Android iTunes rsync

Automatically export m3u playlists from iTunes on your Mac, synchronize (rsync) playlists and all your music to your Android phone

How this works

• Exports m3u playlist files from iTunes using the incredible command line utility iTunesExportScala by Eric Daugherty, also available on the Mac App Store.

• Renames m3u playlist paths so that they are relative (iTunes uses absolute paths)

• SSHelper allows you to SSH to an Android device without root, free on the Play Store

• rsyncs the playlists and music to your Android device over wifi

• Notice this is one way synchronization and won't update your iTunes playlists/library

Getting started

This is very new and probably buggy, so make sure you have a backup of your iTunes library just in case!

1. Backup your iTunes Library and media!

2. Install SSHelper (Play Store) on your Android device.

3. Follow the SSHelper setup. Copy your Mac's public key to your phone:

ssh-copy-id -i ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub -p 2222 root@ADDRESS

Note: You should be able to use a alphabetical hostname. Go to Settings/About phone and see the Device Model label - your hostname will be modelname.local, where spaces are replaced with underscores. Make sure you can reach your phone with a ping. Mine is Nexus_5.local

Make sure to to tick the Disable password logins box, as the default password is admin

4. Add your Android device to your SSH config file (if you want to use a different Host shortcut just change it in the script). Mine looks like this:

Host phone 
Hostname Nexus_5.local
Port 2222
User root

5. Test your SSH config. Open SSHelper on your phone, and run ssh phone on your Mac. Isn't SSH great!

6. Look in the script and make sure the paths are correct for your mac.

7. Check your phone has enough free space, and run ./upload-music

Notes on music players

Android m3u playlist support seems to be really buggy. Very few apps ever seem to refresh correctly to see the new files and playlists. Poweramp (2 week trial or full version and MortPlayer seemed to be the only apps that can reload the new playlists. Sometimes Poweramp likes a manual refresh in it's settings.

Notes on album art

Syncing album art would be another complication, so I used Doug's Re-Embed Artwork AppleScript to make sure the album artwork was embedded in the music files themselves.

The script should notice the files have changed size and re-synchronize them.

Why I built this

I love music, so I regard having an organised collection of albums and playlists on my phone important. The problems I had with current workflows are as follows:

• Google Play Music: Great interface, but need fast internet and there is no option to automatically make all files offline available. Playlist syncing from iTunes buggy.

• DoubleTwist: Great interface, but must sync over WiFi with my Nexus 5, and has to upload every single file every time.

• iSyncr: This was my method of choice before this tool. The interface is average, however it was able to sync playlists and music from iTunes. However it is very, very buggy, and playlists wouldn't always sync or update

License

Android iTunes rsync Copyright (C) 2017 Jake Coppinger

This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.

This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details.

You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with this program. If not, see http://www.gnu.org/licenses/.

iTunesExportScale licence

Copyright (c) 2009, Eric Daugherty (http://www.ericdaugherty.com) All rights reserved.

Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are met:

* Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright notice, 
  this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
* Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright 
  notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the 
  documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
* Neither the name of the Eric Daugherty nor the names of its 
  contributors may be used to endorse or promote products derived 
  from this software without specific prior written permission.

THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS "AS IS" AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COPYRIGHT OWNER OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.