Do I have to use an Apple device?

Janey1a

This might seem an obvious question but do you have to use an Apple device to use iTunes?
My hubby uses a Shuffle for the gym but has heard that Apple are stopping production of the shuffle soon so he's wondering what to use next as his shuffle is playing up. He is a weight lifter so something strapped to his bicep isn't suitable for him.
Can he use anything else as all his music is on iTunes?

SouthUKMan

On portable music players - iTunes is Apple only.

iTunes is available for Windows products - but obviously that's PCs, laptops and Windows based tablets.

RumRat

They may be stopping production of the shuffle, but, that doesn't mean current ones will stop working.
They are still on sale at Argos, Currys etc. so if you want to be sure for longer, buy one while the supply is still there in case his fails in the future.
To be honest MP3 players are no longer flavour of the month as most people now stream their music from the likes of Deezer, Spotify or Google play etc.

esuhl

I'm not familiar with iTunes, but can't you just copy the files from a PC running iTunes to any basic storage-based media player?

Or does iTunes use DRM?

glentoran99

esuhl wrote: »

I'm not familiar with iTunes, but can't you just copy the files from a PC running iTunes to any basic storage-based media player?

Or does iTunes use DRM?

ITunes aren't MP3 they convert to a different format which wont play on another type of device

esuhl

glentoran99 wrote: »

ITunes aren't MP3 they convert to a different format which wont play on another type of device

Ah, right. I had a quick google, and it looks like they're in the AAC format.

If your media device can't play them directly, you can just put them in an MP4 wrapper, or convert them to MP3 or Ogg Vorbis (or whatever) using ffmpeg - then you can use whichever media device you like.

https://www.ffmpeg.org/

Hotspur

Janey1a wrote: »

This might seem an obvious question but do you have to use an Apple device to use iTunes?

Short answer is No. I've used iTunes to manage my music on my windows computers for years and played it on portable players from Sony and Samsung as well as an iPod touch and via a USB memory stick and a SD card on my integrated car player. However, Apple players can manage music and display cover art better and have an improved search facility IMHO.

Janey1a wrote: »

Can he use anything else as all his music is on iTunes?

Yes, any mp3 player will do the job. Just change the AAC files to mp3 files using the iTunes convert facility. (Easy to do) and then drag and drop the resulting mp3s into the non Apple player.

If happy with the old Apple player though why not just buy a new one, while they are available, and delay the decision to change for a few years (assuming the device keeps working).

almillar

ITunes aren't MP3 they convert to a different format which wont play on another type of device

Not quite. iTunes is a music management app. It does MP3, it does AAC, it does 'Apple Lossless'. If your 'MP3 Player' doesn't do AAC, get a new one at this point, or iTunes can convert to MP3 if you like. iTunes leaves out FLAC and WMA but even then I think it can convert WMA. You have control over the file format, and iTunes is by no means Apple only.

It will sync with Apple devices very well, but there are ways to keep other devices in sync too. Double Twist, Google Play Music are two that I have used, with limited success.

An easy way to put 'iTunes Music' onto your portable devices (MP3 player, phone, tablet, even a USB stick/memory card) is simply to make a playlist. Connect the portable device to your computer and go into it in Windows Explorer. Click into the Playlist in iTunes. Now just highlight all the songs on the playlist (click on one of them, then press Ctrl-A), and drag them onto the portable device window. All the songs will copy over. Of course this isn't synced, so if you add or take away from that playlist, the changes aren't reflected, like they would be on an iPod, but it's still handy enough.

If he likes the shuffle, and it's on the way out, just buy another one, they're not going anywhere soon...

Cash-Cows

Shuffles available at CEX