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The 20 Best iPod Utilities
Posted by Adam Pash at 4:00 AM on December 5, 2007
With a new generation of iPods on the market this holiday season, your reliable old iPod may not seem as shiny as it once did. But with the help of third party applications and utilities, you can unlock tonnes of useful functionality you never knew was there and revive that aging iPod so it doesn't look quite so bad next to its successors. Whether new or old, the following 20 iPod utilities can help you get the most from your iPod.
Transfer (and Play) Music to and from Your iPod
While syncing music to your iPod has always been a breeze, pulling music off your iPod isn't quite at easy—unless you're using one of these handy apps, that is.
Ditch iTunes with Floola (Windows/Mac/Linux): Floola is a freeware, cross-platform application that makes it easy to copy music and videos to and from your iPod from and to any computer. In all, Floola can actually work as a full-on iTunes replacement that can run from your iPod's hard drive. And because it's cross platform, Floola makes for an excellent all-around iTunes replacement if you're not a fan of iTunes. For another cross-platform solutions, you might give YamiPod a try. (Read more about a self-sustaining iPod)
Recover Your Library or Transfer New Songs to iTunes with Senuti (Mac): The freeware, Mac OS X only Senuti integrates tightly with your iTunes library to extract music from your iPod to your iTunes library and works particularly well for importing music that isn't already in your iTunes library. Of course it's also a godsend if you've had a hard drive failure and your only music backup is your iPod, but its playlist support and ability to scan your existing library so you avoid importing duplicate songs. (Read more)
Dead Simple iTunes Library Recovery with iPod -> Folder (Windows/Mac): If all you want to do is recover your music library from your iPod back to your computer, iPod -> Folder is probably the simplest way to do it. Just fire it up, point it to your iPod, point it to a folder on your computer, and let it rip. It even has a "Include MP3 files only" option in case you're borrowing tunes from a friend's iPod and you don't want their DRM-infected files. (Read more)
Sync Podcasts to Your iPod from Any Computer with myPodder (Windows/Mac/Linux): Whether you're a lover of podcasts who can't wait to get to your home computer before getting your latest podcast fix or you just know you'll need a few new podcasts to listen to for the commute home, myPodder can automatically download, manage, and sync any podcast to your iPod no matter whose computer you're using. (Read more)
Converters: Video and Audiobook
Yes, you could purchase TV shows and movies from iTunes, but if you've already got the DVD or you've downloaded a video that happens to be in the wrong format, why should you shell out more cash to Apple—especially when you can easily convert them for your iPod using free apps?
Rip DVDs for Your iPod with HandBrake (Windows/Mac/Linux): The cross-platform freeware application HandBrake is the go-to application when you want to rip a DVD for your iPod or iPhone (or PSP or PS3 or AppleTV...). Just pop in your DVD, pick what you want for your iPod, and start ripping. (Read more)
Convert Videos for Your iPod with Videora iPod Converter (Windows): If you've got a video file on your computer that your iPod doesn't support, fear not. Just plug it into Videora and let it do the heavy lifting for you. It even transcodes YouTube videos—all you need to do is give it the URL. (Read more)
Convert Videos for Your iPod with iSquint (Mac): Make any video iPod-compatible with iSquint. Just drag the videos you want to convert into the iSquint queue, choose the encoding quality (which will also determine file size and time required to encode), and let it rip. You can even tell iSquint to automatically add the video to your iTunes library once it's done encoding. (Read more)- Convert YouTube Videos for Your iPod with Zamzar: Web site Zamzar is probably best known for converting pretty much any file format to any other file format (and it can be used for pretty much any iPod video conversion if you prefer it), but you may not have known that it also provides a simple method for converting any YouTube video for your iPod. Just enter the URL of the video, choose to convert it for your iPod, and it'll email the finished product to you once it complete the conversion. (Read more)
Monitor Folders and Automatically Convert Videos with iPodifier (Windows): iPodifier transcodes files just like Videora and iSquint, but if you're a frequent video downloader or you're rolling your own DVR, iPodifier can be set to monitor a folder for new videos—like your BitTorrent downloads folder, for example—and automatically transcode them for your iPod. (Read more) 
MP3 to iPod Audio Book Converter (Windows): If you love a good audiobook but your book isn't in the right format for your iPod, this handy little app will convert your MP3s to the iPod audiobook format (M4B) so you get all of the audiobook features like playback speed adjustment and "start from last position" functionality without the tedium of doing it yourself. (Read more)
Miscellaneous iPod Utilities
