Any reason to use "Manually manage music" over creating an iPhone playlist?

My new iPhone is my first iPod that's not big enough to hold all 319 of my albums. In fact, the limited capacity is the only reason it took me so long to buy one -- it's always seemed that the whole point of having an iPod is the ability to take it all with you.
Anyway, I just assumed that the way to choose 14GB or so worth of music was to create a playlist containing the albums I want to copy over, then sync that playlist with the new iPhone. It worked fine. But then I noticed the checkbox marked "Manually manage music and videos," and after some sleuthing it appears that it does the same thing.
Does it do anything that creating a playlist doesn't? If I switched to doing it that way, would the only upside be one fewer playlist?

Eric, if thats what you're more comfortable doing, i say, stick with it. i prefer to "manually manage" as i dont really use playlists. i'm one to just start a song and let the thing play at random. so i like it cuz when i obtain new mp3's, i can just drag and drop it into the phone. and the same the ohter way around, if theres a song i no longer want on the phone, i can delete it off the phone via itunes. all without having to set up playlists to sync.

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I changed from manually manage music to create more space, and lost a LOT of my music from my current Itunes library. I HAVE to have that music back! How do I go about getting the missing/lost files back on my library and IPod?

I changed from manually managing music to create more space on my IPod and lost a lot of the my music since it synched with another library. ( I think off another long gone computer!) I HAVE to get this music back! There are songs I can no longer find! How do I get this "Cannot locate file for this song" music back on my ITunes library and IPod?
Thanks for any and all help!!

See this article for more help and information.
iTunes: Finding lost media and downloads
B-rock

Unable to manually manage music and videos on iPhone 4 without erase and sync, same computer!

Ok, so I know you all have heard this before but I do believe my case is rather unique, and quite frustrating.
I purchased an iPhone 4 and synced it to the same computer I am using now - created the playlist and used it to sync with phone. Worked great for awhile; but one day I contracted some nasty malware and had to wipe my computer and reinstall my OS (Windows 7). Albeit my music library was on my external HDD which survived the onslaught. I obviously had to reinstall iTunes afterwards. The playlist was gone on reinstall.
Afterwards I still didn't see an issue with my iPhone and iTunes: When I plug it in it syncs, everything seems to be working accordingly.
But I recently transferred some new music from a CD to my iTunes and wanted to throw those songs on my iPhone, the drag and drop method I was so very used to did not work and I noticed that "manually manage music and videos" was uncheck under my devices summary.
When I attempt to check this option in iTunes it gives me a popup notification telling me I need to erase and sync in order to use this option because my 'iPhone is synced with another library". Again, I DID have to reinstall iTunes after reinstalling my OS.
I have tried all the tricks that google could supply me with with no avail; authorizing, stopping the sync from automatically starting.... yada yada - none of these cookie cutter methods have worked for me.
Here's a too long didn't read:
>iPhone 4 was working fine - used playlist to sync with.
>Had to reinstall OS (Windows 7) Playlist gone.
>Reinstall iTunes.
>iPhone still syncs with library, no error messages on connect.
>Unable to manually manage music and videos without erase and sync.
>None of the usual methods work.

Hmm, I will say after posting this and looking at the related threads it seems I can only either use manually manage or sync.
I was using sync before but since the playlist disappeared I was syncing with I simply want to add music to my phone without deleting everything. Is this possible?
If I use "manually manage music and videos" will it delete everything or just the music and videos? It doesn't specify...
Could I just create a new playlist and sync it with that? If so how?
The bottom line is it isn't that big of a deal if I need to simply rebuild my iPhone music library but losing my configuration, contacts etc is not an option. Optimally I would just like to be able to add my new music to my iPhone without having to rebuild my library.

Manually manage music and videos of iPhone 4s using pc

My computer crashed and clean reinstalled the operating system on my PC, I had to reauthorize the computer.
Now I installed iTunes and when I check Manually manage music & videos, it tells me:
that it's synced with other another iTunes library.
The Only option is erase and sync or Cancel
I had the computer backed up so that the good news, so I tried coping the files from the back up and putting it in my PC but did't work.
I went into preferences and under advanced changed the iTunes Media folder location to the hard hard drive that has my back up.
Thinking that would do it, it didn't work?
Please help!
Any suggestions

From your pc back up find the iTunes library and copy the entire library to your new computer.
Copy over your photos too plus any other important documents.
Once your iTunes library is on your new computer your should be able to start iTunes and sync to the new computer. Yes you will get the message that this is a new computer but the music etc. is the same as what was on the old computer.

How can I back up and restore my manually managed music from an old iphone to a new one?

