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[bassman]

I'm "chomping at the bit" to get JRiver for Android.  I'm just worried about SD support & sync.

Is the SD-card support (microSD, installed in phone) now working "flawlessly" with the latest JRiver for Android from the Play Store?

I'd like to sync my library from Windows 10 (latest version of MC v25), and listen to my library from my Android Pie, Moto G6, but if sync & microSD support is still, "iffy", I want to wait...

[BradATIMA]

If you're talking about taking a Media Center library from a Windows machine and putting it on an Android device to use with JRiver for Android, that won't work. Transferring a library from Windows to Linux is messy and requires making a lot of difficult manual changes to the library.

[bassman]

If you're talking about taking a Media Center library from a Windows machine and putting it on an Android device to use with JRiver for Android, that won't work. Transferring a library from Windows to Linux is messy and requires making a lot of difficult manual changes to the library.

Is this just because the Android software is so new - and not yet debugged - or something that is not planned?

My most basic use-case would be to maintain my library in MC for Windows, and sync to my smartphone.

I am currently using a 10-year old iPod Classic to sync with MC, but would like to “dump” the iPod in favor of my Android phone.

[JimH]

You can sync your media from MC on Windows to the phone.  JRiver for Android will import any new files.

[bassman]

I think I am seeing conflicting info above.

I would like to simply sync my Windows 10 MC v25 library to Android (JRiver for Android), “effortlessly”, like with my iPod.

If there is a good chance it works without having to configure settings for my microSD card, or futz with my library configuration on Windows 10 or Android, I definitely want to go for it.  [Important: I only have 32Gb internal memory on my phone, so I would need my library to automagically sync to my microSD card.]

If JRiver for Android is still buggy for this use-case, though, I’d rather make do with my aging iPod Classic, or use Amazon Music on my Android.

All thoughts eagerly welcome!

[JimH]

I would like to simply sync my Windows 10 MC v25 library to Android (JRiver for Android), “effortlessly”, like with my iPod.

You can sync files, not the MC database.  The Android version builds its own database.

[RoderickGI]

There is just a bit of a terminology difference getting in the way here.

Yes, you can use the MC Handheld Sync functionality to sync your media files to the SD card on your Android phone in exactly the same way you sync to your iPod now. The internal memory and the SD card installed appear as two separate devices in MC's Handheld Sync functionality.



JRiver for Android will then find the media files on your SD card and import them into its own Library. Then you can play the music. 

As JRiver for Android uses its own Library I recommend that you make sure any tags you want used on the phone are saved to the files in MC on Windows. But most important ones are already saved to the file, such as Genre, Rating, and all the Artist, Album, etc. tags. Just make sure MC on Windows is set to write tags on file changes.

This is how I use MC with my Sony Xperia XZ Premium on Android Pie 9 now.

It works okay. Sometimes there are some little issues, such as I just noticed one of my Albums has all files duplicated. JRiver for Android doesn't have all the tools to allow me to work out why that happened, for example. It's importing all my photos on the phone as well, which isn't necessary. So it is still a work in progress.

But JRiver for Android works fine for what you want to do. It doesn't cost that much to buy and try out, either. Just do it! 

[bassman]

Is this documented anywhere?  It sounds like a 2-step process:
1) Sync from MC on Windows to Android (USB?  Wireless?)
2) Have JRiver on Android build a playlist from whatever it finds

If so:
o Is this documented anywhere?
o Why no ability to retain playlists from MC?

I bought JRiver on Android yesterday, but immediately opted for a refund, since it seemed so bare-bones and undocumented.

Still, I remain hopeful, and will happily buy the app again if it proves able to work for my simple use-case.

[JimH]

https://wiki.jriver.com/index.php/Handheld_Sync_Options

[RoderickGI]

Regarding the second question. I would expect JRiver for Android to import Playlists that it finds, and the Handheld sync builds Playlists with appropriate file paths and names, as per settings, and places those Playlists onto the phone. It only does that for Playlists used in the sync process though, so that doesn't include all Playlists in the source Library.

To be honest, I haven't used Playlists on my phone much, or in JRiver for Android. I just discovered that the latest Windows update to 1903 seems to have broken my USB connectivity to the phone, so I can't check it all now.

Sorry.

But basically, it should be a similar experience to what you get with your iPod now.

PS: I should clarify. I have been syncing music and playlists to my Sony Xperia for some time. But I have been playing the music using the Sony Music App, rather than JRiver for Android. I am still experimenting with the latter.