Integrate Your iPod with Last.fm with iSproggler (Windows) and iScrobbler (Mac): If you're a fan of the music recommendation service Last.fm and you happen to do most of your music listening on your iPod, you can automatically upload your iPod listening habits to the site with whichever application matches your operating system. Just install, enter your Last.fm username and password, and forget it. (Read more)- Take Control of Your Shuffle with iPod Shuffle Database Builder (Windows/Mac/Linux): Add songs to your iPod shuffle by simply dragging them to your shuffle without touching iTunes—making it much more like a non-iPod MP3 player that lets you manage your music using your filesystem. (Read more)
Backup Your Home Folder to Your iPod with iPodBackup (Mac): iPodBackup saves an encrypted image of your Mac's home folder to your iPod with incremental, secure backups—great for those of you who iPod have several spare gigs of storage leftover even after you've synced your iTunes library. (Read more)
Upgrades for Older iPods
A number of third party applications and utilities exist to expand the functionality of your existing iPod by modifying or installing new software onto your iPod. For example:
Upgrade Your iPod Video to an iPod classic (Windows): When Apple released the iPod classic, they gave it a simple visual refresh that one would think could easily be retrofitted to older iPods, but for whatever reason Apple's not letting your run the fancy new interface on your older iPod. A replacement firmware for your video iPod brings the splitscreen interface of the updated iPod classic to your older video iPod. Read more)
Put Wikipedia on Your iPod with Encyclopodia: (Windows/Mac/Linux) The open source Encyclopodia project brings the giant repository of knowledge that is Wikipedia to your iPod. Searching Wikipedia on the iPod is a bit of a chore (you have to type out your words with the clickwheel), but once you get used to it it feels pretty good to carry Wikipedia in your pocket. This one's for decidedly older iPods, since it won't work on 5G iPods or above, nanos, and, of course, shuffles. (Read more)- Install Linux on Your iPod with iPod Linux: Had enough of the default iPod interface and want to jazz things up a little bit so you can do things like install and play games for free on your iPod? Replace the default iPod firmware with iPod Linux (or hell, use the graphical dual boot interface and run both). iPod Linux is supported on mostly older iPod generations. (Read more)
Replace Your iPod Firmware with Rockbox: Supporting every iPod through the 5.5G video iPods, Rockbox is an open source firmware replacement for the iPod (and other MP3 players). Rockbox can sport everything from Last.fm support, album art, a port of the video game Doom, a Game Boy emulator, video player, and tons more. (Read more)
iPhone and iPod touch Only
Okay, so if you do happen to have one of the fancier new iPods, you do have access to a few other fairly exciting third-party developments.- Install Applications on an iPhone: This video demonstrates how to "jailbreak" your iPhone or iPod touch running the current firmware (1.1.2) so you can install third party applications (many of which are really impressive). If you're still running 1.1.1, installing applications only takes one click.
Wirelessly Stream Music from Your iPod touch or iPhone to Any iTunes Library: Assuming you can install apps on your iPhone/iPod touch (see above), you can also stream your 'Pod's music library wirelessly to any computer on the same network. That means next time you want your friend to listen to a new song on your iPod you can ditch the headphones and do it on a proper set of speakers.
Did we miss a favourite of yours? Let's hear what iPod apps and add-ons make your iPod—new or old—sparkle.
Adam Pash is a senior editor for Lifehacker who can't leave well enough alone when it comes to iPods. His special feature Hack Attack appears every Wednesday on Lifehacker AU.
Comments (AU Comments · US Comments)
ADO wolf
Posted September 23, 2008 7:01 PM
If you want to install iPod Video Converter you can follow this guide: http://www.mconverter.net
iPod Video Converter for Mac is powerful, easy-to-use Mac video conversion software adapted to be installed for Mac users which convert video file between all popular video formats.
Galley
Posted 3:02 PM 4/12/07
You forgot iTunes Album Browser and iTunes Folder Watch. Get both at [albumbrowser.klarita.net]
Galley
omg-ponies
Posted 2:48 PM 4/12/07
@Mary: Don't use it. Seriously. You don't know aggravation until you've had 1,000 album covers shuffled.
omg-ponies
Maulleigh
Posted 2:44 PM 4/12/07
I love you lifehacker. Never leave me. Ever.
Maulleigh
Jigzila
Posted 2:39 PM 4/12/07
Rockbox does not support the second generation iPod Nano. :(
Jigzila
AltReality
Posted 2:22 PM 4/12/07
how did I screw up my signature in my last post? :)
-AltReality
AltReality
AltReality
Posted 2:20 PM 4/12/07
For those converting MP3's to audiobook format, I haven't found any application yet that can make that conversion without actually recompressing the file...which means you lose audio quality. If you have a low quality MP3 to begin with, it may be difficult to relax and focus on the music with the audio artifacts.
