How to Manage Media Player On Your Android Phone

There's constant criticism that Android-powered smartphones don't have a desktop interface similar to iTunes, but the truth is that Android devices can comfortably sync to Windows Media Player in more or less the same way as the iPad and iPhone. If you use Windows regularly then you can transfer music to your PC and phone.

Android devices are meant to be standalone and that's why you'd be forgiven for thinking that your droid doesn't sync with Windows because they never depend on desktop sync. In fact, they sync to windows similar to other media players. Provided you set up your smartphone properly, you can drag files in Windows Media Player and automatically sync your media library between your PC and Android phone.

If you are connecting Android for the first time, you will most likely see a small autorun dialog box that will ask you to install a driver for your smartphone or maybe a small assistant app that comes pre-loaded on your phone. Depending on the phone manufacturer, the method may differ.

Look for instructions asking you to download and install other software from your wireless carrier. Such apps are not great as their function is mainly to capture extra pennies from users and don't really help in syncing your phone to PC. Close all browser tabs that appear with an invitation to download junk. You will see a control window panel for your phone after you complete the installation.

If Windows Control Panel does not appear, go to 'Devices and Printers' and check your handset list there. On the device control panel, there are several options for managing content: 'Manage media on your device', 'Browse files', 'Import images and videos', and 'change general settings'. Other devices have additional options but that's what matters. Apps for managing music and photos will be automatically set as default by Windows but if you want to make changes, you can simply click change program under each option. For this process, allow Windows Media Player and Windows Live Photo Gallery to be the defaults.

To transfer pictures and videos that you have in your phone gallery, double-click Import images and videos. Windows will by default look for your phone's camera roll. You can enter the tags if you want and then click OK to start the import. To delete a file from your camera, check the box or save it by leaving the box unchecked just like any other digital camera. An Explorer window will open to display what you have transferred after you have finished importing.

Music that is not in your Windows music library but on your phone can also be transferred via selecting your device from the list in the left field; select music then highlight and drag all files into the box marked 'Drag items here.' Transfer them by clicking Start sync.

Once you are done moving files, right-click the drop-down menu under the Sync tab and on the right side of the window click set up sync. This will open a new window that may ask you to choose how to handle the data already on your device. To avoid Media Player from cleaning your phone's data card, select the option where your data will be left on your device. On the next screen give the device a name and then click finish to start the sync. You will now see the media collection on your Android phone is the same as your library. From there every time you connect your Android smartphone to your PC, if there is a change in any of the libraries, Windows Media Player will update as necessary.