iTunes is Apple’s media management software that allows you to organize and sync content like music, movies, TV shows, audiobooks, and more to your iPhone. While newer iPhones no longer need to sync to iTunes to activate, manage, and sync most content, there are still a few reasons you may want to add iTunes on your iPhone.
Quick Summary
Here are the key points about using iTunes with an iPhone:
- Newer iPhones do not require iTunes for activation or syncing content like music, movies, apps, etc. This can all be done wirelessly over iCloud.
- You’ll need to install the latest version of iTunes on a Mac or Windows PC to sync iTunes content to your iPhone.
- The main reasons to sync with iTunes are to manually manage music/media, sync iTunes purchases, and backup or restore your iPhone.
- Syncing with iTunes requires connecting your iPhone to your computer with the included USB cable.
- Make sure to enable syncing for any content like music, movies, books, etc. in the iTunes Summary tab.
- Syncing with iTunes will add content from your iTunes Library to your iPhone.
Do You Still Need iTunes for an iPhone?
Ever since the launch of iCloud and Wireless iTunes Syncing, iTunes is no longer required to activate, set up, or sync most content to your iPhone. iCloud allows you to wirelessly sync things like photos, contacts, calendars, and other data across your devices.
You can also set up and activate a new iPhone wirelessly. The Setup Assistant guides you through the activation process on the iPhone itself without needing to connect to iTunes.
The iTunes Store is now accessible directly on the iPhone for purchasing and re-downloading music, movies, apps, and more. iCloud keeps all your latest iTunes purchases synced across devices.
For most iPhone users, iTunes is no longer necessary. However, below are some key reasons you may still wish to sync with iTunes:
- Manually manage music/media: Using iTunes allows you to manually drag and drop music, videos, and other media to sync to your iPhone. This gives you more control vs. syncing everything.
- Sync iTunes purchases: iTunes makes it easy to sync all your purchases from the iTunes Store to your device.
- Backup and restore: Backing up and restoring your iPhone through iTunes provides a full backup of your device locally on your computer.
- Sync with Apple Music on PC: iTunes on a Windows PC is required to sync downloaded Apple Music tracks for offline playback.
For most other iOS device management tasks, iTunes is no longer necessary. Settings, content, iCloud syncing, and more can all be done directly on the iPhone over the air.
Installing iTunes on Your Computer
To sync your iPhone with iTunes, you’ll first need to install the latest version of iTunes on your Windows PC or Mac computer.
Here are instructions for installing iTunes on Mac and PC:
Install Latest iTunes Version on Mac
- Go to the App Store on your Mac.
- Search for “iTunes” and click to open the iTunes app page.
- Click the Get button to install the latest iTunes version.
- Enter your Apple ID and password to begin downloading.
- Once downloaded, iTunes will automatically install on your Mac.
Install Latest iTunes Version on Windows
- Go to the iTunes download page on Apple’s website.
- Click Download Now to get the iTunes Windows installer.
- Open the downloaded iTunes installer app.
- Follow the on-screen prompts to install iTunes.
- May need to restart your PC after iTunes finishes installing.
Make sure to always keep iTunes updated to the latest version. New versions fix bugs, add features, and make sure your iDevice connectivity works properly.
Syncing iPhone with iTunes Wirelessly
Starting with iOS 5 and iTunes 10.5, you can now sync your iPhone to iTunes over a Wi-Fi connection. This allows you to sync without having to physically tether your phone to your computer.
Here are the steps to enable Wireless iTunes Sync:
- Connect iPhone to your computer via USB and open iTunes.
- Under your iPhone’s Summary tab, check “Sync with this iPhone over Wi-Fi”.
- Also check “Sync Now” to confirm sync settings.
- Disconnect the USB cable.
- Your iPhone and computer need to be on the same Wi-Fi network.
- Open iTunes on your computer with your iPhone nearby.
- Under Devices, select your iPhone.
- Click Sync on the Summary tab to sync wirelessly.
Your iPhone may prompt you to confirm syncing. Make sure to leave your iPhone plugged in during wireless syncing to avoid draining the battery.
Syncing iPhone with iTunes via USB
If Wireless iTunes syncing is not working, you can always connect your iPhone to your computer to sync via USB cable. This uses the traditional tethered method of syncing with iTunes.
Here are the steps to sync your iPhone and iTunes over USB:
- Connect your iPhone to computer using the included Lightning or 30-pin Dock cable.
- Open iTunes on your computer.
- Select your iPhone under the Devices list in iTunes.
- Review sync settings under Summary, Music, Movies, TV Shows, Podcasts, etc.
- Check boxes to enable syncing for items you want from your iTunes library.
- Click Apply in the lower right to start syncing your iPhone.
- The syncing process can take awhile depending on how much content is being transferred.
- When done, you can disconnect your iPhone from your computer.
Syncing your iPhone with iTunes via USB allows you to manually control exactly what gets transferred from your iTunes Library onto your device. This is the more traditional method before wireless iTunes sync became available.
What Content Can You Sync from iTunes?
Here are some of the main iTunes content categories you can sync to your iPhone:
Music
The Music section lets you sync your iTunes music library to your iPhone. You can manually drag-and-drop individual songs and playlists. Or sync all music automatically.
