Help With Syncing MP3 Files to A "Dummy" Phone

[larrytucaz]

I am trying to ease the process by which MP3 files are synced to a device. I have some technical abilities and the way I've done it is by "drag/drop" in Windows Explorer to the device's microSD card. However, I'm trying for a more "for dummies" method for a friend of mine who is otherwise going to just stick with Spotify etc due to all the hassles. I would also like help with such with playlist creation and syncing.

Right now, at the PC level, I use Winamp--yes, Winamp. I also have VLC Media Player yet, as computer literate as I am, I CANNOT even BEGIN to figure out how to have it handle my music as a "library" and make playlists, whereas I figured out Winamp very quickly. Trouble is, Winamp seems to work in a buggy manner at the Android level (recreating deleted playlists etc) and I can't figure out how to "sync" between Android & desktop in that environment. (In the PC environment, I'm happy with it.)

Right now, what I do--I create the playlists in Winamp at the PC, export as m3u, "clean" them of extraneous tags, save those files to the microSD, and wait for Google Play Music or Winamp to "realize" they're there and import them over (which can take them 30 minutes to do). This is more technical than my friend will EVER manage to figure out (plus anything done at the phone level will be "lost", you simply have to remember what you want and wait until you're home at the PC).

I've heard of people using Google Play Music for syncing, but this phone is an inactive phone so any changes would only occur once they hook it up to a Wi-Fi and Google Play Music "realizes" the changes (wish you could easily "refresh" this on the spot with a button that says "sync NOW" or such). This player is old, version 4.3.615 (on an "Ice Cream Sandwich" phone), so maybe I should update it. The other issue is that I would the want the files stored on the microSD, not in the "cloud" (other than for backup, and there are 28G worth of these files) and transferring them this way could take quite awhile and use quite a bit of bandwidth. However, library transfer would be easy.

I need to do something, because this current setup is buggy as heck, for one thing Google Play seems to keep wanting to use the old version of my library when I know good and well the most current version is RIGHT THERE on the microSD. I got so frustrated I completely wiped the phone in an attempt to basically say "those old playlists, GET THEM OUT OF HERE!!!" because like the proverbial bad penny they just keep reappearing over and over, even with the most current .m3u files RIGHT THERE.

Tips?

 

[poofyhairguy]

For your problems it seems like an app issue. Some apps don't rely on the "library" of your files that Google creates when it scan your device on startup, with some apps you can pick what file/folders you want in that app's library and even force a rescan in the app if need be. My recommendation is PowerAMP (best money I have ever spent in Android), but there are other options.

For your friend there is no easy answer. I mean there are a bunch of ways to edit ID3 tags on Android- ID3Fixer is the first one Google tells me- but eventually you have to use the PC to move over those mp3s. I just don't see a way around a PC.

Quite frankly the whole "manage your own files, manage your own tags, manage your own playlists, etc." of the MP3 age is why services like Spotify are so popular. Most people don't want to jump through those hoops (not to mention ripping Cds to make MP3s), so they pay for a service.

There is a magic app that you can just throw mp3s at and it use AI to organize it for you like Google Photos- that is what Google Music does. But then you have to do everything while on wifi for that to work (you can save the files to play off wifi though). Eventually you have to pick a poison, the world already "solved" this problem with Spotify and moved on.

 

[WelshBloke]

I used to use mediamonkey to do (I think) what you want, but TBH using Google music was a lot easier.

 

[larrytucaz]

{snip}

For your friend there is no easy answer. I mean there are a bunch of ways to edit ID3 tags on Android- ID3Fixer is the first one Google tells me- but eventually you have to use the PC to move over those mp3s. I just don't see a way around a PC.

I don't have as the goal the ability to edit tag information on the portable device. That would be too awkward unless it's a quick simple fix. I'm content with that sort of thing being done at the PC level. What I want is playlist management and addition of new MP3s to be a much more seamless process.

Quite frankly the whole "manage your own files, manage your own tags, manage your own playlists, etc." of the MP3 age is why services like Spotify are so popular. Most people don't want to jump through those hoops (not to mention ripping Cds to make MP3s), so they pay for a service.

I'm not a fan of "cloud computing" as it were for certain things, and this is one of them. Heck, if I had my way, we'd still have PC and tablet software for mapping that was 100% independent of Internet just as Garmin Nuvis are. The reason, for both--sketchy Internet connections, the wasting of bandwidth over and over for the same thing and (in the case of MP3s) the prospect of songs being "yanked" if the artist decides to protest the Spotify system (Taylor Swift comes to mind) or if a song is deemed controversial (again, Taylor Swift, "I'll just say you're gay" in "Picture To Burn"). I'm someone who has downloaded YouTube clips of movies so that I can watch them on the tablet without using 1G for every movie every time I watch it (very handy for that time I was the passenger in a car for 14-16 hours, no "buffering" of the movies whatsoever) or so, again, I don't "lose" them if the provider decides to yank them (read all the times people become upset when Netflix pulls a favorite selection).

And, with MP3s, no freaking commercials either, and I hear the song IMMEDIATELY when I want to, IMMEDIATELY.

Most of my MP3 collection has already been brought under control with ID3 tags and organization etc, the only real thing is that as of late I've become more aware of playlists and their value and I want it to be easier to transfer those over from PC to phone, and have it to where my friend who isn't a techno-phobe can also do so. In the end, he may just use Spotify after all, but he lives in an area where his cell phone barely works even for phone calls, must less streaming music. I could be more into this streaming concept if 4G coverage was EVERYWHERE, even in 3rd world countries after the mother of all earthquakes.

I will admit that I've used Pandora to "discover" more music, but just as in the radio days, once I start finding songs I want to hear whenever I want to rather than waiting for it to "shuffle" its way into the playlist, I want them in "hard copy" format in MP3 format.

 

[poofyhairguy]

In that case I fall back to my recommendation of PowerAMP. Can make playlists, scan a certain folder, and even just play every time the headphone jack is plugged in. An app like Wifi File Explorer Pro will make a bookmarkable webpage on the PC to upload the files. Pretty easy.

 

[QueBert]

i use iSyncr for Android, it lets you sync from iTunes on a PC to an Android phone. Works wired or over wifi. IMHO when it comes to making playlists nothing touches iTunes. iSync is my favorite Android app by far. I use PlayerPro on my phone and have it sync back playcount updates via iSyncr to iTunes. I've have a few smart playlists I made. And every morning when I wake up iSync syncs over Wifi and I get a playlists with new songs without having to do a single thing. For basic syncing it's so simple and just works. There's also Doubletwist which is a native PC app, I haven't used it for years. But last time I tried it, it was a buggy, slow, iTunes rip off.

 

[larrytucaz]

In that case I fall back to my recommendation of PowerAMP. Can make playlists, scan a certain folder, and even just play every time the headphone jack is plugged in. An app like Wifi File Explorer Pro will make a bookmarkable webpage on the PC to upload the files. Pretty easy.

OK, let me ask (I am researching to try and find out on my own), when viewing playlists, albums, artists etc does Poweramp insist on "grid" view as many apps do nowadays or does it allow for a "list" view? I STRONGLY, STRONGLY, STRONGLY prefer a "list" view and I absolutely CANNOT STAND "grid" view. HATE IT, can't say it enough. I've noticed Google Play, the more recent versions, insist on "grid" view and I despise it.