Another application to add to the list: Sharepod
[www.sturm.net.nz]
I used Anapod explorer until it corrupted my ipod database and support wasn't willing to even return my emails....Then I used Ephpod...and it worked fine but it kept creating it's own playlist for some reason...
Now I'm using Sharepod...and it's awesome.
store and run the app on the ipod directly (no installation necessary) and it allows you to copy to/from the ipod very quickly.
IMHO it's better than floola and Yamipod, although it doesn't work on the new generation of ipods. (but does warn you if you are trying to use one, rather than screwing up your database.)
-At
AltReality
ninjapants
Posted 1:58 PM 4/12/07
Does anyone know if any of the iTunes alternatives support the official last.fm client's new iPod scrobbling method?
For those of you who don't know about it, the official client can now scrobble your iPod plays regardless of whether or not you play tracks from other sources before syncing your 'pod but only if you use the official client and automatically sync. I'm waiting for someone to hack this functionality so I can once again free myself from iTunes.
ninjapants
Willow01
Posted 1:57 PM 4/12/07
The iPod Classic look originally came from www.ipodwizard.net Teh creator of the Driven Design website, created it to post the firmwares for the Classic look since the Nazi's at iPod Wizard won't let you post full firmwares. Tons of skins for the classic look at the iPod Wizard website though, and the hack only works with the 5 and 5.5gen video, they are working on a Nano port right now.
Willow01
Richard Holden
Posted 1:50 PM 4/12/07
I would like Floola if it wasn't for the fact that it tries to get me to change my iTunes/iPod settings every time I run it, even though I'm happy with them as they are. Annoying.
Richard Holden
PerpetualCarouse
Posted 1:41 PM 4/12/07
For converting audiobook CDs to iPod-friendly files, Audiobook Builder rules.
Download here.
PerpetualCarouse
It_Figures
Posted 1:36 PM 4/12/07
Brilliant round-up. I've been meaning to do something like this for a couple of my friends ... and now I don't need to. Thanks!
It_Figures
insomniac
Posted 1:34 PM 4/12/07
great article, i'm gonna try few of them right now, you guys should write another article regarding zune if there are good updates available.
insomniac
nikoPSK
Posted 1:32 PM 4/12/07
nice, I haven't tried rockbox, but if it has a gameboy emulator, count me in.
nikoPSK
jvt
Posted 1:26 PM 4/12/07
To clarify, that's seeqpod on the iPhone/iPod Touch
jvt
jvt
Posted 1:24 PM 4/12/07
[www.seeqpod.com] = pure genius
jvt
miche1987
Posted 1:13 PM 4/12/07
@ImTheKing: I don't. Being a proud Zune owner since a couple of weeks ago, it's been far improved since its inception. I have the old 30GB Zune with the v2.1 firmware installed, and it's very slick. Also, the Zune software for PC is quite functional, intuitive, and sleek (I have heard that the old software was a horror, though).
I've also heard nothing but good things about the new hardware models (Zune 4, Zune 8 and Zune 80), especially with regards to the touch pad.
miche1987
Mary
Posted 1:06 PM 4/12/07
YamiPod works with the iPod classic now! Awesome, I've been waiting for that for a while.
Mary
memmullen
Posted 1:06 PM 4/12/07
Don't forget about iHound Software. It tracks your stolen or lost iPods with free downloadable software. It was mentioned on Lifehacker a couple of days. ww.ihoundsoftware.com
memmullen
omg-ponies
Posted 1:05 PM 4/12/07
Neither YamiPod nor Floola play well with the iPod classic. YamiPod scrambled all the album artwork. Floola similarly wasn't overly fond of the classic and lost some metadata for mp3's.
Use them only in emergency to recover songs if your iTunes library fails (such as drive failure - which happened to me when my new MyBook which was my library failed).
omg-ponies
Apocalyptic0n3
Posted 1:04 PM 4/12/07
You don't need iSproggler or anything like that anymore. Te Last.fm client syncs your iPod directly to your account and you don't need to worry about the spam protection features.
Apocalyptic0n3
skechada
Posted 12:45 PM 4/12/07
Had a similar issue with floola. I love the utility, since i could just load up my new work pc with my mp3s without burning 5-10 CDs of mp3s. But it made the songs on my ipod unreadable a couple times. This was easily fixed by restore/re-loading mp3s, but with 60 gigs of music, that's a couple hours of fixing each time.
skechada
XMan714
Posted 12:42 PM 4/12/07
What about Red Chair Software's Anapod Explorer? I still think it's the best Windows based iPod application out there.
