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I recently got an iPhone and would like to know how i could use it to sync with an iTunes like software on Linux.
Any suggestions?
amit
Posted 2009-07-21T05:21:10.950
Reputation: 201
iTunes alternative for Linux?
Answers
18
The short answer is you can't legitimately sync iPhones in Linux.
Ubuntu has a wiki page about syncing iPhone/iPod Touch here. If the the iPhone has firmware 3.0 or greater there is no way to sync outside of iTunes. The suggestions on the site are: virtualise Windows or jailbreaking the iPhone (see instructions for firmware V1 and firmware V2). With some hacks you can then sync music on old firmware.
Edit: there has been some progress on iPhone OS 3.0 with usbmuxd (I notice that the wiki linked above has also been updated to reflect this). I'm not certain whether this method require a jailbroken iPhone.
redacted
Posted 2009-07-21T05:21:10.950
Reputation: 2 400
Does iTunes run under Wine? If I switch over to Linux completely, I'd rather not have to buy a copy of Windows just to virtualize. – David Thornley – 2009-12-10T15:14:29.820
@David, recent version of iTunes (8.x and 9.x) run very poorly or nor at all. There is ongoing work getting iPhone OS 3.0 to sync with linux: http://marcansoft.com/blog/2009/10/iphone-syncing-on-linux/
– redacted – 2009-12-14T10:09:43.1271+1 because this seems like the only answer that actually answers the original question. – Sasha Chedygov – 2009-07-21T21:18:52.973
John T
Posted 2009-07-21T05:21:10.950
Reputation: 149 037
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Banshee can't sync iPhones or iPod Touches, see the Hardware section of http://banshee-project.org/support/faq/
– redacted – 2009-07-21T08:49:41.027updated to reflect – John T – 2009-07-21T09:02:49.483
Songbird can't do it either, http://www.getsongbird.com/features/ , 'In Progress', 'Devices': "Apple iPhones, iPod Touch and Microsoft Zune devices are not yet supported."
They implemented a workaround which exports from Songbird to iTunes, then syncs the iPhone with iTunes. Doesn't work on Linux though as you need iTunes installed.
hmm thats odd O_o – John T – 2009-07-21T10:35:55.373
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Amarok
I think this is the best music player for Linux. Massive amount of features, but last time I check it was a little bit bloated. Just like iTunes :)
Unlike everything else on this list, Amarok is QT based. Which could be bad or good depending on your perception. However it works fine under Gnome.
Rhythm Box
Default music player for the Gnome desktop. Simple and straightforward.
Banshee
Mono based GTK player, very similar to Rhythm Box.
Quod Libet
Simple, fast music player. In the vein of Foobar for Windows. Not sure if it is actively developed anymore. My second choice after Amarok.
Songbird
Up and coming open source music player. I have yet to be impressed so far.
James McMahon
Posted 2009-07-21T05:21:10.950
Reputation: 3 010
1songbird team has officially discontinued its linux support :( – Jonathan – 2010-09-01T06:21:05.200
2Songbird isn't made by Mozilla, it's just based on Mozilla's XULRunner. Just a small nitpick. :) – Sasha Chedygov – 2009-07-21T19:01:25.673
Oh really, I will correct myself them, thank you. – James McMahon – 2009-07-21T21:10:17.173
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Related question: iPod management software for Linux.
Pawka
Posted 2009-07-21T05:21:10.950
Reputation: 561
2
Definitely amarok. It has large set of features and works very well. In fact it is one of the few KDE apps that are tolerated in my GNOME environment;-) And yes, it can sync with iPods and iPhones (if they are jailbroken).
Ludwig Weinzierl
Posted 2009-07-21T05:21:10.950
Reputation: 7 695
This is the zinger isn't it... I've really wanted to avoid jail-breaking my phone, but honestly I'm tired of using iTunes especially since i have to boot into windows to use it (not to mention I hate how sluggish it is, and no I've never used it on a Mac). Maybe I will do this now... calls for a new question on this site! – codeLes – 2009-07-21T13:33:32.090
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You should also check out Feed Flipper. It's a free online service that converts an iTunes-only podcast into a RSS feed which can be subscribed to from any RSS news reader, like Banshee/Rhythmbox/Amarok/etc.
Feed Flipper: http://picklemonkey.net/flipper/convert.php
Adam
Posted 2009-07-21T05:21:10.950
Reputation: 11
1You might want to ask your question again with a different title. People seem to be answering the question asked in the title (giving you Linux music players) instead of answering your detailed question (syncing with your iPhone). (I'd say "edit the title" but there's a lot of good answers here to the question of "iTunes alternatives".) – quark – 2009-07-21T23:27:24.863