PodWorks - 2.9

PodWorks is a Mac OS X (Cocoa) application that compensates for the iPod's only downside: Apple only allows you to copy songs to your iPod. If you have two Macs and want to use your iPod to transfer music from one to the other, or you only store your MP3s on your iPod and need to copy them back onto your hard drive after a disk failure, you are out of luck!

This is where PodWorks comes in: it allows you to copy songs from any Mac iPod to any Mac running OS X (10.3). Its important features include:

• Superior performance: Many other standalone iPod song transfer utilities work by reading ID3 data out of every song on the iPod--a slow process. PodWorks, by contrast, is capable of reading directly from the iPod's internal database, resulting in nearly instantaneous display of all metadata.
• More metadata: Since PodWorks can read from the iPod's internal database, it can also display and sort by song "metadata" not available through ID3 (including "Date Added" and "Play Count").
• iTunes integration: In addition to copying songs to the Finder, PodWorks can send songs, playlists (registered version only), and metadata (star ratings, play counts, track numbers, etc.) directly to iTunes. It can also filter its song list to show you only the songs on the iPod that are not present in your iTunes library.
• iTunes-like sorting and searching: PodWorks is designed so that its data columns sort intelligently, the same way they do in iTunes. For example, the "Artist" column sorts first by artist, then by album, then by disc number, then by track number. Additionally, it features an iTunes-style "type-ahead" search to enable quick access to specific songs.
• Playlists: PodWorks recognizes your iPod's playlists. Entire playlists can be copied to your computer with a single drag (registered version only).
• On-The-Go Playlist Support: Very handy for people who don't want to use the automatic syncing in iTunes but still want to save their On-The-Go playlists.
• Song Playback: PodWorks allows you to preview songs before you copy them by playing them directly off the iPod.
• Strong organizational capabilities: Copying large numbers of files can get messy, so PodWorks can sort MP3 files into directories and change their filenames according to your preferences.
• Portability: PodWorks can be placed on your iPod for convenient access away from your home computer. It will work when run off the iPod, and will remember its registration information even when connected to a previously unknown machine.

PodWorks has been consistently recommended by Mac authorities, including the Wall Street Journal's Walter Mossberg, for many years now, and PodWorks 2.9 continues in that tradition.