Does iTunes work (well) on Ubuntu?

Question

Is there an alternative to iTunes where I can buy music/back up phone?

Answer 1

iTunes is a closed-source program like Skype. So, there is no source code to compile from for Linux or any *nix based system. Also, Apple does not provide any binaries for Ubuntu, or even for any *nix based system. You have 4 options:

Option 1: Use a Windows emulator

1. Open a terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T), and run apt-get install wine.

2. Get iTunes for Windows at apple.com

3. Go to the terminal again (Ctrl+Alt+T) and run wine ./NAME_OF_EXECUTABLE.exe and replace NAME_OF_EXECUTABLE.exe with the name of executable.

4. Install as needed and when needed, run wine ./NAME_OF_APPLICATION.exe.

Disclaimer: Sometimes, wine will not work and use it at your own risk. You also may have issues and bugs with the installed application (iTunes)

Option 2: libimobiledevice

1. Go to Ubuntu Software Center, and check that libimobiledevice4 is installed and latest version.

2. Plug in device, and let the device mount automatically.

3. Open Nautilus, and find your device in the left column.

4. Select all the files, and copy to a directory in your home directory. Here's a script to do that:

    #!/bin/bash
   [ -d ~/PhoneBackup ] || mkdir ~/PhoneBackup
       PATHOFPHONE=df -h|tail -n 1|awk '{print $6}'
       read -p "Is $PATHOFPHONE the location of files (yes/no)?" yesorno
       if [[ $yesorno == "yes" ]]; then
       echo Copying
   if diff $PATHOFPHONE $HOME/PhoneBackup|grep -iv common 2> /dev/null 
   then difference=diff $PATHOFPHONE $HOME/PhoneBackup|grep -iv common
   if [[ echo $difference == "" ]]; then
       echo "Nothing to do... already backed up" 
       else
        rm -rf ~/PhoneBackup;mkdir -p ~/PhoneBackup; cp -r $PATHOFPHONE/* PhoneBackup/.
   fi
   
   
   else echo Everything already backed up
   exit
   fi
   fi
   

On all the tests, this script has worked. Feel free to post any bugs. As a workaround, just cp PHONEDIRECTORY ~/BACKUP.

Option 3: Music Syncing

1. Use Banshee or Amarok Player to sync your music. Use the Ubuntu Software Center to get those.
2. To sync, follow instructions on many other guides. By far, this is the easiest idea out of the four.

Option 4: Run a Windows VM

1. If you have a copy of Windows lying around, put it in a Virtual Machine, and use iTunes from there.
2. Install kvm from the Ubuntu Software Center. Load the iso from the menu.
3. Install iTunes from the Virtual Machine. For more info, do a Google on virtual machines for Ubuntu.

BTW, I use option 2 almost every month with no issues. Of course, there are some bugs, but I made it really quickly. FWIW, option 4 is just too hard to do and hogs your CPU and RAM. However, it's your choice on what you want to do.

HTH, James

Answer 2

iTunes will not run on Ubuntu but many programs exist that will allow you to copy music onto your iPhone, best of which is Banshee and that's available from the Software Centre...

Answer 3

Well there are many like RhythmBox, Banshee, Amarok, etc... They all resemble iTunes. Amarok is feature-rich media player out of all. All these are found in Ubuntu Software Center.

Answer 4

Some time ago, I was trying to find an alternative to iTunes in Ubuntu. I tried using it by Wine and didn't have much luck. I must of tried everything (hythmBox, Banshee, Amarok). At one point it even cost me all my music on my iPod. Thank the lord that I had it backed up on a separate HDD. PLEASE before you start doing anything, make sure you have a backup of your music library. I have my original collection and then two other backups. I have been bitten with a hdd failure before and lost all my data. I promised myself that I would not go through that again.

I tried them all and spent many an hour truing to feel comfortable with the. In the end I settled for RhythmBox. I found it to be nice and easy to use and a great gui. It takes my music library from my hdd and then I can sync it nice and easy to my iPod when I connect it. Just make sure you have your original library down as the master and the iPod as the slave. If this is how you have your set up. It is how I have mine. It allows me to edit track in the app and I can get the covers sorted there too. For me it does it all.

Answer 5

It's easy to Remmina (Ubuntu 16.04 at time of writing) to your PC/Server and run it remotely with audio enabled. Works nicely.

Answer 6

On Ubuntu:

1. Go to Ubuntu Software Center, install libimobiledevice

2. In the terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T), run:

   sudo apt-add-repository ppa:ingo/ios7support
   sudo apt-get update
   sudo apt-get upgrade
   

On the iPhone:

1. Go to App Store

2. Install free FileMaster

Answer 7

You can install itunes via playonlinux. Install playonlinux from the below command

sudo apt-get install playonlinux

Then after the installation finishes, click install a new program on playonlinux then type iTunes. Select the version you need to install and follow the on screen instructions. Once the installation finishes, iTunes will be available in your system.