Moving from IOS to Android... Desktop music question

Noetic

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Apr 11, 2001
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I am planning on the purchase of a Galaxy Note 3, upgrading from an iPhone 4 (VZW). We are mainly a DiY Windows computer family with Apple tablets and phones, but I am finding the need for a larger phone screen. The thing is, I am used to working with the anathema, iTunes, and have not played with WinAmp or Fubar in quite some time. What desktop program(s) do folks use for large music libraries to make playlists for uploading to their Android devices?

TIA,
D
 
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MediaMonkey has been my go to for a while now, very easy to work with interface, custom scripts that you can make or download others for doing mass modifications to the whole library and scads of other really user friendly and powerful features.
 
Continue using iTunes and download iSyncr or DoubleTwist AirSync and your playlists and libraries will sync over just fine.

Problem is, once you have experienced the frustration of Android devices, you'll be back to iOS in no time. Just getting notifications right for example, takes a ton of apps and it still never works nearly as well. Don't get anything other than a Nexus device. I returned my rooted Galaxy Note 3 which still lagged and still failed to perform despite having "top specs". The device filled up to the brink with 2.38gb of memory with very little really running, almost everything bloatware frozen with Titanium Backup, and all of the lock screen replacements/notification apps always failed to run smoothly or properly, especially on top of TouchWiz.
 
Google music is not an option, it is too limited for my purposes. Thank you for the other suggestions

MJZ,

I was planning on the Note 3. I have been doing more of my emailing from my phone and need the larger screen for my eyes. Why would you need to root this phone anyway? Most of those I know with S4's seem content.
 
BTW.... I find itunes to be too sluggish with the large library. WinAmp, though not quite as "intuitive" with its interface (yes, I would need to tweak it), works far smoother with the a huge amount of songs.

I will test the other suggestions and further research the Note 3 and Android OS in general for sluggishness. The Iphone can be that way as well until one clears the background, which is easy to do.
 
Do you need fancy features? Sync toy works very well for keeping libraries synced but no music features.
 
I'm a lifelong Foobar user but its support for mobile devices is nil. I've been checking out MusicBee. Has similar features for what my Foobar setup looked like and is well designed. It's not 100% stable for me though, but it does support syncing playlists to Android.
 
MusicMatch, there's a blast from the past.

I positively despise Itunes 11.
 
Though I don't think it supports FLAC and down-converts to 320 Mb/s MP3 (which is a nice bit-rate still), it works great for me. I'm not sure about the playlists thing though as I've never used playlists.

Google music does support flac files. I store my library as flac files, and google music manager uploaded them gleefully to the cloud player.

I think you are right about converting them to 320kbit MP3s tho, but for what I do and the mobile audio equipment that I have that is good enough. The sound system at home can access the flac copies, and my phone can play the mp3 files which are good enough.

Playlists work well, you can setup a playlist in your browser and it automatically appears as an available playlist on the phone. You can also pin playlists to the phone so it will always keep a copy of that selection for offline playback.

Its also fun to play with the "instant mix", where google will attempt to create a playlist for you based on some criteria.
 
....You can still use it? It will also play local music and playlists. Just put them on the device via drag 'n drop.

Not seeing that. All it seems to wish to do, is have me upload.

Nix that, I just for the download manager.... installing..

Nope, it still wishes to upload..

I will give the other apps a try. Hopefully, settling on one.
 
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I think you've got a disconnect here. The guy saying you can play without uploading is talking about the app on the phone, while you are asking about library support on the PC. The app will play whatever local songs you have.

Speaking of which, have you researched playing apps yet? Your default options will be Samsung app and Google Music.

I've never had much luck with playlists on my Android phones. When you create a playlist from within an app its stored in some phone database so all music apps see it. That's cool except the database clears itself if you take your SD card out (assuming the music is on the SD card). Maybe I'll have to try Winamp and see if it creates more permanent playlists. Is there somewhere you can put .m3u files?
 
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I think you've got a disconnect here. The guy saying you can play without uploading is talking about the app on the phone, while you are asking about library support on the PC. The app will play whatever local songs you have.

Speaking of which, have you researched playing apps yet? Your default options will be Samsung app and Google Music.

I've never had much luck with playlists on my Android phones. When you create a playlist from within an app its stored in some phone database so all music apps see it. That's cool except the database clears itself if you take your SD card out (assuming the music is on the SD card). Maybe I'll have to try Winamp and see if it creates more permanent playlists. Is there somewhere you can put .m3u files?

I was a bit confused by the responses. Perhaps it it is that I come from the days of desktop music players like MusicMatch, WinAmp, Foobar and being a three year iPhone user... itunes, where the library and playlists were managed on the home PC and later could be uploaded to a device.

WinAmp has imported my iTunes playlists and and library quite nicely. However it does not have the numerous playlists in separate folders like iTunes, nor does it have as nice of an editor. It is far faster than iTunes, but not quite the answer.

As for the player, I just got the phone (hurray!), so I threw on a few playlists and using the player that came with it.
 
How are you liking the note 3 verses the iphone 4? I'm planning on switching to either tmobile or att soon and I have an iphone 4, but think i'm going to switch to android when we migrate carriers..
 
Personally, I just sync files between my desktop and S3 with a program like SyncBack. I don't necessarily see the need (or even the benefit) to use a dedicated music player for this purpose, as long as you keep all your music files in one root folder.
 
