I see why people chose Apple

fret_wimp2

This week I got an andriod, HTC Desire S in place of a lost iPhone.
The device itself is nice. lots of features, radio being particularly cool.
But then i went to set it up on my pc.

Downloaded HTC sync app. It wont install, keeps failing on the driver install.
Googling tells me to install the android SDK. Downloaded that, but it fails as i dont have the java SDK.

Im now downloading the java sdk, but really, i just install itunes and the iphone works.

I knwo the iphone is slightly limited, but this installation procedure for an android phone is just crazy.

Is it usually this bad?

fret_wimp2

now Android SDK cant see the java sdk (im on windows 64 bit). nothing a 50 line regedit file cant fix! totally crazy!

srsly78

You don't need to do any of that, unless you are a developer.

Just select mount usb from the notification bar (when it's plugged into pc).

Alanstrainor

+1...I was about to ask just what you were trying to do...I think you've taken a few steps in the wrong direction imo.

theteal

ehhh, connect the phone, mount usb, choose to open folder from autoplay or else go to my computer to see/navigate phone storage, drag and drop whatever you want to wherever you want it. job done.

sdk is the developers kit, op. you don't need that at all

biko

You don't need anything on computer. If you want an easy software try Kies Air from Google Play.
You install Kies Air on the phone and start the little server inside, then simply connect to phone via the laptop's web browser. Simples.

fret_wimp2

i was trying to install the android drivers so i could launch the android OS upgrade app.

regarding using it as just a usb device, i have a lot of music, is my only recourse to drag and drop files to the device. thats a tad akward.

dahamsta

How is it awkward exactly?

fret_wimp2

I have 60GB of music, organized in directories by Artist>Album.

If i want a few songs from a few artists thats a fair bit of point, click, select, drag and drop.

what about playlists, theres no such thing with the drag and drop method.

I mean an app that catalogs the files via ID3 tag, makes them searchable and allows me to copy them to the phone. now thats what i want!

And no, i dont like itunes a whole lot, but it does make syncing with your device easy.

fret_wimp2

I have a LOT of music, organized in directories by Artist>Album.

If i want a few songs from a few artists thats a fair bit of point, click, select, drag and drop.

what about playlists, theres no such thing with the drag and drop method.

I mean an app that catalogs the files via ID3 tag, makes them searchable and allows me to copy them to the phone. now thats what i want!

And no, i dont like itunes a whole lot, but it does make syncing with your device easy.

wheresmybeaver

Downloading and installing the behemoth that is iTunes is a better experience? Dragging and dropping music and videos couldn't be easier!

EDIT: I'm a biased and happy Zune / WP7 user...

budgemook

If you want to use a program for syncing music, use one. If you don't, use drag and drop. Android is all about choice, control and customization.

You're criticizing it because you can't use it. I wouldn't have a notion how to use iTunes but would hold off until I at least tried to learn something.

fret_wimp2

wheresmybeaver wrote: »

Downloading and installing the behemoth that is iTunes is a better experience? Dragging and dropping music and videos couldn't be easier!

EDIT: I'm a biased and happy Zune / WP7 user...

iTunes may be huge, but functionality wise, it makes transferring and organizing music a breeze. a bit supprised there is nothing like it for android.

budgemook

fret_wimp2 wrote: »

iTunes may be huge, but functionality wise, it makes transferring and organizing music a breeze. a bit supprised there is nothing like it for android.

There are many programs like it for Android.

muff03

Just spotted the thread, and I've no experience with android, but maybe this will help. Again, never used it myself.

http://m.cnet.com/news/how-to-sync-itunes-with-android/57370000?ds=1

fret_wimp2

budgemook wrote: »

There are many programs like it for Android.

aw come on dude, recommend something. dont just post a statement like that. thats not helpful.

budgemook

fret_wimp2 wrote: »

aw come on dude, recommend something. dont just post a statement like that. thats not helpful.

Windows media player?

Deank

budgemook wrote: »

There are many programs like it for Android.

There is Doubletwist, simples to use

rob w

fret_wimp2 wrote: »

I have a LOT of music, organized in directories by Artist>Album.

If i want a few songs from a few artists thats a fair bit of point, click, select, drag and drop.

what about playlists, theres no such thing with the drag and drop method.

I mean an app that catalogs the files via ID3 tag, makes them searchable and allows me to copy them to the phone. now thats what i want!

And no, i dont like itunes a whole lot, but it does make syncing with your device easy.

