So, I've done some testing of various ways to get my playlists/music to the phone. I'm one of the iPhone converts, but I still have and like my iPad. And considering how hard it's been to simply get my playlist over, I have come to appreciate the ease at which iTunes did it with my iPhone.
I've found what I think is the ideal setup. Naturally, if you don't care about playlists, just copy your files over to the Music folder. I've tried MediaMonkey, doubleTwist and iSyncr. iSyncr appears to be the best. Here's why:
1. MediaMonkey tries to be your new music manager. If you're not an iDevice person, this may be ok, but it also does weird things when you sync your playlist with the One. First, it copies the song over, but at a single folder level instead of keeping the original subfolders. So, there would be an "Artist Album" folder, and if you had several albums from one artist, they would each be at the top level. This certainly isn't a problem per se, but it doesn't match the standard Artist->Album folder structure that I have on my PC. Also, it doesn't put it in the Music folder. It put it in some strange location. Finally, the actual playlist never showed up in any of my media players.
2. doubleTwist also tries to be a music manager. There is a $5 app to AirSync by doubleTwist, but a lot of the more recent reviews were very critical. So, I didn't install it, because I really didn't want another music manager. And I just read up on iSyncr which did not want to do anything other than connect to iTunes. So I thought I'd try iSyncr before I gave doubleTwist a chance.
3. iSyncr also has a $5 app to sync over WiFi, but the reviews were much better than doubleTwist and most importantly, the desktop app simply connects to iTunes and gives me a checkbox of things to sync. It's very similar to the checkbox/tabbed selection on iTunes after you've plugged your device in. The default sync location is set to "syncr" on the phone, but this can be changed through Settings->WiFi Sync->Sync Folder. This location is also applicable if you sync through the USB cable. Furthermore, it maintains the Artist->Album folder structure which matches most setups. When you select the device from the desktop app, you get a window of media to select. So I can select my playlists, then I can go to different tabs and select by artist, album, genre and podcast. The iSyncr app is really nice as well. If I add a new song to my playlist in iTunes, I simply go to the iSyncr app, select the WiFi tab, pick my playlist to sync and sync.
Now, I can stick with iTunes for my iPad as well as my One.
Update: Forgot to mention the other two options.
4. HTC Sync manager. Just don't.
5. Google Play. Google Play isn't bad, but again it stores the music in an odd location (Android\data\com.google.android.music) if you chose to "keep on device". For me with FiOS 75Mbps connection, the transfer took hours. Don't know why. My FiOS has issues with YouTube and Google Play.
Google Play Music would certainly be my second choice since I keep my music synced with Google music manager for streaming. But, I fly a lot and need my music local to the phone.
I've found what I think is the ideal setup. Naturally, if you don't care about playlists, just copy your files over to the Music folder. I've tried MediaMonkey, doubleTwist and iSyncr. iSyncr appears to be the best. Here's why:
1. MediaMonkey tries to be your new music manager. If you're not an iDevice person, this may be ok, but it also does weird things when you sync your playlist with the One. First, it copies the song over, but at a single folder level instead of keeping the original subfolders. So, there would be an "Artist Album" folder, and if you had several albums from one artist, they would each be at the top level. This certainly isn't a problem per se, but it doesn't match the standard Artist->Album folder structure that I have on my PC. Also, it doesn't put it in the Music folder. It put it in some strange location. Finally, the actual playlist never showed up in any of my media players.
2. doubleTwist also tries to be a music manager. There is a $5 app to AirSync by doubleTwist, but a lot of the more recent reviews were very critical. So, I didn't install it, because I really didn't want another music manager. And I just read up on iSyncr which did not want to do anything other than connect to iTunes. So I thought I'd try iSyncr before I gave doubleTwist a chance.
3. iSyncr also has a $5 app to sync over WiFi, but the reviews were much better than doubleTwist and most importantly, the desktop app simply connects to iTunes and gives me a checkbox of things to sync. It's very similar to the checkbox/tabbed selection on iTunes after you've plugged your device in. The default sync location is set to "syncr" on the phone, but this can be changed through Settings->WiFi Sync->Sync Folder. This location is also applicable if you sync through the USB cable. Furthermore, it maintains the Artist->Album folder structure which matches most setups. When you select the device from the desktop app, you get a window of media to select. So I can select my playlists, then I can go to different tabs and select by artist, album, genre and podcast. The iSyncr app is really nice as well. If I add a new song to my playlist in iTunes, I simply go to the iSyncr app, select the WiFi tab, pick my playlist to sync and sync.
Now, I can stick with iTunes for my iPad as well as my One.
Update: Forgot to mention the other two options.
4. HTC Sync manager. Just don't.
5. Google Play. Google Play isn't bad, but again it stores the music in an odd location (Android\data\com.google.android.music) if you chose to "keep on device". For me with FiOS 75Mbps connection, the transfer took hours. Don't know why. My FiOS has issues with YouTube and Google Play.
Google Play Music would certainly be my second choice since I keep my music synced with Google music manager for streaming. But, I fly a lot and need my music local to the phone.
Last edited:
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