CopyTrans

CopyTrans provides important functionality that iTunes just doesn’t: the ability to back up individual media files directly from your iPhone or iPod to your PC. I have reviewed CopyTrans in the past, mostly favorably, but the product hit a wall when the iPad and iPhone 4 were released: CopyTrans didn’t work with either.

That’s all changed with the release of CopyTrans 4.1.1, as it now has full iPad and iOS 4.x support out of the box. I successfully tested it with both an older iPhone and a newer iPad, and it worked flawlessly with both. I quickly and easily backed up files from the devices straight to the appropriate iTunes folders. And the best part is, unlike the previous version, CopyTrans doesn’t need to launch iTunes in the background to do its thing. That saves you RAM and other system resources.

Note that there’s no way to install CopyTrans individually: you must install the suite first.

The main criticism of the previous two versions of CopyTrans regarded its inability to set a custom iTunes folder during a smart backup. That’s still an issue in this version, but there’s a way around it that I’ve recently discovered: Click Manual Backup, click Folder, and tell CopyTrans where your music actually is. That way, you won’t end up with a flood of duplicate music files. The Smart Backup feature, therefore, isn’t very smart, as it seems to always put the music in the wrong place. You’re going to want that greater control over where the many gigs of music on your device will backup to.

Other than the Smart Backup continuing to not be very smart, CopyTrans is pretty handy to have around. Many Apple device owners may still wish that moving files from a device to your PC were natively supported by Apple. Until then, though, there’s CopyTrans.

Note: The demo version allows for backing up only 100 tracks at a time. The full version costs $20.

–Steve Horton