Seeking iphone alternative to itunes.

[Bbqjoe]

I recently got a new iphone for a gift.
The whole smartphone thing is new to me, but Apple isn't.

I originally used itunes on my macbook when I got it, only to find that files just up and disappeared without a trace, even albums that I purchased, along with music dl'd from youtoob.

After lots of research I found Swinsian, which is a great program, and I haven't ever lost a file using them.
Unfortunately, it isn't compatible with iphone.

I backed up all my music elsewhere, external drives, thumb, passport etc. and relented to using itunes again.

I put a copy of my music library into itunes, and sync'd it to my phone. Everything was fine for a day or two, then last night a few files wouldn't play. So I went back to itunes on my laptop to resync the whole thing, and bada boom, itunes was empty.
Everything gone without a trace!

There are a number of players out there, but I want absolutely nothing to do with cloud storage.

I'm about to delete all the files from my iphone, and try something else, but now I see some of them are available at the app store, so I'm afraid to trust them either.

Does anyone know of the magic bullet I seek?

VLC appears to be one very stripped down basic option, but it really is stripped of much of everything, and almost reminds me of the days of DOS.

Help?

Thanks,


Joe

 

[mckutzy]

I dont use Itunes anymore... used it to set up my phone when I got it (iPhone 4..).. havent hooked it to the computer since(Im however on PC)....
I think there is no other alt program to use as they have their stuff locked pretty tight....
As for what to do, Im at a loss as to whats happining... I dont even update it with the newest OS as that is detrimental to the running of the phone.... Its at 10. something right now????... im at 6......

 

[Panhead5496]

Let's see if I can help. I'm pretty good with iTunes. Did you make sure to sign in on the computer? That can cause issues I believe.

As for other programs, I'm afraid iTunes is the only way to play music on iPhone.

Weird about it disappearing. I just buy CDs and "rip" it into the PC, then sync after selecting the songs I want on the phone.

@mckutzy, iOS 6?? Wow! They are about to release iOS 11 in the fall I think.

 

[mckutzy]

Ya... Iknow..... I just cant work with the layout on the woman's phone, she upgraded first. I saw a whole host of problems and I just dont like the layout.....

 

[David Ham]

if you pay for Spotify premium ($10 a month), you can download as much music as you want and listen to it offline, if you don't like cloud storage. sometimes they have a deal going for $0.99 per month

 

[MTNSleder]

iTunes, what's that??? I have zero music on my iPhone only use FM radio and YouTube, I sometimes rip music off YouTube on my puter, much easier, it's legal Eh

Grandkids??? No, OK you are therefore screwed goodbye....

 

[itsid]

IDK if it's still around or not.. but back when my iPod (clickwheel and such) was fairly recent I used songbird, which is basically a freeware iTunes clone (it even had a coverflow addon)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Songbird_(software)

okay that's likely too old to deal with current ios...

nightingale? (a community port of songbird)
https://sourceforge.net/projects/ngale/

*shrugs* IDK.. I switched back to iTunes
(10 on this pc and 12 on the new one to be able to back up my phone every now and then [ios 9.05 as it was delivered! updates SUCK!])
I lose my medialibrary on a more or less regular basis
(but not the files, just the itunes library... due to a faulty sector on one of my hdds it tends to use)
but I backed up that xml and can reset it with just a few clicks (delete the faulty one, copy backup into folder.. done)

that behaviour you're talking about sounds like it's basically your fault though tbh..
(well a crappy iTunes behaviour to eal with digital rights management)
Set your phone (in itunes) to NOT sync music automatically, that way it'll never delete music from the phone,
(which it would if the file is not on the computer you are trying to sync from)

also if you set iTunes to organise your music files, it'll move them to a different folder (itunes\music\...) the exact path can be found in the itunes settings.
So they seem to be lost if you're assuming them to be in the folder you pointed iTunes to to grab them.

both of these settings are AFAIK default with an iTunes installation and cause lots of frustration.

Once that's setup according to your needs.. iTunes makes a nice audio player and helps you backup/maintain your phone.
(oh you can even disable updates if you like *gg*)

'sid

 

[MTNSleder]

@mckutzy, iOS 6?? Wow! They are about to release iOS 11 in the fall I think.