I use apple and android devices, prefer the android myself because of what you can do with it over apple stuff!

For my music i just drag and drop, its pretty easy! But you could try the winamp app or doubletwist from Google play, might give similar functionality as itunes does, but not sure as i don't use them myself!

Sofiztikated

fret_wimp2 wrote: »

iTunes may be huge, but functionality wise, it makes transferring and organizing music a breeze. a bit supprised there is nothing like it for android.

There is.

Winamp
My Playlist Maker (free and Pro)
MixZing
PlayerPro
DoubleTwist

I don't use any of them, because I prefer the drag and drop method, but Winamp was my go to player on Windows for a long, LONG time.

FWIW, I can't stand the iTunes method for transferring music. Unfortunately, I've been forced to install iTunes on my Win7 partition, but I'm working on getting GTKpod working on my main Linux partition.

budgemook

Oh yeah winamp on desktop and phone allows transfer by wifi I think so no driver related issues.

To be honest though, if you can't install device drivers you might be better off with iPhone

fret_wimp2

budgemook wrote: »

Oh yeah winamp on desktop and phone allows transfer by wifi I think so no driver related issues.

To be honest though, if you can't install device drivers you might be better off with iPhone

Its not a case of cant, Ive never had to jump through so many hoops to install a device.


Windows Media Player looks like it will do the trick. Thanks for the recommendation

budgemook

I never had a htc but all I ever had to do was Google device drivers and install them.

No hassle anyways.

PogMoThoin

fret_wimp2 wrote: »

Its not a case of cant, Ive never had to jump through so many hoops to install a device.


Windows Media Player looks like it will do the trick. Thanks for the recommendation

You didn't have to jump through any hoops, Android devices are plug and play. You just wish to have something similar to iTunes

dahamsta

This:

budgemook wrote: »

You're criticizing it because you can't use it.

(To correct the thread title: People choose Apple because they're gullible fashion victims with no self control and limited learning abilities. If we're going to be snotty about it.)

syklops

fret_wimp2 wrote: »

Its not a case of cant, Ive never had to jump through so many hoops to install a device.

You must be new to computing.

fret_wimp2

syklops wrote: »

You must be new to computing.

And you must that snotty dusty dark basement IT Tech Support Guy. The kind of guy who says "well it works on my pc so i dont think theres an issue" when someone calls up with a problem.

_Puma_

It really couldn't be easier. Sounds to me like your computer does not have the correct USB driver, probably because you were messing around installing drivers when you tried to install the SDK. This is not a problem with android, it's a problem with your computer. General tip for using a computer, don't install stuff when ya don't know what it does.

A roll-back should probably solve your problem.

s_carnage

But your making something as simple as putting music on your phone sound like the most complicated thing imaginable. There is nothing simpler than dragging the files into your phone folder. You've also been told a way without even having to connect your phone to the computer above (I use Airdroid for this btw).

kayos

fret_wimp2 wrote: »

And you must that snotty dusty dark basement IT Tech Support Guy. The kind of guy who says "well it works on my pc so i dont think theres an issue" when someone calls up with a problem.

If you were in his shoes the answer would be "I only know how to do it on a mac, why didn't you buy a mac"

I've multiple current devices between android and WP7.5 I've never had a single issue with android or WP7.5. You dont even need to connect the android to your PC to upgrade the OS... that was true when I had a HTC Legend and still true on my Nexus 7.

Tazium

dahamsta wrote: »

This:
(To correct the thread title: People choose Apple because they're gullible fashion victims with no self control and limited learning abilities. If we're going to be snotty about it.)

Limited learning is the product of your statement.

The OP is invested in iTunes and iPhone. He has come to expect the same simplicity on the major market competitor for that whole encompassing solution. The fact is, it's not as simple.

How good are any of the Andriod music syncing applications (or drag and drop) at keeping play counts, and skip counts and all that kind of music management stuff that platform agnostic music fans find important?

I don't see any of the competing devices doing anything that the others can't do. It's their implementation of how it's done that's slightly different.

selephonic

I use iTunes simply because there is no other player I can find that handles nested smart playlists the way it does, if anyone can suggest anything I'd be delighted to switch over.

I us iSyncr to sync both ways between android and itunes over wifi or usb, Airdroid for airplay streaming and Remote for iTunes to control itunes over wifi. That's pretty much all the features of an iPhone right there I think.

srsly78

Tazium wrote: »

The fact is, it's not as simple.