XMan714
forgottenpassword
Posted 12:38 PM 4/12/07
Oh I really like Comsumerist posts like this! ANd no, I am not an ipod fanboy (I have an old ipod mini).
While I do like to know about new software apps....I tend to stick with what works instead of messing with things. What has worked for me is Ephpod (substitute for Itunes) & ipodutil (I use to backup my music).
Again... good post consumerist!
forgottenpassword
ImTheKing
Posted 12:33 PM 4/12/07
@radink: i feel sorry for you :(
ImTheKing
MiddleGeek
Posted 12:29 PM 4/12/07
Sorry for the double post but after the Floloa troubles a quick iPod wipe and re-scync with iTunes fixed everything.
MiddleGeek
MiddleGeek
Posted 12:28 PM 4/12/07
Floola screwed up my iPod sort of. It was creating duplicates of the playlists--However the program warned me during install that there may be issues and it was use at you own risk.
This was about 4 months ago, not sure if they fixed it or mine was an isolated case.
Great list here, though!
MiddleGeek
ladycrumpet
Posted 12:27 PM 4/12/07
This post is just what I needed. Thanks!!!
ladycrumpet
radink
Posted 12:20 PM 4/12/07
Dude, I'm getting a Zune!
radink
graham1010
Posted 4:39 PM 4/12/07
This is a great list - thanks for compiling it! Can't wait for the "turn your iPod Touch into a taser" posting anytime now.....
graham1010
MobileMilitia
Posted 4:22 PM 4/12/07
the latest version of winamp works really well for me and my ipod. you can add tracks as you please, delete tracks, add playlists...
i used to pirate anapod because i'm a windows explorer whore and it gets integrated into it. i liked it so much that i eventually bought it. i don't use it anymore, though, since the new winamp does things nicely. if they would just make winamp for the mac...like an official macamp, i would probably never boot into windows again.
MobileMilitia
izzy9985
Posted 3:21 PM 4/12/07
...it's always good to find ways to extend the life of my old iPod mini. I'll definitely try some of these.
izzy9985
Ev
Posted 7:03 PM 4/12/07
Wasn't much for the classic... Anyone got any idea about apps or games I can put on my 160 gig?
Ev
Edd2944
Posted 10:05 PM 4/12/07
I agree about audiobook builder for the mac. It's really quick and completely worth $10. I just found out last week it converts .wma files into .m4b too to play them on the ipod.. brilliant and a nice little surprise for the free audiobook downloads in that format (see simply audiobooks free selection).
Edd2944
Rosstafari
Posted 9:55 PM 4/12/07
Add podBible onto there - www.podbible.org. Free version of the Bible... I use it quite a bit when riding the bus to work.
Rosstafari
da5id_nz
Posted 1:07 AM 5/12/07
For converting DVD to files for your iPod in H.264 format, I recommend the free program MPEG Streamclip for MAC and Windows. It's so good that Apple advertises it on their website.
It works together with Quicktime (or Quicktime Alternative if you want the MPEG-2 functionality for free).
It's easy to use. You just choose the profile for your iPod or other device and away you go. You can snip off the start and end credits etc..
If you're like me and own an iPod touch that has a bit of the 'reverse black' problem, just bump up the brightness by 28% and a contrast a little bit - it completely solves the black problem, I've found.
It does take a while to process though - something like 8 hours, so best leave it do it's thing overnight.
da5id_nz
da5id_nz
Posted 3:17 AM 5/12/07
@nighttimestereo: OK, you can say that, but Steve Jobs has said he will be releasing a n SDK for the iPod in February next so third-party developers can write software for it.
da5id_nz
nighttimestereo
Posted 3:04 AM 5/12/07
If you like third party tools, you shouldn't buy an iPod. Apple is now actively trying to prevent third party tools from interfacing with the iPod in any way (Google iPod iTunesDB hash for details). It's true that open source developers eventually reverse engineered Apple's tricks, but who wants to deal with a company that would try that kind of thing in the first place?
nighttimestereo
DudeAsInCool
Posted 3:49 AM 5/12/07
VisualHub is a step up from ISquint, by the same creator. It has more tricks up its sleeve.
DudeAsInCool
da5id_nz
Posted 4:44 AM 5/12/07
Also useful is iGain for if you rip your CD to .aac in iTunes and find that the gain is too high and the music distorts. Get it HERE.
Also you can get the popular MP3Gain which does the same with MP3s.
