At last, the chains that bind an auto-synced iPod have been broken; or at least, this is the first time I've heard of such a simple hint for adding music (and possibly photos and video) to an iPod already bound to another computer's library. Mac OS X Hints has a surprisingly simple tip for accomplishing this: all you need to do is select and expand the iPod icon in the left Sources menu, then simply drag from the Finder whatever new music you want to add onto the main list of music, *not* the iPod in the list. This can be useful especially for those who have separate libraries on two machines (example: one for work and another for home), since the only other simple alternative is to set the iPod for manually managing your music, which then doesn't allow you to sync some metadata like ratings and comments or tags. Oh what a twisted music management web Apple weaves.A commenter at Mac OS X Hints says they can add photos and videos using this method as well, but I unfortunately don't have a second machine to try this out on right now. Anyone in the audience care to give it a go?
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
2-14-2007 @ 8:00PM
Joe said...
I don't understand, how come you're not able to update metadata like ratings and playcount when you set it to manual instead of auto? I always do manual because it's easier for me to just pick what I want to hear right at that moment in time instead of slaving away on playlists. Why can't I do this? Why has Apple restricted this ability? And is there any way to get around it so that ratings and playcount will update on manual?
Reply
2-14-2007 @ 8:56PM
pluto198 said...
Will the files manually added via the other computer be deleted when the iPod is synced with the home computer? Or will it sync all other music and leave the manually added music untouched?
Reply
2-14-2007 @ 9:02PM
Kevin S. said...
if you sync up on your original computer, all the things not in your library will be deleted.
so basically, if you go back to your normal (sync'd) computer, you lose everything you just transfered, unless you transfer it off your ipod with another app.
Reply
2-15-2007 @ 8:33AM
wobwah said...
I keep mine on manual and get music from friends computers all the time. I've never noticed a down side to this but I've also never messed around with playlists or anything, I just go straight to the album I want to listen to.
Reply