Connor Hawke

Q: Syncing overrides file with same name?

I sometimes transfer audio I work on to my iPhone to listen. If I sync an iTunes playlist to my iPhone, and there's a song with the same name between iTunes and the iPhone, but updated content in the iTunes copy, will this always override the older file on the iPhone? This seemed to happen with one file just now, based on 'date added'. Normally I would have first deleted the older file from the iPhone but if it's always overridden by the newer file from iTunes then there's no point.

Posted on Sep 14, 2016 2:39 PM

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Q: Syncing overrides file with same name?

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  • by turingtest2,Apple recommended

    turingtest2 turingtest2 Oct 1, 2016 1:11 PM in response to Connor Hawke
    Level 10 (87,151 points)
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    Oct 1, 2016 1:11 PM in response to Connor Hawke

    ...but if it's always overridden by the newer file from iTunes then there's no point.

     

    Quite. iTunes knows which files have been updated in iTunes and will overwrite the older versions on a device during sync operations. Internally each track has a unique ID in the library so editing track properties won't confuse the process. On the other hand iTunes won't automatically detect if you update a file in an external editor until it has reason to check the file, typically say during playback.

     

    tt2