Windows Phone desktop sync app for Windows 7 and 8 updated

By Sam Sabri
published

When Windows Phone 8 launched we lost the ability to use Zune as our desktop syncing solution. A move that angered a lot of users. The replacement apps on Windows 8 and the desktop weren’t a step backwards, they were a stumble. Slowly but surely, Microsoft has been improving that app. After 3 beta releases, the desktop app has finally hit RTM according to Microsoft. Let’s see what all the hubbub is about.

First off, my heart is broken with no ability to wireless sync. With that out of the way, here’s what’s new in this latest version of the Windows Phone desktop app for Windows.

  • Expanded podcast support – Support for iTunes podcasts has been a useful feature in the preview versions of this app, but many people get their podcasts from other sources. Now, as long as your podcasts are saved in a folder, you can automatically sync them to your phone.
  • Simplified updates – previous versions of this app required you to install updates from windowsphone.com. Now the app tell you when improvements are available, so you can install them with a click.
  • Flexible library selection – To provide more flexibility, the app can now sync files from any library or folder on your computer, even if they’re on an external hard drive.
  • Many bug fixes – We’ve rolled up your feedback on the preview versions and made fixes to improve performance.

The improvements are a step in the right direction. While it’s no Zune, it’s certainly a little easier to manage your Windows Phone 8 device with this desktop app versus the Windows 8 app. Although the Windows Phone Central staff is split between our preferences for syncing between those two apps. We’d like if this updated desktop app showed thumbnail previews for images.

Anyways, what do you guys think of this updated desktop app for managing your Windows Phone 8 devices? Do you prefer this or the Windows 8 app for syncing? Sound off below.

You can download the desktop app for Windows 7 and 8 right here (opens in new tab).

Source: Windows Phone Blog

Thanks for the tip Jeff D!

