<p>DoubleTwist, which is free, gives people a way to easily sync their iTunes music library with their Android phones. For Android users who might otherwise feel forced to carry around an iPod for music, doubleTwist is a great option.<br /><br />Getting started is a two-step process. Users must download the doubleTwist desktop application (from doubletwist.com) as well as the Android app. Next, you synchronise the media on your phone and computer.<br /><br />Unfortunately, the initial syncing process isn’t quite as seamless as it could be. When you start the desktop application, it greets you not with a guide to getting started, but with a pitch urging you to buy the doubleTwist AirSync app. As an alternative, the desktop application says, you can “sync via USB for free.”<br /><br />But this raises questions. Should you first open iTunes or just connect the phone to the computer? Should you download the Android app to your phone and perhaps open it before connecting?<br /><br />DoubleTwist offers little help, if any. So I grabbed a cable with a mini-USB plug on one end (for connecting to the phone’s power source) and a conventional USB plug on the other. With the doubleTwist app open on the phone, I connected the Droid2 to my Mac.<br /><br />Success. The connection set off the opening of a new window on my desktop screen, prompting me to import music, videos and photos from my phone to the computer, or sync my iTunes music or videos to the phone.<br /><br />Instead of trying to export my entire music library to the Droid2 or selected playlists among the many I have, though, doubleTwist asked if I wanted to choose among three playlists: “Most Played,” “Recently Added” and “Top Rated.”<br /><br />A doubleTwist executive, Monique Farantzos, said the software was developed to detect all playlists on a user’s computer and allow people to pick and choose what they want to load onto their phone. She could not account for my experience and said it was only the second time the company had heard that a user encountered trouble of this sort.<br /><br />After some unsuccessful troubleshooting, I chose to download all three playlist options. I also received an error message stating that 47 of the songs I’d been downloading to the phone were not available for transfer because the songs had not been upgraded to iTunes Plus.<br /><br />For the uninitiated, iTunes Plus is an audio standard introduced on iTunes in 2007. Tracks are of higher quality and free from copy protections. But if you bought songs on iTunes before 2007, as I did, you’ll need to upgrade them if you want to transfer them to an Android. <br /><br />DoubleTwist’s AirSync app at $5 (Rs 240) on Android is well worth the price. All you need is a Wi-Fi connection, and instead of plugging in your phone each time you want to transfer new iTunes music from your desktop computer to the phone, you can merely open AirSync and start the sync. That’s right: wireless syncing. IPhone users are still waiting for a way to do this with their full music collections. <br /><br />Once Android users set up their iTunes on the phone, they will enjoy some other features that make it a more versatile music player than an iPhone. As the song plays, for instance, you can tap on the musician’s name and a box appears, offering options for buying more of the artist’s songs or watching related YouTube videos, for instance.<br />You can also set that song as your ringtone, or, if you’re feeling psychedelic, watch a dynamic graphical interpretation of the song. <br /><br />It’s heady stuff for Android phone owners who have had to deal with iTunes withdrawal and iPhone envy. With one strategic download, the tables are turned.</p>
<p>DoubleTwist, which is free, gives people a way to easily sync their iTunes music library with their Android phones. For Android users who might otherwise feel forced to carry around an iPod for music, doubleTwist is a great option.<br /><br />Getting started is a two-step process. Users must download the doubleTwist desktop application (from doubletwist.com) as well as the Android app. Next, you synchronise the media on your phone and computer.<br /><br />Unfortunately, the initial syncing process isn’t quite as seamless as it could be. When you start the desktop application, it greets you not with a guide to getting started, but with a pitch urging you to buy the doubleTwist AirSync app. As an alternative, the desktop application says, you can “sync via USB for free.”<br /><br />But this raises questions. Should you first open iTunes or just connect the phone to the computer? Should you download the Android app to your phone and perhaps open it before connecting?<br /><br />DoubleTwist offers little help, if any. So I grabbed a cable with a mini-USB plug on one end (for connecting to the phone’s power source) and a conventional USB plug on the other. With the doubleTwist app open on the phone, I connected the Droid2 to my Mac.<br /><br />Success. The connection set off the opening of a new window on my desktop screen, prompting me to import music, videos and photos from my phone to the computer, or sync my iTunes music or videos to the phone.<br /><br />Instead of trying to export my entire music library to the Droid2 or selected playlists among the many I have, though, doubleTwist asked if I wanted to choose among three playlists: “Most Played,” “Recently Added” and “Top Rated.”<br /><br />A doubleTwist executive, Monique Farantzos, said the software was developed to detect all playlists on a user’s computer and allow people to pick and choose what they want to load onto their phone. She could not account for my experience and said it was only the second time the company had heard that a user encountered trouble of this sort.<br /><br />After some unsuccessful troubleshooting, I chose to download all three playlist options. I also received an error message stating that 47 of the songs I’d been downloading to the phone were not available for transfer because the songs had not been upgraded to iTunes Plus.<br /><br />For the uninitiated, iTunes Plus is an audio standard introduced on iTunes in 2007. Tracks are of higher quality and free from copy protections. But if you bought songs on iTunes before 2007, as I did, you’ll need to upgrade them if you want to transfer them to an Android. <br /><br />DoubleTwist’s AirSync app at $5 (Rs 240) on Android is well worth the price. All you need is a Wi-Fi connection, and instead of plugging in your phone each time you want to transfer new iTunes music from your desktop computer to the phone, you can merely open AirSync and start the sync. That’s right: wireless syncing. IPhone users are still waiting for a way to do this with their full music collections. <br /><br />Once Android users set up their iTunes on the phone, they will enjoy some other features that make it a more versatile music player than an iPhone. As the song plays, for instance, you can tap on the musician’s name and a box appears, offering options for buying more of the artist’s songs or watching related YouTube videos, for instance.<br />You can also set that song as your ringtone, or, if you’re feeling psychedelic, watch a dynamic graphical interpretation of the song. <br /><br />It’s heady stuff for Android phone owners who have had to deal with iTunes withdrawal and iPhone envy. With one strategic download, the tables are turned.</p>
