In an older post, I showed you how to share your iTunes library between computers. In another post, I talked about the virtues of the syncing web service, Dropbox.
Now, iTunes & Dropbox join the ranks of Great Combinations, rubbing elbows with the likes of Dungeons & Dragons, Beavis & Butthead, and Nuts & Gum (Together At Last!)
Well, at least it has the potential to be a great combination. By using Dropbox instead of an external hard drive, it’s feasible that you could eliminate the need to carry your music collection with you. I’ll tell you how you’d set up sharing your iTunes library using Dropbox, but since I no longer use a PC at home, I can’t test this first-hand.
The idea behind this modified method is the same as before. The difference is that you’ll be saving your iTunes library to your Dropbox folder. DO NOT save your music folder to your Dropbox. I’ll say it again: do not save your music folder to your Dropbox. For one, it would take a really long time to sync. For another, you only get 2GB of online storage. You only want to copy your iTunes Library.itl file to your Dropbox folder.
Once you do this, you’ll have to redirect iTunes to look for your library in this new location. Hold down the Shift key (Option on a Mac) while you launch iTunes. Keep holding it down until you see the Choose iTunes Library… option box. Select Choose Library… and find where you saved it in your Dropbox. iTunes should launch normally, with all your ratings and play counts intact.
As soon as you do this, go into the Preferences (Edit » Preferences) and click the Advanced tab. Make sure the iTunes Music folder location is pointing to wherever you have your collection. It should not be pointing to your Dropbox; my iTunes changed this automatically when I chose to use the library in my Dropbox. Be wary of this, otherwise any music you add will be put into your Dropbox.
Now this is where the potential of this setup could soar, and where I can’t test it (yet.) Theoretically now, you should be able to save your music collection directly to your local hard drive on each machine, instead of your portable external hard drive.
This could be a fantastic setup if it works the way it does in my head. The biggest advantage would be that you could share an iTunes library between two computers without having to lug around an external hard drive. You would have synchronized play counts and ratings, and it would be (almost) completely transparent.
The disadvantage, however, becomes apparent when you add new music to your library. While the iTunes library will recognize it without problems, you’ll have to physically copy the music file to each computer that’s sharing the library. For example, if you buy a song from iTunes at home, it gets added to the library and all is well. But when you go into work the next day and want to listen to your new song, iTunes won’t be able to find it. You’ll have to carry the song on a flash drive and copy it to the collection on your work computer. If it’s just a song or two, you could save it in your Dropbox to sync, then move it when you get in to work. So, depending on how frequently you add new music to your library, this could be a big hassle. If you find yourself constantly copying music back and forth, you might be better off going back to saving your library on the external hard drive.
Another thing you’ll want to keep in mind is that because iTunes is constantly updating the library file while the program runs, so too will Dropbox be syncing that file. My iTunes library is about 4.5MB with about 2700 songs, and the corresponding XML file is about 10% bigger. So be aware of this if your network usage is monitored or if you have a slow connection.
As far as I know, this will not work between Windows and Mac, since the two operating systems use different folder structures. If you can try this between Windows machines, or between Macs, I’d love to hear how well this works; leave a comment so the rest of us can benefit from your great wisdom!
I love tech, but don’t have as much time or money to spend on it as I’d like. I get what I need to sustain my Geek vicariously through other sources and pass it along to you.
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http://www.astro-geek.com – cool sitename man)))
I have this a try between my windows box at home and my mac at work. It didn’t work. However I’m thinking that’s because I don’t have itunes organizing my music for me. It’s not all kept in the itunes music folder…
@Jason – It’s more likely because Windows and Mac use different operating systems and different folder structures. I haven’t heard of anyone getting this to work between Mac and Windows, which is unfortunate for those of us that are forced to use one OS at work and a different OS at home.
Just an update. I do have it working with my Mac at work, and my XP box at home. I changed the library so iTunes manages it, and it works beautifully. And to add to the cool factor, I set up file syncing over the internet so when I add a file in either place it magically appears at the other.
@Jason – Great news! I’ll have to give it a more spirited effort once we get our computers all set up in our new house.
Any chance you could share a blog post about how you did this, or perhaps email me? I’d love to share this knowledge, and update my post.
@Christopher – I’d already posted on my blog, and the trackback covered you. I’ve run into one possible issue with this though that I haven’t yet fixed. I just got an iPhone (finally) and all the apps are stored on the dropbox instead of the itunes library. Same thing with rented (and I assume purchased) movies.
I haven’t looked into this too deeply since I just found out, but there’s not a setting I can find to change the default storage location for that stuff. I’m sure it will still work by manually moving the files after they’re downloaded, but that takes all the automation out of it.
One more thing to note. When you’re going back and forth from windows to mac, it does add to the time it takes to load the library. And if you just leave them both open, you’ll run into conflicts on the itl file.
the idea is brilliant,. Logical and makes sense. But the way i have it syncing between my wndows desktop and my macbook comes with some issues with the file conversion and transfer. if i add a song to my macbook, the song automatically appears on my desktop. But when i add a song to my desktop, i manually have to put the song or video on my macbook (this is due to the conflicting OS). it works beautifull if you’re using the same OS but if your not i recommend using the external hard drive , this way allows you to keep a copy of the actual file with you if you have issues with the conversion between the OS.
Tanner
Tanner, how are you syncing?
I’m using foldershare (now bought out by microsoft and called windows live sync) and it works beautifully cross OS for me.
im just using the dropbox sync. it works for updating the files quickly but it doesnt work when i add a song to my macbook because when i turn to me windows machine it doesn show up. but when i add a song to my windows machine it automaticaly updates it to my macbook, i assumed it was the OS but ill try live sync and see hows that works. im probably just going to use the external HD idea because that its more simpler and reliably plus it alloys me to backup all my data to a drive instead of to millions of CDs.
Tanner, you’ll need both if you want your music to sync too.
Dropbox syncs the iTunes Library. The file that keeps information ABOUT the songs.
Windows Live Sync (or any other over the net sync program) is what syncs the actual songs.
The trackback down below talks more about it.
oh i see what your saying, the dropbox syncs the .xml file and live sync syncs the music folder so you dont having to keep using a flashdrive to transfer the actual music data. thanks for your help ill get back to you if i have any questions.