How to Load Music onto your iPod or iPhone without iTunes
Introduction Itunes can be a pain to use on an older machine and sometimes you just want to add a few songs without associating your apple device with that particular itunes library. Besides the fact that it is slow, there is no plugin interface, which means programmers cannot add their own functionality, and it takes up entirely too much memory. Luckily there are a few ways to add music to your iphone without itunes. SharePod SharePod is a freeware program which allows you to easily load music onto your apple device. You can also edit tag information, add album art, edit playlists, and more. Download the latest version here: http://www.getsharepod.com/download/ Simply connect your device, launch the executable and drag n' drop your music files into the ipod window. Once you are finished click 'eject' and wait for the changes to be written to the itunes database. Copy Trans Manager Copy Trans Manager is another free program which can help you load music onto your iphone, ipod, or ipad. You can download it here: http://www.copytrans.net/download.php In the download section for Copy Trans Manager click the 'Download zip (advanced users)' link. It is not necessary to download the entire Copy Trans suite. Extract the zip file and run the program inside it. The window will prompt you to connect your device. Do so at your leisure. Next drag and drop your music files into the ipod window. gtkpod There is one more iTunes alternative for the Linux users out there. It is called gtkPod and is available in the repositories. To install the program in Ubuntu type sudo apt-get install gtkpod Please note that gtkpod may not be compatible with all devices including the iPad, iPhone 4, or 4th generation iPod Touch. Other devices like the iphone, iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS, and ipod touch generations 1, 2, and 3. If you device is jailbroken however you may be able to reconfigure the device to use the old database hash which will then allow you to use gtkpod. Check out this page for more details about that hack:
http://marcansoft.com/blog/2009/01/using-amarok-and-other-itunesdb-compatible-software-with-the-i phone-2x/ Conclusion There are download mp3 free songs several alternatives to iTunes if you are unable or unwilling to use it. SharePod is free and easy and copy trans manager is powerful and full featured. Don't get bogged down using apple's monstrosity when you just need to add a few tracks to your device in a hurry.