Sam Sabri
Sam Sabri
217 Comments
  • What kind of laptop is that one to the left?! Or is it a dummy?
  • I was looking at that, it's beautiful, whatever it is.
  • I would like to know that too
  • It definitely looks Surface-like. The angles and color both.
  • perhaps a sign of whats to come? a hint at new hardware?
  • Nah. Surface 2.0 doesn't looked like that. It still sports the tablet-like version, with the start button in its bezel.
  • I think it's a MacBook Air...
    edit: So sorry, that's the one on the RIGHT. Sigh. It's still early for me...
    Left? Dunno, but it definitly looks nice!
  • Looks like "Google Pixel"
  • I think it isn't an existing device. But IF Microsoft is developing a Ultrabook with this beautyful design (Surface-like edges, colour, small bezel) I'm the one buying it the very first day!
  • Can you make playlists?
  • The app doesn't allow you to make playlist BUT there's an easier way, using your file explorer.
    Go into your File Explorer > Phone > Music ( folder ) > Select the songs you wish to have in your playlist, right click, Create Playlist.
    if you wish to add more songs to that playlist in future, just drag and drop the songs into that playlist file.
  • That is easier but we shouldn't have to do that. I don't understand how and why Microsoft would take a step backwards from Zune....
  • I agree.  The entire Zune/Music/Podcast experience on WP8,Win8,Win8RT is my biggest dissapointment. It is like they threw away all the Zune code and got rid of anyone with experience developing software for music and video playback.
  • God! Do you know how complicated that is for a super organized collection like mine?
    Phone/Music/(album artist)/((lbum name)/(song title).mp3
    I can't just select all these songs -_-
  • You can use search criteria to sort through it. Just a suggestion.
  • Ah good point, i always forget about that. But will files stay selected when i search for a new song?
  • Is that on Windows 7, 8 or both? I've never noticed a "make playlist" in the right click menu on Windows 7.
  • Both, use the default windows File Explorer, phone/Music/.....
  • OR.. use zune to make your playlists! it works really well; only way it could be better if that great app you use to manage and play your music also somehow (probably utilizing magic) allowed you to sync content to your device.. i know we're a ways off, but imagine what a great future that would be.......
  • Have you successfully synced those Zune made playlists to your phone? Because I haven't gotten it to work (before this update,not sure if its fixed).
  • yeah, I use zune exclusively for playback and playlist creation. the sync app since v1 has always worked for me with them
  • LONG LIVE ZUNE! Yes, it was so simple, elegant, and easy to manage music, podcasts, and syncing. The only reason that I can think for MS to kill it would be that the people making that decision didn't use it and probably used iPhones, ipods, and iTunes instead. Believed it even more when they said to use iTunes to sync your podcasts on your winphone 8... WTH MS???
    SMH :'(
  • YOU ARE A GENIOUS!!!!!!!! THANK YOU!!! Why did I not know this???? Yes this isn't near as easy to make playlists as using Zune, but this allows me to make playlists while actually using the songs already on my phone.
    This is an amazing workout around, b/c before if any playlist was made on the computer, it would sync but any subscription content on the playlist wouldn't play. The only way to make playlists with subscription content was to make them directly on the phone.
    But this is leaps and bounds easier and better, and you can actually edit the playlist after it is made.
    Again, THANK YOU!!!!!!!
  • Can't you create playlists on your phone like WP7?
  • Yes you can and its even easier with the "checklist" addition, but you still have to add the first song to now playing, then add checklist items, then save playlist.
  • Yeah, but how do you change the order the songs play in?  I haven't found any way to do that.
  • Hmm I usually use Windows Media Player to manage playlists and songs. Just like I did with iTunes and my iPod.
  • While it's nice that they've updated this, I've never been a fan of syncing clients. Drag/drop is much easier and quicker. (of course I don't sync music to my phone, so that may explain why I feel this way)
  • Thanks to people like you we lost Zune type syncing which was great. I hope your happy!!!
  • I am happy! In all seriousness though, I'm glad Microsoft took both approaches. They have drag and drop for people who want that and a sync client (albeit this one still needs to be improved a bit) for people who prefer that.
  • You cans drag and drop music pass music. If you could I would agree with you in this case. But it bugs me that I can't simply copy my music from my PC to my phone and vice versa.
  • Not sure why YOU can't do that. All the music on my Lumia 920 is on there as a result of dragging and dropping folders of music. Works just fine for me.
  • He means music that is not meant to transfer possibly, such as music that wasn't purchased just downloaded via Zune/Xbox Music.
    I'm loving drag and drop. I absolutely hated how long it took to sync video with Zune and that the file had to be converted to mp4 on Zune.
  • Well, on my iPad, I always have my complete Music library with me. Its around 60GB big. The songs are synced with the cloud and I can stream every song of them or download my favs to hear them offline. My playlists are in the cloud too so I have them on my PC and pad. When I get a new song, I just import it to my itunes music library and it becomes available on my iPad - without copying files or syncing, just automatically. THATS how it should work! And now try to manage such a big library with that win8 music app lol...
  • That's actually how XBOX MUSIC works. It's just that it seems a lot of people are unaware of this. That's how I have it on ny WP8:-)
  • @tilemaster that's how Xbox music works...
  • iTunes? No swearing in this comment section please. Thank you.
    :P
  • Ohhh. Well, none of my music came by way of Zune, Xbox or Nokia music. Just drag and drop and it works.  I'm glad just plugging in my phone shows all the folders like another thumb drive. I drop ring tones in the ringtone folder and music in the music folder. Done. Zune for me was an interface I really didn't need.  This way is more quick and dirty. But it works.
  • Just keep drag and drop, dont care about anything else. 
  • I just tried installing and it pops up with a message saying I need to install Zune software.
     
    Is that why the Windows Store Windows Phone app also crashes on my pc? Pity we can't have a small footprint app like the Windows Phone Connector on Mac.
     
  • Its asks for Zune? Zune doesn't even know WP8 exists
  • Well, after it had installed I clicked the icon and waited. Clicked it a few more times. Checked task manager. Got my Windows Phone and plugged it in. Next thing I notice is a little splash screen style popup saying I need to install Zune. Perhaps the Zune install popup is the automated response to me plugging in my 7.8 phone and completely unrelated to this new desktop client software?
  • This is not for Windows Phone 7 devices This app only works with Windows Phone 8 devices
  • I really wish my Windows Phone 8 device would ask for Zune. The current sync set up for Wp8 truly sucks.
  • I don't have the update. How do you all get it for the Windows 8 app?
  • Full phone backup like with iOS is needed...
  • A large number of items are needed that's for certain.
  • +1
  • Yup
  • What I would love to see is the ability to wirelessly sync with my desktop. I have a Nokia Lumina 920 with wireless charging pad so it's a backwards step to have to sync my photos, music & videos.
  • I didn't even realize there was a desktop application. I've been using the Windows 8 app, which isn't very good. Is the desktop version better?
  • i think the desktop app isnt better, per se, but i do believe its a bit ahead in updates.
  • Well, it got frosen and i had to uninstall it, so i wouldn't know.
  • Desktop app? I just use file explorer to drag and drop, much simpler and much, much faster. 3 gig movie files transfer in less then two minutes!
  • The metro app is a killer when trying to sync music (unless you "Select All"), having to go into every folder is plain crazy. Agree with other posters though that the desktop app isn't much better.
     
