Why iPod Touch / iPhone support isn't in the roadmap ?

Thanks for info. That was a fast response !
Right now, it's the only reason why I don't use Songbird.

I hope that will change soon.

I'd like to second, third, and fourth this request. You guys have no idea how badly I'd like to ditch iTunes. There is one thing that's important though:
What percent chance do you give of being able to back up the phone the same way iTunes does? You don't have to be able to restore (if it came to that, I could just go back to iTunes), just be able to back everything up. I don't care about 2 way sync of any of my info, either, because that's all being done OTA with exchange.
Thanks for all your hard work!

Songbird Team...

After downloading the new beta... tears of joy are coming to my eyes. The dream is becoming a reality. It is looking and working so beautifully.

I, too, am an iPhone user - LOCKED into AT&T... LOCKED into iTunes.... desperate to get out.. spread my wings and fly. I would love to shove iTunes where the sun don't shine and I will be a missionary is getting people off of it forever!

I understand how hard you're working and how technically difficult iPhone support is... but I trust / hope / pray it will one day happen!

Music is a beautiful thing. Songbird will bring it back so we can buy enjoy from stores we love, without headaches and hassles.

iPhone support please, oh please!

why hasnt this been sorted ?
it obviously takes a lot of time and effort to create sumthin as easy to use, clever and better than itunes but they've left out one very very very important peice . IPOD TOUCH SUPORT !!!!
please try and get this soon, i have just switched to linux and the only reason i have to keep booting back into windows is to use itunes !!
please please please please please with 71,927 cherries on top !!

People who must have the need to sync with a particular application and cannot be bothered to try to look for another temporary solution should start to learn to be more patient. Mr I can convert 100+ people, first of all you're no Jesus. Secondly, you have to understand from their point of view why they have chosen the track they did. Instead of whining, try to be a bit more grateful that you're one of the lucky people that actually own an iphone/ipod touch, and that Songbird is a piece of high class engineering that's FREE for your use.

P.S. I own a Zune, and that hasn't stopped me from using songbird, or linux for that matter, I just found ways to fix my problem temporarily till a solution happens to cross my path.

@willtherockstar
I'm not asking why it isn't sorted out, I'm asking why it isn't on the roadmap. But the team was nice enough to clear any doubt.

@TheHardDisk
I was not complaining, I had a look at the roadmap and didn't see any "iPhone Support" anywhere in it, so I wanted to know if they were working on it and how much importance it had in the development process. So, no... I'm not whining.

Secondly, you don't know what I do for a living, who I am, and what influence I may have... so you don't really know if I can convert 100 users to Songbird. Take my word and believe me, flame me, or forget everything I said, but it won't change what I can do.

There's really nothing more to talk about what's already written on this topic, all the doubts have been cleared and everybody is grateful for the wonderful piece of software the Songbird team has built.

I don't understand why you don't support jailbroken iPhones yet, since many other programs, like Amarok, are able to synch with it since MONTHS !

Yeah, you have to jailbrake, but I guess most people do that anyway (and if it's just for themes)

So what's the problem in supporting this? According to:
http://www.lifehacker.com.au/tips/200...
it should be fairly easy to implement. In fact, the only problem seems to be that Songbird doesn't allow the user to specify a path to the library.

So what are you waiting for?

I'm always wondering why people buy crippled and locked devices an then they're wondering that those are not supported in open software.

I'd like to express that support for HW players has no priority for me. My player uses mass storage protocol so I can use any file manager to copy music onto it.

I understand that people who own Apple players (and there's a lot of them) look for something better then iTunes (I tried it once and will never touch it again). This is the reason why I would never buy an Apple player or any other which doesn't support mass storage.

So all I wanted to say is: Let's make Songbird (the core) a great player first. After it's done, then implement support for crippled portable players. People should think before they buy a player.

yeah, punish the vast majority because they didn't buy the 'right' player.

No, they just bought the wrong one. There are thousands of the good ones.

Anyway I don't want to punish anybody. I just think (and I believe we are the majority) that there many more important features. I dared to express a disagreement regarding the high priority of Apple players support.

There is non coming even close to the use ability and handyness of Apple's iPhone.

however, I'm in the mood to trow this expansive piece of apple out of my window right now because iTunes really knows how to piss me off.

I hope that I will be able to sync my iPhone with Songbird ASAP.

Which player is better, is definately out of the question. What's important is that the majority of players need Songbird to work with them... ASAP.

The Songbird team is working towards a solution, so there's no point posting here aside from making your voice heard and say how much you want Songbird to replace iTunes.

