase your phone".

Someday I copied a couple of pictures from her iPhone to my Macbook and it appears that her phone is permanently bound to my Mac now, and the only way for giving ownership from her iPhone to her PC is by formatting the phone.

@#%@%$%$ WTF, Apple? Did you build smartphones or smartbaits? Now I understand in depth what the term "jailbreak" means. You can't really do nothing barely useful without installing a third-party firmware from someone who I don't know and will possibly steal my data and passwords just to get a really simple thing working: ability for transferring files from and to a PC.

In short, my question is: is there a way for transferring a couple of mp3 files to her iPhone without formatting it? Please prove me that I'm a stupid guy by not knowing a really simple procedure. Thanks!

 

[Technarchy]

This is embarrassing... I never had any problem to copy from/to a Symbian-based phone (I miss you N95 8GB and N8). Then I moved to Android and I saw the first problem with file copying: I need an external app (Android File Transfer.app) to transfer anything from/to my Galaxy Note.

So I gave an iPhone 5C to my girlfriend in the last Christmas. In terms of filesystem protection, this is the stupidiest thing I have ever seen on a smartphone. Sorry for my complaints, but I'm really nervous. I just trying to copy a music library she has on her PC and iTunes says "I can only copy stuff from here if you erase your phone".

Someday I copied a couple of pictures from her iPhone to my Macbook and it appears that her phone is permanently bound to my Mac now, and the only way for giving ownership from her iPhone to her PC is by formatting the phone.

@#%@%$%$ WTF, Apple? Did you build smartphones or smartbaits? Now I understand in depth what the term "jailbreak" means. You can't really do nothing barely useful without installing a third-party firmware from someone who I don't know and will possibly steal my data and passwords just to get a really simple thing working: ability for transferring files from and to a PC.

In short, my question is: is there a way for transferring a couple of mp3 files to her iPhone without formatting it? Please prove me that I'm a stupid guy by not knowing a really simple procedure. Thanks!

Dump it into dropbox, Google Drive or Google Play Music...

I seriously don't think I've connected a phone to a PC to transfer data in about 3 years. Since the iPhone 4S.

 

[iolinux333]

@#%@%$%$ WTF, Apple? Did you build smartphones or smartbaits? Now I understand in depth what the term "jailbreak" means. You can't really do nothing barely useful without installing a third-party firmware from someone who I don't know and will possibly steal my data and passwords just to get a really simple thing working: ability for transferring files from and to a PC.

I know, right?

Yet still millions of bootlickers defend them.

It's entirely about them trying to force you to buy music from them.

Google is trying to do the same thing now.

Someday maybe we will have entirely open source mobile operating systems and this will all be just a bad memory.

 

[brdeveloper]

I know, right?

Yet still millions of bootlickers defend them.

It's entirely about them trying to force you to buy music from them.

Google is trying to do the same thing now.

Someday maybe we will have entirely open source mobile operating systems and this will all be just a bad memory.

Now I'm thinking if it is possible configuring a web server on my home lan, the I'll expose a zip-compressed music library and then download it through Safari.

I remember that my first issue with her iPhone was transferring contacts from a Nokia 701. The only way to get the contacts imported was putting a .vcf file into a home webserver (the built-in osx php interpreter can do this through a php -S localhost:8000 -t /path/to/library). Then I pointed the phone's browser to the .vcf URL so I could download the contacts to iPhone.

Maybe I can do the same to import a music library to iPhone...

 

[Menel]

This is embarrassing... I never had any problem to copy from/to a Symbian-based phone (I miss you N95 8GB and N8). Then I moved to Android and I saw the first problem with file copying: I need an external app (Android File Transfer.app) to transfer anything from/to my Galaxy Note.

So I gave an iPhone 5C to my girlfriend in the last Christmas. In terms of filesystem protection, this is the stupidiest thing I have ever seen on a smartphone. Sorry for my complaints, but I'm really nervous. I'm just trying to copy a music library she has on her PC and iTunes says "I can only copy stuff from here if you erase your phone".

Someday I copied a couple of pictures from her iPhone to my Macbook and it appears that her phone is permanently bound to my Mac now, and the only way for giving ownership from her iPhone to her PC is by formatting the phone.

@#%@%$%$ WTF, Apple? Did you build smartphones or smartbaits? Now I understand in depth what the term "jailbreak" means. You can't really do nothing barely useful without installing a third-party firmware from someone who I don't know and will possibly steal my data and passwords just to get a really simple thing working: ability for transferring files from and to a PC.