  • Thank go...odness! Finally we have better podcast syncing. was getting sick of podcasts being under my music!
  • That's exactly what I'm most excited about.
  • From what I've seen, this is barely better.  It's under "podcasts" now but it's just an mp3 file and there's no RSS information included that lets you subscribe to it or access other episodes.  Why can't they just add an RSS URL the way Zune did?  This is not how you sync podcasts.
  • Give us Zune support back already. This app still sucks beyond belief.
  • agreed. I should just be able to connect my phone to my laptop, and have it automatically sync any files that are not already on my device. I have no interest in syncing my entire collection every time I connect. the only way around this that I have found is to just sync smart playlists from iTunes of my new songs
  • I'm right there with you, willied.
  • Fight the good fight! :P
  • Yes Indeed. I loved wireless sync. I loved dropping songs into playlists and then the songs transferring seamlessly to my phone. I loved listening to my podcast (which was auto downloaded that required an auto login) on my desktop, then picking it up on my phone seamlessly in my truck never having to think about which file, date, or where I was at. We have gone so far backwards and it seems we will never get these abilities again.
  • And another great thing was if you removed songs from your Zune playlist and then synced it to your phone it would remove them from your phone. Talk about easy and mindless music management.
  • Exactly! The integration of everything was just so seamless.
  • My kids have ipods because MS kills stuff for no good reason. I was going to get them a Zune... Furthermore they/someone should make a non-phone Windows Phone. They really should just bring the Zune back running WP8. Idiots. And the Zune software.
  • I agree completely. I almost wish they called it something other than Windows Phone so they could have mobile devices (without phones) running it. ha But yeah Zune support needs to come back immediately.
  • Syncing program, is this year 2007?
  • No, because in '07 I had a Zune.
  • For me, it's like the new SimCity it might be shiny and new, but its broken and no where near as good as its predecessor. iTunes is amazing but I buy Windows Phone not iPhone. Give me back Zune so I can managed my music, buy music, buy videos and apps like I did happily with my Windows Phone 7
  • you can still use zune to buy all that. The new app allows podcast syncing from folders now, so you use zune to buy and manage everything PC side, and Sync + Explorer to manage and sync content to/on the phone. Yes, its still broken, but you no longer need iTunes.
  • "Amazing," is not the first word that comes to mind when I think of iTunes. The day I uninstalled it from my computer was a happy, happy day. 
  • Right, iTunes has always screwed with my PC's.
  • Its because most PCs these days are going 64-bit, but iTunes only comes in a 32-bit flavor (the only thing different about the x64 installer is the drivers), and it doesnt even play well with the architecture its programmed for, let alone 64-bit (to which is worse). :P
  • It's a big, fat resource hog that's still slow, even on the speediest hardware, and it doesn't support the biggest lossless format in the world (and the iTunes store doesn't even offer lossless music purchases of any sort).  
  • iTunes is a bloated POS that never got near my desktop. Dealing with my son's PC and wife's iPad was a quick lesson in itunes masochism.
  • Bring back Zune!
  • Agreed! Maybe not in name but definitely in functionality.
  • Please no. Then I will be forced to convert movie files and sync them which takes forever. With Zune I couldn't carry movies to play via external devices because they had to be mp4 in order for crappy Zune to sync them. Now with WP8 I can take a 4gb 1080p mkv file and drag and drop it from file explorer in less then a few minutes.
  • No one is asking to take away drag and drop, we just want Zune for syncing instead of these terrible apps. I sync almost exclusively through playlists, drag and drop would be terrible for that. Hell, these new apps don't even reliably sync the stuff that I have. They randomly and inexplicably decide some songs on my playlist of songs that I own shouldn't be synced over to my phone. With my WP7 I could download a song on my phone and it would automatically sync to my PC when I got home, now I have to search for it and dl it again to have it on my PC.
    It's frustrating because the Zune HD and desktop software are what made me interested in Windows Phone in the first place and now the music and syncing experience is almost the worst part of the phone.
  • I agree completely. Zune was one of the biggest selling points when I got my Trophy. And it's not like they have to make it work exclusively with Zune, they just need to make it so you can use Zune. Now I just have a phone with pretty tiles and way too many missing features. ha
  • Hear, Hear. I got other people to buy winphones for Zune and then they had to put up with this alpha crap software.
