iCopyBot Review, Software to Transfer iPod to iTunes

With respect to its speed, iCopyBot is pretty impressive: it moves 2.41 GB of songs to iTunes in 10 minutes. Unfortunately, a sparse user interface and some buggy behavior drop it to the middle of the pack.

Developer
VOWSoft Ltd.

Version
7.2.5

Works With
All iPhones
All iPods
Original iPad

A Solid Feature Set

When it comes to transferring data from an iPod, iPhone, or iPad to iTunes, iCopyBot has a solid complement of features. Not only does it move music, it also moves:

• Star ratings, playcounts, and album art
• iBooks files (not yet a common feature)
• Podcasts
• Ringtones
• Voice memos (as files, not to iTunes)
• Photos
• Videos (but not videos taken by an iOS device and stored in the Camera Roll).

That's a pretty comprehensive lineup, though seeing videos in the Camera Roll would be nice. It would also be very helpful to have an indication of what songs have been transferred and which ones are already in iTunes to prevent duplication.

The program moved my standard test--590 songs/2.41 GB--to iTunes in 10 minutes, which puts it among the fastest such applications I've tested. ICopyBot did two odd things during the transfer, though: 1, it reported moving 2.25 GB of data instead of 2.41, and it became unresponsive during the transfer (though the transfer didn't stop), preventing me from canceling the transfer if I'd wanted to.

Confusion Abounds With Advanced Uses

Trying for advanced functionality was where things got frustrating. By default, iCopyBot transfers songs to the default iTunes folder, so computers with more than one iTunes library will have a harder time. Using iCopyBot with more than one iTunes library isn't impossible--select the "transfer to folder" option instead and send the transfer to the other iTunes library folder--but this doesn't seem to copy ratings or playcounts (though it does move album art).

I encountered an even stranger event when I tried to move a song already in iTunes a second time. Those songs were added to the iTunes folder, thus creating duplicates and taking up double the space, but weren't added to the iTunes library. They were however added to the second iTunes library (even though the file itself wasn't in the second library's folder) without warning. Needless to say, iCopyBot gets confused by multiple iTunes libraries.

Conclusions

For basic uses, iCopyBot is a solid program. Its interface could use some beefing up, but its functionality is good. However, if you're an advanced user, or need to do something more complex than a basic transfer, other programs will probably be a better fit.

Disclosure: A review copy was provided by the publisher. For more information, please see our Ethics Policy.