I just wanted to say that i understand the priority of iPod iPhone support... Imagine all the stuff the developers still have on their roadmap. So how funny would it be in that moment to make the iPhone or iPod working and beeing faced one month later with another security lock by apple...

I definetly would say at the moment this game is more the task for a user with programming skills and not a task for the developers.

I agree with the fact that iTunes sucks and it will be awesome to get something to replace it. I have an iPod Touch I won at work (did not go out and buy) so I too am stuck with a great media device and nothing out there to support it other then iTunes. I don't think fedam was whining or bitching because he went out and bought the wrong device. As soon as there is another alternative out there, such as Songbird, there will be a lot of folks who will switch over from iTunes. That really is the point of the whole discussion.

Hello,

Just ordered my iPhone here in Canada. Like most people, using a rewards program from Fido, the iPhone cost me $100! This is THE most powerful and affordable device out thereright now. Since the value is good a lot of people will be tempted to switch, and Songbird HAS to have the right support for those users!
-my 50 cents

Are you really that ignorant?

It already said that not Apple nor the iPhone itself is the problem, but rather Songbird not letting you choose the path to the mountpount of your iPhone yourself.
It is possible with Amarok however, so I don't understand why nobody seems to be able to add this to Songbird:
http://www.lifehacker.com.au/tips/200...

What about support for Jail broken iPod Touches / iPhones. Its fairly simple to Jailbreak them. And it seems like a logical step towards complete iPod Touch/ iPhone sync

And now what do you think am I talking about since I first posted here?!

:P

I would think giving support to a jailbroken iphone would be easier...?

>.<

Synching an (jailbroken) iPhone is already possible:
http://www.lifehacker.com.au/tips/200...

It's just Songbirdt which doesn't allow us to change the path to the mountpoint of the iPhone, so we can't synch it.

Agh sorry I didnt read into that more. Well then I hope that is allowed soon, I hate switching back into windows and loading intunes just to put some songs on my phone.

I want iPhone support on Songbird pretty desperately: not only do I hate the bloated iTunes, but it also keeps me locked to Windows, it is the only reason I can't move completely to Linux.

If I followed the above discussion and links correctly, iPhone support depends on the development of libgpod/gtkpod. I just saw that you can donate to that project (http://sourceforge.net/project/projec...), and I think that's a great way of supporting the developers!

Hi, the issue here is actually that music player on the iPod Touch/iPhone itself will now refuse to work with a database that doesn't preserve a special code created and maintained by iTunes (this has nothing to do with mount points or jailbroken OSs). Folks working on libgpod are working on reverse-engineering this code, but they've been somewhat stymied by Apple's current DMCA takedown of their work: See EFF's comments on the matter here.

If you'd like to get this sorted and you own an iPhone or iPod touch using firmware after September 2007, your best bet is to put pressure on Apple to document their hash function, or at least ask them not to use the DMCA takedown's provisions to prevent coders creating software that's interoperable with their hardware.

I am also strongly interested in Songbirds's iphone support!

I can understand your matter and I am really convinced that Songbird will support iphone very soon. Isn't this solution against today and future apple protection a concern of wide interest? There must be an available open documentation as far as developers worldwide may have examined this so far. Of course users protest might be the best solution of all - to become this as effective as many iphone users as possible should demonstrate their protest - but how and where?
Apparently it's of not interest for Apple or iTunes to support external software or services, BUT they will at least be open minded when they notice that this approach does not support their profit ideas...

Apple or any other will not support a group of a few, but if their customers are demanding further features THEY will be listening when their profits are affected...

Songbird and others should unify their interests and go public, moreover provide a prepared letter or eMail of attend directly addressed to apple.

What I miss when using iTunes is I think nearly the same like anybody else: Constant feeling of being observed, missing features - like configurable backup features and documentation - and all other things mentioned so far. From my point of view Songbird is a very strong piece of software offerings lot’s of features and it's strength is based in it's open minded philosophy!

At the moment I one of my immediate interests is a solution for a comfortable search of album covers and a sophisticated strategy in backup of those covers within my existing MP3 collection. The iphone is just one device making use of this... ;-)

Greetings to all, informatix

If you wish to be on the beta program for Songbird Remote, an iPhone Remote Control for Songbird, email your iPhone identifier to beta2 AT 779Media DOT com

To obtain the iPhone/iPod Touch identifier
Use iTunes with you device connected
Click on your device within iTunes DEVICES
Click on "Summary" tab within iTunes window
Click on Serial #, it will switch to display a 40 digit hex string, that is your iPhone identifier
Go to edit menu, copy, then paste it into an email, and send it to me, along with your OS requirements (Mac 32, Windows 32, Ubuntu 32, Ubuntu 64)
if you have another OS requirement, please state so.
Thanks