Sometimes, iTunes just gets on your nerves. If that be the case with you too, check out the following article that dishes out three killer options as alternatives for iTunes.
No, I’m not interested in downloading Safari, I don’t want Bonjour, and I hate the Apple auto-updater. I’m sick and tired of the iTunes untimely crashes, and no, it is not the only media player to satisfy my obsession to have music. Agreed, for an iPod user, iTunes is the utmost choice in terms of features and functions, but then, as is known, Apple has been locked to iTunes for quite some time now, and has had people hold on to it, even if it isn’t their choice. iTunes is definitely resourceful, and there’s no denying this fact. However, it is these resources that make it all the more prone to crashes, and slowdown. To your surprise, there exist a number of alternative media players that help you download music on your iPod, without involving all the fuss of iTunes. Contrary to what Apple may think, here’s dishing out three super-awesome alternatives that will help you get music on iPod without any use of iTunes. However, before you seek a refreshing break from the Apple multi-media resource, you need to enable your iPod as a portable hard drive. How? Take account of the following procedure.
Enabling iPod as a Portable Hard Drive
- Plug in your iPod into the USB port.
- When iTunes detects your iPod, it will prompt a message to associate your device with it. Click No, and enable iPod disk use mode by clicking on Options in the lower-right corner of your iTunes window.
- Click on Preferences, and select Enable FireWire disk use. This will enable iPod disk use mode on your computer.
- Open My Computer, and click on the iPod icon to view the contents of your iPod. Note that, there is a possibility that you won’t see the iPod Control option because it is hidden. In that case, go to Tools, select Folder Options, and click on View to check the checkbox of Hidden Files and Folders.
- Once you have opened the iPod Music folder, you will notice that the copied music files have unique four-letter file names, which you can change by opening them in iTunes library.
Third Party iTunes Alternatives
MediaMonkey
If you’re game for library-oriented features, this makes up for the perfect alternative to iTunes where you can organize music and edit tags in your library with an easy but intuitive interface. MediaMonkey lets you manage over 50,000 files in your music collection with easy management of all genres such as Rock, Classical, Comedy, Podcasts, etc. You can record CDs, convert MP3s, M4A, FLAC, WMA, and many other files into different formats. Not only does it let you put music on iPod, but can be synced with iPhones and many other MP3 players.
Floola
If you have used Sharepod, you’ll find Floola extremely easy, for it looks somewhat similar to it. However there’s a difference, and mind you, that makes Floola a better alternative. The best thing about Floola is that you can add music from any computer to your iPod. All you need to do is, drag-and-drop! Go to your friend’s house, select a few songs of your liking, and put them into your iPod. Now this can be an iTunes killer… if you know what I mean. Note that Floola is cross-platform, which means that now, you can put both the Windows as well as the Mac version of the software onto your iPod, in order to add songs from both Mac as well as Windows PC!
SharePod
No hassles? No mind-boggling features? No glitz? SharePod is your pick to get music on your iPod without any struggle. With SharePod, you can add, remove, copy, paste, back-up, and share music straight from the iPod itself. It’s as if SharePod was meant to be for the iPod so that you can easily use it, no matter wherever you are. All that matters is, whether your iPod is in your pocket or not! And hey, SharePod might look extremely ordinary software program, but just so that you know, the latest version of SharePod has not only iPod, but iPod Touch and iPhone integration, making it one of the most sought-after apps you can get as an alternative to iTunes!
Trouble using the above three? You may want to try the following software. Take a look at some more options which make superb alternatives to iTunes, and get you music on your iPod without any trouble!
- Winamp iPod Plugin
- X-Play
- Anapod Explorer
- doubleTwist
- gtkpod (Linux)
A time will come, when your entire music collection would be in your iPod. For some, perhaps, the time has already come. It is for those music buffs who can’t live without the basses, trebles, beats and the tunes, that the many iPod software programs help in effective management of their media files. Get started to happily develop your music collection, this time, without any help from the trademark Apple media player.