First, it interrupts whatever I'm doing. I like to listen to audiobooks, and if I'm at my desk, I might plug my iPod in so I can charge it up, but I don't want to stop listening to what I'm listening to. But no, it stops everything and starts syncing.
Next, I need to jump through hoops to stop the syncing. iTunes starts up, and has to do it's thing. I can't just cancel the sync, I have to click through popups coming from iTunes to cancel the stupid sync before I can shut it down again.
And god forbid iTunes actually SYNC what you mark to sync! I hate installing it simply because if I do, I have to go find the place that says "Yes, when I tell you to sync an audiobook, you should, you know, actually sync the audiobook."
And then, after you are done syncing, I can't just jump back into listening to what I was listening to before.
Yes, this happens, it happens often. Really, the entire iPod/iTunes environment makes me regret getting the iPod.
No you don’t. There is probably one of those annoying “Check if you never want to appear this dialog again” checkboxes (which are for some reason all too common in iTunes), but that’s a one time thing, after that you only ever have to click once to cancel.
Or you could just slide to cancel the sync on your iPhone or iPod touch. That’s actually the easiest way to do it. Then you are immediately back to where you were and can continue listening. It’s instantaneous and I do it all the time when I plug in my iPod touch for charging and not syncing.
Edit: Why is wanting this wrong? I have podcasts downloaded, and just plug my iPod in while I get ready in the morning, and it updates without me having to sit down and dick around with the computer. I really don't think this is unreasonable, and these problems occur every day.
Grrr.
Yeah. About to go on another tirade.
I don't think it should even interrupt what the iPod is doing, but I can understand that technically that could be more difficult.
With such a system you would add a lot of complexity to the system. How many people will be frustrated to see their devices not automatically syncing because the wouldn't know about all this technical nuances or they forgot that they still had an app running.
Another option would be to continue the audio process after syncing the device. Since syncing can take quite a lot of time. Users would be annoyed to see their devices start playing music without apparent reason. I mean how many would sit there with their earbuds, waiting for sound to continue. Admittedly audiobook/podcast listeners would more likely do so than music listeners.
So what are your current options without requesting those cans of worms? Canceling the sync on the device, which would still stop the audio process or disabling auto sync to not be bothered by it while listening to audiobooks, but be bothered to hit sync while updating podcasts.
Not as many as you think. I imagine most people aren't doing something on their iPod when they plug it in. Either way, Apple likely has stats on this. I understand your point, but then, how many people sync via iTunes? I mean, the actual Sync button in iTunes. How often does syncing actually need to take place?
And, the same question could be asked of the interruption. How man people plug their iPod in while using it and suddenly find that it takes over whatever they were doing. It takes over, without even asking.
"Another option would be to continue the audio process after syncing the device."
That defeats the purpose. And it's bad design. Why interrupt what the user is doing? Mac users love to comment on having to restart Windows for updates. No.
"Canceling the sync on the device, which would still stop the audio process or disabling auto sync to not be bothered by it while listening to audiobooks, but be bothered to hit sync while updating podcasts."
I have the perfect solution, I would [SYNC]
You'll still have to eject the iPod before you can resume listening but at least this will prevent iTunes from launching when the iPod is connected.