UKC

I have tried in vein searching for various apps that will allow me to transfer music files from my Android phone to an apple phone.

Had anybody successfully swapped music from Android to apple, either by WiFi or Bluetooth?

If so, could you please explain what app you used and how you did it?

In reply to The Lemming:

The problem as far as I know is as ever..... Apple. Take them out and it's easy.
Another (as if you needed one) reason NOT to use Apple.

In reply to The Lemming:

Do you not have the option to use a computer as an intermediary? That would be much simpler. THat way you should just be able to copy the files from the Android over USB and then load them onto the iPhone using iTunes. I'm not sure that it's possible to go direct.

In reply to The Lemming:

Just use Google Music. Put all your stuff in the cloud for free. Open google music on iWhatever.

I say this because I stopped using iTunes several generations ago. Because its a turd. Spotify? Apple Music? Does anyone still carry around MP3 / MP4 files these days?

I think the writings on the wall for the perfumed walled garden at last. I still use their stuff from time to time, have a couple of devices at home. But the cost / the crippled nature of the hardware/software divided by Shiny isn't empirically worth it for me any longer.

D

In reply to Dauphin:



Try living in mid-Wales. If you want music from your phone in the car, you need to actually have the files as signal is piss poor.

To the OP: Android -> Computer -> iTunes -> iPhone. Easy.

In reply to ianstevens:

Android ----> Google music ------> iPhone. Yeah it actually lets you download whatever you fancy. No streaming required. Imagine.

D

In reply to Dauphin:



Fair enough - I've got no idea how google music works. Maybe I'm a bit old fashioned when it comes to cloud services, but I'd much rather have the data on my computer.

In reply to ianstevens:

Android -> PC -> CopyTrans Manager (or similar) -> iphone

No need for itunes to mess up your music file format.

In reply to ianstevens:


I live in the Alps and often can't get 3G but Spotify streams pretty well in places - in the car it buffers pretty well between blackspots. You can also sync stuff offline when you need it just like an MP3 player so you've got it when you don't have a connection.

I second the comment above - I stopped buying/ripping CDs about 5 years ago and never really got into downloading MP3s. Owning music is a chore, I'd rather just lease it and let someone else manage it.

In reply to ianstevens:


You still can. But Google allow you to upload 20,000 music files for free. It then works just like Spotify or any other streaming service but with your own music. Also worth noting that Google allow you to upload unlimited photos as long as you don't mind a bit of compression.

In reply to yorkshireman:


Not the case round here unfortunately. If I'm going to pay for music (as I believe you need to for spotify et al.) I'd much rather have the actual files myself - otherwise there's potential to plough hundreds of pounds into spotify and lose your music collection if it ever folds.

In reply to ianstevens:


I understand where you're coming from but I think its just a change in mindset that comes over time. I pay 10€ a month for Spotify for all you can eat music. That's like buying 10 CDs a year in old money. The minute I stop paying I don't have any music, but I'm planning to keep going as its priced at the right point for me. If Spotify folds there will be somebody else to use on the same model.

'Files on a computer' are just a liability whether its music, video, photos etc - you have to worry about the quality of them, backing them up, getting access to them. I'd much rather outsource that (and I'm a tech at heart, used to be a developer and took peverse pleasure in having 'control' over my (digital) stuff but I've come to the conclusion that life is too short).

In reply to yorkshireman:

Indeed. Lost countless hard drives over the years with several GB of high bit rate music on them, its now on Dropbox.

D

In reply to The Lemming:

Thanks for the replies.

I take it, there is no reliable quick way to deal files between android and apple?

In reply to The Lemming:
Dude?
What exactly do you want to do?
There's a few answers above. All of them reliable.

D

In reply to yorkshireman:


I think you're probably right on this one - although I do have some more obscure music from my teen days (10 years ago) that I very much doubt are on Spotify that I still enjoy. And what about Taylor Swift et al. who refuse to use it?


I've got a big 2GB HDD with everything backed up. I appreciate that it's not perfect, but I'm happy to run a syncing script everytime I update my music. I think it's probably the "control" side of things I'm not willing to give up. However, I'm oddly happy storing my entire PhD (ok, 1/2, rest tbc) on Dropbox. Go figure.

In reply to ianstevens:


I really hope its 2TB

I've got the same sitting at home for local files and TimeMachine backups and really just for dumping stuff that doesn't fit on my machine. The main thing is for photos but they're backed up all over the place (Google, iCloud and the HDD).

Somehow Taylor Swift not being on Spotify has not diminished my enjoyment of the service

In reply to yorkshireman:

1. Is the music clipped even more than the MP3 files in the process of transfer?Is one route less likely to do this than another?
2. What is the bandwidth like when you are driving along having Spotify streamed onto your device?

I know that it seems to me that no-one has the quality of sound that was there in the past, in current times. Is anyone in the music industry trying hard to address this?

In reply to veteye:

Yes, there are high resolution streaming services, but you're fighting against the tide...

I find it amusing to see today's yoof walking down the street with a godawful tinny din emanating from their phones. Even the cheap 'seven transistor radio' I had as a kid sounded better than that...

In reply to veteye:


Of course its compressed but much better quality than MP3. OK there will always be those who want to obsess over the quality but there comes a point of diminishing returns and a lot of appreciation in music (as in food and wine for instance) is down to mood and ritual.


