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40 Comments

Wirelessly copy your iTunes music to your PlayBook with iTunes Sync

By Alicia Erlich on 3 Dec 2011 03:12 pm
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I must confess that I've put loading media on my tablet on the backburner in lieu of games and applications. It's not that I don't have the room but connecting it to my PC to transfer files can be a real pain. Joseph said it best on the last podcast that he firmly believes in "no more wires." I think this is something we can all agree on which is why I just had to check out iTunes Sync by Daniel Bigham. It makes adding your latest music purchases to your PlayBook as seamless and easy as possible using your Wi-Fi connection. As a side note, the reverse functionality is not availability.

iTunes Sync is comprised of two basic components: the PlayBook app and the desktop application for PC's only (Sorry MAC owners). Now for those of you expecting to run the program on your computer don't be nervous if you don't see anything after installing. It's perfectly normal. The application runs in the background and only appears in the icon tray. All that's needed is to run the app on your PlayBook, enter in your computers IP address if not immediately discovered, and hit the big ol' Sync button. That's it, no fuss, no muss, and certainly no more wires. The tray icon also doubles as a shortcut to your IP address. Simply right mouse click on the icon and select the option.

Users are presented with two methods to load their library. The first is using the checkbox feature available in iTunes to control which songs are copied without worrying whether your library contains more music than your PlayBook can support. Only DRM free tunes checked off will be transferred. The other way is by creating a new playlist or smart playlist in iTunes named "PlayBook" so that only the songs or albums you drag and drop into this list are copied. Keep in mind that videos and movies will not port, only music.

Honestly, iTunes sync is a pretty sweet app for those of who aren't near their computer, don't have the time to untangle wires, or experience issues with Wi-Fi File Sharing. I'm the first one to say it's always a good thing to have more than one way to get things done and this is a great alternative. Syncing took less than a minute to copy over 50 songs to my PlayBook. It's convenient, fast and only $2.99 in BlackBerry App World

More information / purchase iTunes Sync from BlackBerry App World
Discuss iTunes Sync in the forums

Topics: Wifi Music Sync ITunes ITunes Sync Daniel Bigham PlayBook Apps

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Alicia Erlich Alicia Erlich 387 (articles) 47 (forum posts)
40 comments

jefo13

Nice, this has been great for the phone, now for the PB!

BB_Bmore

I've tried to transfer songs from my berry to my PB via Bluetooth but it always fails...is this not possible?

rfalter

Something like the ultimate embarrassment, to me at least. Endless Apple/iPhone bashing from so many Crackberry/BB users, yet all is fine having to use iTunes to get music onto your PB in a fairly simple manner. The ultimate hypocrisy....guess it's okay to a be a 'fanboy' when the need is there.

Altarocks

Its not about "having to use iTunes" but rather about having the option. Kind of like BB OS6 users had the option of wirelessly syncing to iTunes more than a year before iOS users could. And how they have the OPTION to sync with WMP.

Chaddface

My media never entered the i universe. Dragging and dropping on a wifi connected PB is about as easy as it gets. You don't need itunes to put music on the PB.

w0qj

+1 ultimate embarrassment.

I would not be surprised if Apple is hiring former RIM employees to speed this up.

Common, RIM, shape up, your own competitors is providing a superior App experience on your own PlayBook...

Competitors are running circles around RIM :(

Chaddface

Apple has a media service. They provided an app for people that use it. That's all.

zkyevolved

I don't like apple products, but iTunes is fantastic. I've been using it for years and years and it's hands down the best mp3 application out there. I use it to sync to all my devices (bb, android, and at the time when I had an iPhone).

But using iTunes has NOTHING to do with bashing the iPhone or iPad. It's a desktop application, not a mobile OS nor is it a mobile app....

russ.mtc

Personally, I just haven't seen much Apple bashing on this site. It's usually the Apple fans bashing RIM. Just saying.

servo

I honestly didn't think many people still used itunes. I guess I was wrong. Well,not really.

rfalter

What planet are you living on....seriously? The number one legal on line music purchase store, the number one music management program in the world, works on all formats......you didn't think many people used it anymore? It is probably one of the most downloaded/used computer/smartphone device piece of software ever created.

servo

Key word you used there was "purchase"

dalton4L

I see you're trying to downplay the relevance of his/her post by attempting to single out one word which you think is important to debunk his whole argument. In fact, your comment does nothing of that sort because the fact that it's the biggest purchase music store in the world has all the significance in the world. That is huge and by alluding to the fact that there may be bigger "illegal" places to get music has absolutely no significance.

servo

Errrr-ummmm. no. i wasnt trying to downplay the relevance of anything. i was trying to explain why i dont use itunes.so it has significance to my original post.

dalton4L

How does it even relate to what you were originally saying?

servo

because most people i know dont "purchase" music from itunes which is what i was saying in the original comment.

gregerator

First thing I did with my PB outside of general playing was to transfer my music via WiFi. Doesn't take much. PB gets recognized as a drive on the network. Copy. Paste. Go.

danielbigham

Hey gregerator,

The primary use case of iTunes Sync are for cases where you have downloaded new songs since the time you put your music on your PlayBook. Getting these new purchases onto your PlayBook isn't particularly easy if you use the drag & drop method -- do you really want to go clicking through folders trying to remember what your new purchases were, etc? You could just delete all your music and copy it again, but that's a hassle too, and not safe if you've purchased any music from 7digital, etc. With this app, all you need to do is click "Sync", and from your PlayBook, and you're all set in a few seconds.

sk8er_tor

What's the point of this article when you can already copy/paste drag/drop files to the PlayBook via WiFi without the use of this app and without having to use iTunes. The author makes it seems as though she doesn't know about this.

