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[kosmicken]

So, what's the best way to copy music from MC17 to an iPhone?  All my research tells me that  you MUST use iTunes.  That's darn inconvenient.  Every time I export an album from my MC library as a playlist to iTunes, it overrides the previous playlist that was exported to iTunes.  And since iTunes only seems to be able to "sync" with the iPhone, as opposed to just sending files to the phone and then not ever caring what happens to those files, when the playlist changes in iTunes, it changes on my phone, meaning that songs that were previously synced are now gone.

Such a freaking hassle!  What other options do I have?  (Someone previously pointed out mcitunessyncronizer to me, but from reading about it that doesn't appear to be what I'm looking for.)

[kosmicken]

Anyone?

[Al ex]

Use JRemote, and instead of copying your files to your iPhone, you are streaming your files from a server, if your data plan allows it?

[BartMan01]

Use JRemote, and instead of copying your files to your iPhone, you are streaming your files from a server, if your data plan allows it?

JRemote only works if you have a network connection.  Traveling out in the middle of no where, or on a plane = no music.

The only current solution is to use something like MCiTunesSynchronizer to sync your content between JRiver and iTunes and then sync the music to your phone using iTunes or iTunes Match.

JRiver has expressed interest in having JRemote being able to cache files offline, but that does not exist today. My current solution is a little convoluted:
Use MCiTunesSynchronizer to sync data to iTunes.
Use iTunes Match to sync iTunes to the phone via iCloud.
Use the 'download' feature in Apple's music app on the phone to download specific files/play lists from iCloud to the phone for offline use.

[Al ex]

Use Gizmo as alternative, it caches a reasonable amount of music in advance.

[kosmicken]

if your data plan allows it

That's a big if. Or if you have a data signal where you are as BartMan01 pointed out.  While cloud storage provides certain conveniences, I do not want to rely on it, especially for something like this.

Use Gizmo as alternative

We're talking about an iPhone. Gizmo is only available for Android. (And I freaking love it.  One of the many reasons I am ridiculously unhappy about being forced to switch to an iPhone.)

[MyGuy]

Hi,

Thanks for all your help here in the forums.

I am a long time audiophile, have been aware of JRiver for a few years via reading industry media etc., but this is the first time I researched this product to potentially purchase it.  Reason being: I recently moved to the iPhone when they upped their storage to 128 GB, and so now I can have my music on my phone, which I LOVE!!!  

BUT, recently I have been having a terrible time with iTunes, because it for some reason it can't manage my 550 album music collection, especially with a NAS.

I looked at the new ROON thing that's getting all the crazy accolades/hype, but found that it can't support the iPhone/mobile experience, so I have zero interest there.

I figured that JRiver's been around for years, like 21 incarnations, so they must have all this figured out, with slick apps / interface with smartphones etc.

And so I was surprised to read that there's no JRiver ability to put music (physically) on your iPhone, and have it there like you would in your home?  Is this correct???  

I read that Apple no longer allows direct support of the iPhone, or something like that, but I don't know what that means in this context.

Is it the case that I cannot have JRiver's desktop application put my music on my iPhone (either in a JRiver iOS app or the iTunes / Apple Music app already on the phone)?

I am not interested in streaming my music collection.  I would use Rhapsody or Spotify or many others if I wanted to stream.

Thanks to any and all that can elucidate here.

[JimH]

JRiver doesn't support current iPhones.  Discussed many times on this board.

We recommend that you consider an Android phone.

[blgentry]

Yes, it's unfortunate that the iphone is locked down so heavily by Apple.  I think JRiver spent a bunch of time and money working on integration, only to have Apple pull the rug out from under them by changing the encryption and locking them out again.

As far as I know, itunes is really the only way to put music on an iphone.  You can maintain your library in MC.  Then you can export some (or all) of it into a directory monitored by itunes and use itunes *only* to sync your phone.  There is also a third party program that's supposed to automate some of those steps called MCIS.  I have NO EXPERIENCE with it.  I've read various good and bad reports about it.

