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Comparison of iPod file managers

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This article focuses on iPod managing software. i.e. software that permits the transferring of content between an iPod and a computer or vice versa.

iTunes is the official iPod managing software, but 3rd parties have created alternatives to work around restrictions in iTunes. e.g. transferring content from an iPod to a computer is restricted by iTunes.

General

Manager Creator(s) First public release date Latest stable version Downloadable without paying? Software license Windows Mac OS X Linux
Amarok Mark Kretschmann 2003-06-23 3.1 (August 2, 2024; 4 months ago (2024-08-02)) [±] Yes GPL Yes Experimental (leopard) Yes
Banshee Aaron Bockover 2005-08 2.6.2 (February 18, 2014; 10 years ago (2014-02-18)[1]) [±] Yes MIT Experimental Experimental Yes
Clementine David Sansome, John Maguire February 2010 1.3.1 (April 19, 2016; 8 years ago (2016-04-19)) [±] Yes GPL v3 Yes Yes Yes
gtkpod Jorg Schuler ? 2.1.5 (Jun 2, 2015) Yes GPL No No Yes
iRip The Little App Factory 2003-09 2.1 (Mac) (May 6, 2011; 13 years ago (2011-05-06)[2]) [±]

1.0.1.25 (Windows) (8 April 2010; 14 years ago (2010-04-08)[3]) [±]

No Proprietary Yes Yes No
iTunes Apple Inc. 2001-01-08 Yes Proprietary Yes Yes No
JRiver Media Center J. River 2003-07 28.0.63 (September 10, 2021; 3 years ago (2021-09-10)) [±] Yes (trial) Proprietary Yes No No
MediaMonkey Ventis Media Inc. 2003-08-25 5.0.4.2690 (November 23, 2022; 2 years ago (2022-11-23)) [±] Yes (Standard) Proprietary Yes No No
Rhythmbox Colin Walters 2004-04 3.4.4 (January 4, 2020; 4 years ago (2020-01-04)) [±] Yes GPL No No Yes
Senuti FadingRed 2006-04-26 1.1.7 (Oct 6, 2009)[4] Yes (limited trial) Proprietary No Yes No
MediaChest D Rogatkin 1999-10-10 2.1.204 (Jun 12, 2013) Yes BSD Yes Yes Yes
Winamp native Nullsoft 1997-06 5.9.2 Build 10042[5] (April 26, 2023; 19 months ago (2023-04-26)) [±]


Yes (Bundle & Full) Proprietary Yes No No
XPlay Mediafour 2002-06-24 3.5.0 (Dec 30, 2009)[6] No Proprietary Yes No No
Manager Creator(s) First public release date Latest stable version Downloadable without paying? Software license Windows Mac OS X Linux

Media organization and transfer features

Manager Copy Music Copy Videos Copy Smart Playlists Copy Album Artwork Extract DRM-Free Music Extract DRM-Free Videos Extract Playcounts Extract Playlists Copy Content to iPod
Amarok Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ? No
Banshee Yes ? Yes Yes Yes No Yes ? No
Clementine Yes Yes Yes Yes No No Yes Yes Yes
EphPod Yes ? Yes No Yes No ? ? ?
gtkpod Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
iRip Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
iTunes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No Yes Yes Yes
JRiver Media Center Yes ? Yes Yes No Yes ? ? ?
MediaMonkey Yes No No Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes
Rhythmbox Yes No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Senuti Yes Yes No No Yes Yes Yes ? ?
Winamp native Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes ? Yes Yes
XPlay Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Manager Copy Music Copy Videos Copy Smart Playlists Copy Album Artwork Extract DRM-Free Music Extract DRM-Free Videos Extract Playcounts Extract Playlists Copy Content to iPod

iPod syncing and maintenance features

Manager Download Podcasts Rebuild iPod Database Portable 6th Gen. Firmware 5th Gen. nano Firmware shuffle3G Firmware iPod touch / iPhone support Photo support Supports Gapless Metadata
Amarok Yes Yes ? Yes ? No Yes4 ? ?
Banshee Yes Yes ? No Yes Yes Yes ? ?
Clementine Yes No ? No No ? Yes ? ?
EphPod No Yes ? ? No No No No No
gtkpod No ? ? Yes2 Yes4 Yes4 Yes, jailbroken only ? Yes
iRip Yes ? Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
iTunes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
JRiver Media Center Yes ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
MediaMonkey Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes
Rhythmbox Yes ? ? ? Yes No Yes4 No No
Senuti No ? ? ? ? ? Yes ? ?
Winamp native Yes ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Yes
XPlay No Yes No ? ? ? ? Yes ?
Manager Download Podcasts Rebuild iPod Database Portable 6th Gen. Firmware 5th Gen. nano Firmware shuffle3G Firmware iPod touch / iPhone support Photo support Supports Gapless Metadata

Note 2: gtkpod developers have found a workaround [1].

Note 3: As of Version 3.02 [2].

Note 4: Support arrived with libgpod >= 0.7.90 due to the use of libimobiledevice.

iPhone & iPod Touch compatibility

Manager iPod touch / iPhone Firmware up to 1.1.4 iPod touch / iPhone FW 2.x iPod touch / iPhone FW 3.0 iPod touch / iPhone FW 3.1 iPod touch / iPhone FW 4.0.2 iPod touch / iPhone FW 5.0.x
Amarok Yes No Yes Yes Yes, Read-only Yes, Read-only
Banshee Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes, Read-only Yes, Read-only
Clementine Yes, limited Yes, limited Yes, limited Yes, limited No No
EphPod No No No No No No
gtkpod Yes Yes Yes Yes ? ?
iRip Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes, Read-only
iTunes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
JRiver Media Center No No No No No No
MediaMonkey Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Rhythmbox Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Senuti Yes Yes No No No ?
Winamp native No No No No No No
XPlay Yes Yes, Read only Yes, Read only Yes, Read only Yes, Read only Yes, Read only
Manager iPod touch / iPhone Firmware up to 1.1.4 iPod touch / iPhone FW 2.x iPod touch / iPhone FW 3.0 iPod touch / iPhone FW 3.1 iPod touch / iPhone FW 4.0.2 iPod touch / iPhone FW 5.0.x

See also

References

  1. ^ "October 10, 2012". banshee.fm. October 3, 2012. Retrieved October 10, 2012.
  2. ^ "iRip for Mac". www.macupdate.com. 2010-04-19. Retrieved 2010-04-28.
  3. ^ Ben Trengrove; The Little App Factory Pty. Ltd. (2010-04-08). "iRip Windows v1.0.1.25". iRip. forums.thelittleappfactory.com. Retrieved 2010-04-28.
  4. ^ "Senuti Compatibility for Updates to Mac OS X, iPhone, and iPod". FadingRed. Retrieved 2010-03-27.
  5. ^ "Winamp : Supported versions : Latest supported version". Winamp Forums. December 22, 2022. Retrieved January 15, 2023.
  6. ^ "XPlay 3.5.0 update is now available". MediaFour. Retrieved 2010-03-27.