In short, my question is: is there a way for transferring a couple of mp3 files to her iPhone without formatting it? Please prove me that I'm a stupid guy by not knowing a really simple procedure. Thanks!

It will only wipe and reset media library. Not entire iPhone.

It's a single user device, you should have never paired it to your library. Still, it's an easy fix.

They just want to make sure they wipe the previous 'owners' library due to copyright, and setup a new clean library for the new owner.

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Now I'm thinking if it is possible configuring a web server on my home lan, the I'll expose a zip-compressed music library and then download it through Safari.

I remember that my first issue with her iPhone was transferring contacts from a Nokia 701. The only way to get the contacts imported was putting a .vcf file into a home webserver (the built-in osx php interpreter can do this through a php -S localhost:8000 -t /path/to/library). Then I pointed the phone's browser to the .vcf URL so I could download the contacts to iPhone.

Maybe I can do the same to import a music library to iPhone...

1. That will not work.

2. That is not the "ONLY' way to get contacts into it, OMG, that is probably the most difficult way. Holy cow man.

All you had to do was import the .vcf file into iCloud, Yahoo, GMail, Outlook, Hotmail... whatever pick your poison!, and sync it down.

 

[AlanShutko]

More importantly, if you sync from multiple places, where does it update play counts? Where are smart playlists managed? If you buy music on the phone, which library owns it and should get the new songs transferred?

 

[brdeveloper]

More importantly, if you sync from multiple places, where does it update play counts? Where are smart playlists managed? If you buy music on the phone, which library owns it and should get the new songs transferred?

You're talking about a no-issue. This is Apple's problem. Nokia had (and I think it still has) its own "iTunes" and it's called "Nokia Suite" and, surprise, Nokia phones could be bound to an unlimited number of computers and supported bi-directional syncing.

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2. That is not the "ONLY' way to get contacts into it, OMG, that is probably the most difficult way. Holy cow man.

All you had to do was import the .vcf file into iCloud, Yahoo, GMail, Outlook, Hotmail... whatever pick your poison!, and sync it down.

I tried sending the file through Gmail (and download it through Google's Gmail app). I couldn't download. Maybe it works in Mail.app, but to me the webserver stuff is easier and I don't need any internet connection active.

Come on, guys, looks like browsing your filesystems is such a geeky and very advanced thing to do. No, I can't agree with you... we should be able to access our files. It's not Apple's business if I want do drop a file on my phone.

At least, this was the understanding of Nokia and even Samsung and their Android phones.

 

[Menel]

You're talking about a no-issue. This is Apple's problem. Nokia had (and I think it still has) its own "iTunes" and it's called "Nokia Suite" and, surprise, Nokia phones could be bound to an unlimited number of computers and supported bi-directional syncing.

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I tried sending the file through Gmail (and download it through Google's Gmail app). I couldn't download. Maybe it works in Mail.app, but to me the webserver stuff is easier and I don't need any internet connection active.

Come on, guys, looks like browsing your filesystems is such a geeky and very advanced thing to do. No, I can't agree with you... we should be able to access our files. It's not Apple's business if I want do drop a file on my phone.

At least, this was the understanding of Nokia and even Samsung and their Android phones.

Wow. No. Not through GMail's app.

You goto gmail.com on your PC.
Click on contacts.
Import .vcf file.

Back on iPhone, goto Settings
Mail/Calendar config,
Configure GMail and it will sync contacts down.

And it will stay in sync!

The process is the same for hotmail, outlook, yahoo, icloud, etc.

 

[aristobrat]

So I gave an iPhone 5C to my girlfriend in the last Christmas. In terms of filesystem protection, this is the stupidiest thing I have ever seen on a smartphone. Sorry for my complaints, but I'm really nervous. I'm just trying to copy a music library she has on her PC and iTunes says "I can only copy stuff from here if you erase your phone".

That's how Apple's handled syncing music since 2001, when they introduced the first iPod.

Fine to disagree with that, but for someone with as much Apple hardware and developer experience as you exhibit in your other threads, it's hard to believe that you're only just now coming to understand a 13-year-old policy that Apple's had in regards to how to get music to an iDevice.

Someday I copied a couple of pictures from her iPhone to my Macbook and it appears that her phone is permanently bound to my Mac now, and the only way for giving ownership from her iPhone to her PC is by formatting the phone.

FWIW, the Image Capture app on your Mac can copy pictures from iOS devices without any "binding" of said devices to your Mac.