This is definitely a "too bad" kind of situation, as the OP clearly wants to use JRiver MC, but also likes his iphone. 

I use a separate device for portable audio.  I hate it when texts, phone calls, etc, interrupt the music.  But then, I'm kind of old school when it comes to things like this.  Good luck to the OP!

Brian.

[Arindelle]

There are plenty of ways to do it without iTunes with external apps or cloud storage syncs. If you want to copy music (and not sync, update playlists etc.). They are easy enough if that is all you want to do. Making/editing playlists using standard IOS apps is a real PITA though.

Everytime JRiver has tried to address this Apple & Cie do their best to mess up everything else. There should be anti-trust legislation against 'em. If I wasn't so lazy about learning the ins and outs, I'd jailbreak all my IOS devices.

[MyGuy]

Thank you for the timely thoughtful detailed responses.  

That's too bad that Apple prevents independent companies like JRiver from developing apps that manage music on the iPhone.  I'm very sorry to read that.

That's ironic considering Apple's historic battles with Microsoft and the precedent in this industry.  Sounds like this would absolutely be a legitimate industry lawsuit considering the anti-competitive nature of this chilling policy (reminds me of Microsoft originally tying IE into Windows, then trying to explain to the government in a lawsuit how it can't extract IE from the OS despite demands from the court).

This is a major issue because if you talk to anyone in software, especially consumer and social etc, it's all mobile first.  A very good friend of mine in the space out of Stanford who lives in San Fran, leads a software firm there, and has good friends at Facebook, Google, and Apple, says all the work and focus at those leading firms is on mobile, because that's the primary, and in many cases, only platform folks under 40 (and really under 30) care about - it's absolutely everything.  

I would consider a lawsuit and hope it gets attention and traction, picked up by a big firm with deep pockets.  

I just bought an outboard DAC and would buy JRiver's platform five times over to manage it all if I could include my iPhone in a slick and comprehensive easy powerful way.  Think of how cool that would be.  

[jimm2]

There are a several 3rd party software products that allow you to transfer music to any IOS device without using iTunes. Search for CopyTrans Manager or iMazing.

I'm sure JRiver has their reasons for not doing it but it can be done.   

[Arindelle]

I'm sure JRiver has their reasons for not doing it but it can be done.   

sure, and they have done it in the past .. then Apple "nerfs" something. And it breaks and people complain here, and blame JRiver. Then the devs here have to spend time and money to try and start all over again. I don't blame them at all.

[jimm2]

sure, and they have done it in the past .. then Apple "nerfs" something. And it breaks and people complain here, and blame JRiver. Then the devs here have to spend time and money to try and start all over again. I don't blame them at all.

Yes, it would take ongoing development work by JRiver to stay current and they have made a business decision not to support it. Just trying to clarify for the OP that it is possible, there are products that do it and JRiver has elected not to pursue it.

When you read through the forum on this topic, I think it's easy for someone to ascertain that it's not possible due to Apple which is not totally accurate. Is it harder, yes. Is it impossible because of Apple, no.

[rossp]

I drag and drop from JRiver to iMazing to copy music to the iPhone. Works a treat.

Ross

[linutic]

It's not that JRiver is technically unable to interface with the iPhone.  They could figure it out and do it.

The problem is that doing so is prohibited by law.   The Digital Milenium Copyright Act (DMCA) makes it illegal to break Apple encryption in this case.  Apple didn't have this level of encryption in the iPod.  Apple observed third paries putting music on the iPod.  This made it easy for Apple user to buy music from sources than Apple.  Bad for Apple's bottom line.  So they added otherwise unnecessary encryption to the iPhone.  In my humble opinion, the only reason they did that was to stop companies like JRiver from accessing the iPhone.  This is monopolistic, and does not benefit of Apple's users.  It only benefits Apple's shareholders.

Think about that the next time you consider buying an iPhone.