Movies
Sync your iTunes movie collection to the TV app on your iPhone. iTunes supports syncing films, documentaries, music videos, and more.
TV Shows
Like movies, you can sync your favorite TV shows purchased or downloaded from iTunes to your iPhone.
Books
Add ePub books and audiobooks from your iTunes library to your iPhone. Great for enjoying books on the go.
Podcasts
Sync podcast subscriptions from iTunes onto your iPhone. Favorite episodes get transferred for offline playback.
Apps
Any apps purchased from the App Store automatically get synced by iCloud. But you can also transfer app data via iTunes.
Photos
Photo Stream can automatically sync photos between your iPhone and computer. You can also manually transfer photos through iTunes.
Those cover the main content types you can sync from your computer’s iTunes library to your iPhone. Enable the ones you want synced in the Summary tab.
What Does iTunes Sync to my iPhone?
When you sync your iPhone with iTunes on a computer, there are a few key things that get transferred:
- Media: Music, movies, TV shows, podcasts, books, etc. from your iTunes library.
- Photos: Photo Stream images or albums manually synced.
- Backups: Full device backups stored locally rather than just iCloud backup.
- App data: Documents, settings, and data for apps.
- Contacts, calendars, bookmarks: Syncs if using iTunes sync instead of iCloud.
- Ringtones: Custom ringtones you made in iTunes.
- iOS updates: Major iOS updates are downloaded through iTunes.
Those are the main things that syncing your iPhone to iTunes will transfer. You get media, apps, some device settings, and can backup the entire contents of your iPhone.
Managing iPhone Content in iTunes
One key benefit of iTunes is the ability to manually manage content on your iPhone. Rather than everything automatically syncing from iCloud, you can manually drag-and-drop items between your iPhone and iTunes library.
Follow these steps to manually manage iPhone content with iTunes:
- Connect iPhone and open iTunes.
- Under Summary, check “Manually manage music and videos”.
- Go to content type (Music, Movies, etc.) and check boxes to sync.
- Click Apply to transfer initial content.
- Now you can manually drag-and-drop additional items.
- Right-click device and select “Transfer Purchases” to add new iTunes content.
With manual management, you can fine tune exactly which music, movies, podcasts, and more get transferred to your device. This prevents everything from syncing automatically.
Syncing iTunes Purchases
One of the handy benefits of using iTunes is that it easily syncs all your iTunes Store purchases to your iPhone. This includes music, movies, TV shows, books, and more.
If you previously did not have iTunes syncing set up, here is how to transfer your iTunes purchases:
- Open iTunes and connect your iPhone via USB.
- Select your iPhone under devices.
- Under Summary, check boxes to sync purchases from Apple Music, Movies, TV Shows, etc.
- Click Apply to transfer purchases to the iPhone.
- You can enable automatic downloads on your iPhone to always get iTunes purchases.
For apps, any App Store purchases are automatically downloaded to your iPhone via iCloud. But other iTunes content requires syncing to transfer them.
How to Backup iPhone to iTunes
One of the biggest benefits of syncing your iPhone to iTunes is that you can create full device backups locally on your computer. This provides an extra backup beyond just iCloud.
Follow these steps to backup your iPhone to iTunes:
- Connect iPhone to computer and launch iTunes.
- Under device Summary, check “Automatically sync when this iPhone is connected”.
- Also check “Encrypt iPhone backup” for extra security.
- Click Back Up Now to perform manual iPhone backup.
- iTunes will create full backup of your iPhone locally.
- You can restore this backup from the Backups section.
The iTunes backups provide a snapshot of your entire iPhone data and settings. This includes photos, videos, messages, device settings, app data, and more. You can restore this data if needed.
How to Restore iPhone from iTunes Backup
If anything goes wrong on your iPhone, you can restore and recover a full iTunes backup to your device. This will erase the iPhone and return it to the state captured in the backup.
Follow these steps to restore an iTunes iPhone backup:
- Connect iPhone to computer and open iTunes.
- Under Summary, click Restore iPhone.
- Dialog will appear with options to Recover from iCloud Backup or iTunes Backup.
- Select the desired iTunes backup you want to restore.
- Click Restore and iTunes will erase your iPhone and restore the backup.
- iPhone will reboot and restart. All content now restored!
This provides a way to completely restore your device and recover all its data if anything goes wrong or it becomes unstable. Restoring an iTunes backup erases and reformats the iPhone before copying back the backup data.
Summary & Conclusion
Here are some key takeaways about using iTunes with the iPhone:
- iTunes is no longer required for general iPhone management, activation, or wireless syncing of content.
- You primarily need the latest iTunes app to sync local media, transfer purchases, or backup your iPhone.
- Syncing via USB cable gives you manual control over syncing vs automatic iCloud sync.
- Media, photos, app data, backups, and other content can by synced through iTunes.
- iTunes makes transferring iTunes Store purchases easy.
- Backing up to iTunes provides full local backup as another option beyond iCloud.
While iTunes may not be as essential as it once was for iPhone use due to wireless syncing, it still serves some key functions. iTunes sync gives you granular control over content, easily syncs iTunes purchases, and allows local backups beyond iCloud.