Q: Sync iTunes between Macs

Hi ...

Setup an iCloud account > Apple - iCloud - Learn how to set up iCloud on all your devices''

That will sync your iTunes library on both your Macs and your iPhone and iPad via W-Fi.

iCloud: Supported system requirements

That will sync your iTunes library on both your Macs and your iPhone and iPad via W-Fi.

???

iCloud has nothing to do with syncing iTunes/computers/iDevices.

And iCloud has nothing to do with syncing over wifi.

how can I sync my music library betwenn my MacBook and MacMini?

You can use Home Sharing to copy everything over.

See this -> http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3819

Carolyn Samit wrote:

 

Hi ...

 

Setup an iCloud account > Apple - iCloud - Learn how to set up iCloud on all your devices''

 

That will sync your iTunes library on both your Macs and your iPhone and iPad via W-Fi.

How exactly?

papalapapp wrote:

 

Thanks Chris! Although it's not a sync it's good to use.

 

I was already streaming my library but I didn't know the Home Sharing option which automatically copies all purchases.

You can copy everything not just purchases.

papalapapp wrote:

 

Yes, that's right. I just wanted to point out that purchases move automatically.

They don't.

I don't know why yours did.

it is correct that people suggest Home Sharing or iCloud, both have their pros and cons.

the reality is that iTunes cannot "sync" among computers / devices the way we natually perceive.

it is to do with Apple's control of copyright purchases, and i think Apple is still working out its Cloud strategy or feature (and in my opinion, it will never match the level of services Google can offer).

with HomeSharing, you can see the shared contents on another device, but there is no syncing and you have to copy manually. also, both devices have to be on the same WiFi network. i won't be able to see shared contents if I am using public WiFi in Starbucks with my MacBook while my iMac is at home on WiFi. but there seems to be a problem to access shared contents on iMac or MB (I am using Lion OSX on both), with devices using IOS6.

with iCloud, the catch is "Purchased" via iTunes Store for music and movies. if I got some music from internet or friend and add to iTunes on iMac, it won't sync to my iTunes on MB.  it will only sync if I purchased music from iTunes ... or you pay to use iTunes Matches services which try to recognize your music library (i think the same applies and Apple will have a way to make sure it is a legal copy) and then push to download to your devices. of course, this does not apply to Pictures, but then you have to pay to use iCloud if you need storage beyond 5GB.

so it is a choice between sync (multiple copies but you can access offline because they are physically stored on your device) and share (one copy but you need internet connection (to the same network for HomeSharing).

I am sure all these are careful calculation and conscious design from Apple ...

and that's the tradeoff you have when you are tied to Apple ecosystem ...

i can see thw way some of these things work are already out of touch.

that is probably because Apple is mainly selling products (hardware and software), instead of services.

e.g. i don't need multiple copy of the same content, just because i have several devices.

ideally, we want one copy, and then able to access any type of content, anywhere, anytime, with any devices.

that's the way to go in my opinion, whether Apple is doing it or not.

Have you seen SuperSync ?

(www.supersync.com)

Seems to do a pretty good job of keeping two separate iTunes libraries in sync with teach other.

It also does a host of stuff around duplicates and MP3 tagging to keep the libraries right

iTunes CAN sync between computers. I'm not sure why you believe it can't. Just connect to a home shared Mac. Expand it in the sidebar and select any list of media (Alt + Command + S will show the sidebar).

Select any media, and click the 'Import' button in the bottom right of the iTunes window. That will copy the media from the HomeShare mac to your local Mac. If you use Command + A and have at least one file selected in the right pane, be that a movie, audio track, or any other media type, it will select all items in that playlist. Click Import, and it will import all the contents of a playlist or even the entire library by type (Movies, Music, etc, depending on which you have selected in the sidebar).

You will also see a dropdown selector at the botto left of the iTunes window that Defaults to "All Items". If you have selected a database or playlist from a HomeShared Mac, yuo can chagne that to "Items not in my Library" to show only those items on the target Mac that are not currently in your local library. Handy for copying only those items that are missing.

Hope that helps.

@DJ.Rumpy:

I think what you are descibing is called "copying".

Syncing - surely - is the automatic replication of changes in one environment to another environment.  So that the two environments are in sync.

Just copying files across, is not syncing.

Lol...You should look at what syncing is. All you are doing is making sure two seperate libraries have the same content. How exactly do you think they will do that, other than copying the content from one to the other? It's not some mystical back-end process that magically materializes files from one side to the other. It's called "copying"...

Although i'm sure you may think your definition of what is and isn't 'syncing' is clever, someone just wanting to sync their iTunes library can indeed use iTunes to sync data (which after all IS just copying files until the two different libraries look the same now isn't it...).

LOL!!!

You should look up the word "automatic".

Any idiot can copy files from one place to another.