Author Topic: Two Way Playlist Sync (phone and computer) using MBP and M3U file types?  (Read 5161 times)

splatt

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I have MusicBee set up so that the playlists are stored as MPB, and the ones I want to sync are set to automatically export as .m3u. I currently use Resilio Sync to sync my music and I can easily add the playlists folder, however


I want any changes I make to the playlist, either in MusicBee or on my phone to sync to each other. So if I update the mpb file, it will sync to the exported file automatically, and then through Resilio Sync to my phone. If I update the playlist on my phone it will sync back to the exported file, and then back into MusicBee's MBP version of the playlist.

I think this should be possible using the virtual device option in MusicBee but when I try I see in the settings that two-way synchronization isn't possible.

Is this possible or if I want them to sync should I be just using .m3u files everywhere?

Varick

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Hello splatt, I'm about to get an Android myself (for the first time.  I've always had an iPhone) and I just learned today that MB isn't an app, it's only a program for Windows.  I was always under the impression I could do what you are describing above just like one can do between iTunes on a computer and iTunes on an iPhone.

I have the exact same question you have.  Since I do a lot of driving, I'm looking for an app on my Note 9 where I can rate songs and alter playlists, and when I sync it back up to my computer (which I do almost on a daily basis with my iPhone now, and have been doing for years), it will make the changes in my MB library.

Have you found an answer to your question yet?

Varick


phred

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Is this possible or if I want them to sync should I be just using .m3u files everywhere?
Two-way sync is not possible with Android devices. You can sync from MB to a virtual device and then copy those files to the Android, but again, you won't be able to do the reverse.

BTW, what is an .m3u?
A file format for playlists. See all formats that MB can export by going to Preferences > Library > playlists > exported playlists.
Download the latest MusicBee v3.5 or 3.6 patch from here.
Unzip into your MusicBee directory and overwrite existing files.

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splatt

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Hi Varick,

Sorry I didn't respond earlier I don't seem to get any notifications letting me know people have replied. That being said I haven't found any solutions since posting this. Technically I can use Resilio Sync to sync my music and my playlists between computer and phone but as phred said two-way sync doesn't work - This looks to be true even if you're just trying to do .m3u playlists and have confirmed that both MusicBee and the android app use relative file paths for their .m3u files.

In case you are wondering why 'relative file paths' is important ... From what I am able to tell, .m3u files are lists of the file locations of the songs. Those file paths differ depending on your operating system - for example windows would like something like C:/user...../music/artist/album/musicfile but on android it could be Storage/Music/artist/album/musicfile. I believe that as long as you keep your music files the same (music/artist/album/musicfile) relative file paths should enable the playlist to be read the same no matter what operating system it's on. At least, that's what I'm assuming. I understand different operating systems work differently but I'm no developer and have just been trying to poke around to find my answer as best I can.

vanhoivanbinh

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Dear Splatt
I am on the same two way sync issue
I will try doubletwist with their sync app on Windows.
You can take a look on it
It sync the music library with doubletwist android app and it is two way sync (as from I read)
I will try it tomorrow

splatt

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Doubletwist, and the cloudplayer they also made, did work for me for a while in terms of syncing however I don't remember if it solved my playlist issue.  I remember I didn't want to pay to get the wifi syncing though.

Does doubletwist read musicbee playlists then?

Varick

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I have tried/am trying double twist now as well.  Here is my situation as of now:

1. I get a message in DT saying that "Found Songs Protected with DRM" so it can't sync those songs (although it does not tell me which songs those are [insert Pissed off face]).  
2. DT does not recognize my Music Bee library.  It only recognizes my iTunes library on my computer.
3. I did (at one time, not anymore, not quite sure what happened) get it to recognize and upload all my playlists onto my android however, it didn't add all the songs in each playlist, yet it still uploaded all the songs to my android.  Example.  I have a "general" playlist.  It has 1,269 songs.  When I opened that playlist on my phone, there was only 33 songs in it.  Yet, I had all 1,269 songs in my phone that I could retrieve either through "song" or "artist" or "album" but not in that playlist.
4.  When I played a song on my phone, rated that same song, on my phone (all through DT), then synced my phone again to my computer via DT, it did not increase play count by one, nor did it add my star rating.

Conclusion:  So far, DT has been pretty much a complete failure.  Now I can't even get it to sync with my phone anymore.  It says it's synching, takes HOURS, never finishes, and then hardly anything is on my phone.

I am starting to regret getting an android after always having an iPhone, yet I can't F$#*ing stand Apple.  But, I also MUST admit, Apple does a few things better, and one thing they do GREAT is, having a program that seamlessly syncs and manages music between mobile device and computer.  For the last year, I have been using MB thinking that it was ALSO a mobile app and does everything iTunes does.  It was only about 2 or 3 days before I got my Android, that I discovered it IS NOT a mobile app and is ONLY for PC.  It really sucks given the fact that it is even better than iTunes library, yet it's so hard to get a mobile app to work with it.

This whole process has been nothing but frustrating, and although I feel like throwing my hands up, exchanging my Galaxy Note 9 and just getting another fucking iPhone... I still seek.  I can't IMAGINE there is NO ONE who doesn't want the same things I want in a cross syncing mobile music player/home base music media storage that is NOT Apple based, that hasn't figured it out yet.  It is INCONCEIVABLE to me that NO ONE has done it.   Yet.... it alludes me.

V
Last Edit: October 26, 2018, 04:32:48 AM by Varick

splatt

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Yeah I wasn't very impressed with the doubletwist/cloud player, isyncr..., and am just as baffled about the lack of iTunes comparable options available for Android.

It sounds like you're experiencing what I've been working through for at least a year or more - you're not just trying to get playlists to sync back and forth but your library as well and having issues there right?

If you're like me and feel comfortable settings it up for your entire library, or if you don't mind making a duplicate folder of music specifically for syncing to your phone, I would suggest looking jnto a free program called resilio sync. Its been the best option I've found for (wireless!) syncing of music, even better than syncthing, or even better than storing all my music in OneDrive - using resilio sync any edits I make to a song trigger it to move the old copy of the file to an archive, so if you accidentally screw something up you still have that old file. (One drive seemed to just be making a bunch of duplicates if I edited a file. Very frustrating). It's not a music program, just a file syncing program that basically mirrors your computer and phone files but it basically makes it as painless as iTunes for music files being on all your devices.

The only sticking point (for me so far) IS the playlist issue I started this thread for. I can create playlists in MusicBee, set it to export static copies to a folder that Resilio Sync that then syncs it to my phone and my music player there can read them. I just can't edit the playlist file on my phone and expect it to sync back to MusicBee. For me this isn't A HUGE issue since I rarely make changed to my playlists but I know everyone is different. (And obviously I'd still love to have that ability since I made this thread).

jboucher614

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I'm looking for the same solution, glad I'm not the only one.
I think I've narrowed it down to Android using it's MediaStorage Framework for playlists instead of .m3u or something like that. As a result, your playlists are stored in a database. Now, if someone smarter than me could write an app to access that storage and convert the playlists there into .m3u files, and probably do it periodically (check every hour or so for changes?) then it would work. If this is possible. It does seems like apps can read and write .m3u files just fine.

It seems like Android music players load the .m3u then save that info to the MediaStorage, and never save any changes to the original .m3u file. I found one obscure old (2013) media player that claims to write to .m3u but it was too clunky for me to even try (its called MortPlayer and its far from Material Design)