Manually manage music on two computers with iPhone 4s

For the past few months I have had not issues manually managing my ipod touch on two computers. This is a necessesity as I own a mac laptop but like to listen to audiobooks from my local library which will only download to a PC. With my iPod touch all I had to do was make sure that the manually manage music was turned on and I could put the music from my computer on the device than go and use my friend's pc to put on the audiobooks (WMA Overdrive format). Since getting the iPhone 4S it has been a nightmare to get the same result. I even went so far as to plug it into each computer completely when nothing was on the iphone and turn on manually manage music in each, than put all my music from the mac on it. Only to find that when I opened up itunes in the PC manually manage music was unchecked again. The only way to turn it back on is to sync and erase all my music, thus forcing me to carry around both an ipod and an Iphone, which is more than a little annoying.
Please help!

Unlike the iPods, including the iPod Touch, iPhones will synch with ONLY ONE iTunes library at a time. You will NOT be able to manually manage music from 2 computers with your iPhone.

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Manually manage music + import .m3u playlist to iphone 5 = duplicate songs

hello,
I tried searching the forums for a related questions but didn't find any. if it exists let me know.
i have a iphone 5 (ios 6) and a ipod 2g (ios 4.2). I use itunes on windows and manage both devices manually for music and videos. Now I have a playlist in WMP which I exported as a .m3u file.
In itunes, I can import the playlist and it shows up under the 'playlists' correctly. Now I wanted to transfer this playlist to my ipod and iphone (note: my ipod and iphone already have all the songs in the playlist plus many others. I never use them in 'sync' mode).
I was under the impression that a playlist is just a list of pointers to songs and not songs themselves. So when I drag the playlist into the ipod within itunes, it creates a new playlist with that name on the ipod and correctly transfers the pointers onto the ipod. the playlist works perfectly on the ipod and there and no duplicate songs.
now with the new iphone 5 and new ios 6, something seems to be different. when i drag the playlist into the iphone, it does create a new playlist but it copies all the songs again, even though the exact songs (all metadata identical since they're from the same physical source on my harddisk - album, artists, art, title, etc). so it creates duplicates of these songs.
now the still tougher part. I tunes apparently has a find duplicates feature. But it onyl seem to work for music imported into itunes library. It is greyed out if you click on the iphone and then try to find duplicates (if iphone is set to manually manage music.)
so is this expected behaviour? I think this is a bug in the new ios since the drag drop playlist manually works perfectly in ios 4.2.
any thoughts?

Unfortunately, you'll need to 'start fresh,' as it were. However, you could transfer your library from the old computer and sync. This MAY keep you from having to erase everything. Worst case scenario, if you transfer your library, though, would be to wipe it and then load the same content right back on.
iTunes: How to move your music to a new computer

Manual managing music on 2 computers?

with my ipod I can manually manage music on multiple PC's
on my wife's Iphone it goes to auto sync on the 2nd PC
am I doing something wrong?

Since disk mode is required for this, probably for security reasons which is not a concern with an iPod only without internet access.
what would be the purpose of manually managing then?
Good question, since the primary benefit when doing so with an iPod is transferring iTunes content from an iTunes library on more than one computer. Some habits are harder to break than others and for those who prefer manually dragging songs to their iPod, the option to do the same with an iPhone is available event though this can be done with an iTunes library on a single computer only. If you are manually managing music and video with an iPhone and the iPhone is restored with iTunes if wanted or needed, you must remember which music and video was available on your iPhone and manually drag it back to the iPhone. With syncing, when restoring your iPhone from your iPhone's backup, your selections under the various tabs for your iPhone sync preferences with iTunes are pre-selected since this is included with your iPhone's backup When purchasing music direct with the iPhone, the music will be copied to your iTunes library automatically the next time you sync your iPhone with iTunes after doing so. No so with manually managing music videos. Manual means manual all the way.