Alpha Omega

well the point is that there are people out there that have the PB that don't know this. Just because you knew doesn't mean every1 does.

danielbigham

Hey sk8er_tor,

(this is a copy & paste of my above response to another user)

The primary use case of iTunes Sync are for cases where you have downloaded new songs since the time you put your music on your PlayBook. Getting these new purchases onto your PlayBook isn't particularly easy if you use the drag & drop method -- do you really want to go clicking through folders trying to remember what your new purchases were, etc? You could just delete all your music and copy it again, but that's a hassle too, and not safe if you've purchased any music from 7digital, etc. With this app, all you need to do is click "Sync", and from your PlayBook, and you're all set in a few seconds.

prsnow

That's because she's a girl. Women have smaller brains than men. It's science!

ChainofThought

Is there app for the phone

danielbigham

Apparently there is a WiFi Music Sync feature built right into BlackBerry Desktop software and OS 6.0 and later devices, although I've never tried it since I have an OS 5.0 device. That being said, I don't think there's any one-click sync support, and so I wonder if my app would be accepted if I ported it to phones.

swalker2001

Since I can't listen to my music by bluetooth from the PB why would I want it on there.

[Edit: oh yeah, almost forgot. They still sell non-wireless headphones don't they?]

danielbigham

That, and the PlayBook does have pretty good speakers as far as tablets go.

buckwylder

what's itunes?

never used it in my life

is it like having an auto-reverse cassette player? i can record songs from the radio speaker to speaker on mine, then basically i have all the songs from the radio that i like, on one cassette, then i can play it over and over without ejecting it!

is itunes that good?

____________________________________________________________

in the time of your life, live so that in that good time, there should be no ugliness or death for yourself or for any life that your life touches, seek goodness everywhere

lke1

Is it possible to do this with your blackberry phone, or do you know an app for this?

buckwylder

i haven't had any luck playing cassette tapes on my playbook, yet
___________________________________________________________

in the time of your life, live so that in that good time, there should be no ugliness or death for yourself or for any life that your life touches, seek goodness everywhere

danielbigham

(this is a copy & paste of my answer above)

Apparently there is a WiFi Music Sync feature built right into BlackBerry Desktop software and OS 6.0 and later devices, although I've never tried it since I have an OS 5.0 device. That being said, I don't think there's any one-click sync support, and so I wonder if my app would be accepted if I ported it to phones.

matthewbgaga1

hmm I really want a Playbook a lot. That was one of the reasons I switched from Blackberry to iPhone was because I couldn't figure out how to sync. I regret my decision and am patiently waiting for my next upgrade!

buckwylder

you might wanna wait until they they have at least the ability to play cassettes man, i'd wait, i still can't find anywhere to put the cassette tapes in mine yet
__________________________________________________________

in the time of your life, live so that in that good time, there should be no ugliness or death for yourself or for any life that your life touches, seek goodness everywhere

buckwylder

nobody wants to explain to me if this "itunes" is going to be as good as my high speed dual cassette tape deck already is for making dubs and of course allowing me to select a variety of songs from various cassettes in my collection, and then record them (my favorite songs) all onto one cassette tape?

i have a ghetto and a walkman, so the ghetto just stays at home and i just take a bag of cassettes with my walkman when i go jogging

i just can't decide if i want to change
___________________________________________________________

in the time of your life, live so that in that good time, there should be no ugliness or death for yourself or for any life that your life touches, seek goodness everywhere

Alpha Omega

yes you can download your music and dub it over to a cassette if you like.

TS_Cycle_Salvage433

That's dumb. The easiest way for him to get his caussette tapes on his Playbook is to drive down the highway at 75 and throw the caussettes out the window 1 by 1.

irsan

we dont buy ipad, we buy playbook, so ITs USELESS

cas118

Hmm, wifi share. Rsync or synctoy. Voila.

Not sure why you would need a dedicated app OR spend any money when putting media on the PB is so ridiculously easy.

But clearly this is not the common viewpoint.

danielbigham

Using something like rsync is probably a good solution, although most people aren't familiar with rsync, and so the time to figure it out and set it up would cost someone more than $3.00, since, what is your time worth?

A second, but minor point, is that it's nice to be able to "pull" music from your PlayBook when you want it.

MSCOMFORT4EVER

I have had several Blackberry Smartphones, currently a 9900 owner/user and now a new Blackberry Playbook owner/user, iTune Sync app is the way to go, so simple I could do it. The app is only $2.99 and you link,Daniel Bingham and its a done deal and I am so happy.

danielbigham

Hi all,

Since I received many suggestions from people encouraging me to develop a Mac version of iTunes Sync, I have now done that.

If you're interested, here's the link to the Mac program download:

http://www.danielbigham.ca/itunessync/mac.html

And the PlayBook / BlackBerry phone app:

http://appworld.blackberry.com/webstore/content/65525

Merry Christmas!
Daniel