In a car it sounds as good as CD quality to be honest. I can't say I've done any scientific testing but anecdotally that's what its like.


It'll come. Netflix have started 4K video and the streaming providers are constantly cranking up the quality of the audio.

In reply to ianstevens:
>Android -> Computer -> iTunes -> iPhone. Easy.

As opposed to.....

Android -> Andriod with Bluetooth in seconds.

Admit it Apple is Sh!t!

In reply to Indy:

Proprietary is the word your looking for.

D

In reply to everyone:

Alternatively, can anyone recommend a better app to play locally stored MP3 files on an iphone 5 than the godawful itunes/music app combination?

This will definitely be the last Apple phone I will own, but I will not, out of principle, get rid of a bit of equipment while it is still vaguely fit for purpose, so for the moment I am stuck.

CB

In reply to Dauphin:





Pass a music folder from phone to phone, Bluetooth.

Android does it no problems

In reply to Dauphin:



It is. However, my iPhone actually works, unlike the Android phone I used to own.

Yorkshireman - it is 2TB. Otherwise my "record" collection would be rather small. What do you mean you don't listen to TayTay 24/7? Jokes aside, I'm sure she's not the only one who doesn't put their music on such services. Having said that, I'm sure I'll fold one day - maybe the day 4G (or even 3G) makes its way to Ceredigion.

In reply to The Lemming:

You can't.

Move with the times.

Simplest way to do this is if you must avoid all the new fangled stuff like free streaming services that makes life easy.

Drag your music folder from your android phone onto your computer import into iTunes or Spotify or Google play music. Open said app on iDevice. Hey presto! In Spotify and Google play music you have the option of downloading a copy onto the device instead of streaming it.

Good luck. (You don't need it)

D

In reply to ianstevens:

Depends whether you are comparing like for like - top end Android phone with an iPhone. Using both, one is a little more polished to look at than the other in terms of OS and hardware integration, the other in terms of utility and useability is years ahead of other. And that's without the propriety hardware and software overheads.

D

In reply to yorkshireman:

How much bandwidth does streaming from Spotify use? I get a couple of gig a month on my contract but I can imagine that getting used pretty fast.

In reply to Dax H:

Depends how much you listen to..... Streaming isn't necessary on your phone. You just select the download option when you have wifi.

D

In reply to Dax H:

I don't know really since I mostly stream on my work iPhone so never see the bill

I probably stream about 10 hours per month and I've not had any shirty emails from HR yet so I guess its manageable. I think it does a good job of caching stuff you might have played before too.

According to a quick google even the extreme quality stream is only 144mb per hour

https://thomas.vanhoutte.be/miniblog/spotify-data-consumption/

In reply to Dauphin:


Well that presumes you've planned ahead and your mood doesn't change. But yes, intelligent use of syncing can help.

In reply to Dauphin:





I'm an android fan. Why pay for the privilege of being restricted on what I want to do?

In reply to The Lemming:

So why ask the question in the first place? And then why ignore the perfectly reasonable answers from a range of posters?

Ahh, you were trying to be fauxtroversial and get a bite. Dull.

LD

In reply to Dauphin:



Galaxy S2 (top end at the time) vs iPhone 6. I find the latter just does what I want, whereas the Samsung took a lot of fiddling to get it to behave how I wanted - plus I never really got on with the whole "ecosystem". I'm not a one-sided fanboy, I appreciate their are pros and cons each way - Apple works for me. Shame it's so expensive.

In reply to ianstevens:

Not really comparable. An s2 is three or four generations of hardware old and about four android versions out of date. They've just put features into ios9 that were available four years ago on android. Try a Samsung S6 or a nexus 6 / 6p. And you still put cyagenmod on the S2 and give the iPhone 6 a run for its money in the software dept, deep app integration, notification customisations, snappiness. On the other hand there's nice stuff on the Apple Store that's ios only, great to use and it looks pretty. Typing this on an iPad.

D

In reply to Dax H:


I stream from Spotify using my data connection on my way to and from work - probably about an hour a day total 5 days a week. I have never gone over my 2GB data limit doing this.

In reply to ianstevens:


I think you might be pleasantly surprised by what you can find on there in the way of old and obscure stuff - I certainly have been! Of course, there are the occasional artists who refuse to use it - but they are definitely in the minority. Also, the application allows you to mix locally stored files into your playlists, so you can mix your MP3 collection with streamed music.

In reply to kathrync:

Does this mean that you are listening via your phone and ear phones, or is it feasible to listen over the car system?
(or maybe you walk.)

In reply to veteye:



Some of the newer vehicles at work allow me to connect my phone via bluetooth and play my music. I'm more of a Deezer fan than Spotify but that is only because I had a free 12 month premium account. This has now expired but the free version is quite impressive with minimal adverts to get in the way of the 35,000,000 songs available.

Some have quite impressive speakers in them.

In reply to veteye:


Bluetooth on my car syncs as normal shows all the song information on the car console, and I can use the steering wheel controls to skip through tracks etc. It can also play through the USB port.

In reply to The Lemming:

Or if you don't have this, you can buy, for less than 20 quid, a device that fits in the lighter socket and transmits from Bluetooth input to FM output for any car radio. Quality isn't quite as good, but it does the job.

In reply to veteye:



I take the train so I use headphones.

I have used Spotify on my phone in cars where the audio system has either bluetooth or an auxiliary jack though and it works fine. Sadly, in my own car I am still stuck with CDs.