What contents are being deleted if I click "Manually Manage Music and Videos" in my iPhone 4S?

Would it delete all my txt messages, contacts, and notes? I don't mind getting all my apps deleted, but my contacts are very important.

If you sync and you have chosen manually manage music and Videos then only those songs and videos that you have ticked in itunes will be synced to the phone Nothing will happen to contacts notes and apps

Iphone 5 Manually Managing Music on Two PCs

I have just bought an iphone5 after years of using an ipod touch 2nd gen.
I setup my ipodtouch 2nd gen when i was still living at home on that PC there and that had room enough for all my music.
I have since left home and now have a laptop, that doesn;t have room. I have also moved in excess of 200 miles away from the "home" pc.
I set my iphone up on my laptop and synced all the "new" music i have bought - you know physical CDs etc - i really dont do downloading. Fine. No Problems. I even managed to go through the hoops to create custom ringtones.
I visited home and thought "oh while i'm here..." and hooked up. Now, i'd been forearmed and forewarend of trouble so on my laptop i have "Mnaually Manage Music" Ticked and "Automatic Sync" UNticked. I did the exact same at the home PC. Lo and behold all the laptop music and tones etc. got wiped when updating to the home PC and putting all that music on.
Fine i thought - i'll just connect up to the laptop and re-add the manually added stuff.
Nope. Got back and the "Manually add Music" box has UNTICKED ITSELF, and when i tick it and hit apply - yup you've guessed it, i lose everything from the Home PC.
This is driving me mad.
How can i get round this? I'm due another trip back home next week and want to add all the stuff on again, but i'll not be going back again for months after that, and i'll be buying new CDs that i'll want to add onto my iphone through my laptop at a later date.
I've also discovered that when the amnually add music option is selected you cant "manually add" the ringtones back in. Any suggestsions for this as well before i through this bloody iPhone through the nearest window?

Because this is how Apple chose to design the iphone.

Two computers with iPhone

I currently have a Touch and am investigating getting an iPhone. Will I be able to synch emails, calendar etc on my work laptop and synch my music etc. from my home computer? I can't install iTunes on my laptop.
In other words, will one iPhone work with two computers?

You'll be able to sync with the 2 computers, but every time you sync from one - it will erase everything already on your iPhone. So if your callendar is on one computer, and your email are on the other - you can't have both sync'd at any one time on your iPhone.
So, you can't really sync between 2 computers successfully this is to supposibly stop people syncing music from one computer and then syncing a few tracks from another computer (copying them really which is copywrite)

Sharing music on two computers with one external drive

I'm a Mac. My wife is a PC. If we both link to an external drive and put all of our music on there, can we both access it from our own separate iTunes accounts via file sharing? Will she be able to put music I've downloaded on her iPod? Will I be able to do the same? So far she hasn't downloaded any of her own music onto her computer so if she were to remove her current iTunes from her computer and reload it using my account name, would we both be able to have full access to music both imported and downloaded from both computers? Sorry for the questions on top of questions, but while there are a lot of other posts and articles similar to this one, I haven't found what I'm looking for. Thanks!

Yes, sorry for piling on. 1st question: Would having her remove iTunes on her PC and reload it under my account name to be able to access my iTunes library on an external drive work?

Help- Manually managing Music, Playlists appear to transfer iphone...

But don't appear on the i-phone, What am I doing wrong?

Sorry-
In i-Tunes, under the summary tab / options I have selected Manually mange my music and videos.
When I drag a play list I created in i-Tunes from the left side of my i-Tunes screen and drop it onto my i-phone, everything seems fine (i-Tunes allows the transfer and it my phone lights up indicatign it is syncing), however when I eject the phoen and gotothe ipod funciton and select palylists, th eonly thing shown is Genius Playlist and On-The-Go.
Update- 11-25-09 11:39PM I installed i-Tunes 9.0.2.025 earlier today and now the problem seems to have been resolved. I was current on the last upgrade, so don't know if it was a coincidence or.........
Rehappy

How do I manually manage music on my ipod with the latest version of itunes?

