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[glynor]

I just thought it was worthwhile to have a clear thread on this topic to try to prevent any future confusion: Media Center does not support directly syncing media content to any iOS-based devices.

Apple no longer allows third-party applications to officially support any of their current devices (with the death of the iPod Classic).  The only officially supported way to sync content to any modern iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, or current-generation iPod Nano is via iTunes.

However, Media Center does have a number of ways you can use it with your Apple devices!

* JRemote is a companion app for iPhone and iPad available in the App Store.

JRemote allows you to not only remote control the copy of Media Center running on your Mac or Windows computer, but you can also stream your entire library to your device, and enjoy access to your entire media library on the go (regardless of the storage limitations on your device).  For many use-cases, this means you never have to use iTunes to sync to your device again, and you still get access to all of your media anywhere you have Internet access on your device!

* Media Center can export playlists to iTunes for easy syncing.

Within Media Center, make a Playlist, Smartlist, or Media View you'd like to sync over to iTunes, open it, and then use File > Export to iTunes & iPhone.  This will sync the contents of whatever View is open in Media Center over to iTunes, and then you can use it to sync to your device.

* Media Center supports most legacy iPod devices natively.

This includes all of the iPod Classics and earlier "hard drive" based iPods, as well as all of the iPod Nano devices prior to the 4th Gen Nano.  See this thread for further details.

* Media Center is available for Mac OSX!

You may not have heard, but Media Center is now available for Mac OSX, and now includes video support. Find out more on our Media Center 20 for Mac board, and give the 30-day, no-restrictions free trial a go to see if it will work for you.

* Third Party Support for even more capabilities.

If you want to sync more than is provided with the Export to iTunes & iPhone function mentioned above, prod (a user on our forums here) has made a fantastic tool called MC iTunes Synchronizer (MCiS) for Windows which can bi-directionally sync between Media Center and iTunes, and allows you to choose a variety of playlists to sync over to and from iTunes.

This, plus Media Center's ability to sync to a folder on a hard drive as a "virtual handheld", allows you to even sync media types not directly supported by iTunes, by pre-converting the content, and then using MCiS's iTunes File Key feature. Check out the MCiS thread for more details.

Media Center also includes a rich, REST-based web API called MCWS, which is supported equally on the Windows, Linux, and Mac versions of MC, which can be used by third-party developers to build integration across a wide variety of devices. Visit the Third-Party Plugins, Programs, and Skins board to see what other great tools and apps users have created!