Apple just released iTunes 8.1 with a bevy of new features, but there is a critical need for iTunes that I think would be a huge help for anyone that regularly uses more than one computer. In addition to being able to sync to dozens of iPods, the iPhones and Apple TV we need the ability to sync to iTunes itself. All of the pieces are in place to do this, it seems like it would be relatively easy to implement. Here is what I would imagine the iTunes sidebar looking like.
You’ve got an iPod, three Apple TV’s and then your laptop. The idea is that I should be able to setup iTunes on a laptop or any other computer that is just a sync partner with another computers iTunes library. iTunes can already sync over the network to an AppleTV, so the hooks are all in place and should be easily extended to another iTunes installation.
Right now the only option that iTunes users have to put music on more than one computer is to copy the files over. This is horrible in so many ways. First, you have to do the work of managing the files which is a huge pain. Additionally, the iTunes Library is not sync’d at all. Play counts, ratings and other metadata is completely separate which really messes up some more sophisticated work you can do with Smart Playlists.
If we were just able to sync to additional iTunes installs I could have all of my Mac’s with the same music library, and syncing metadata back and forth. It would make things so much simpler.
Would it help if I said please?
Pretty please?
I’d like to have this for iPhoto so our photo library would be available on my wife’s MacBook. Also the pain of having my main instance of iPhoto on a diff machine than my main instance of iTunes (in terms of syncing to AppleTV) could likely be alleviated..
I’m not an iPhoto guy but I can see the parallels.
i use the same rsync bit to do my /Pictures/ folder as well. Same drill in that your source machine is the only one that you can write to with out loosing information
I use rsync: ‘rsync -avz –delete -e /usr/bin/ssh /Users/markk/Music/ markk@192.168.1.10:/Users/markk/Music’ where 192.168.1.10 is the remote host IP.
As you mention this does not keep all settings, but it does keep the two boxes in sync fully. It does keep your ratings and play counts from the PRIMARY box, anything played/rated/etc on the secondary box are lost.
But it does make it easy to sync between my desktop at home and my laptop. I just make sure to manually copy anything purchased on my laptop over to the desktop or it’s lost for good (that –delete option …)
This is a great solution if you are okay with syncing all of your media, are okay with 1-way syncing of meta-data and have all of your media in the default path.
This just won’t work for me since the 1.5TB of assets in my media file live on an external hard drive (different path, not reproducible on another machine) and it’s too much to fit on the laptop.
1-way syncing of metadata is better than nothing I guess, but I still find it frustratingly lacking when the solution I’m describing would work so well and seems easy to implement.
I’d love to sync several playlists to my laptop and have metadata go with it in both ways.
Again, please?!
Agreed – my solution does fall down … I tried ;-)
I’ve got 2 words for you mister. No.
Agreed. We have a main/media computer that is really my wife’s computer. Would be nice to sync my iphone against my own laptop instead of against her computer.
This solution though likely wouldn’t give you that. I would assume that an iTunes install that was a sync partner would not be able to then be a sync partner to other devices. Same way that you can’t use an iPod to sync between two iTunes installs.
I’m not saying it’s a worthy way to do it, just that to keep it simple and re-use as much as possible these limits would probably remain.
Why not just create an option for a remote Itunes Server in a multi mac environment. Smash it onto the Time Capsule and hook up a few extra drives for media storage.
You login and manage it via rich client and sync devices, web client for access over the net via mobile me or back to my mac. Apple TV’s can connect to it.
Solves my issues sharing libraries across accounts, accessing my entire library from the ATV without my iMac running, and syncing my flipping iphone with my laptop but not my desktop.
Can even do limited multi client sync vs. stream if labels require it for DVD or music usage.
It would be nice if there was a true media server iTunes. Sort of itunesd.app. And it would be great if that ran on Airport Extreme’s. This has been hoped for for a long time, maybe we’ll see it some day… :-\