Beat you to it Panhead decided to go ahead and get iOS 11 beta before everyone else

 

[mckutzy]

Ironic note to not having upgraded either OS or the actual phone itself(Iphone 4,no 4S or the like just 4).......earlier today.... it died.....dead...... no turny ony no more......... just black........
I relented to ask the woman......what was her phone number....... a question I havent asked in about 10years.........When I met her.......

(ya you could hear my head being held in shame)............society to day.....funny that.....

 

[itsid]

Ironic note to not having upgraded either OS or the actual phone itself(Iphone 4,no 4S or the like just 4).......earlier today.... it died.....dead...... no turny ony no more......... just black........
I relented to ask the woman......what was her phone number....... a question I havent asked in about 10years.........When I met her.......

(ya you could hear my head being held in shame)............society to day.....funny that.....

yeah that happened to my 4s by accident..
perfectly working phone, wanted to remove the over the air update (to free up the memory) and the "scrolling thumb" hit the "install now" button for a split second...
update rendered it useless (update stops with a 'not enough memory'' error and it refuses to get wiped in iTunes...
it'd be soo nice if it'd juts let me uninstall one or two apps to free up memory;
much nicer if it'd just revert to old ios; it'd even help if the phone would allow me to back it up properly and then wipe itself... actually that'd be easy ... very easy for them to implement such hooks in ios
to prevent such things from happening.
Anyways..
iPhone 6 ios 9.0 (jailbroken just to have a shell for the next ota update that tries to kill it) no update .. ever!
updates serve just ONE purpose: "reduce the devices lifespan!"

if you want to use your device for more than the two years apple likes you to, do not update the ios!

'sid

 

[ezcome-ezgo]

This is the official "Not Interesting" thread.

 

[Bbqjoe]

Well then don't open it Dammit!!!

 

[mckutzy]

So..... Aparently it does work... Just operator error....
Error....... I'm really not likeing this...
When froze up like that...It needed the 2buttons to be held down together, then it'll reset and reboot.

I already did that.... No go... Nothing...
Buddy at apple store, does it in a few seconds...turns on and reloads...

I told buddy I just went out and got another phone... Huawei special something... Wasnt happy at all...
It however it was free with my plan... But none the less... I almost smashed it there in the store... I was so mad...
Now I just pared it(the iPhone, turned iPod) with the new one...

 

[Panhead5496]

Beat you to it Panhead decided to go ahead and get iOS 11 beta before everyone else

Oh sweet man! When do you get it? Keep us posted

 

[mckutzy]

Naaaa.... 6.1.2 FTW.....
That's how I roll....

 

[MTNSleder]

So..... Aparently it does work... Just operator error....
Error....... I'm really not likeing this...
When froze up like that...It needed the 2buttons to be held down together, then it'll reset and reboot.

I already did that.... No go... Nothing...
Buddy at apple store, does it in a few seconds...turns on and reloads...

I told buddy I just went out and got another phone... Huawei special something... Wasnt happy at all...
It however it was free with my plan... But none the less... I almost smashed it there in the store... I was so mad...
Now I just pared it(the iPhone, turned iPod) with the new one...

There's Flip phone In a warehouse in China waiting for you

 

[MTNSleder]

Oh sweet man! When do you get it? Keep us posted

Got it few days back...

Control panel got a redesign, you can edit icons you want on the control panel, don't really like it...

Few new app icons...

I'll share more problems when they come up

 

[Bbqjoe]

Got it few days back...

Control panel got a redesign, you can edit icons you want on the control panel, don't really like it...

Few new app icons...

I'll share more problems when they come up

Be careful.

I bet it catches on fire in your pocket!

 

[Panhead5496]

Got it few days back...

Control panel got a redesign, you can edit icons you want on the control panel, don't really like it...
Few new app icons...

I'll share more problems when they come up

:arf: the control panel looks ridiculous. WAY too much to look at

 

[mckutzy]

There's Flip phone In a warehouse in China waiting for you

hahaha...... thats is pretty funny......I almost said screw it and went back to my Sony Ericsson 810I... I fricken loved that phone....had 3 of them... one to use... the others were parts...