Comments on: I’m About to Dump iTunes for DoubleTwist

By: Michael Will

Michael Will — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 23:14:44 +0000

My experience as well. I hated itunes as it was not at all available on linux and I had to use Windows XP to run it. I returned my first generation iphone because of the awful user experience, and because of how you can’t even get your own photos off of a device if you lose your original itunes database. Now that I a year later bought a macbook pro and per educational discount got an ipod touch along with it at no extra cost, I actually start liking itunes and feel the grip on content less, also because I have direct file level access to the mp3′s in the itunes database on the macbook. Now my phone is an android G1 and so I was wishing there was itunes support for that… sounds like double twist is just what I need, plus if they in the future support multiple stores it would be awesome…

By: J

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 20:42:13 +0000

I’m a little confused.

Does doubleTwist replace iTunes, or just help sync iTunes to phones? I’m about to buy a Droid, and I’m looking to still use iTunes to manage my media at home – more specifically, my wife likes the ‘Tunes and won’t give it up. Would I have to ditch iTunes and switch over completely to DT?

By: Kevin C. Tofel

Kevin C. Tofel — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 12:35:42 +0000

I simply use the App Store on the iPhone. I don’t think I’ve ever browsed the store through iTunes on a computer.

By: modo

modo — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 03:41:18 +0000

so can you run Apple Store besides Amazon? If not, how are you guys planning to browse the wonderful iPhone applications on this double twist?

By: Kevin C. Tofel

Kevin C. Tofel — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 13:48:48 +0000

It also uses the Amazon MP3 folder as a music library source. If you haven’t bought music from Amazon, you likely don’t have that folder. Since I purchase all of my digital music from Amazon, I do have it and it appears in DoubleTwist as a source. I don’t know that it needs an iTunes library in order to function, but I haven’t removed iTunes from my MacBook to test it.

By: Tim

Tim — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 01:46:36 +0000

Digging around in their forums I did find that an upcoming version will have the ability to add music directly to the DT library without having to point it at an existing itunes or windows media player library.

By: Tim

Tim — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 22:56:16 +0000

I’d like to use DoubleTwist exclusively but strangely it doesn’t offer the option to manage its own library of music. You have to point it to an itunes or windows media player library. I hope they have plans to add the ability to just install it fresh on a computer and have it manage its own library.

By: DaveZatz

DaveZatz — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 22:17:26 +0000

Use iTunes but buy content from Amazon is my advice.

By: Peter

Peter — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 21:08:57 +0000

Yes, I would. There’s no logical reason why I shouldn’t be able to use iTunes to move music and videos that I have purchased from my Mac to any device that I might own other than Apple protectionism.

Should I only be able to use iPhoto with an Apple camera? Must I use an Apple video camera to put data into iMovie? Should I only be able to sync Address Book entries with an iPhone?

Frankly, the reason Apple only supports syncing with iPods via iTunes is because they can–they own the market for music-players. Before Apple had the iPod, iTunes on the Mac would sync with numerous third-party music players. Apple also licensed the synchronization protocols to another company before they released iTunes for Windows.

By: SteveS

SteveS — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 18:00:15 +0000

I find it amusing how people complain about iTunes being bloated, etc. then go on to try little hacks like Double Twist and complain that it lacks features. Yes, it’s true that one size doesn’t fit all, but I’ll take the features, thanks…

If you don’t use an iPod or an iPhone, I would agree that you should look at alternatives. From what I’ve seen, nothing else is an adequate replacement for me. I’d rather use iTunes and have some other program sync the data if necessary than not use iTunes at all. People complain and suggest that Apple should provide sync solutions for third party devices. These people have to realize that iTunes is free because their business model is about selling hardware, not software.

By: Monique

Monique — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 17:32:57 +0000

We are working on some pretty cool podcasting features, stay tuned!

By: cybertactix

cybertactix — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 17:17:17 +0000

I completely agree, we all work differently, and I’ll keep my eye on this product. I am intrigued by the ability to manage content on all my mobile devices (including cameras) from one app and I’d like to learn more about what appears to be the ability to import content directly from online resources such as youtube. There is merit to some of the social aspects of the application for use with a “family” sub-set of a social network.

By: Kevin C. Tofel

Kevin C. Tofel — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 16:25:45 +0000

All fair criticisms and it underscores how there’s usually not a “one size fits all solution” because all of our needs vary. I’m fine with Pandora in lieu of the iTunes Radio function and I only listen to podcasts on my phones. Since they have connectivity (and podcatcher apps), I can overlook the podcasting issues in DoubleTwist for now. :)

By: violajack

violajack — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 16:23:37 +0000

I’ve been headed down that same road myself. I finally decided to switch permanently to the Google Ion (developer version of the magic), leaving behind my iPhone. I also won a sansa clip at a recent gadgety event (which I really like). Double Twist is great for getting music and videos to those things. Now, I’m looking for a new way to get video podcasts. Double Twist sees the Podcasts category from iTunes, but none of the video ones. I know I can use Miro to grab the videos I want. I think Miro saves into a folder that Double Twist checks. Does anyone have a good set up with Double Twist and podcasts?

By: cybertactix

cybertactix — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 16:21:38 +0000

I had some problems with the latest release of iTunes so I thought I’d have a look. In addition to using my 60GB iPod Photo as my primary audio device the concept of being able to mange audio on my Samsung Omnia made me try the latest version of DoubleTwist. Unfortunately this product doesn’t provide the features I can’t live without in iTunes.

When I travel my iPod is always with me to allow me to catch up on all the podcasts I listen to. DoubleTwist doesn’t have an integrated podcatcher and lumps all of my podcasts together into a single podcasts folder (no ability to roll up/hide the individual podcasts under a specific show). The ability to manage podcasts as playlists is an absolute requirement (changes Apple made in the way playlists are synced in the latest version of iTunes is one of the problems I had with iTunes). From reading the FAQ it does appear that I will be able to create playlists in the Windows version being released Oct 13.

I’ve come to rely on iTunes “Radio” to compensate for the poor radio reception in my house. While I could switch to Pandora the concept of a single app to mange my listening experience appeals to me.

As part of sharing on my blog I recently started to use LiveWriter add-ins to share what I am listening to when I post. At this time no LiveWriter add-in for DoubleTwist exists.

I’m also not thrilled by the fact that if I’m not connected to the web so that the application can connect to its servers to authenticate me it won’t start. The only reason it needs to authenticate me is to to support the social functions of the app. However it does make me wonder what else the program might be doing that I’m not aware of (I know I’m paranoid, its a requirement for a job in Info Sec).

By: Darwin

Darwin — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 15:58:13 +0000

iTunes has always been awful on Windows but great on Macs.