Jake Ludington's Digital Lifestyle

iTunes is one of the apps I'd most like to do without on my computer. I just haven't found a need to use it other than connecting to update device software. As a music organizer, I like Media Monkey better. As a solution for video, iTunes comes up lacking because it requires you to use other apps to convert files into iTunes friendly formats. For the times when I download apps from the App store, there's no reason to use iTunes because the transaction works great directly from an iPhone or iPad. And yet, Apple still forces the use of iTunes for the vast majority of functions involving the iPhone and iPad. Thankfully there are a few solutions designed to combine the most common functions performed in concert with an iPhone, eliminating the need to interface directly with iTunes.

One solution I like as an alternative to iTunes is Xilisoft iPhone Magic, which takes over most of the basic iTunes functions and adds some other great features to go with them. Despite the name, it also works with iPods too. Some of these great feature additions include:

• Convert and transfer most audio and video file formats to your iPhone or iPod.
• Rip DVD movies to watch on your iPhone or iPod.
• Play files directly from your iPhone when connected to your PC.
• Create photo albums from your PC for inclusion on your iPhone.
• Backup your iPhone to any computer, even one's you don't normally sync with.
• Manage your iPhone as a hard drive.

iPhone Magic also includes many of the features you expect in a media player, including ID3 tag editing, creating and editing playlists, and viewing files by artist, genre, album, etc. While there are things I'd like to see iPhone Magic do, like helping me manage contacts and calendar more automatically, overall it's the best all-in-one media-to-iPhone software I've tried so far.

Download Xilisoft iPhone Magic