In short, my question is: is there a way for transferring a couple of mp3 files to her iPhone without formatting it?

Not in a manner that the Music app will see. If you don't care about which app plays it, install an app like GoodReader on her iPhone, and then use iTunes to copy the MP3 files into the GoodReader app. AFAIK, you can drop any type of file in GoodReader. I use it to shuttle files between work and home all of the time.

http://www.goodiware.com/gr-man-tr-usb.html

 

[brdeveloper]

That's how Apple's handled syncing music since 2001, when they introduced the first iPod.

Fine to disagree with that, but for someone with as much Apple hardware and developer experience as you exhibit in your other threads, it's hard to believe that you're only just now coming to understand a 13-year-old policy that Apple's had in regards to how to get music to an iDevice.


FWIW, the Image Capture app on your Mac can copy pictures from iOS devices without any "binding" of said devices to your Mac.


Not in a manner that the Music app will see. If you don't care about which app plays it, install an app like GoodReader on her iPhone, and then use iTunes to copy the MP3 files into the GoodReader app. AFAIK, you can drop any type of file in GoodReader. I use it to shuttle files between work and home all of the time.

http://www.goodiware.com/gr-man-tr-usb.html

Sorry for being rough and thanks for the goodreader advice. I'm not used to iStuff operation. Also, I'm not a big fan of such things like a device ecosystem. To me, a good device must connect to anything through various ways, even more taking into account that iPhone has hardware support for doing this. I don't like software restrictions just for the sake of business.

I just bought an iPhone to my girlfriend because... really, I don't know why. Better saying, I know: I bought it because I wanted to have an iPhone at home just for checking its coolness factor. I offered her an Android phone and she preferred the Apple one because it is really cool at first looking.

On the contrary of USA, iPhones are only becoming popular over the last couple of years in Brazil. They were pretty expensive, but now someone can buy an iPhone 4S 8GB for "just" USD 500,00. That's why most of us are used to other brands and operating systems, like Symbian and Android. I was aware that Apple restricted filesystem access on their iDevices, but didn't know it was so aggressive. I know, people that use iDevices for then years won't even note this aggressive approach to "protecting Apple's business", but a new adopter will eventually find it offensive.

I miss Symbian. It was a really great OS, a kind of swiss army knife. It was capable of connecting virtually to anything, from computers to TVs and even other brands' smartphones mostly out of box. It got offline GPS navigation way before most phones even had a GPS chip. They were capable of streaming music to any cheap FM radio. USB host and HDMI cables were provided together with the phone. No arguments can convince me that Nokia's collapse was caused only by Nokia's fault. N8 and N808 were great products on their time.

Now, I use my rooted Galaxy Note. I got some toy-apps, like Foursquare or Instagram, but the real functionality -- the swiss knife stuff was lost. Sorry for the big post. Maybe someday I'll be used to be "bound to an ecosystem".

 

[iolinux333]

Here is what I have been doing lately:


All of my music is ripped from CDs and organized into folders on on my Mac in OS X, the way we all did it in the WinAmp days before Apple screwed everything up.

So get this:

http://www.icopybot.com/itunes-backup-manager.htm

and install it under OS x or Windows and that will let you get at the accessible file structure on the phone.


Also install this:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/file-manager-free/id479295290?mt=8

on your iPhone, because it lets you move files around a bit, and also has a built in music player that's simple but will play by folder.

Then create a bunch of folders with iBackupBot on your iPhone under the FileManager directory, and dump all your mp3s in the way you'd like them organized.

Play around with the two programs you'll figure it out, it works pretty well.

This is how I finally got rid of iTunes. iTunes sucks.

Of course Apple hates us doing this and is slowly eliminating software from the app store that lets us have any sort of control over music on our phone, even when we paid for it. They are mad when we don't pay THEM for the music, they want their cut.


And I agree Symbian was amazing for its time. Nokia didn't stay with the times though, their user interface was too complicated for the average person of the day. Most people could figure it out these days because they're all used to iPhone/Android, but back then it was just too much of a learning curve.

In the same way, Apple isn't staying with the times and will probably be dead in 5 years. Five years ago no one could have imagined that Nokia would be dead. Same with Apple today. Oh well, whatever, the world still turns.

 

[brdeveloper]

Here is what I have been doing lately:


All of my music is ripped from CDs and organized into folders on on my Mac in OS X, the way we all did it in the WinAmp days before Apple screwed everything up.

