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More => Old Versions => JRiver Media Center 25 for Windows => Topic started by: jack wallstreet on May 13, 2019, 10:56:01 pm

Title: Syncing with the (obscenity) iphone - Would it be good for MC25 or 26
Post by: jack wallstreet on May 13, 2019, 10:56:01 pm
The JRiver experience with Apple has been anything but good and JRiver invested a lot and got flicked off.  However, Apple phones are very popular and I am wondering if it is appropriate with MC 25 (or maybe 26 when Itunes has likely been overhauled) to consider some form of update so that syncing is practical.  MCIS is no longer updated.  Maybe there is a less perfect, but acceptable way to throw a bone to Apple phone users (without much investment by JRiver) and help JRiver sales at same time.
Title: Re: Syncing with the (obscenity) iphone - Would it be good for MC25 or 26
Post by: Awesome Donkey on May 14, 2019, 03:42:08 am
Don't think it's doable, unfortunately. Apple pretty much is a walled garden in this aspect and they lock down their hardware to sync with iTunes.
Title: Re: Syncing with the (obscenity) iphone - Would it be good for MC25 or 26
Post by: rossp on May 14, 2019, 05:18:37 am
Don't think it's doable, unfortunately. Apple pretty much is a walled garden in this aspect and they lock down their hardware to sync with iTunes.

Not totally true as iMazing  can sync etc with Apple devices. They may have an SDK available.

https://imazing.com/ (https://imazing.com/)

Ross
Title: Re: Syncing with the (obscenity) iphone - Would it be good for MC25 or 26
Post by: Awesome Donkey on May 14, 2019, 06:01:37 am
DigiDNA, the company behind iMazing, is based in Switzerland. JRiver is a US-based company and if they add iOS device syncing support, there's a chance Apple might legally go after them for it. But to be honest I'm not sure what the possible legalities are for it, but it's probably not worth risking. At the very least Apple would stop the ability to sync with third-party apps, which they have been known to do in the past. Which ultimately would mean if JRiver invested time and money into such a thing just for Apple to take it away, it was a big waste of money and time. That's probably why I personally don't see this happening.
Title: Re: Syncing with the (obscenity) iphone - Would it be good for MC25 or 26
Post by: JimH on May 14, 2019, 06:47:26 am
jack,
Awesome is correct in his reasoning.  If you choose to use an iPhone, they've got you, and there's nothing reasonably rational that JRiver can do.  We can't afford to waste development time on probable dead ends.  Sorry.

Jim
Title: Re: Syncing with the (obscenity) iphone - Would it be good for MC25 or 26
Post by: jack wallstreet on May 14, 2019, 08:14:31 am
Thank you guys, for the discussion!  Good to have an update.
Title: Re: Syncing with the (obscenity) iphone - Would it be good for MC25 or 26
Post by: tij on May 14, 2019, 09:05:08 am
how about sync to jremote? ... jremote reserve storage space on iphone and store sync items there ... sure it will not be usable by other apps on iphone, but who cares as long as jremote can play its private sync items
Title: Re: Syncing with the (obscenity) iphone - Would it be good for MC25 or 26
Post by: Shasta Mike on May 15, 2019, 11:04:49 pm
The JRiver experience with Apple has been anything but good and JRiver invested a lot and got flicked off.  However, Apple phones are very popular and I am wondering if it is appropriate with MC 25 (or maybe 26 when Itunes has likely been overhauled) to consider some form of update so that syncing is practical.  MCIS is no longer updated.  Maybe there is a less perfect, but acceptable way to throw a bone to Apple phone users (without much investment by JRiver) and help JRiver sales at same time.
This was one of the reasons I voted with my feet and switched to a Moto G6 Android.  Along with the fact I upgraded to a G6 64GB and was able to add a 128gb SD card for $20 for a total cost under $200 over the old iPhone 6S, today I ran the sync program in MC25 for the first time and could not believe how easy that went. 

There are a few things I miss about the iPhone but mostly my family gives me grief about messaging not working quite right because of the proprietary Apple stuff.  Overall, I am happy with the Android experience.   Basically, the Android hardware I got would cost me 3-4X to get an Apple equivalent in memory, screen size, battery, camera, etc. 