Continue using iTunes and download iSyncr or DoubleTwist AirSync and your playlists and libraries will sync over just fine.

Problem is, once you have experienced the frustration of Android devices, you'll be back to iOS in no time. Just getting notifications right for example, takes a ton of apps and it still never works nearly as well. Don't get anything other than a Nexus device. I returned my rooted Galaxy Note 3 which still lagged and still failed to perform despite having "top specs". The device filled up to the brink with 2.38gb of memory with very little really running, almost everything bloatware frozen with Titanium Backup, and all of the lock screen replacements/notification apps always failed to run smoothly or properly, especially on top of TouchWiz.

I know this isnt an Android thread but I have to dispute everything about your above statements. I dont understand what your notification problem is? What are you missing? I have never used an app for any sort of notification. My Note 3 never lags and never underperforms. I personally would never go back to using iTunes and have actually stopped buying music from them, there are just to many other options than that one.
 
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I know this isnt an Android thread but I have to dispute everything about your above statements. I dont understand what your notification problem is? What are you missing? I have never used an app for any sort of notification. My Note 3 never lags and never underperforms. I personally would never go back to using iTunes and have actually stopped buying music from them, there are just to many other options than that one.
qft. Note 3 here & it flies. No lag or performance issues.
Personally, I pointed Google Music to my iTunes folder & let it do its thing.
I think what he meant by notifications, iOS has a master notification settings screen. Android, you have to go into each individual app to turn on/off notifications.
 
How are you liking the note 3 verses the iphone 4? I'm planning on switching to either tmobile or att soon and I have an iphone 4, but think i'm going to switch to android when we migrate carriers..

Well I've had it for less than 12 hours presently. I am using dictation to write this message.
No question, this phone does a lot of cool things. I am certain that'll take a little while to get used to everything, but so far I am enjoying the hell out of this phone.

I refuse to bash the iphone, as it served me well. This is a generational improvement. Then again, it is all about personal tastes and ultimately what you need out of the phone. It is large, but it works fine in my larger hands and is kinder on my eyes and posture.

Right know, I am looking for the right desktop music program and considering what apps I genuinely need... something that would allow me to use the movies on my NAS (like FileBrowser on my iPad).
 
qft. Note 3 here & it flies. No lag or performance issues.
Personally, I pointed Google Music to my iTunes folder & let it do its thing.
I think what he meant by notifications, iOS has a master notification settings screen. Android, you have to go into each individual app to turn on/off notifications.

Um, the master notification setting on the iphone doesn't always kill the popup crap that some apps push through, no matter what the hell you do.. Its like their screen is just a fluff make you feel all warm and fuzzy screen..
 
I hate iphone notifications, terrible way to do it.

It just doesn't work sometimes... Its like its not even really doing anything.

I'm not sure how it happens on droid, but something I ran into with my iphone is sometimes you buy an app, you have all the features etc, then the app comes out with an update, locking everything down unless you buy each single feature on the fucking thing... It was a camera app that I loved using too till they pulled that chinese crap on me...

But the biggest thing that really pisses me off with the iphone? And its not really to do with the phone, its the fact that Al Fucking Gore sits on the board, and pulls in roughtly 1 million dollars a day... I just cannot support that... I just can't
 
Things I miss from the iPhone.

Pressing the home button and vocal command call home (or whomever)

The front screen with the 20 apps I like to have within immediate access... Shazam, in the car is one that is handy to have... and I can;t go fishing for it while driving.

Notification on the email icons.

So far, the PC programs for making playlists are a bit lacking, but I can get by.

I will readily admit I am a noob at Android, and welcome non-profane advice... semi-profane if it good :).
 
Things I miss from the iPhone.

Pressing the home button and vocal command call home (or whomever)

The front screen with the 20 apps I like to have within immediate access... Shazam, in the car is one that is handy to have... and I can;t go fishing for it while driving.

Notification on the email icons.

So far, the PC programs for making playlists are a bit lacking, but I can get by.

I will readily admit I am a noob at Android, and welcome non-profane advice... semi-profane if it good :).

You do know if you so wish you can setup your android screens just like the iphone right? Drag and app to a home screen, drag an app icon onto another icon on the screen, bam folders just like your old iphone.

Your email icons dont have notifications? If the app itself dont check for an icon under widgets that should or check the play store for an app that gives you an icon that will.

Voice commands exist on android too. Ill give you a hint do the same thing you did on your iphone. (Hold the home button)
 
I have been using doubletwist. I use the Airsync and it just imports the library from iTunes. I still use iOS as well as Android.
 
You do know if you so wish you can setup your android screens just like the iphone right? Drag and app to a home screen, drag an app icon onto another icon on the screen, bam folders just like your old iphone.

Your email icons dont have notifications? If the app itself dont check for an icon under widgets that should or check the play store for an app that gives you an icon that will.

Voice commands exist on android too. Ill give you a hint do the same thing you did on your iphone. (Hold the home button)

I did mention I was a noob...

I had a young lady in the office go over the drag and drop and widgets with me. Yes, I felt rather silly not getting it immediately. Understand, I become soft on the iPhone. I still do not have the notification on the email icons, but will figure it out as I have time to play with this marvel. As for the voice commands, no it is not happening. Dictation works well enough, but no phone commands. More than likely, I have something switched off.

Thank you for the help.
 
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