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add songs without syncing to iTunes

I hate this iTunes sync complication as always! it just *****.

I have synced my iPhone in my previous work computer because my iTunes in my mac is no longer complatible..

now, I have returned the computer at work and it's no longer with me... and I'm STUCK!!!

i can't update songs to this phone without reformatting it first. it ***** because i hate starting back from scratch i have a lot of apps now.


any idea? did they already remove this stupidity in iOS6? I'll wait then

MacBook, Mac OS X (10.5.8)

Posted on Jun 15, 2012 7:00 AM

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Posted on Oct 15, 2012 8:04 PM

if you want to add music from a different computer without syncing and therefore losing all your music from the previous computer, there is a solution. Simply make a new plalist in the itunes with all the songs you want to put on. Then click on the music tab under your iphone. At the bottom left you will see a button that says autofill from: simply choose the afore said created playlist, and then click on autofill in the bottom right corner. The music from the new playlist will transfer to your ihpone, and you will still have all your prevous music. It works perfectly!

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Oct 15, 2012 8:04 PM in response to varjak paw

if you want to add music from a different computer without syncing and therefore losing all your music from the previous computer, there is a solution. Simply make a new plalist in the itunes with all the songs you want to put on. Then click on the music tab under your iphone. At the bottom left you will see a button that says autofill from: simply choose the afore said created playlist, and then click on autofill in the bottom right corner. The music from the new playlist will transfer to your ihpone, and you will still have all your prevous music. It works perfectly!

Apr 26, 2013 10:20 PM in response to karissafrey

I never found the autofill button that karissafrey talked about. I am using iTunes 11.02. I had the same problem that was described initially. I recently got a new computer and I just wanted to upload a few new songs from the new computer to my iPhone without syncing and thereby erasing my iPhone. Here is what worked for me:


1 In iTunes: Select the songs that you want to add to your iPhone.

2 With your iPhone plugged in, click the tringle and select the 'Add To' option (see screenshot)

User uploaded file

3 After clicking 'Add To' you can select you iPhone in the next screen and add the songs to any playlist on it.



That's it.

Jun 15, 2012 7:06 AM in response to sydalmighty

An iOS device can be synched only to a single iTunes library at a time. If you sync to another computer, any content will be erased from your device and replaced by whatever's in iTunes on the new computer. This has been the way it's been since the first iOS device was released, and I've seen nothing to indicate that this is going to change, though of course we won't know until iOS is released.


So you have to transfer your content to the new computer first, before you allow iTunes to sync. See this support article:


http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1848


You can also download most of your content (the notable exceptions being movies, some of which can be redownloaded if you're in the US, and audiobooks) again from the iTunes Store:


http://support.apple.com/kb/ht2519


For content not purchased from the iTunes Store, check out this post from Zevoneer for some iPod/iPhone media recovery options:


http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=10570955#10570955


Regards.

Jul 20, 2013 3:50 PM in response to JCC449

JCC449



This helped me so much! Once I went to manual, iTunes finally stopped asking me to erase everything and sync. I was then able to autofill a playlist I had made. I had mp3 versions of a bunch of songs that I downloaded from a homemade cd. I also copied the files as aac files. I'm not sure which set of files made it over, nor do I care! I just wanted them!!! I was so psyched once I saw the autofill button appear! Thanks so much for sharing your thinking with us. Too bad it took me so long to look this up instead of trying to figure it out on my own!


Brad

Apr 16, 2015 10:48 AM in response to sydalmighty

Dear Sydalmighty,


I found a way for you to transfer your, Personal added/Purchased songs without any hassle to your "I" product. Just follow these steps:


  1. Go to your computer/mac's iTunes program, Go to the top left screen to see a little box, Click on it
  2. Hover over Library
  3. Click, "Turn On Home Sharing"
  4. Then it will bring you to a page
  5. Then enter your credentials
  6. Then click apply

Once you have done that, Switch over to your "I" product. (Easiest to use is the Iphone) And then follow these steps also:

  1. Go to Settings
  2. Then scroll down a little and click, "iTunes & App Store"
  3. Once you are there, make sure you are logged into your apple account
  4. Then go to, "SHOW ALL" and swipe Music and Videos to the right (which is on)
  5. Then scroll down to, "AUTOMATIC DOWNLOADS"
  6. Swipe all of them to on
  7. Then swipe, "Use Cellular Data" to on (Only if you would like to do that, I have it on)

