Question about how a sync works with iTunes...

[solomonster]

Loving my iPhone 4 over the last month. I routinely plug my phone into my laptop, which automatically "syncs" (a 5-step process) via iTunes, mainly to charge it up and replace old podcast files with new ones. The primary way that I add new music to my phone is to right-click, copy from whatever folder it's in on my PC and then in iTunes, I go directly to the "Music" section on the device and paste it in there, which syncs the new file.

My question is this. Let's say that something happens to my phone tomorrow and all the music on it gets wiped out. Is all of it safely backed up through iTunes or not? Like I said, everytime I plug my phone into the USB, it opens iTunes and tells me it's syncing, but it's not like I ever actually hit the Sync button on the very bottom or anything. In fact, there's a lot of MP3's in my Music library in iTunes (NOT from the Music section on the device) that I don't even want on my phone, it just happens to be in the library. Can anyone shed some more light on this?

 

[sting7k]

If your iPhone is wiped all the music is still on your computer and not lost. I do not quite understand your method for adding music to your iPhone. Is all your music not in iTunes? You do not need to be interacting with your files/folders to get stuff on the iPhone.

If you don't want the iPhone to auto-sync when you connected it or every time you drag a new song uncheck the auto-sync box on the main summary screen with the iPhone connected.

 

[solomonster]

Coming over from a Blackberry, what I did before I got my Verizon iPhone was backup the folder on my microSD card that contained all of my music from the BB. Then, in iTunes, I identified that folder as my "music library" so everything that was on my BB would be transferred over to the iPhone.

As someone who is still a relative newbie to iTunes, and used to the drag-and-drop style of the BB, I have never used iTunes for music management on my system EVER. The only reason I use it now is because I have no other choice, though I have taken a liking to it. Still, I use it for nothing other than iPhone related syncs and such.

I notice in my iTunes library that old podcasts and such that I've since deleted off my iPhone are STILL listed in there, and that's where my confusion is borne from. The PC says that it's syncing everytime I connect it, which is great, I want that. I guess I just have to manually delete old files from the iTunes music library, which is kind of a pain in the rear, but I'll do it if that's how it must be done.

 

[sting7k]

Are the podcasts showing up in the podcast section of iTunes or the music section? I'm not a podcast guy so I'm kind of limited here.

So, it sounds like you do have all your music already in iTunes from your BB's memory card. In that case it's up to you what you want to do.

Here is what I do.

I don't have auto-sync checked, that way I can sync after I make changes when ever. I change out music, videos, and add/remove apps a lot so I sync often. I made a playlist called "iPhone Music" and add/remove songs from it at will from the iTunes library. In the music management tab of iTunes I have it set to only sync that playlist to the iPhone. This way I can make changes on the fly and then hit sync when I am done and it updates the iPhone with the new stuff. I also do the same for videos. You don't have to disable auto-sync to do this process. It also help memory management as right at the bottom when viewing the playlist iTunes tell you the size and how many songs are in the playlist.

Have fun playing. Welcome.

 

[solomonster]

Thanks, I may try it your way just to see what happens.

No no, the podcasts are regular MP3's and show up in the Music library.