So get this:

http://www.icopybot.com/itunes-backup-manager.htm

and install it under OS x or Windows and that will let you get at the accessible file structure on the phone.


Also install this:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/file-manager-free/id479295290?mt=8

on your iPhone, because it lets you move files around a bit, and also has a built in music player that's simple but will play by folder.

Then create a bunch of folders with iBackupBot on your iPhone under the FileManager directory, and dump all your mp3s in the way you'd like them organized.

Play around with the two programs you'll figure it out, it works pretty well.

This is how I finally got rid of iTunes. iTunes sucks.

Of course Apple hates us doing this and is slowly eliminating software from the app store that lets us have any sort of control over music on our phone, even when we paid for it. They are mad when we don't pay THEM for the music, they want their cut.


And I agree Symbian was amazing for its time. Nokia didn't stay with the times though, their user interface was too complicated for the average person of the day. Most people could figure it out these days because they're all used to iPhone/Android, but back then it was just too much of a learning curve.

In the same way, Apple isn't staying with the times and will probably be dead in 5 years. Five years ago no one could have imagined that Nokia would be dead. Same with Apple today. Oh well, whatever, the world still turns.

Thanks for the tip. I'll check it.

Regarding the Apple's business model, I think it doesn't follow Apple origins. Apple II and Macintosh were successful because it was expandable and hardware limitations were circumvented by software. Now, Apple's iPhone has a powerful hardware, but it artificially limits its functionalities. This still happens with Macs, but it surprisingly doesn't with iPhone.

 

[iolinux333]

Thanks for the tip. I'll check it.

Regarding the Apple's business model, I think it doesn't follow Apple origins. Apple II and Macintosh were successful because it was expandable and hardware limitations were circumvented by software. Now, Apple's iPhone has a powerful hardware, but it artificially limits its functionalities. This still happens with Macs, but it surprisingly doesn't with iPhone.

Yes I don't understand why they can't see they are destroying themselves to hang on to a dead business model. Nokia couldn't see it. Blackberry can't see it. Now apple can't see it. "How the mighty have fallen."

 

[Menel]

Yes I don't understand why they can't see they are destroying themselves to hang on to a dead business model. Nokia couldn't see it. Blackberry can't see it. Now apple can't see it. "How the mighty have fallen."

Hitting record sales figures, do not indicate a dying business model. Their numbers are still strong for a reason, good products and model.

1q13 37.4
1q14 43.7
Significant grown same quarter yr-yr.
https://www.macrumors.com/

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Of course Apple hates us doing this and is slowly eliminating software from the app store that lets us have any sort of control over music on our phone, even when we paid for it. They are mad when we don't pay THEM for the music, they want their cut.

.

Blatant lies. FUD.

Spotify, Google Music, Rdio, Songza, etc are all available and similar such services. Pick your poison.

 

[brdeveloper]

Hitting record sales figures, do not indicate a dying business model. Their numbers are still strong for a reason, good products and model.

1q13 37.4
1q14 43.7
Significant grown same quarter yr-yr.
https://www.macrumors.com/

----------



Blatant lies. FUD.

Spotify, Google Music, Rdio, Songza, etc are all available and similar such services. Pick your poison.

I think the iPhone is the top seller because 99% of american consumers have an iPhone (ok, I'm exaggerating) and USA is probably responsible for 50%+ of smartphone market share worldwide. The rest of the world -- think about India, China, Brazil, sub-saarian Africa and so on -- buys mainly 2G GSM phones with 320x240px or even lower res. displays. There's a lot of room for expanding the smartphone market, and with Apple pricing policies I don't think iPhone sales will grow up in the long term.

iStuff business model is very well adapted to the US market, but it is not so good outside it. I think the statistics which mix dumbphones and smartphones market share are more realistic since they show the potential for smartphone market expansion.

 

[Menel]

I think the iPhone is the top seller because 99% of american consumers have an iPhone (ok, I'm exaggerating) and USA is probably responsible for 50%+ of smartphone market share worldwide. The rest of the world -- think about India, China, Brazil, sub-saarian Africa and so on -- buys mainly 2G GSM phones with 320x240px or even lower res. displays. There's a lot of room for expanding the smartphone market, and with Apple pricing policies I don't think iPhone sales will grow up in the long term.

iStuff business model is very well adapted to the US market, but it is not so good outside it. I think the statistics which mix dumbphones and smartphones market share are more realistic since they show the potential for smartphone market expansion.

Can't argue that. iPhone's are expensive.