  • Didn't know wp8 can play mkv files o.O
  • its possibly converting them. one of my music files was converted to m4a when I dropped it over in explorer. I think the driver for Windows Phone 8 comes with some added features for conversion.
  • +6
  • I really do think it is short sighted to not have a Zune running WP8 OS. I'm not getting my kids a phone, but this platform is better for gaming than the Vita and 3ds in my opinion, not to mention the app diversity. Its too bad.
  • Can podcast feature be used for audio books? Is podcasts just for USA?
  • When I get home I'll try it, but hopefully all they need is the podcast genre like on wp7
  • Don't even have to do that anymore.  I dragged my audiobooks into my Podcasts folder on my desktop, then started the application (using the desktop app, not the "metro" app), and they showed up on the "Podcasts" section.  Synced them with my phone, and they do show up under "Podcasts" (the "series" is the "album" field from the ID3 tags -- if you don't have that field set, it just shows as "Unknown album").
    If you browse your phone's file system, you will find the files under "Music" in a folder with the same album title, but the phone seems to keep track of which ones are music and which ones are podcasts, somehow -- if you go into "music" on the phone, the books/podcasts do not show up, but they do show under "podcasts".
    Even better news, is it stored the files on my SD card, leaving my 810's spartan main storage alone.
  • What/where is the podcast folder? Being in Australia we don't support podcasts on windows phone.
  • The Podcast library on the computer is what I think you're asking about.
  • Yes, that.  Windows (at least Windows 8, but I thought 7 had it as well) has five "libraries": Documents, Music, Pictures, Podcasts, and Videos.  But even if you don't have a Podcasts library, you can tell the Phone Sync app what folders it should scan for Podcasts, by clicking "Add Folder" on the Podcasts page.
  • When I click add folder, I get an eror message "We couldn't find your podcast library, but you can create one in windows explorer". I created a new library and called it Podcasts, but I still cannot add it.I don't have ITunes installed as not an Apple fan. can anyone help?
  • It needs to be called PodcastSeries. I put it in my Documents folder on Windows 7, but I'm dont know whether thats where it has to be
  • I use WMP for syncing my music. Tried to use this before and it was awful. I just consider this whole syncing thing a lost feature when you upgrade to WP8. I used to sync up my old ipod touch for audio books, podcasts and music all of the time. Now with WP8 I never do. PITA.
  • whats that like? does it try to sync your entire library every time?
  • Nope. From your other comment about only sycing the songs you want, this would probably work great for you too. It has all of your songs/albums in a nice display. You just drag the ones you want over to your phone and it syncs up. All within WMP. Honestly, I think it is the best way currently. Only thing I don't like is that when I look at my entire collection there is not an easy way to see which songs are synced. But...if you drag a song, album, or artist to your phone it will not duplicate it if it is already there, which is awesome. I haven't done these, but I am pretty sure you can do pictures and videos too.
  • yeah I just started checking it out. unfortunately the tags for my songs that it reads are different from what I have in iTunes currently. so after I update the titles of some songs, I will try syncing. thanks for the response. do you have to drag and drop every time you want to sync? or does it update your phone when you connect it?
  • It remembers what is on there. Not sure if that is the answer. I normally rip my CD's with WMP now. So if I already have songs on my WP and I want to add more, I just plug it in and use WMP. I only have to add the new songs I want on my phone, all the other ones are still there. I would have to go into my phone folder (I think on the left hand side) on WMP and remove the ones I don't want on there anymore. Hopefully that answers the question. :-) I honestly miss itunes from my ipod touch. It seemed to work well for everything I want. WMP for me is somewhat similar, but limited with all of the features itunes had. I do wish there was a Skip While Shuffling option within WMP like on itunes.
    One thing I never did with itunes was have it manage my music. That way it was always the way I wanted it.
  • Same here.  I'm not sure why they make an app when WMP works perfectly fine.  You can create custom play lists with all kinds of rules then sync those to your phone.  Works great for me.
  • The problem with this is it doesn't work with Zune/Xbox pass music. I have a lot of pass music.
  • How do both desktop and win 8 apps coexist on the same computer?
  • Dear Windows Phone lovers, seems to me like an awesome idea, i know this is off topic but i would like to know your opinions.
    Closing apps like you do on Windows 8 on Windows Phone, swiping from the top of te screen to the bottom to close it.
     