What? It's even simpler ffs.

listermint

fret_wimp2 wrote: »

And you must that snotty dusty dark basement IT Tech Support Guy. The kind of guy who says "well it works on my pc so i dont think theres an issue" when someone calls up with a problem.

You could also use the likes of google music which allows sync over the air to you music stored in the cloud oh and its free unlike a certain similar apple product.

As an aside why are you comparing a near 2 year old phone with up to date Android devices ?

for shame.

PogMoThoin

fret_wimp2 wrote: »

And you must that snotty dusty dark basement IT Tech Support Guy. The kind of guy who says "well it works on my pc so i dont think theres an issue" when someone calls up with a problem.

This is what those of us who work in IT call a "PEBKAC"

Problem exists between keyboard and chair, otherwise known as the common ID 10 T error

fret_wimp2

kayos wrote: »

If you were in his shoes the answer would be "I only know how to do it on a mac, why didn't you buy a mac"

I've multiple current devices between android and WP7.5 I've never had a single issue with android or WP7.5. You dont even need to connect the android to your PC to upgrade the OS... that was true when I had a HTC Legend and still true on my Nexus 7.

Dont like justifying myself online, but have a mac, and a windows 8 pc running VM's of various flavours of windows & Linux.

I know how to use a computer. I didnt expect installing a few drivers for a phone to be a big deal. Ive had an iphone for some time and it just worked. Before that I had a windows phone and it just worked.

Im not saying i havnt made a wrong turn here and there, but the process of installing a driver should not leave many wrong turns to make.

And i made the foolish assumtion that we had moved beyond drag and dropping music. My first mp3 player ( awesome little iRiver) was drag and drop. thats fine with a few gb. With 60Gb of music on your pc, dragging and dropping of a song here, and a song there is unfesable.

It seems though instead of getting help on this thread you just get folks (some, not all) anxious to display some form of superiority. Yay, you didnt have issues installing a driver, go you!

Please, if all you have to add is that it worked for you, or you are jumping some snap conclusion about how little i know about computers, DONT. i posted here for help, not to massage other folks ego's over something as silly as a phone.

srsly78

You still don't get it.. There is no need to install any drivers!

In this case a little knowledge is a dangerous thing.

_Puma_

fret_wimp2 wrote: »

I know how to use a computer. I didnt expect installing a few drivers for a phone to be a big deal. Ive had an iphone for some time and it just worked. Before that I had a windows phone and it just worked.

Im not saying i havnt made a wrong turn here and there, but the process of installing a driver should not leave many wrong turns to make.

And i made the foolish assumtion that we had moved beyond drag and dropping music. My first mp3 player ( awesome little iRiver) was drag and drop. thats fine with a few gb. With 60Gb of music on your pc, dragging and dropping of a song here, and a song there is unfesable.

Installing drivers is always a precise science, whether it be for a phone, printer, keyboard etc... If you dont have the correct one, don't do it! It is up to the manufacturer to give clear links on their website/provide a CD for the correct one.

This is nothing to do with android.

Usually the stock USB drivers that come with the OS are fine, you have installed something you shouldn't have that has borked your USB driver.

As for the media player comment previous posters have provided multiple examples of music player similar to Itunes that you can use. Most people prefer these to Itunes due to them not having as big of a footprint on your system, not being as closed off as Itunes, and yes, being simpler to use than Itunes. You cannot use these with an Iphone unless you root it and void its warranty.

Drag and drop is a bog standard way of transferring files to your android phone that has been around since the inception of Windows. Apple have not provided this with their Iphone for their own reasons.

Tazium

srsly78 wrote: »

What? It's even simpler ffs.

If it were, the OP wouldn't be in this situation.

srsly78

Tazium wrote: »

If it were, the OP wouldn't be in this situation.

Nope, the OP thinks they are a computer expert and insists on installing the android sdk for no reason whatsoever.

Wow... there are actually still people above trying to give him advice on installing drivers. Which part of "you don't need any drivers" is not clear?#

Also am pretty sure the phone only prompts for drivers when in debug mode. Why are these people turning on debug mode?

Tazium

srsly78 wrote: »

Nope, the OP thinks they are a computer expert and insists on installing the android sdk for no reason whatsoever.

When did this become a bashing thread?

srsly78

Tazium wrote: »

When did this become a bashing thread?

When the op rejected the helpful advice and started trolling I think.