At present, when I go to restore from a previous back up, my music is never transferred to the new device. I assume this is because I have the manually manage music option selected.
Is there a way to back up and add the same music and playlists etc from old iPhone to new iPhone without selecting the box that transfers everything from itunes?
As I have far more music than my iphone could ever take and I only want a selection. So if there is no way of doing this then I have to do it manually everytime? A very long winded task to go through entire itunes library picking it all out again!?!
Any help would be appriciated!?

Thanks very much!
Although I had to add everything again to the playlist, at least I can just copy it over in future!

Manually manage music but auto-sync one playlist?

Ok so basically, I'm trying to figure out if there is a way to manually manage my itunes library but automatcially sync one of my playlists. The reason being is that I have on artists that constantly changes (assorted singles) which is just a collection of different artists' singles. It would be nice to have itunes automatically sync that one playlist but allow me to maintain control of the rest of the library.
Otherwise, my only way to get around this is to create a folder that contains playlists for all the albums/artists I want to sync and have itunes autmotically sync everything that folder?????

It would be nice to have itunes automatically sync that one playlist but allow me to maintain control of the rest of the library.
Simple.
Uncheck Manually manage music and videos.
Select the Music tab.
Tick Sync music and Sync selected playlists.
Tick the playlist you want.
Drag the other music you want to the iDevice.

IOS 7.0.3 will not correctly "manually manage music and videos" any more?

So, on all my iOS devices, I have always used "Manually manage music and videos" to drag albums from my iTunes library to my iPhones.
I then use iTunes to delete the albums and replace them with others (I have a lot of music).
With the iOS 7.0.3 update -- if I delete songs on the phone in iTunes 11.1.2 -- they show (in iTunes) that they have been deleted.
However, the songs are still on the iPhone when I go back to the Music app.
Is anybody else seeing this? I filed this (as it wasn't an issue with 7.0, 7.0.1 or 7.0.2), but am wondering if I'm missing something terribly obvious all of a sudden...
My only options at this point are to manually delete songs on the phone individually or to delete *all* the songs from Settings -- neither of which is optimal.
I filed a bug on this, but wondered if anybody else ran across this and figured out how to fix it?

It looks as though I MAY have found a solution after playing with this since last night ... Let me know if it works for you!
I went through and deleted a few random songs through iTunes on the "On This iPhone" tab ... they still showed on my iPhone but not in the Music part on iTunes. I then clicked sync at the bottom next to the memory bar on iTunes and it seemed to have removed the songs from my iPhone.
However, my iPhone is saying I have 1 more song than my iTunes is saying which I still don't understand but if I can still manually manage my music I guess it's a small price to pay for the minor confusion.
Really getting tired of becoming a detective just to work my phone appropriately. Apple should really stop making all these changes and stick to what the customers know and like. Frustrated and annoyed customers won't raise their sales...

Manually managing music for iPhone

I recently upgraded my OS to Windows 7 and reinstalled iTunes. All my files and music were erased from my library. Is there any way I can manually manage music and videos for the iPhone without losing all the current content? Whenever I select "manually manage" from the summary page and press apply, it wants to sync my iPhone and erase all current files.
If not... I hate iTunes!

Try using mediamonkey to manage it initially and there are apps out there to copy the music back.
There is a thread around here about someone who lost their itunes without a backup and explains alot about this
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2380615&tstart=0
Start looking there is what I would suggest.

Manually manage music with new iPhone and new MacBook?

I have a new iPhone 6 that auto syncs with an old MBP iTunes library. I just got a new MBA and want to manually manage music between my new iPhone and my new computer. I don't want to transfer all of my music files onto my new MBA in efforts to save space.
I just want to keep all the music files that are currently on my phone, and have the ability to add more files as needed from my NEW MacBook.
Any help would be much appreciated!

Hi ksatia,
If you'd like to manually manage your content, which would allow you to sync content with multiple computers, then please take a look at the information in the article linked to below.
Manage content manually on your iPhone, iPad, and iPod - Apple Support
Take care,
Alex H.

Question re: manually managing music

If I manually manage music to my iPod/iPhone/whatever, are play counts still included from music that I listen to on the device? Or will it only sync play counts if I'm syncing to a playlist?

play counts are not updated when manually syncing.

Can't add music my iPhone from iTunes. When I try to drag a song over to my phone, I get the circle w/ the syncing line through it, but it does not update/load. [Manually manage music and videos] is checked. And, this is the only Mac I have ever used to

Can't add music my iPhone from iTunes.
When I try to drag a song over to my phone, I get the circle w/ the syncing line through it, but it does not update/load.
[Manually manage music and videos] is checked. And, this is the only Mac I have ever used to add music to my phone.
Also, just updated the phone's software today, and iTunes' software is already up to date.

