2010-08-26
Working with music across multiple devices can be a real hassle. Luckily the newly released Xbox Music app for Windows 8 can take your iTunes playlists and sync them to your Windows 8 device.
The Xbox Musicapp forWindows 8 was released yesterday as part of the latest Windows 8 RTM update. It allows you to access your Xbox gaming console, Windows Phone, and online storage for your music. You need an Xbox Live account to access the cloud content, but you don’t need a subscription to use the app. In this article we’ll go over how to import your iTunes playlists and sync them to your device.
Import Your iTunes Playlists
Right off the bat, the app shows what it sees inyour collection and if it detects songs, it will download them to your computer. From the main screen, tap the + button in the bottom-left corner. Then tap Import Playlist from Your PC. The app will scan your computer for music and display your libraries.
When it’s finished scanning your libraries, it will list the playlists that were scanned. In our case we had four and since we had a largecollection, it was only showing three. You can manually select these to sync them to your device, or you can take the groovy approach and select all. After everything is synced, the app will organize your songs on your device based on artist, album, and genre. It will also create groups based on these groupings and play the songs from a single tile. So, if you have a lot of music, it might take some time to load everything. Even then, it will take a while for the groovy tile groups to load. On the flipside, we noticed that we didn’t haveto wait for every song to load. When we launched a song, it would show in the bottom-right where it played on the timeline. Then we could click the groovy tile group and start playing it from there. So, while there’s usually a delay, the song will immediately play when you click the groovy group – very cool!
Syncing With Windows Phone
Another thing to notice is the syncingwith your Windows Phone. When you launch the Xbox Music app on your Windows Phone 8, it will sync up with your Xbox profile. Aside from seeing your playlists, you can also connect to your Bluetooth speaker or headset. And, if you’re running a PC with Windows 7, you can get your music on your Windows 7 phone. The app behaves much the same way with Windows 7 as the Windows version. You can click Music > Import Playlist from YourPC. This will scan your computer and allow you to select the playlists to sync. Once you do, they will available in the app. This will be especially handy when you’re away from home and don’t want to lug around a 400GB hard drive with all your music.
Conclusion
Overall, the Xbox Music for Windows 8.1 /Windows 8.1 RT Developer Preview is a great addition to your PC and the Xbox One. This app should get even betteras it matures and picks up new features. We like how its ties in with Microsoft’s other software and services. What type of features would you like to see? Leave a comment below and we’ll do our best to deliver.
Thanks for reading, and don’t forget to check out Grooveblog for more groovy tips and trick on computers, tech, gadgets, and more!
