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How to sync music via Wi-Fi without using iTunes

How to sync music via Wi-Fi without using iTunes
Baptiste Brassart

Baptiste Brassart

  • Updated:

If you don’t want to sync your iOS device with iTunes, VLC for iOS provides a genuine alternative to iCloud for transferring music and video over Wi-Fi.

For most people, iTunes (Windows | Mac) is unnecessarily complicated, but most iOS owners believe they have to use it in order to sync music, apps, photos, and videos from their Apple device.

Apple has tried to simplify the procedure in iOS 5 by allowing synchronization via Wi-Fi, a great solution when you can’t connect your iPhone or iPad with your computer when transferring content from one device to another.

Unfortunately, it’s now down to iCloud, the online storage service, and following the new updates for the various operating systems, wireless synchronization poses more problems than it solves.

Should you settle for connecting your device to a computer just to transfer a few songs? The answer is no. The solution is VLC for iOS.

Here’s how to transfer music without iTunes via Wi-Fi.

1. Install VLC for iOS.

2. Open the options menu by pressing the VLC logo in the top left corner of the main screen. Then activate the Wi-Fi upload module by simply tapping it.

3. Now go back to your PC or Mac. Type the URL – which begins with http://192 under the heading WiFi Upload – in the address bar of your favorite web browser and hit enter.

4. Now drag and drop the files you want to sync into the browser tab. Select the songs you want to transfer from Windows Explorer (or Finder for Mac) and drag and drop them all into the browser tab.

Here’s a little update on format compatibility: VLC for iOS supports the most popular audio codecs, including OGG and FLAC. In terms of video, it is best to convert your files into a supported format before transferring.

Transfer VLC Mac

5. Once all transfers are done you can close the browser window. Back on your mobile device, you can now listen to all the songs you’ve just sent via Wi-Fi from VLC for iOS.

VLC makes transferring files via Wi-Fi easy. Since Android users can connect their smartphone via USB to transfer media directly, this is a great wireless solution for iOS users.

The only downside is that the files don’t appear in the device’s media library. Nothing too serious, however it does mean that other apps can’t use the music stored on your iDevice.

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Hands on with VLC for iOS

Use VLC media player as a video converter

How to sync audio with video in VLC for Mac

Follow me on Twitter: @bbrassart

Baptiste Brassart

Baptiste Brassart

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