The Android learning curve was not that bad since I use Windows on all my computers.  Now, MC25 has become an even more useful software to me.   
Title: Re: Syncing with the (obscenity) iphone - Would it be good for MC25 or 26
Post by: slimchance1 on July 28, 2019, 11:17:24 pm
Upgraded to mc25 because of claims it will sync with iPhone.    I followed all of the instructions I could find and nothing works.   Total waste of time and money.    I don't believe that JRiver will ever work with Apple products seamlessly.   I am done wasting time and money.   Shame on JRiver for all of the message encouraging people to upgrade with promises that it is prepared for the death of iTunes.   Not sure what you would do if you ever imported iTunes playlists to JRiver.    I just experimented with a small playlist that I already had built.   Feel sorry for the guy who said he imported 27,000 files into JRiver from iTunes.   What is the benefit if JRiver won't sync with an Apple handheld?    I am not looking beyond JRiver. . .  someone will surely come up with a platform that handles Android and iPhone eventually.   In the meantime, I will just use JRiver for my HD handhelds (ibasso, Pono, etc.)
?
Title: Re: Syncing with the (obscenity) iphone - Would it be good for MC25 or 26
Post by: wer on July 28, 2019, 11:27:27 pm
how about sync to jremote? ... jremote reserve storage space on iphone and store sync items there ... sure it will not be usable by other apps on iphone, but who cares as long as jremote can play its private sync items

You know, I don't think this is a bad idea at all.
Title: Re: Syncing with the (obscenity) iphone - Would it be good for MC25 or 26
Post by: RoderickGI on July 28, 2019, 11:40:57 pm
Upgraded to mc25 because of claims it will sync with iPhone.

Can you provide a reference for where JRiver said MC25 would sync to an iPhone?

I've read all the stuff issued and haven't seen that claim anywhere.
Title: Re: Syncing with the (obscenity) iphone - Would it be good for MC25 or 26
Post by: blgentry on July 29, 2019, 09:22:20 am
When I "sync" to my iphone, I do it to a folder that the iphone's music program can't see.  Why would I do that??  Because 99% of my files are FLAC and the iphone's native music program can't see them or play them anyway.  I use a 3rd party FLAC player for them instead.

This is a little clunky, but it's not so bad.  If MC could sync generic files to the iphone, it would make this easier.  But I think even that simple function is cryptographically protected so outside products can't do it.  I should verify that actually...

It's really too bad that this divide exists.  Because the iphone is one of the highest selling, most used, most brand loyal phones of all.  If MC had more support for it, it would only be a good thing.  I do understand the time, money, and technical issues historically.  I'm just speaking from a "wish it was possible because it would benefit everyone" perspective.

Brian.
Title: Re: Syncing with the (obscenity) iphone - Would it be good for MC25 or 26
Post by: tij on July 29, 2019, 09:59:49 am
MO 4Media claim they can sync to iphone (not itune) ... i haven't try ... think they got free trial for a week ... then its yearly subscription
Title: Re: Syncing with the (obscenity) iphone - Would it be good for MC25 or 26
Post by: wer on July 29, 2019, 12:17:34 pm
If MC could sync generic files to the iphone, it would make this easier.  But I think even that simple function is cryptographically protected so outside products can't do it.  I should verify that

The possibility does exist, and JRIver could implement it tomorrow, and there's nothing Apple can do about it.  MC could sync whatever files it wants.

All iphone apps have 2 ways to sync local data.  They can use USB through itunes, where you can drag and drop files, but this is manual and Apple could remove it at any time.

Better to use WiFi.  An app can store whatever it wants in its local storage, and it can do whatever connectivity over the network it wants.  You could do any flavor of automatic or manual syncing you want.

Goodreader is an example of a program that does this.  Goodreader also implements an internal http server so that you can connect with a web browser and transfer in/out whatever files you want.  It's been doing it for years, and has been an Apple recommended app; Apple endorses the approach.
Title: Re: Syncing with the (obscenity) iphone - Would it be good for MC25 or 26
Post by: datdude on December 29, 2020, 07:53:53 pm
If JRiver could sync music to the iPhone through JRemote I would probably pay $100 for that upgrade!
Title: Re: Syncing with the (obscenity) iphone - Would it be good for MC25 or 26
Post by: JimH on December 29, 2020, 08:23:09 pm
If JRiver could sync music to the iPhone through JRemote I would probably pay $100 for that upgrade!
Apple made that impossible many years ago. 
Title: Re: Syncing with the (obscenity) iphone - Would it be good for MC25 or 26
Post by: wer on December 29, 2020, 09:27:52 pm
Apple made that impossible many years ago.

That's not strictly true.  You can do it easily if you save the media files to the app's local storage.

See my previous post.  Lots of apps use this technique. JRemote could implement it at any time.
Title: Re: Syncing with the (obscenity) iphone - Would it be good for MC25 or 26
Post by: bob on December 30, 2020, 09:36:59 am
Is just getting the files on to the device the only issue? I don't recall seeing downloaded files show up in whatever music app I'm running on my iPhone (Cs in my case). It seems like at least some database capabilities would have to be added.
Title: Re: Syncing with the (obscenity) iphone - Would it be good for MC25 or 26
Post by: wer on December 30, 2020, 10:12:54 am
Each app has its own local storage.  Apple has exclusive access to the "music" database on the iphone. But JRemote can put whatever it wants, including music, in its own local storage for its exclusive use.

Obviously JRemote would then have to be able to present that music, based on tags, so you might choose to implement some database capabilities to facilitate that.