--snip--
Tired of reaching for your volume knob every time your mp3 player changes to a new song?
MP3Gain analyzes and adjusts mp3 files so that they have the same volume.
MP3Gain does not just do peak normalization, as many normalizers do. Instead, it does some statistical analysis to determine how loud the file actually sounds to the human ear.
Also, the changes MP3Gain makes are completely lossless. There is no quality lost in the change because the program adjusts the mp3 file directly, without decoding and re-encoding.
--snip--
da5id_nz
todderick
Posted 9:17 AM 5/12/07
Not so much about an app, but that Funeral for a Friend album is phenomenal.
todderick
kilander
Posted 10:58 AM 5/12/07
Best utility ever??? Why, the trash can of course!
kilander
fritzk3
Posted 10:11 AM 5/12/07
Forget Videora... the SUPER (C) program is much better. You can get it at www.erightsoft.com/SUPER.html.
Their website isn't much to look at, but the program rocks for converting videos from whatever original format they are, to iPod viewable. I've been using it with great success to convert episodes of Heroes for viewing on my 3G nano.
fritzk3
Adam Pash, LH Senior Editor
Posted 11:50 AM 5/12/07
@keri: You actually can jailbreak a 1.1.2 iPhone... it just takes a downgrade to 1.1.1, a little more doing, and an upg....
That said, if you can just stick with 1.1.1 (1.1.2 has very few worthwhile features above 1.1.1 if you don't need additional language support), it's a lot easier.
Adam Pash, LH Senior Editor
keri
Posted 11:21 AM 5/12/07
JSYK, the current bootloader (4.6) for new iPhones will NOT allow you to jailbreak them. Most of the jailbreak folks are waiting for 1.1.3 to come out.
Google "iPhone bootloader 4.6" for more information.
keri
skanga
Posted 6:11 AM 5/12/07
Try podLoadr ([www.podloadr.com]) for an excellent utility to load RSS feeds and other Internet or Desktop content onto you iPod for later perusal.
skanga
DIGITALMADDOG01
Posted 5:11 PM 4/12/07
love some of the downloads above have used yamipod just the other day to pull all my music about 20 gigs from my 5gen 30 gig ipod and restore it and reload it --- ad a bunch of music my wife loaded up that i just wanted off -- really easy to use and delete the music of using yamipod
i have used linux on my old 3rd gen 15 gig ipod was pretty cool but battery did not last that much even with a brandnew battery-- gonna have to try rockbox
do have one question --- i have some audio books that i want to convert to mp3 they were downloaded from audible.com and i can only play them on my computer no how can i or what can i use to CONVERT AUDIBLE AUDIO BOOK TO MP3 any help would be great
thanks
DMD
DIGITALMADDOG01
Martingrace
Posted 12:29 PM 5/12/07
The article fails to mention Hotrecorder for Music. This is a very nifty application which allows you to convert your iTunes or Yahoo Music into universal formats, playable on any iPod or MP3 player.
Martingrace
nathnyc
Posted 4:04 PM 5/12/07
This Top 20 is far and away the best summary I've seen a while. Great job & lots to try out (including Floola - who knew?). Here's an iTunes feature I would have included -- it's more tip than util but it can be life-changing -- simply set the iPod prefs inside iTunes to "Manually manage music" and then you can add music to your iPod from multiple computers all within good old reliable iTunes. For next Top 20, I would also be partial to forthcoming miShare ([mishare.com] even if I weren't directly involved in the company!
nathnyc
oswin
Posted 8:51 PM 5/12/07
Any applications that allows me to use my ipod to store photographs from my Digital Camera? :D
oswin
trenthall1
Posted 2:47 AM 8/12/07
I broke down and finally consolidated over 2000 songs on itunes a month ago. I manually deleted the titles I did not want from Itunes Program. I consolidated down to 609 song files. I was excited, and synced up with my 5 generation ipod, and iphone. Later when I came back to Itunes,there were 2000 files again. Good Grief, my bad that I'm ignorant and didn't actually delete the actual file!!! I downloaded FLoola! WHAT A LIFE SAVER!! I recovered 609 files that I actually wanted, and saved them in a seperate file, so I can rid myself of all the unwanteds out of itunes folder. Such a good program (not that itunes is bad). Itunes just makes it harder for people like me (functionally retarded). Thanks so much. I'm so glad I've ventured out to find alternatives, I stumbled across this site. How can I help to continue the ongoing research and developement? LOL
trenthall1
3typesofskincancer.info
Posted 10:19 AM 11/12/07
Everything what serves us to save time and space, welcome is!
3typesofskincancer.info