Very frustrating that I can't do this/figure it out. I want to drag music from my folder onto my ipod but now it makes me add it to itunes first. I don't want to. I also can;t see which songs I have on my ipod to edit them

Correction: The music on my iPod doesn't show up in the "Music" section in "iPod" in iTunes.

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.

Unable to manually manage music on more than one computer

Recently i had some problems with my iphone so i decided to delete all the music and start over again, i enabled the manually manage music in my work pc and then drag and drop my songs into the iphone library, all happened fine, then when i got home i connected my iphone to my laptop and i noticed that the manually manage music are unchecked and my iphone´s library dont allow me to add or delete songs! do anyone knows what´s the problem? i have the same itunes version wich is the latest on both computers, this is the 11.1.3.8
I will appreciate any help!

If you have iTunes on your work computer, it IS possible, I'm just not sure if it's possible with a shuffle. :/ I don't have one.
What you'd do with a 'regular' iPod is turn it to manual, then you can access/play the music from iTunes.
You may want to check the shuffle forum to see if it's possible with that particular iPod.
Good luck!

Upgrade to iTunes 11 has disabled Manually Manage Music option

After upgrading to iTunes 11, it has now removed the option to 'Manually manage music' when I connect my iPhone (4S). Previously I manage all my playlists and keep them up-to-date, but found this morning I now cannot add anything to the phone,,,
Each time I tick the box and click apply, it warns me that it ERASE the entire iPhone - Not what I wanted to hear!
Is there any way to bring this back inline, it also warns me that the phone is synced to another iTunes library (techincally correct but this is the previous version that it recommended me to upgrade from... Are they serious!?)
PLEASE HELP!
I want to avoid resetting the phone and letting them win.... again! I can't put into words how frustrating this :-/
*I'm running Windows 7 64-bit with an iPhone 4S, and in the UK.
Many thanks...!
Chris

I have an iPhone 5, same happened to me. I need to erase and resync my phone, loosing all playlists and ratings in the process. Music that I wanted in my iTunes but not my iPhone will now also be re-added.
I'm really over having to spend hours reloading my phone and playlists how I like them everytime Apple decides to unleash a dud update. I've literally spent thousands of dollars for the convenience of keeping my music and phone life in one place over the years, but that conveneince is now outweighed by Apple's user unfriendly approach to their software updates.
My next update will be away from Apple.

Cannot manually manage music

I recently had to replace my hard drive, and I am just now trying to manage my iPhone music again through iTunes. At the moment, I cannot manage my music. When I go into the summary page and click "Manually manage music and videos," then Apply, I get the message "This iPhone is synced with another iTunes library. Do you want to erase this iPhone and sync with this iTunes library?" The only choices which appear are Cancel or Erase and Sync. I don't want to erase my iPhone, but I do want to be able to manage my music...what do I have to do to be able to select the manually manage music option without erasing my iPhone?

Well, without a backup, you're gonna have to use third party software to first put your content into itunes BEFORE you sync. You can transfer purchased content, as I've said: File>Transfer Purchases. Music you ripped on your own will have to be transfered by third party software:
http://www.wideanglesoftware.com/touchcopy/
Like I said, when you first sync or manually manage, all itunes content on your phone will be erased & replaced with the content from your "new" computer. There is no way to avoid this. Backing up is your only protection, as the iphone is NOT a backup device.

Cannot delete music from iPod nano (latest generation). Have already selected "Manually Manage music and videos" but delete is unavailable from right click or Edit.

I have done everything I've seen recommended for deleting music (jncluding "manually manage"). Thanks for the assistance!!!

