Apple Music App

[John L]

I imagine that there must be other people here in the same boat as me, with large digital music collections that they managed through iTunes, external hard drives, and iPods.   I own five iPod classics that I paid over 1000 dollars for, and use to listen to music.   

I upgraded my Mac to Catalina last week.   iTunes is automatically replaced with the new Apple Music App.   The Apple Music App is no longer compatible with iPod classics or even iPod Touch other than the very last generation.   Game ended.   I can no longer use my music system.  I called Apple and they just said, yea, sorry, you have obsolete technology that is no longer a part of the Apple system. :(((((

[bresna]

Sharepod has worked for me on my Windows machines for many years. I use Sharepod 3.9.8 for Windows. It runs on my Windows 10 machine still. That said, I downloaded my version many years ago so I don't know if 3.9.8 is still available or how well it will work for you or if there is a version that works on a Mac.

Sharepod allows me to drag & drop my mp3 files onto and off of my iPods without having to use iTunes, which is an app I always hated. Turns out I knew there would be a reason to hate iTunes someday.

[Late]

Maybe this is of some help?

 

[Bluesnik]

On 03/06/2020 at 9:44 PM, bresna said:

Sharepod allows me to drag & drop my mp3 files onto and off of my iPods without having to use iTunes

I am in a similar situation with a Win Vista machine I have owned for 10 years, but which I will substitute for another Win machine but with Win10. I have always used Itunes for Win, with excellent results, although in an old state, with Itunes 10.1 from 2010, version with which I stalled in 2010 because I didn't like what was coming next. Specially sightwise.

Now I am in a situation where i'm going to change to the new machine (maybe tomorrow), but I don't want to lose my whole library, which is more than 61 Gb big. I assume I'll have to install the latest version of Itunes because mine doesn't work in some things anymore. Like for example updating podcasts, where I always get a Couldn't establish a network connection message, although there IS that connection. So how is Sharepod? I'm not particularly worried about Ipod compatibility, because though I had one, I don't use it anymore.

[bresna]

Sharepod is a straight drag & drop tool for your iPod. Your iPod shows up with the content on one side and your computer file system shows up on the other. You just click the files on your PC that you want on your iPod and drag them over. To bring them onto your PC from the iPod, just drag in the other direction.

FWIW, I still use the old Windows Media Player for playback on my Windows 10 machine. I like the interface better than the Windows 10 tool that comes preloaded (Groove Music).

[psu_13]

The device syncing UI is in the Finder now in the new OS, I think ... as shown in that video above.

That said I have not tried it and don't know how well it works.

[mjzee]

I've recently upgraded to the latest macOS version (Catalina 10.15.5) and can confirm that the information in the above video is still correct.  I just synced my iPod Classic (the 120 GB version) through Finder, and it all went smoothly.

[John L]

Somehow, I am just now seeing these responses to my post.   Thank you all. 

This does not solve my problem.   I cannot completely sinc my iPods with iTunes because my iTunes has 3 tb of music.  So I need to manage things manually.  If I drag music from finder to my iTunes, it doesn't really work.  The iPod creates a separate album for each track that is dragged.   So, yes, I can technically have the music on my iPod.  But I will have to search for each track as a single album, not really a workable option with 160 gb of music.   

[mjzee]

2 hours ago, John L said:

Somehow, I am just now seeing these responses to my post.   Thank you all. 

This does not solve my problem.   I cannot completely sinc my iPods with iTunes because my iTunes has 3 tb of music.  So I need to manage things manually.  If I drag music from finder to my iTunes, it doesn't really work.  The iPod creates a separate album for each track that is dragged.   So, yes, I can technically have the music on my iPod.  But I will have to search for each track as a single album, not really a workable option with 160 gb of music.   

In iTunes, create a new playlist.  Drag into this playlist everything you want on your iPod.  Then sync only that playlist with your iPod.  I believe that will solve your problem.

[John L]

22 minutes ago, mjzee said:

In iTunes, create a new playlist.  Drag into this playlist everything you want on your iPod.  Then sync only that playlist with your iPod.  I believe that will solve your problem.

So there is a way in Finder to sync only with a given playlist?  If so, I will try it. 

[mjzee]

21 minutes ago, John L said:

So there is a way in Finder to sync only with a given playlist?  If so, I will try it. 

Yes.  Once you see your iPod in Finder and select it, click "Music" in the top row (should be to the right of "General").  Then, under "Sync:", choose "Selected artists, albums, genres, and playlists".  Then click "Playlists" (to the right of "Artists," "Albums," "Genres") and check the playlist you want to sync.

[John L]

OK, thanks.  That won't erase the rest of the music on my iPod, I hope.  

[mjzee]

47 minutes ago, John L said:

OK, thanks.  That won't erase the rest of the music on my iPod, I hope.  

I don't know; it might.

[bertrand]

Just the Monk in Palo Alto tunes.