Once you have your iPhone all set up do you still need iTunes?

[braddick]

If you have your iPhone set up exactly as you like it- what with your music and apps; iBooks; podcasts and videos, do you still need to charge using iTunes?

Would your iPhone need then only to be plugged into an outlet and unless there are any updates you want down the road, never use iTunes again?
Or, is iTunes sync providing behind the scenes activity that is necessary for a smooth running iPhone?

 

[BJMRamage]

I use iTunes and send songs over to the iPhone.

I have a 32gb phone and 3-4 times that alone in songs so occasionally add more songs to it...usually not removing songs though.

 

[M87]

No reason at all to connect to iTunes unless you prefer to use it for some reason. My 4S has never been synced to a computer.

 

[BluePhoenixRa]

Yes, you need iTunes even after set-up. Though that line is diminishing slowly cause of iCloud, you still need it to put songs/videos from your computer on your device.
But you don't really need it to put books and apps, you can just download them straight from iTunes on the iPhone.

You don't necessarily need to plug your iPhone to the computer, you could have it sync via wifi connection. You can have it auto-back up and sync via the cloud.
And you most definitely don't need iTunes to charge your device

You also don't need to connect it to iTunes for software upgrades. When new updates are avilable you will see a badge on the Settings icon. Then just go to Settings --> General --> Software Update =)

 

[Online]

I have never plugged my iPhone to the computer. Do updates and back up via the cloud. I use Amazon for my music.

 

[brandyboot]

i only plug my phone to computer each time my charger decide to go for a walk...

 

[boomhower]

If you get all of your media from iTunes, no. You can download all your media from there and also update it from the phone. That said, I don't know a soul who gets all of their media from iTunes.

 

[braddick]

If you get all of your media from iTunes, no. You can download all your media from there and also update it from the phone. That said, I don't know a soul who gets all of their media from iTunes.

Admittedly, I do. Don't know whether that's good or bad, but all I own was downloaded via iTunes.

I'm going to simply plug my iPhone into an electrical outlet for awhile and see if that works out ok instead of always syncing with iTunes.

 

[vistadude]

I think you need it if you want to update iOS from 5 to 6, and also to make backups. But you don't need it for day to day use. I go many months before syncing.

 

[Primejimbo]

if you make custom ring tones you do need iTunes to add them.

 

[boomhower]

Admittedly, I do. Don't know whether that's good or bad, but all I own was downloaded via iTunes.

I'm going to simply plug my iPhone into an electrical outlet for awhile and see if that works out ok instead of always syncing with iTunes.

I'm not saying it's bad by any means. I'm just saying most get them from more sources. Amazon has a lot of really great deals on mp3s for instance. Limiting yourself to one source is, well, limiting.

 

[Interstella5555]

I'm confused, are you asking if you need to charge your phone with iTunes? iTunes doesn't charge the phone, so I'm going with no unless I'm wildly misunderstanding this.

 

[Technarchy]

I havent plugged my i4S into iTunes in about 6 weeks. This is the norm for me.

 

[braddick]

I'm confused, are you asking if you need to charge your phone with iTunes? iTunes doesn't charge the phone, so I'm going with no unless I'm wildly misunderstanding this.

As others have answered, my concern was not simply charging but syncing with iTunes and the necessity to do so.

I now have it confirmed that unless there are changes to be made- updates in apps, adding songs (although that isn't totally necessary) or installing updated OS, iTunes is not required to keep an iPhone running healthy and happy.

 

[james92se]

So just so I'm clear:

I recently sold my 4S. I had about 5 gigs of music on my phone, some of which was purchased directly on the device but all of it purchased directly through iTunes over the years. I was under the impression I needed to sync my old phone to the computer to "send" the on-the-phone purchased music to the computer, as well as to back it up my entire music library. And then when I get the new iPhone that I needed to get all my music onto the 5 from the computer. I did back up via iCloud immediately before wiping the phone clean.

So iTunes/computer crap is unnecessary? There was no need to sync to the computer? iCloud DOES back up music?

If so, fantastic. I've always hated iTunes. I've been using it for 5 years now and never did quite fully understand it. It always deletes crap off my phone, or sends crap to my phone I don't want, etc. My relationship with iTunes has been incredibly frustrating over the years and if I don't ever have to fool with it again that will be fine by me.

 

[CASLondon]

As others have answered, my concern was not simply charging but syncing with iTunes and the necessity to do so.

I now have it confirmed that unless there are changes to be made- updates in apps, adding songs (although that isn't totally necessary) or installing updated OS, iTunes is not required to keep an iPhone running healthy and happy.

Not neccessary, but pretty useful to keep as an option. You are putting your faith in cloud computing not to have a hiccup. I would recommend to any of my friends keeping the itunes option for backups, purchased apps at a minimum. You can always store your music and videos in other software, but I would keep local phone backups for sure. Also, if you accidentally change your cloud settings on phone, then put them back, you could easily delete icloud data from your phone and have no options to restore.

Why not just keep it as option, use other music software, and not rely on itunes for regular use?