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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

Reply
70 replies

Nov 13, 2017 5:05 PM in response to Tony4Tony

Open your computer's iTunes. This is the multicolored musical note icon on a white background.

2

Click iTunes. It's in the top left corner of the screen.

If you're using a PC, click the Edit tab here instead.

3

Click Preferences. It's toward the bottom of the drop-down menu.

You can also hold down ⌘ Command and tap + (or Ctrl++ for PC users) to open this menu.

4

Select the Devices tab. You'll find it in the top right section of the Preferences window.

5

Click the box at the bottom of the window. It says "Prevent iPods, iPhones, and iPads from syncing automatically" to the right of this box. Clicking it should place a checkmark here.

If there is a checkmark in this box, your iTunes won't open automatically upon connecting an iOS device.

6

Click OK. Doing so will prevent iTunes from automatically adding music to your phone when you connect it.

7

Connect your iPhone to your computer. To do so, plug the large end (the USB portion) of your charger cable into the computer's USB port and plug the small end into your iPhone.

8

Click the device icon. It's shaped like an iPhone; you'll find this option in the upper left section of the iTunes window, above and to the right of the Music sidebar.

If this is the first time you've connected your phone to this computer, check Set Up as New iPhone when prompted and click Continue, then click Get Started.

9

Scroll down and check Manually manage music and videos. It's in the "Options" section of features toward the bottom of the iTunes page.

10

Click Done. It's the blue button in the bottom right corner of the iTunes page.

11

Click Songs. It's in the top left side of the screen underneath the "Library" heading.

Make sure you're clicking Songs under "Library" and not "Devices".

12

once u are done create a playlist in itunes and drag your songs from songs into your new playlist in itunes

13

now from your new playlist select the music u want and right click which should give u a pop up menu there u should see'ADD TO PLAYLIST' and in the ADD TO PLAYLIST u should see your device

14

i tried it and it worked for me so hope u do too...

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.

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.

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!

Jan 1, 2013 2:59 PM in response to karissafrey

Karissafrey, thank you, thank you, and thank you some more! Let us know how we can return the favor.


I was getting so frustrated with my iPhone (iOS 6.0.2) and iTunes 11.0.1 trying to figure out how to put music from two Macs onto one iPhone with the "Add To..." button, or getting nowhere with the sync options.


Thanks to you, I clicked on "iPhone" and then "On This iPhone." Then I went to the "Autofill From:" at the bottom of the page, and then chose the playlist on the Mac that I wanted. Then I double-checked the "Settings..." button, and then I clicked the "Autofill" button.

add songs without syncing to iTunes

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