Tazium

That's the thing, OP didn't reject anyone's advice. Trust the internet to take what you say and screw it backwards.

_Puma_

srsly78 wrote: »

Wow... there are actually still people above trying to give him advice on installing drivers. Which part of "you don't need any drivers" is not clear?#

Call it a general computing tip. As I pointed out they didn't need to install any drivers, usually the stock ones are fine. Merely pointing out what they probably did wrong.

srsly78 pointed out on the 3rd post of the thread what needed to be done, OP had probably gone beyond this and did something to there system by messing around with drivers, then proceeded to complain about it not being as "simple" as Itunes. That is the crux of the problem for this whole thread.

Cienciano

fret_wimp2 wrote: »

And you must that snotty dusty dark basement IT Tech Support Guy. The kind of guy who says "well it works on my pc so i dont think theres an issue" when someone calls up with a problem.

LOL, understanding plugging a usb storage device into your computer and dragging and dropping makes you an IT geek now!

You mentioned dragging and dropping was old fashioned, the reason it's popular is that you know exactly what's happening. You're not letting a program fúck up your music files. I have about 140 gig of music, every id3 tag is right, album art is right and folders are organised perfectly. itunes is the last program I'd let near it.

evolutionqy7

srsly78 wrote: »

When the op rejected the helpful advice and started trolling I think.

Its not trolling nor rejecting. Drag and drop only works if you got a couple of songs. In my library I have 1787 folders based on Artist -> Album.

Try going through all of them and drag and drop...See how far you will get. Drag and Drop just isn't an option unless you want to quickly drop in a new album you just got and you know where it is.

I'm not a fan of iTunes or Zune but they do what their meant to do and Android lacks that. Even Samsung Kies sucks as it fails to ever work properly with Windows 8 or Windows 7 for that matter, taking huge amount of time to start up, find media and so many clicks to transfer to the device.

srsly78

People pointed out MANY itunes alternatives that work fine on android. You can even use itunes itself on some android phones (motorola ones).

_Puma_

evolutionqy7 wrote: »

Drag and drop only works if you got a couple of songs.

I'm not a fan of iTunes or Zune but they do what their meant to do and Android lacks that. Even Samsung Kies sucks as it fails to ever work properly with Windows 8 or Windows 7 for that matter, taking huge amount of time to start up, find media and so many clicks to transfer to the device.

That is your opinion, and you are probably in the minority with it. Most people prefer complete control of what music they put on their phone.

There is also numerous Applications out their that you can use on Android to sync you media files...giving a wide range of customer choice, Windows media player probably being the most popular but probably the worst . My advice, go for Winamp.

evolutionqy7

_Puma_ wrote: »

That is your opinion, and you are probably in the minority with it. Most people prefer complete control of what music they put on their phone.

There is also numerous Applications out their that you can use on Android to sync you media files...giving a wide range of customer choice, Windows media player probably being the most popular but probably the worst . My advice, go for Winamp.

Well it might come as a surprise, but the majority of people don't even plug their phone into a computer to do any kind of syncing. Many people I've met that don't even know what to do with iTunes and nvm anything else.

Depends on how you define control. iTunes and Zune and even WMP gives you complete control of what you want to put on your device.

I can always remember when I was trying to teach my mum how to put music onto her Xperia Play last year. She was completely confused with drag and drop concept even though she has done it many times with a USB stick...

Then the phone was replaced with a Lumia 800. All I had to do is download Zune for her. Showed her where the songs were, and told her right click and press sync and she could do it.

I think OP's idea was that apple does it so simply. Just download iTunes and you can sync your music very easily. Same for Zune, bit disappointed they have got rid of that in WP8.

That Sync Client HTC makes is quite crap tbh. Just like Kies. I tried using Double Twist with Air sync before and that is slow as Xmas and does a terrible job at displaying and easy syncing.

_Puma_

Ya your right about the majority thing. The most popular for users that have tried multiple syncing apps maybe.. coming from my own experience as an Itunes, WMP, and Winamp player user. I usually cant justify installing these Media players any more when I'm doing a clean install.

yoyo

MediaMonkey is the "idiot proof" iTunes like syncing program which works with Android (and Apple devices actually). There are plenty more but that is the most itunes like. Drag and drop is far easier and quicker than syncing, plus less likely for the sync to screw up and need "restoring", like what used to happen to my ipod too regularly. At least with Android and soon WP8 you'll have choice

Nick