    Please share your opinion!
    Greetzz.
  • I guess but tbh I would rarely if ever have any use for it. How about volume control separation, notification center, sound profiles, custom SMS and email alerts, better music syncing experience etc.
  • I think many people will take advantage of it.... & yess all those you mentioned would be welcome features too!
     
    Greetzz.
  • I just use Windows Explorer (File Explorer) drag and drop FTW!
  • Yes, not needing any other software is a very good thing - because that software inevitably sucks.  Good riddance to Zune!
  • If that windows 8 laptop only existed, I'd be all over it...
  • That's a Toshiba Kirabook, if i am not wrong.
  • Too square to be a kirabook. Plus it's freakin blue! That + a cyan Lumia 920 = <3
  • Really disappointing that this issue has not been addressed/corrected yet, no wireless sync to me is pretty terrible, losing Zune sucked and being that I use all locally stored music makes it even worse when metadata doesn't even transfer properly. Seriously MS pull your finger out on Xbox music its a bad experience and one of the few things I really do not like about wp8.
  • The metadata transfers properly, it's just that "Connect with Xbox Music," screws it all up. After having problems with a few albums in particular - meticulously ensuring that the relevant tags were correct so it didn't split one album in to multiples - I finally figured out that XBM was the culprit. Turned off the "Connect" and everything has been fine, since. I don't get the snazzy background images or the artist bios, but it's small price to pay.
  • You're going to continue to have this problem if you work with multiple music software. Apparently not all of them get their "metadata" from the same place. I have turned off the data gathering on WMP and Zune and just use XBOX MUSIC data. I gave up trying to fix it since the software is gonna change it anyways. Plus it's easier for me to have XBOX MUSIC Match what I own to the cloud. Doing so, all my music is the same throughout my pc and phone. At least the ones "MS" has rights to.
  • Finally I can sync my podcasts where they actually belong, a much needed update. Good job MS.
  • Update Zune client! Change the freakin name and logo to Xbox music or whatever, keep the same functions. We'll forget it was ever called Zune to begin with..!!
  • bingo. shoulda done this from day 1
  • Exactly. How bloody hard is it for them to understand this?
  • This. This. THIS!!!! ^^^^^^
  • Or just let people use it to sync music to Windows Phone 8 devices. Seriously. Not even asking for an update...just let us bloody use an already great client.
  • Another +1
  • and lets be honest the Xbox Music idea is basically Zune
  • For those who want Zune for Wp8, vote here: http://windowsphone.uservoice.com/forums/101801-feature-suggestions
  • This uservoice is a scam. They never listen and develop the most voted requests.
  • Does enabling Xbox music integration on WP8 still screw up ID3 tags without permission?
  • Assuming that you mean the "Connect with Xbox Music" option - yes, it does.
  • Bummer.
  • "while it's no Zune"... It never will be! So this is a giant waste of time. Just bring everything Zune back and slap an Xbox logo on top of it for crying out loud.
  • Perfect solution. I have no idea why MS went this route if they didn't have a sync client better than what they already had.
  • I've been using BeeMP3 to sync and it's been the most reliable.  I'll have to give this a shot.
     
    Does anyone else have the issue where the phone tries to rename all your music by checking it against Xbox Music?  If I don't disable that, I end up with 6 copies of everything, but still only one copy of the file.  Very frustrating.
  • NO DRM video = FAIL
    MSFT is so fking clueless.  This is why my lumia 920 is in my desk drawer and I have been forced to go back to android for my smart phone needs.
     
