Apple ’s position of the environment that the iPod , iPhone , iTunes , and Apple TV last in is a simple one . Not that citizenry at Apple do n’t see that many of us media consumer are n’t crazed power - users with gig after spear of media stashed all over the place — after all , if you hold down the Option key when you set up iTunes , you ’ll get the choice of switching to an alternative iTunes library , and that ’s as business leader - usery as a feature can be .
But quite rightly , the the great unwashed behind Apple ’s iTunes ecosystem have designed iTunes to appeal to the vast majority of citizenry with the simplest of all set - ups : one reckoner with all your poppycock on it . I do n’t dispute that this is by far the most common set - up out there , but the work Apple does to make life easy for the most common user type can make things downright unmanageable for the rest of us .
I acquire this deterrent example when Apple lend music sharing to iTunes . I use a laptop computer as my primary system . Rather than clutter up my laptop computer ’s hard thrust with duplicate music filing cabinet , I synchronise my full - sized iPod with the Mac at my business firm that contains my entire music collection , and then plug in the iPod to listen to that music when I ’m at work . But it grow out that while you could play music straight from an iPod ( thanks for not cripple that characteristic yet , Apple ) , you ca n’t partake in the content of an iPod with others . Nor can you use the vaunted Party Shuffle feature . Oh well . I hear to last with the dashing hopes .
But with the iPhone things have gotten a bit stickier . The iPhone , like the Apple TV before it , wo n’t do anything but sync . You ’ve always been able to pop up an iPod out of sync and into “ manual mode ” and just drag media single file onto it ( and delete file off of it ) at will — but the iPhone and Apple TVmustsync . There ’s no “ manual mode ” for those devices .
euphony here , photo there
While auto - syncing can be a fantastic characteristic , it can also be infuriating . As I write this , I ’m sitting at work . On my desktop is an MP3 single file I download today that I ’d care to listen to on my agency home , on my iPhone . But I ca n’t — not without wipe out the full euphony and video capacity of that phone . That ’s because my iPhone ’s medicine and video library are synchronize to my home Mac .
But here ’s the funny thing : if I can come up that MP3 file as a podcast , Icanadd it to my iPhone . That ’s because my iPhone is currently seize to three different Macs , syncing different type of data with each of them . It synchronise contacts , calendar data , and podcasts with my laptop . It syncs medicine and video with my home media - host Mac . And it sync photos with my home Power Mac G5 , which is where all my photos live .
Yes , it ’s true — the iPhone is a sync - only gadget , but it ’s a flexible syncer . Apple seems to have break iPhone data into discrete blocks , each of which can be synchronise with a different computer : Info ( contacts , calendar , bookmarks , mail accounts ) , Music and Video ( which must be sync together ) , Photos , and Podcasts .
The playlist workaround
Now , about that sync - only matter . The dependable news is , there are workarounds that can give you some control . The well-to-do trick is to make a play list in iTunes and set that play list to auto - sync . For both my Apple TV and my iPhone , I ’ve got play list that are dedicated to video for those two machine . This lets me manually control what videos come out on my iPhone ( important since it ’s got a limited amount of entrepot blank space ) and my Apple TV ( which has massive storage equate to my iPhone , but would choke if it tried to hive away all the videos in my iTunes library ) . If I want to add a picture to those devices , I drop behind them into their respective playlists . If I ’m done watching a video , I select the play list and delete it .
It ’s not quite as prompt as lend or deleting the file on the equipment itself , but it work pretty well . There are some quirks , though . For one , although the iPhone kindly offers to delete videos after you ’ve observe them , the next time I link my iPhone for sync that TV gets copied decently back , because it ’s still in the playlist .
Syncing with Smart Playlists would be a great workaround for hands - on TV management on these devices , but there are some quirks there , too . Here ’s an example : permit ’s say I require to populate and Apple telecasting or iPhone with a combination of TV shows . For some display , I only need the most recent unviewed episodes . For other shows , I desire to hand - option which instalment I require to load .
iTunes ’s TV syncing feature permit you sync all , the X most late , or the ecstasy most late unwatched videos , either globally or for take playlist or shows . But you ca n’t mix and gibe — either you ’re synchronize unwatched shows , or all show , or recent shows , in every playlist .
You ’d retrieve making fresh playlist would be the workaround . In possibility , I could set up one play list with handpicked video recording , but prepare up another playlist to exhibit all unwatched episodes of a finical show or shows . And here ’s where the quirk comes in : although iTunes understands the concept of a “ watched ” TV show or motion-picture show , Smart Playlists do n’t . Oh well .
( Update : Thanks to the bright reader of Macworld who pointed out that the blue “ unwatched ” dot in iTunes is basically a jade representing a TV with no information in its Play Count field . So this trick will work : Make a play list [ bright or otherwise ] fill with the shows you need to watch ; then make a Smart Playlist with two conditions : Playlist is [ name of your previous playlist ] and Play Count is Less Than 1 . And presto — an auto - update play list that will reduplicate the behavior of iTunes ’ “ unwatched videos ” setting without storm you to only sync unwatched videos to your equipment . )
Syncing calendars
The iPhone has made a lot of mass reconsider using Apple ’s iCal , since that ’s the Mac calendar programme that the iPhone syncs with out of the box seat . The thing about iCal is — at least until Leopard come — it ’s kind of a dumb calendar . you could portion out calendar with other citizenry , yes , but it ’s a read - only sort of thing . Which brings us to a question sent in byiPhone Centralreader Mark Fawcett :
This is a similar situation to the one I ’ve got — the only difference being that I do n’t have an supporter ! But I ’ve got two calendars , one for work and one for personal material . And I find that my wife was always take me to put item on my calendar or change existing items , as our personal plans changed . I want to find a elbow room for her to blue-pencil my iCal calendar , while also let me edit it .
The answer : Spanning Sync , usable for $ 25 a year or $ 65 for a one - metre purchase . cross Sync is a delightfully clever utility that syncs iCal calendar withGoogle Calendar . Not one - way syncing , either — Spanning Sync is a full two - style sync . In Mark ’s scenario , his married woman can continue to update her calendar on her Mac using iCal . But her assistant can enter to Google Calendar and make and edit events on that same calendar . traverse Sync will verify that the two calendars are observe in sync , with update as often as once an 60 minutes .
It ’s play for me — every so often Modern event magically down up on my personal calendar , leave there by my married woman . And they automatically sync to my iPhone . Nowthat’show it ’s suppose to work !
