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Richard8655

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Mar 11, 2009
1,925
1,372
Chicago suburbs
With iTunes probably ending, where does that leave syncing, backup, restore, upgrade, etc. via computer? A replacement app or iCloud only? Thoughts?
 

Falhófnir

macrumors 603
Aug 19, 2017
6,146
7,001
I suppose they might finally just allow drag and drop between Mac/iOS device using finder for files, videos, music etc? Not sure as far as backup/restore goes, particularly if you have backups in iTunes already...
 

muzzy996

macrumors 65816
Feb 16, 2018
1,116
1,060
With iTunes probably ending, where does that leave syncing, backup, restore, upgrade, etc. via computer? A replacement app or iCloud only? Thoughts?

Not worried in the slightest - I haven’t used iTunes in ages (I’m all Android for phones and iPad for tablets). I do wonder though what Windows users that heavily rely on iTunes for podcast and playlist management are going to do when Apple stops further development on iTunes. I haven’t seen a clear indication on tech sites on whether individual app development will be cross platform, most seem to only discuss MacOS support (which makes sense).
 

circatee

Contributor
Nov 30, 2014
4,494
3,052
Georgia, USA
For podcasts, can't one simply obtain them via the iOS Podcast app? Curious...

Not worried in the slightest - I haven’t used iTunes in ages (I’m all Android for phones and iPad for tablets). I do wonder though what Windows users that heavily rely on iTunes for podcast and playlist management are going to do when Apple stops further development on iTunes. I haven’t seen a clear indication on tech sites on whether individual app development will be cross platform, most seem to only discuss MacOS support (which makes sense).
 

richpjr

macrumors 68040
May 9, 2006
3,763
2,594
I'd be shocked if that all went away. I am expecting that they will take the bloated, overweight, sluggish pig that is iTunes and split it into several smaller, sluggish piglet apps that we will still be cursing.
 
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Newtons Apple

Suspended
Mar 12, 2014
22,757
15,254
Jacksonville, Florida
And not only that, would rather not eat up iCloud limited free space and rather use local storage with plenty of capacity.

I do not use the iCloud except for the iPhone backup. All data and docs are on DropBox. I also back up my iPhone, iPads on iTunes.

I keep most of my data on my devices, that is why I bought them with max memory.
 

Richard8655

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Mar 11, 2009
1,925
1,372
Chicago suburbs
I do not use the iCloud except for the iPhone backup. All data and docs are on DropBox. I also back up my iPhone, iPads on iTunes.

I keep most of my data on my devices, that is why I bought them with max memory.

I buy my iPads with the lowest possible memory (frugality or cheapness, I guess), and just keep everything to my Mac's (Mac Mini) 1TB SSD drive in my WiFi network, where there's plenty of space. I also try to avoid iCloud except for sharing photos between devices.

I see Apple just announced a tool will now be located via the sidebar in Finder on Macs for syncing, backup, restore, etc. to replace that iTunes functionality for IOS devices.
 
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darthastuart

macrumors member
Aug 1, 2010
43
1
I see Apple just announced a tool will now be located via the sidebar in Finder on Macs for syncing, backup, restore, etc. to replace that iTunes functionality for IOS devices.

I wonder how this will work with an iTunes library, though? I’ve always had a love/hate relationship with iTunes but I do have a library that goes back a few years with playlists, smart playlists, etc.

So I wonder if we will be able to make an iPad’s music library the “home” library and sync from it...so that we won’t need to hook up to a PC or Mac to sync from there anymore?

I’ve avoided Apple Music and iTunes Sync because they have really messed up my mp3 tags in the past (I have a lot of bootlegs, alternate versions and live versions, and it just retags them wholesale) so I hope this doesn’t create reliance on that...I would love to have a “home” music library on iPad that I can sync to my iPhone somehow. Hmm.
 
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PBG4 Dude

macrumors 601
Jul 6, 2007
4,361
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The Music app still retains audio/video/picture synchronizing with iOS devices. You can use the Music app to backup/restore data. You can also use Finder to backup/restore data. Finder and Music display the same UI to perform backup/restore functions.

At least, this is how it worked for me so far.
 
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darthastuart

macrumors member
Aug 1, 2010
43
1
The Music app still retains audio/video/picture synchronizing with iOS devices. You can use the Music app to backup/restore data. You can also use Finder to backup/restore data. Finder and Music display the same UI to perform backup/restore functions.

At least, this is how it worked for me so far.

Thanks...so based on this, safe to say that a Mac or PC is still necessary to maintain an offline music library at this point...
 
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