Did you Apply the change after selecting (checking the box for) Manually manage music and videos?
With the latest iTunes, if the sidebar is hidden, from the menu bar, under View, select Show Sidebar.
In the sidebar, select the iPod under DEVICES. Click the toggle (to the left of iPod) to drop down the iPod's content list, indented under iPod. Click on Music there. Over to the right, the list of songs on the iPod is shown. You can select songs there, right click on them, and select Delete from the contextual menu. You can also select songs there, go up to the menu bar, and select Delete under Edit. You can also select songs there, and just press the Delete key on the keyboard.
If you want to use automatic syncing, which is far more convenient than the manual method, and easily manage content on the iPod (add and remove songs), please post back.

Manually managing music on iPhone from multiple computers

Everything I've read 'claims' this can be but I don't think the people who tell you how to do it even bother to see what happens. This is one of the things that really frustrate me about forums. It's the complete lack of thoroughness of the people who reply to a question without knowing the outcome.
It's a simple task. I want to be able to move music from multitple computers to my iPhone. When I go into iTunes and select the device, in my case it's the iPhone, and check the box to manually manage music and videos then click 'apply' I get a warning that everything is going to be erased from the phone. WTH!?! And no one on ANY forum who suggests this is the proper way manually managing music even has a solution to be able to do this WITHOUT erasing the phone.
C'mon Apple. It's a SIMPLE drag-n-drop implementation. How hard can it be? I'm not the least interested in syncing with some music library on the computer. In fact I don't even sync my phone with the iTunes Library. It's a waste of time because I can't even selectively sync music. It's either all or nothing. STUPID. I simply want to move music on and off the phone. You know, drag into the window to add and drag off to remove. And I want to be able to do it from any computer I want that's running iTunes. I shouldn't have to copy music from a different computer, carry it home and add it from the home system. That completely defeats the concept of portability. And if my home computer happens to go south for some reason then what? Even if I have all my music backed up, I have to wipe out all my music on the phone and start all over because I'm now using a different computer. Who was the genius that came up with that ludicrous idea?
Apple you really need to take a page from Sandisk and allow iPhones to be treated as external drives so we can drag and drop our music onto them. No muss no fuss. Simple and clean with no hair pulling. It's already established the you create some very pretty devices. Now let's work on improving usability. Because the way I see it, it's a bit backwards.

Sync iPod/iPad/iPhone with two computers
Although it isn't possible to sync an Apple device with two different libraries it is possible to sync with the same logical library from multiple computers. Each library has an internal ID and when iTunes connects to your iPod/iPad/iPhone it compares the local ID with the one the device normally syncs with. If they are the same you can go ahead and sync...
I have my library cloned to a small 1Tb USB drive which I can take between home & work. At either location I use SyncToy 2.1 to update the local copy with the external drive. Mac users should be able to find similar tools. I can open either of the local libraries or the one on the external drive and update the media content of my iPhone. The slight exception is Photos which normally connects to a specific folder on a specific machine, although that can easily be remapped to the current library if you create a "Photos" folder inside the iTunes Media folder so that syncing the iTunes folders keeps this up to date as well. I periodically sweep my library for new files & orphans with iTunes Folder Watch just in case I make changes at one location but then overwrite the library with a newer copy from the other. Again Mac users should be able to find similar tools.
As long as your media is organised within an iTunes Music or Tunes Media folder, in turn held inside the main iTunes folder that has your library files (whether or not you let iTunes keep the media folder organised) each library can access items at the same relative path from the library folder so the library can be at different drives/paths on different machines. This solution ensures I always have adequate backups of my library and I can update my devices whenever I can connect to the same build of iTunes.
When working with an iPhone earlier builds of iTunes would remove any file not physically present in the local library, even if there was an entry for it, making manual management practically redundant on the iPhone. This behaviour has been changed but it will still only permit manual management with a library that has the correct internal ID. If you don't want to sync your library between machines on a regular basis just copy the iTunes Library.itl file from the current "home" machine to any other you want to use, then clean out the library entires and import the local content you have on that box.
tt2

Manually manage music on two computers with iPhone 4s

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