    I was so ready to dump all my $$ into the MSFT echo system, so sad.  Still don't get why they broken DRM video support from windows 7.
  • Xbox video support please.
  • If I mark a song from music pass to be available on my W8 PC or Surface RT collection as a stream from cloud it shows up on my 920 music collection. If I add a song to my 920 it never shows up on my PC or Surface. Music has become frustrating to deal with.
  • Last time I tried it wouldn't allow me to connect my Samsung ATIV S. gonna try again later.
  • I used to love the automatic syncronisation of music on Zune. Tracks I've purchased 'on the go' would be backed up to my PC and songs I have marked with the broken heart would be removed. Such simplicity. I guess such a thing is too much to ask for with Wp8. 
    As things stand, Wp7 is better suited for my needs. I don't really use the latest apps that are Wp8 exclusive. I'm more about music & videos.
  • Very nice explanation of one of the great features of the Zune PC software. (The Zune PC software still exists and is still amazing, but MS screwed up and "broke" the connection with WP8.)
    I want the Zune PC software, connected to sync with WP8 and I want it to be wireless (WiFi, internet) too.
  • Is it so hard to rebrand the Zune app as Xbox music and have it recognize wp8?
  • As cool as this appears its still quite sad and pathetic. I really miss Zune. The Windows 8 app is a mess and the desktop is so bland and unintuitive it makes me gag. I can't understand why Zune couldn't have been renamed and repurposed for WP8 as well, wouldn't that appease to everyone's needs? Am I alone here?
  • The number one thing missing from Xbox music and the syncing is autoplaylists (existed in zune) give me that back and I'd be pretty happy
  • For those who want Zune for Wp8, vote here: http://windowsphone.uservoice.com/forums/101801-feature-suggestions
  • I voted. Please, please, please go and vote.
  • Why are you all complaining lol just use wmp to sync music it makes life much easier. But a official Zune Support would be nice. Feel like Microsoft ditched zune
  • Just duplicate Zune software!
  • Between this fiasco and the lack of gapless playback I now sport both a Windows phone (as a phone) and my old iPhone 4 for playing music. It's si utterly crap that this kind of stuff has still not been sorted. The music app on the phone is a joke and the sync / transfer debacle is just ridiculous! No consistency and no quality in this area at all. Such a shame. If things don't improve fast I shall probably nit be choosing another windows phone when I upgrade; a shame as I generally fund the base OS far superior to the competition.
  • Microsoft has said gapless playback is not going to be supported... back in the Zune days. Let it go, only a small % want it... It ain't happening.
  • Can you explain me what gapless playback do? I dunno what that is
  • Don't they mean "Windows Phone program for desktop"!? Haha, I miss those days...
  • The thing I dislike most about this client is that it does not appear to store an index of media after it locates everything on the machine. I don't want to go through it crawling hundreds of gigs of stuff I have stored every time I launch it.
    They've made it better, but, it's still far from good as far as I'm concerned.
  • I am so freaking pissed off about this situation.
     
    No wireless sync?!?!
    No auto-playlists?!?!
    No podcast sync that works with subscriptions?!?!
     
    I don't even care about the awful UI and the loss of Zune, just give me these basic features from 5+ years ago!
  • I've never been able to wireless sync with Zune anyway. Tried everything under the sun to no avail.
  • How about us Windows XP users Zune worked great with XP. Don't want to purchase Windows 8 yet.
  • Yes!
  • What about PIM data sync with Outlook 2010??? nothing yet???
  • Now this is what I am waiting for! Don't have faith that it will ever happen though. Maybe through a third party or cloud sync.
  • Can I actually put my playlists on my phone? That's all I care about, because its never worked before.
  • if you sync up your itunes collection you can put playlists from iTunes onto your device
  • NO wireless Sync??? Oh that's right, we don't know how to make that work. Thanks for nothing Microsoft!
  • the sad thing is that Zune is the standard here, but Zune sucked just as much. Even iTunes is better. Just enable freaking drag and drop... drag from a folder into a playlist on my phone. COME ON!
  • Disagree. Zune always worked fine for me.
  • Totally Disagree. The Zune PC software and the Zune (Xbox) Marketplace are amazing.
    You miss the point. We had one point of management for all our media on multiple devices. Your answer to, just do it manually each time, is a huge step backward.
  • I loved Zune myself, and I just played my music.
  • iTunes sucks So Much! Its nothing but a convoluted apple mess.  ZUNE was clean, easy and awesome, Clearly ahead of its time wether for music mangement or syncing.  iTunes didn't wireless sync until years after ZUNE.  ZUNE did drag and drop into a playlist that auto synced with your phone including deleting if you removed it from the playlist. The only valid complaint for Zune imho is video conversion which you now can bypass with drag and drop from win explorer.
     
  • Anyone know what is the laptop on the left ??
  • ...it doesnt display podcast description and artwork.... at least it displays them under podcasts though, instead of music... -,-"
  • Whenever I try to sync podcasts now the WP8 sync app just crashes and closes.
     
