YamiPod is a freeware application that allows you to efficiently manage your iPod in Mac OS X, Windows and Linux. YamiPod is unique because it runs directly from your iPod and needs no installation. This allows you to update your iPod from any computer without installing any software. You can also use YamiPod to move files from your iPod back to your computer (or another computer). This tutorial will take you through the steps to setup and use YamiPod in OS X and Windows.

Note: if you’re wondering what’s with all the iPod posts, I’m working on a ‘larger’ article that will be something along the lines of “10 iTunes alternatives for iPod users”, and will reference each of these tutorials in it. That and I finally got my hands on an actual iPod (iShuffle, borrowed).

Before you get too far into this, the YamiPod developers strongly suggest that you backup anything currently on your iPod, as there is a chance that something could go wrong and your data could be lost.

Though this tutorial was created using screenshots in OS X, the Windows procedure is very similar, and you should be able to follow along. The instructions to use YamiPod in Linux can be found here.

Download YamiPod from http://www.yamipod.com/main/modules/downloads/. If you have iTunes version 7.3 installed, make sure to scroll down to the Beta version section and download it.

1. Start by connecting your iPod and opening iTunes (if it doesn’t auto-launch). Select your iPod and then click the Settings tab. Scroll down to the Options section and remove the check from the box labeled Open iTunes when this iPod is attached. Then place a check in the Enable disk use box (if it isn’t checked already) and make sure there’s at least 40MB of Data storage available (I went with 50 just to be safe). Click Apply. Before you close iTunes, make sure you’ve added at least one song to your iPod via iTunes.


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2. Drag YamiPod.app from the .dmg file to your iPod (or if you’re a Windows user, drag the exe from the zip file to your iPod).


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3. Launch YamiPod from your iPod.


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4. If YamiPod can’t guess the type of iPod you have, select it from the drop-down list.



5. Review the information on the About/Warning screen and then click I agree.


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6. Now you’ll be presented with the main YamiPod interface. You should see the songs you currently have loaded on your iPod listed. To add files to your iPod, drag them from your music folder (and you can drag entire folders) into the bottom section of the YamiPod window.


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7. The Add To Ipod window will appear. You can review each song, modify the file info etc. Since all my tracks were already tagged properly, I selected Add All.



8. Watch as the tracks are uploaded to your iPod.



9. And there they are. You can preview them using the play button in the bottom bar. When you’re done updating your iPod, quit YamiPod.


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10. A feedback window will appear the first time you close YamiPod. Take a moment or two to fill in the info to help the developers improve future versions, and then click Send.



11. Now you can eject your iPod by right-clicking it (ctrl-click for single mouse folks) and select Eject. Windows users – use the “safely remove hardware” icon in your system tray to disconnect your iPod.


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12. The next time you connect your iPod, iTunes should not launch. Open your iPod and run YamiPod to add/remove songs etc. For info on some of the advanced features of YamiPod, see the docs section of the YamiPod site.