How to sync iTunes podcasts under Windows 10?

Hello, everyone.

I recently upgraded from Windows 7 to Windows 10. Under Windows 7 I could set up my Clip+ to automatically sync my iTunes podcasts whenever I plugged the Clip+ in. I did this through Control Panel | Hardware and Sound | View devices and printers.

Has anyone worked out a way to have a Clip+ automatically sync every time one connects the Clip+ to the Windows 10 computer via the USB cord?

I can still find Control Panel | Hardware and Sound | View devices and printers hidden away. But I can’t (so far) find a way to make the sync behave as it did before.

I can also find Windows Media Player. But I can’t (so far) find a way to make it do the automatic sync. In particular, it doesn’t seem to remember which folders to sync.

Many thanks for any assistance,

Allen

A slightly different option:  have you ever used/tried Microsoft’s freeeware SyncToy?

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=15155

Older and simple but it always worked for me.

One of the many creepy things about Windows 10–besides its complete invasion of your privacy unless you reset about a dozen Privacy settings–is that it switches your default media applications to Groove Music, Movies & TV and Photos.

If you still want to use WMP rather than the excellent Sync Toy, go into Set Default Applications and choose WMP, then reset your sync settings in WMP and see if they last. Don’t know if that will work but it can’t hurt.

I can sort of get Windows Media Player to do it. (There’s a long lag between when new files are added to iTunes and when WMP notices that they’ve been added. WMP seems to have to go through some “update media library” process that I can’t trigger manually.)

Just now I tried to use SyncToy because several folks sung its praises. But it whenever I select the “Sansa Clip+ (4GB)” (or any subfolder underneath it) for either the left or right folder, the “OK” button grays out.

It’s probably user error, but I can’t get SyncToy to work on my Clip+.

Thanks,
Allen

WMP usually communicates with the Sansa via MTP mode.  If Settings/System Settings/USB Mode is Auto and the Sansa finds WMP (10 or above) on your computer, it goes into MTP mode. 

Sync Toy probably wants MSC mode, the standard USB connection, to see the Sansa as two flash drives. 

You can switch modes in Settings/System Settings/USB Mode. But your computer will only see one mode at a time–that is, all the files you sent over by MTP mode will be invisible to your computer if you switch to MSC.  

It’s a pain to make the transition, but if Sync Toy turns out to work better for you, you would be best  getting all the files you need copied off the Sansa, switching to MSC mode, and  Syncing them back over.  I believe–but you should Google around–that you can still use WMP in MSC mode. 

Thank you so much, Black-Rectangle!

I NEVER would have figured out that subtle issue myself.

I’ve got SyncToy working. It still has some quirks (won’t sync iTunes podcasts both ways despite my settings…but I could never get that to work in Windows 7, either).

Best,

Allen

PS: WMP did sort of work to provide similar 1-way syncing. But there was this mysterious long lag between when iTunes downloaded a new podcast and when WMP could actually find it to sync it.

You could also escape the iTunes tyranny entirely.

Here’s a list of podcast managers. I know lots of people use Juice.  And I didn’t know that VLC also does podcast subscriptions.

http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/what-is-the-best-podcast-manager-for-windows/

iTunes makes it really easy find and subscribe to podcasts. Just find them on the Apple store.

Is it similarly easy to find and subscribe to them on Juice? Does Juice have access to the same podcasts as the Apple store?

Allen

The only thing Juice does is podcasts. I don’t think Apple has exclusive deals with podcasters–they want their stuff heard everywhere. 

Best way is to take a look at it and try it.  There’s a full manual to look at on the support page. 

http://juicereceiver.sourceforge.net

Just at a glance, it  appears that Juice has a built-in list of podcast sources and you can add to it from other web directories–so it may not be as centralized as the iTunes store, but once you’re subscribed to stuff it will keep coming in. 

I love Juice (aka iPodder, until Apple demanded a name change)!  Easy to use, low maintenance.  I really don’t use it for podcast directories, etc.–as far as I know, Juice has been out of development for many years.  And directories of podcasts easily can be found elsewhere, online.

One possible issue with Juice:  because its development hasn’t continued, when it is installed and depending on the Windows version, it may try to use drectories that Windows has changed over time.  This is easy to fix–instructions can be found on the web.  See,e.g.:

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_7-windows_programs/juice-wont-work-on-windows-7how-do-i-make-it/49a144d5-6b46-4d75-8606-e863a8cd21e5?auth=1

http://club.myce.com/f3/problems-juice-podcast-receiver-219900/

I love Juice (aka iPodder, until Apple demanded a name change)!  Easy to use, low maintenance.  I really don’t use it for podcast directories, etc.–as far as I know, Juice has been out of development for many years.  And directories of podcasts easily can be found elsewhere, online, and then simply copy and paste the feed link from the directory into Juice–voilà!.

One possible issue with Juice:  because its development hasn’t continued, when it is installed and depending on the Windows version, it may try to use drectories that Windows has changed over time.  This is easy to fix–instructions can be found on the web.  See, e.g.:

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/w​indows_7-windows_programs/juice-wont-work-on-windo​…

http://club.myce.com/f3/problems-juice-podcast-rec​eiver-219900/

SyncToy is working fairly well for me. 

Two oddities are that:

  1. File transfer is much slower than  WMP.
  2. SyncToy does everything twice. By this I mean that if it transfers a file over from my computer to my Clip+ once, then it tries to do it again the next time I click “Preview” or “Run” on SyncToy. Same thing for deleting files.

Neither is a big problem. Just odd.

Thanks everyone!

Allen

Glad that SyncToy is working well for you.  Some things are just simple and good.   :slight_smile:

I will to receive for instance pertaining to I’ll continue to obtain Regulate -panel | Appliance plus Good | Perspective systems plus photo printers disguised at a distance. Nonetheless I won’t (at this point) find a method in making a connect work as them have in advance of.

www.itransition.com