  • Unfortunately, I'm having the same problem.  I can't sync anything.  The Metro version of this app works, but it does not have podcast support.
  • Yep. Apparently you can automatically sync podcasts if they reside in a designated "Podcasts" folder...somewhere....but...where?
  • they need to make zune be the official app for wp8.  damnit.
  • I'm so glad that I'm not the only one who misses wireless synchronization.
  • Damn it, Windows Vista is still not supported!!
  • What's keeping you from upgrading?
  • Why this app cant update OS..... Or fully backup data.... Or download maps... I miss Nokia Suite Dx
  • The problem with the desktop app is that it never and i repeat never automatically syncs stuff from ny phone to the pc, never. I always need to do it manually. That's why i personally prefer the win8 app.
  • Guys, just download Nokia music. It's a pain to find the actual download but once you install on your computer syncing is soooo much easier. Reminds me of Zune, which I miss.
  • Single transfer, multiple transfer, playlists. It's pretty slick. I don't know why they make it tough to find.
  • Tell us more. Does it work with WP8? Does it sync Zune (Xbox) Music Pass (DRM) Music or just music that you own that isn't DRM? Podcast features? Does it sync with the SD card too?
    If the Nokia Music PC software is hard to find, where is it?
    I want the Zune PC software to sync with WP8.
  • Well... I can't really see any improvement when syncing from iTunes. All my podcasts are still in no kind of order beyond being in their own folder. I struggle to see why it is so difficult to have them listed in chronological order. I go into a folder for podcast and they are all over the place, not even in alphabetical.
  • This sync tool sucks
  • Its pooh, it was pooh and it remains pooh......
     
  • YEP... can't make chicken salad out of chicken sh@t.  They need to give it up and give us back ZUNE.
  • Whoopee, I can get rid of iTunes!
  • Installed on both RT and Windows 8 and does not work on either with my Nokia 820! All I get is a blank black screen so not much of an improvement really!
  • SD Synchronization?
  • Well I can't even install the latest version, wants me to uninstall old version, but can't find the old .MSI file to uninstall the old version on my Windows 8 PC
  • I just right-clicked the tile on the start screen, selected "Uninstall" from the menu at the bottom, and it took me right to the Add/Remove Programs list with the client highlighted. Uninstalled itself.
  • When I attempt to uninstall I get a message that can't find the source of "older" version to uninstall. Scanned disk and no such MSI (or MST file).
  • Everytime I try to transfer stuff from my pc to mobile using this app, there appears a continue button which freezes and you click it nothing happens/Damn ! It pisses me off :-( what to do guys !
  • Still no Contacts and Calendar syncing? WTF?
  • Please explain further? I have always had calendar and contacts syncing. I had it on my prior Windows devices and still have it on my WP8 Lumia 822. Always had it? I use Outlook on the PC, on the phone, and the web app on the internet. What am I missing?
  • This is the biggest load of rubbish ever.
    I just downloaded 'Windows Phone for Desktop'. 
    Onto my Laptop. Which isn't a desktop. 
    On this same laptop I already have a 'Windows Phone' app installed which I downloaded from the Windows Store.
    Why do I now have, and need, two separate apps?
    Talk about confusing.
    And all the while, both apps are a massive piece of crap. 
    'Windows Phone for Desktop' is now 'Checking for music updates...'. What the hell's that? And why is it taking 20 minutes?
    Zune dicked on both of them, AND the mac connector, and at the time it wasn't even very good. 
    I find it so frustrating that Microsoft, king of software, can't make decent software for an otherwise decent phone. 
  • Too bad I still have Vista lol.
  • WP Central articles have always been very unusually quiet on the media features that we have lost and need? This has been "broken" from the very beginning of WP8? Paul Thurrott mentions it and wrote some "work arounds" in his WP e-book, but no real "outrage" from him either?
    I'm frustrated and outraged!
  • Does the app now support syncing DRM content like movies?
  • Not able to find my phone !!!!!
  • i use the Windows Phone app (Modern UI app) on my Windows 8 PC. I think it's better (it has also been updated and now supports adding ringtones and playlists too). One time I tried desktop app (preview 3) and it started deleting some photos from my phone (perhaps I had them moved from the default folder. Further the Modern UI app copies all the pics as well as the videos to a single folder, while desktop app copies videos to the Videos library.
  • I have a ? about WP8 - Ive been on the fence with whether to switch from Android to WP8 (Lumia 928 specifially), and I am curious if I need to use a sync application to put files on the phone?  This seems to be very similar to iTunes, which I absolutely despise using for my iPad, to the point that I refuse to use it, and is the reason i would not touch a iPhone with a 10 foot pole.  I know that WP8 has no file explorer, but when i plug the phone into the computer is there a file explorer that i can just add whatever files i want, or do i have to use the stupid sync software?
  • You can use drag and drop OR this sync software. Obviously using drag and drop means YOU have to do everything manually. Where as the app automates syncing of common files like photos etc.
  • i first tried the beta version of this a few months ago and it wasn't functioning (DURRRR - it's BETA). Can't wait to try this out later so I can finally sync all my MP3's and PORN!....
  • Oop.. did i say that outloud?...
  • Can I get the Windows 8 Metro-style app supporting WP 7.8, please? No desire to gunk up my Surface Pro with Zune...
  • I'm curious how Microsoft are testing this app. It's been consistently bad since they pushed out the first preview and with each release it just becomes differently broken.
     