Once that is done, Go to the home screen. Then follow these steps:

  1. Go to the Music app
  2. Then you should see 3 "***" Or dots with More under it, tap on that (its at the bottom right of the screen)
  3. You should see, Albums, Genres, Compilations, Composers and Shared
  4. Tap on Shared
  5. You should then see at the top of the list your phone name or ID
  6. Then you should see some other name, That name should be the name (to find it out go to Network on your computer in the folder program, and click on your computers name, then users, then you should see, Public, Default, Default.migrated (<-- I don't know where this one came from but) and then one more, That will be the one you will see on your phone)
  7. Tap on the one that I just explained
  8. Go to Songs

Your music from your computer will be there, If you have more than a certain amount, It will be placed in categories for easier searching.


I hope that helped Sydalmighty, And anybody else looking to find this out.





Need help? Contact me at Gizzmoboy1234567@gmail.com

Dec 5, 2015 3:44 AM in response to sydalmighty

I found a temporary work-around that is good if you're working from a second computer for now, but will eventually return to a primary computer. This actually allows you to bypass iTunes completely if you want to.


It looks like a lot of steps, but if you are already using Google Drive or Dropbox, it will only take two or three minutes.


  • You will need an account on Google Drive, Dropbox or another similar cloud service. Most offer free accounts with a generous basic file allowance.
  • You can download their computer app onto your PC or Mac and use that folder, or use the online account folder.
  • Download the Drive or Dropbox app on to your iPhone (if you don't already have it). This is a must. Remember to sign in.
  • Create and name a folder in the Dropbox folder on the computer or online site. I use the album name.
  • If it isn't already there, import the music from a CD or other source into the computer you are using. If it already exists in an iTunes folder, you can use that instead.
  • Copy the music files from the computer or iTunes, using a standard Ctrl C copy function.
  • Paste it into the Dropbox folder using the standard Ctrl V paste function.
  • If your settings are correct, the Dropbox folder will automatically sync to your iPhone folder. (This will take a couple minutes depending on your broadband or WiFi speed.)
  • You can then open the Dropbox folder on your phone and play the music directly from there.


When you eventually return to your primary computer you can then import the music into your iTunes account and sync your phone normally.


This works perfectly with music. I haven't tried it with movies or TV shows. But if you are using a free Dropbox account, remember that music takes up a small amount of space. A movie would probably far exceed the free allowance. You might find it a little inconvenient to remember that your music is in a different place on your phone, but it is an excellent temporary solution.

Sep 4, 2012 7:34 AM in response to sydalmighty

iTunes has really made iPhones extremely frustrating and antiquated compared to other smart phones. Apple, by trying to "protect" their iTunes content from being "shared" or "stolen" through forcing iPod/iPhone/iPad users to ONLY sync with one computer at a time has probably lost more revenue than if they made the process more user friendly and open like other devices.


You have an iTunes ID, THAT should be the ONLY factor iTunes considers when allowing content to sync from a computer to a device. When you purchase an app/video/audio product on iTunes, the liscense should be synced to your iTunes ID in the cloud.


Then, you can sync to multiple iTunes instances on multiple computers simply by having you sign in to your iTunes ID.


Further, Syncing is dumb. Apps like Dropbox, Google Music, Google Drive, USB Flash etc. allow you to just drop a file or folder of music/video/documents onto your cloud-synced folder and you can play them directly on your iPhone.


I wish I could just delete my "iPod" app all together, I'll play all my music and podcasts through google drive instead.


Then, I'll buy an android phone when my upgrade is available.

Sep 8, 2012 2:41 AM in response to sydalmighty

Unfortunately songs you may have downloaded via anything-besides-iTunes, will not be transferred. If you opt to "manually manage music and videos", iTunes forces you to erase and sync. Hence, this is not a solution to the problem. However, if you know a little bit about your computer and iPhone/iPod-Touch and root/disc-mode, or... "Google"search the problem, you might find that there are other solutions. If you decide to take a third party route for replacing music in your library, the "manually manage music and videos" option becomes much more desirable.

add songs without syncing to iTunes

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