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Tech News & Commentary
Karl in Rapid City, South Dakota listens to the podcasts and calling in via the App asked us: “I just bought an Android phone. I’d like to be able to use it to sync up to my iTunes library to keep track of play counts and work off my smart playlists. Is there an app for that?”
Karl, There are several ways to sync your iTunes with your Android device, it’s up to you to decide which method is easiest for you. The first method is manually transferring the files by locating, accessing, and transferring your iTunes downloads from your computer to your phone.
This can be laborious and require plenty of drag-and-drops, but the upside to this is that you can sort through and decide what is most important to transfer so you don’t wipe out all the free space on your phone.
Another method is by using the DoubleTwist or Airsync apps, which allow users with smaller libraries to easily access their iTunes from their Android device. The benefit of using these apps are that it can be done wirelessly using the app on your phone and the companion app on your computer– available for both Mac and Windows-based devices. DoubleTwist is entirely free, but Airsync costs about $4.99 at the moment.
The easiest solution by far is to download Google Play’s companion desktop app to your computer, point it at your iTunes music library, and allow it to upload your music files to the cloud. The music locker they give you free with Google Play will hold 20,000 songs. If your library is bigger than that, you’d have to find another solution.
The downside to Google Play is that your music is in the cloud and you have to stream songs to listen to them. If you find yourself somewhere with no signal, that’s an issue. However, you can download any songs you want available offline to your Android device.
Google Play’s Music Manager will also only sync your playcounts once, when the song is imported, but it will not keep the play count up to date with iTunes after that.
You could also just use iTunes. iSyncr will let you sync iTunes with an Android phone the same way you would with an iPhone, and using it would likely give you access to all of the features you want.
For more information tune in to Hour 1 of our podcast.
The “Into Tomorrow” team discussed the latest apps that they have been playing with recently.
• Mark recommends: EAT24, FREE
- “This week, I’m hungry. And my app of the week, EAT24, is going to help me deal with that. EAT24 will show you restaurants in your area offering delivery to your current location, then allows you to order from them and gives you a handy timer to see how long delivery is taking. I used EAT24 to order from a Chinese restaurant that promised 30 minute delivery, and the food arrived in 15 minutes flat. There is a delivery fee, which I presume EAT24 gets some portion of, but the convenience of ordering online using a standard menu format and being able to pay and tip using a credit card makes it well worth the free download. Obviously restaurants have to participate in order to be listed, but I found the list around me to be large and varied enough that I didn’t feel limited by the selection. EAT24 is free in the Apple App Store.” — Mark
• Chris recommends: JELL-O Jiggle-it, FREE
- “What’s more fun than eating JELL-O? Watching it jiggle. There’s an app from the makers of JELL-O, called JELL-O Jiggle-it. Launch the app, choose your preferred JELL-O flavor and pick a song from your iTines library. Or you could hold the microphone up to a speaker. A cube of JELL-O on the screen will jiggle with the beat. In library mode, you can add as many songs as you’d like to the playlist and have a whole JELL-O party. You can also swipe your finger on the screen to activate special moves. Country. Hip-hop. Krunk. JELL-O does it all. The app is free for iOS devices.”
What are your favorite Apps? Let us know at 800-899-INTO and we’ll feature them in this segment!
- Tune in to Hour 1 of our podcast for more details
Guest Segment:
Itai Ben-Gal, CEO – On Controls
the premier cloud-enabled automation system for any device
Mike in Shreveport, Louisiana asked us: “I have an iPad 2 and when I’m using programs on there, they shut down for no reason at all. Can you tell me why?”
Mike, You should definitely ensure that you have the latest software downloaded onto your iPad because that could be the cause of apps suddenly shutting down on you. Sometimes, when certain companies (we won’t name names, but you know who) come out with newer software, the older software begins to malfunction or not run as well as it used to.
Also, to get any contributing factors out of the way, make sure to shut down apps you aren’t currently using by holding double-clicking the ‘Home’ button and swiping them up off the screen– that should help the iPad run a lot smoother.
This problem could just be a simple case of too many apps running at the same time and wires getting crossed. Now, if none of these solutions work for you, don’t hesitate to make an appointment with your local Apple store “Genius” Bar and have a specialist take a look into the problem for you.
As with anything tech-related, always restart your device to be certain that it’s not just in some unstable state at the moment. With an iPad, first go through the process of shutting down all the open apps as we discussed, then shut down the iPad. You can hold the power button until you get the “Swipe to power off” message, but it’s sometimes just as well to do a hard shutdown by pressing and holding the Home button and the Power button at the same time.
Once the iPad shuts down, wait 10 or 15 seconds, then press the Power button to turn it back on. Now see, if you still have apps closing down on you.
For more information tune in to Hour 1 of our podcast.
This Week’s Prizes for Our Listeners
Sling Media: Slingbox M1 – Set top media box with smartphone integration
SMS Audio: Street by 50 – Over-The-Ear Headphones and earbuds
Parellels:Parallels Desktop 10 Software allows you to run Windows on your Mac
Kanex: GoPower Battery Pack – Mobile battery pack with built-in stand for smartphones
Tylt: Several Charging cases and cables – for smartphones and tablets