itunes alternative?

[sjleworthy]

forgive me if i'm in the wrong forum, but it gets good replies in here

i HATE itunes. cant stand it. never never use it. all my apps are purchased directly to my device, and i cant update my firmware because there aren't any updates anymore.
Every now and then i do use itunes, but it's sooooo horrid to use i quickly bail out.

ie,

1) why the heck cant i individually drag and drop individual apps over to my ipod like i can with music and vids?????? crazy

2) in the device's 'Apps' tab in itunes, as soon as i click on the 'sync apps' button it completely re-arranges all my screens. WTF is happening there? why wont it just leave my screens alone?

all i want to do is individually drag and drop apps over like with music and videos.

so.....

What are the itunes alternatives that let me drag and drop whatever i want into whatever device i want?
I dont mind paying good money for the software because this 'syncing' rubbish in itunes is truly doing my head in.

i'll just use itunes for authorisation and firmware updates then.

thanks

 

[Peteo]

I'm not sure about apps, but media monkey for windows is awesome and free. Can drag and drop music very easily, no iTunes needed.

 

[sjleworthy]

yeah, i'm looking for a software that'll allow me to manage/drag drop apps just like music and video.

 

[chevyguy]

I found a program, by chance looking for an alternative to ITunes for when I get my IPad 2, haven't used it yet, but it's free and it's called CopyTransManager. Not sure if it works with apps or your IPod, maybe if you try it out, you can give some feedback on it? There's a pay program called IPod Magic by Xilisoft, if the free on I mentioned doesn't work. I haven't tried it either, just happened to see it.

Phil

 

[sjleworthy]

I found a program, by chance looking for an alternative to ITunes for when I get my IPad 2, haven't used it yet, but it's free and it's called CopyTransManager. Not sure if it works with apps or your IPod, maybe if you try it out, you can give some feedback on it? There's a pay program called IPod Magic by Xilisoft, if the free on I mentioned doesn't work. I haven't tried it either, just happened to see it.

Phil

cheers, but the trouble is i cant find any alternative that manages apps. only music and video, which itunes isn't an issue with me.

 

[Lifet1me]

I hated itunes at the beginning too, and still not like it since it has it moments where u think "WTF..." and it does unpredictable things.

Now i diddnt used up time in search ov alternatives, its useless since apple want you to sync your stuff with itunes to keep their system clean.

I rather opend itunes, said to my self "ok, lets see how it really works" and spend the time to checkout why itunes do this or that and how i can use it the way i want it to work.

Since iOS is not an open system i think u cannot win the fight in searching of 3rd party programs, soon they will change something with an update and u can use your SYNCED stuff with another handful of apps but not your 3rd party program.

Sometimes its just better to cooperate with the original sync ware instead of fighting it where u cannot win.

 

[sjleworthy]

i'm really not interested in 'syncing' at all. i dont care about my devices and my pc and whatever else all being different with different info, contacts and shite. all i want to do is something similar to Finder and Explorer - plain and simple drag and drop or copy and paste of apps and media. not 'sync' and sharing and matching up.

 

[Gabriel1]

The much rumoured update to MobileMe may well solve all these issues......it is covered in another thread elsewhere on these forums however the rumour is that it will become free and allow cloud syncing rather than having to go hard wired.......wait and see but until then you have what you have, let's face it, Apple never made a secret of the need for iTunes, it's a requirement for all of their "i" devices out of the box!

The Archangel

 

[sjleworthy]

Sometimes its just better to cooperate with the original sync ware instead of fighting it where u cannot win.

i'm not closed minded to that option either in reality if i have no choice.

i have kinda solved the issue -


1) i opened itunes and connected up my ipod.

2) took the plunge of first 'transferring purchases' from my ipod to pc, then 'backing up'. this whole process took me around 6-7 hours, but i havent done this operation in 4 years. if ever.

3) so now both my device and pc share the same media, only not in the same order. so i then took half hour or so re-arranging everything and every page to exactly the way i wanted to see it. all done in itunes in the device apps section.

4) then applied the sync. took about 5 mins.

now, the home screens on my pc and my device match up. i think the trick is, in my case anyway, to keep on top and in regular contact with syncing up your device to your itunes. done regularly and it seems to understand each other, done rarely and they seem to have completely different ideas, even though they're shooting from the same weapon.

again, not the way i'd ideally prefer, but perhaps i just ought to start using things slightly differently.

but the idea of wirelessly transferring media/apps does sound most appealing

 

[Hasty]

I only sync when there's an iOS upgrade.
Otherwise I never use iTunes.
I do sync my important stuff such as docs and notes via GoodReader, Evernote and Dropbox.
Everything else is replaceable or streamed with ZumoCast, AirVideo or iFiles.

Fwiw when I started I did play around with iTunes and felt it was just that bit more smooth under OSX than Win7.

 

[Lifet1me]

I only sync when there's an iOS upgrade.
Otherwise I never use iTunes.
I do sync my important stuff such as docs and notes via GoodReader, Evernote and Dropbox.
Everything else is replaceable or streamed with ZumoCast, AirVideo or iFiles.

i totaly agree

 

[sjleworthy]

i suppose the big question is -

how can i copy/sync individual or selected apps (not all at once) between itunes and device (or device and device)? can i copy/sinc selected apps over the airwaves?

this is ultimately what i want to do, to be able for me to selectively share the zillions of apps i already have on my Touch, with my new ipad2 when it arrives, without the riggor of official itunes syncing.

 

[col.bris]

I cannot understand why not use iTunes it just works fine I sync 2 xiPhone 4 2 x iPhone 3 2 x iPod nano 1x ipad 1 x apple tv with a MacBook no issues

 

[sjleworthy]

because i rarely use it, and because of this it completely re-arranges my home screens all the time.

all i want to do is copy apps over like you can with other media. why cant you drag and drop apps like you can with songs and vids???

 

[col.bris]

because i rarely use it, and because of this it completely re-arranges my home screens all the time.

all i want to do is copy apps over like you can with other media. why cant you drag and drop apps like you can with songs and vids???

It does not re -arrange home screens what you have is what you get i sync 5 devices no problems not once is the home screen changed. Do you select what apps yu want beforr syncing and one can also look at each screen before you sync. I sync every thing I want and it is different on 6 different devices Once set up its automatic so I donot understand the problem you are having thats all