    It now only syncs half of my unplayed podcasts onto the device before giving up in a welter of MTP error codes (0x80042009).
     
  • Downloaded new metro Windows Phone syn app.....doesnt work...without phone plugged in the entire screen goes WHITE...with phone plugged in .....screen goes all BLACK.....
     
    hosed
  • Is it just me, or does the desktop app suck in comparison to the Metro app?
  • nope.. it ain't just you.. tried it last night and deleted the damn desktop app.. they need to get that shit together...
  • Update killed the App in Windows 8, users (myself included, are reporting nothing but blank screens upon launching the app.
  • looks like we just got PUNK'D........ all over again.
  • The easiest solution would be for Microsoft to add the Zune functionality  to Windows Media Player, including podcast support and such.
    It's so simple that I'm surprised that they haven't done it already.
  • Hmm, after syncing some of my audio books as podcasts using the app, now the podcasts I had subscribed to from my phone are not downloading. Looks like it's all or nothing?
  • It has some problems while syncing the pictures. No thumbnail or review so I cannot select proper pictures that I want to copy.
  • As a user since the HTC HD7, I am really annoyed that they got rid of Zune, it was such a nice application. Also, there is no Music management system in the Windows Phone app, it's litterally just a syncing platform. It really blows.
  • I wish Nokia make their Nokia Suite to work with their Lumia 920. The Nokia Suite has better features than this Microsoft crap app considering they have already spending so many months to make it.
    I have already unchecked Sync music but it still scans all my music files in my library (which include network drives) everytime, taking 10+ minutes to build the lists I don't need?
    And how do I select all pictures with one check? The regular way by using shift key to select a list of files and check the checkbox does not work, it can only check 1 file at a time!
  • For wireless sync'ing, I use SkyDrive and a batch file (for pictures and videos) like this:
    - Phone uploads to SkyDrive
    - SkyDrive desktop app downloads to computer
    - Batch file runs nightly to move pictures and videos out of SkyDrive folder into my family album into subfolders by Year.
    - NAS backup runs and gives my other network devices access to all my pictures and videos
     
    I do wish the new desktop app did it for me and let me pick which folder to sync my pictures/videos into.
  • My Windows 6.x phone was a brick, but I could plug it in and sync everything.
    My Windows 7 phone was a little less of a brick, but they got rid of local sync for Outlook, which was irritating since my main email was not, at the time, Exchange-compliant. However, podcast syncing with Zune was fantastic.
    My new Windows 8 phone is a beautiful thing to behold, but seriously? Syncing podcasts is a nightmare, even with this new little app, which is a half-baked piece of junk. Also, WP 8 does a terrible job of actually playing and managing podcasts. It doesn't automatically roll over to the next episode; any podcasts that you subscribe to from Xbox can't be deleted and don't show up in this crappy little app. I like my phone otherwise, but it may just be time to get an iPhone. And I hate apple.
  • @zoomia - it is indeed extremely frustrating that after all these years Microsoft can't get the complete experience in no small part due to constantly changing direction in ways that abandon the stuff they got right along with the mistakes. I love my Windows 8 phone so much more than my previous Windows phones, except I can't get any of the syncing solutions to work better than just manually copying my podcasts. Which means they play like music, which really sucks.
    It would be nice if you could just manually mark mp3 files as podcasts and windows 8 phone recognize it as such.
  • Guys I need your help!
    There appears to be soemthing wrong going on, each time I open the software I get the notification that there is an update for it, I click on the link and the download starts, and when I install it appears to be the same software and again gives me that there is an update! I am stuck in that never ending loop! Any help?
    Thank you in advance!
    Walid W. Shaaya
  • Just got my new Lumia 930 and at first sync I missed NOKIA Suite really bad. All Windows Phone apps for syncing are crap compared to NOKIA Suite. NOKIA Suite automaticly imports videos and photos and organises them in folders named by year and month, and does not throw everything in a big pile. Videos in the videos library and photos in the photos library. I can't say how dissapointed I am with the syncing options in Windows Phone 8.1.  
  • It did the job I wanted, but I cannot believe you did not implement multiselect. I had to click > 500 times to delete old pictures!  
  • Do you know how to sync music from PC to iPhone? Check this out to know about it.