Accessible program for Windows to access data on an iPhone

By Kostadin Kolev, 5 May, 2024

Forum
Windows

Hello,

I'm looking for an accessible program for Windows, which will let me access and transfer data from and to my iPhone. Something like iTunes, but with a bit more functionality. For example, I have uploaded over 300 songs (personal MP3 files) from my PC to my iPhone. I want to make backup copy of those songs from the iPhone to my PC, in order to be able to quickly restore them to my phone after an eventual reset of the phone. Unfortunately, iTunes does not allow me to do that - I cannot copy my music from my iPhone to my PC.

Any suggestions?

Thanks in advance!

Options

Comments

By peter on Wednesday, May 8, 2024 - 18:41

If you install iCloud on your Windows PC, you can then connect and sync with your iCloud drive. Files you copy to the iCloud drive on your PC can then be found in the Files app in iOS. I transfer files back and forth between PC and iOS all the time this way.

Also, there was a podcast recently posted on Apple Vis (sorry I don't have the link) that describes how you can set up your Windows PC as a remote drive right inside the Files app. So there are several options.

Hope that helps.

--Pete

By Justin Harris on Wednesday, May 8, 2024 - 18:41

I'm not entirely sure this will work as you described, as iCloud sync doesn't exactly work the same if you have managed all music through Apple Music, even if you have your entire library synced with iCloud, I don't think it will give you access to it from within iCloud Drive. I used iCloud drive until recently when I moved to Android, and never once saw access to my Apple music library in iCloud Drive. For everything else, iCloud drive is great, but not this.
Apple recently did away with iTunes on Windows, and has now launched Apple Music, Apple TV and My Device (I think that is the name) for Windows. I can't speak to how well this new app may or may not work.

By Kostadin Kolev on Wednesday, May 8, 2024 - 18:41

Thanks for the recommendations.

Yes, iCloud Drive could help, but probably not for the music.

I might try the new Apple apps for Windows to see if I can copy the music from my iPhone to my PC via them.

And note, that I'm talking about my personal MP3 files and not music from Apple Music/iTunes.

By Justin Harris on Wednesday, May 8, 2024 - 18:41

Right. In that case, I want to say it should work, extra emphasis on the word should. lol Hope you are able to figure it out. That is one area Android wins hands down, as you can just connect your device and copy/paste from right within file explorer. But, that is neither here nor there, since you are using iOS. Hope you can find a solution.

By Kostadin Kolev on Wednesday, May 8, 2024 - 18:41

Unfortunately, it does not work.

I removed iTunes and installed Apple Devices and Apple Music. Apple Music is required, in order to have access to media content (music, ringtones, etc.) via the Apple Devices app.

Even so however, I can only copy music to my iPhone, but not from it.

I tested AltTunes. It did help me to copy my music collection from my iPhone to my PC. But the app's accessibility (at least with NVDA) was not to a satisfactory level. On top of that, it is a paid (subscription-based) app. Considering that I'll probably be using it very rarely - no, thanks.

By Brian on Wednesday, May 8, 2024 - 18:41

Have you tried a 3rd party app for hosting and sharing files? For example, you can have the Files app on your iPhone setup to automagically share files through 3rd party apps like OneDrive (just an example), and then open the relevant app on your PC and voila, by all rights this should serve your needs. 😊

By Kostadin Kolev on Wednesday, May 8, 2024 - 18:41

Yes, using a cloud service might be a considerable solution.

I have an Office 365 subscription with 1TB of space in OneDrive, so cloud storage wouldn't be an issue.

My main concern is the music. But the player that I use - EverMusic supports playback from and sync with cloud services like OneDrive, so I might consider that solution. It can even make the music available offline, so I wouldn't need constant internet access.

By Brian on Wednesday, May 8, 2024 - 18:41

Sounds like a Cloud service (besides iCloud) might be your solution. 😀