Hi Gregg,
Have you tried resetting the device (nothing will be lost): Hold down the Home and Power buttons at the same time and continue to hold them down until the Apple appears (up to 30 seconds). Once the Home screen redisplays, see if your Music app is behaving normally.
Cheers,
GB

I want to use my IPOD Classic 160gb for notepad entries in addition to the music and books I listen to. It is set to "Open ITunes when connected to computer" and "manually manage music and videos". How can I do that without losing some of the features

I want to use my IPOD Classic 160gb for notepad entries in addition to the music and books I listen to. It is set to "Open ITunes when connected to computer" and "manually manage music and videos". How can I do that without losing some of the features of those two? I just want to add a feature. Thanks

Settings>Store (or iTunes & App Stores if you are running iOS6)>Apple ID. Tap your son's ID and sign out. Sign in with your ID and password.
You shouldn't lose the music, but if you try to update any apps that you bought with the family ID, you will have to use that password that is linked with that ID in order to update.
Avoid downloading past purchased content with the old ID if you can since you will associate the iPad with the old ID for 90 days and you will lock yourself out of your own, new ID for that period of time. Read more about associated devices in iTunes here.
iTunes Store: Associating a device or computer to your Apple ID

How do I do this to use OVerdrive media on deviceThe Apple device must be formatted for use with Microsoft Windows. The iTunes setting 'Manually manage music-' must be enabled for the device before you can complete the transfer.

I cannot make these directions work
I downloaded media on Overdrive MEdia on my PC
I have the overdrive media ap on my I pod touch 4g
this media is suppossed to be compatible w/I pd touch
Notes on Transferring OverDrive MP3 Audiobooks…
Most MP3 capable devices should play OverDrive MP3 Audiobooks.
If you intend to transfer OverDrive MP3 Audiobooks to an Apple® device, note the following…
iTunes® v9.0.2 (or newer) is required.
The Apple device must be formatted for use with Microsoft® Windows®.
The iTunes setting 'Manually manage music…' must be enabled for the device before you can complete the transfer. Adjust this setting in iTunes as follows…
Connect the iPod® to your computer.
If it does not launch automatically, open iTunes v9.0.2 (or newer).
In iTunes, locate the device in the left vertical navigation panel (under heading 'DEVICES'), and click the device.
The 'Summary' screen is displayed.
Place a checkmark next to 'Manually manage music…'.
Click the 'Apply' button.
The iTunes 'Summary' screen refreshes, and the changes are saved.
If desired, close iTunes.
Note that if an Apple device is connected to your computer, you can choose to simultaneously transfer a title to the iTunes Library and the Apple device. If you wish to only transfer a title to the iTunes Library, you must first disconnect the Apple device

Recovering your iTunes library from your iPod or iOS device: Apple Support Communities
Also you said " I want to add them to my iCloud, and also back to my computer. " Note that unless subscribe to iTunes match, only iTunes purchases are stored in iCloud.
Also,
You can redownload most iTunes purchases by:
Downloading past purchases from the App Store, iBookstore, and iTunes Store

HT1202 My iPod is set to manually manage music. I have tons of different music from different computers on my iPod. Unfortunately my iPod is getting old and I'd like to purchase a new one. Is there any way I can transfer all the music to a new iPod?

My Ipod touch is set to manually manage music. I have put music from my computer and iTunes account onto it, and music from other people's computer and iTunes accounts on it. Unfortunately I dropped my iPod and the screen cracked. It still plays music and everything just fine, but it has problems with it's battery life so I'd like to just get a completely new iPod nano. Is there any way I can transfer all the music from my iPod touch onto a new iPod nano? From what I can tell it won't let me sync any of the music on my iPod touch that is from other people's computers onto my laptop, and so I wouldn't be able to put it on a new iPod nano. Hopefully that makes sense. I'd just really really like to be able to keep all that music and not lose 2/3 of my iPod touch music library because I want to put it on a newer Ipod.

Recovering your iTunes library from your iPod or iOS device: Apple Support Communities

Enable disk use and Manually manage music and videos

When I go to Summary, Enable disk use is checked but dim, so I can't change it. Manually manage music and videos is checked and not dim. Is this enough to do so that I can manage the videos I have shot on my Nano from iTunes, or do I have to do it from iPhoto?

Hello JohnKerr48,
I can manage the videos I have shot on my Nano from iTunes, or do I have to do it from iPhoto?
You have to manage them via a Finder window, through iMovie, or iPhoto. They cannot be managed via iTunes unless you copy them from your Nano onto your Mac and then import them into your iTunes library. For more information, see this Apple support document.
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3822
B-rock

Any reason to use "Manually manage music" over creating an iPhone playlist?

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