How to Use iPhone with Linux (Guide)

iPhones are, by definition, restricted to sync with iTunes. This is, until you jailbreak them. While I personally have no troubles with this, the fact stays that Apple has, for some cause, now not placed out an iTunes consumer for Linux distros. This could be a massive headache for iPhone users who need to apply a Linux desktop, as it’s not viable to sync iPhones with Linux distros like Ubuntu. So, if you’re wondering how you can use an iPhone with Linux, here is a complete guide that might help you:

Understanding the Problem

The main problem, with using an iPhone with a Linux gadget, is the reality that you simply can’t sync it. iTunes is the best software that a non-jailbroken iPhone will sync with, and it is not to be had for any Linux systems, but. There are a number of libraries which includes “libimobiledevice” that attempted to let users sync iPhones with Linux, but now not only is it a hassle to get it running, it doesn’t paintings for iOS 10. So if you have an iPhone, and you’re using a Linux machine as your each day driver, you’re kind of out of success.

How about some Wine

Wine (which is a recursive acronym for Wine Is Not an Emulator) is a compatibility layer application that can permit a user to run Windows apps on a Linux system (most of the time). So my first attempt at using an iPhone with Linux was to run iTunes with Wine. I used Play On Linux as the front-end for the software, and then I found out, that Wine will not permit for USB pass through, so there’s no way that an iPhone will sync with it. You could still use iTunes for everything else, including managing your iCloud Music Library, but if it doesn’t sync with an iPhone, there’s really no use for it. Which brings us to a workaround of sorts.

OwnCloud and XAMPP for Transferring Files Between Linux and iPhone

The first problem that we will tackle, is somehow enabling the transfer of files, and documents between an iPhone and a Linux desktop. To do this, you can use something like OwnCloud, along with XAMPP on your Linux system.

• OwnCloud is a self-hosted cloud server that you can access on your iPhone. It comes with a free plan, and is pretty much the best way to be able to transfer files between your iPhone and a Linux desktop. However, OwnCloud requires a server to run on, in the first place, which is where XAMPP steps in.
• XAMPP is aneasy way to get a LAMP server running on your Linux, Mac, or Windows system. Just be careful that you install a version of XAMPP running at least PHP 5.4, because OwnCloud will not work on anything below that.

Now that we’ve cleared all that out, let’s get started with installing OwnCloud, and XAMPP on our system. I’m using a machine running Ubuntu 16.10 Yakkety Yak to do this, and the process should be same for most other systems.

Installing XAMPP on Ubuntu 16.10

We’ll install XAMPP first, and set up a folder where we can keep the Own Cloud files. To do this, just follow the steps below:

• Downloadthe XAMPP installer from the official website. It will be in the form of a .run file.

• Once you’ve downloaded it,launch the Terminal, and cd into the Downloads directory with the “cd Downloads” command. If you downloaded the installer to a different directory, just use the name of that directory in place of “Downloads”. Also, make sure you use proper capitalization, or the command will fail.

• Here, we’ll first give the installer permissions to execute. In the Terminal, run the command “chmod +x xampp-linux-x64-5.6.28-1-installer.run“.

Note: The name of the installer may be different. Just use the exact name of the installer. You can type “chmod +x xampp”, and press the “tab” key to autocomplete the name.

• Now, we will execute the installer, with root permissions using the command “sudo ./xampp-linux-x64-5.6.28-1-installer.run“. You will be asked for your password. Type it in (it will not be displayed, even as asterisks), and hit Enter.

• The installer will then run, and you simply have to follow the instructions in the installer to install XAMPP on your system. It is installed in the “/opt/” directory.

Creating a Folder to Place the OwnCloud Files for XAMPP

Now that XAMPP is installed, we need a folder we can place the Own Cloud files, so that XAMPP can run it. There’s a folder called htdocs, where you can place the websites that you want XAMPP to be able to run, and it is present at “/opt/lampp/htdocs”. We’ll not place the Own Cloud files inside the “opt” directory, though. Just follow the steps below:

• In Terminal, navigate to the home folder with “cd ~“, or just “cd“.

• Now, make a folder called “public_html” here, with the command “mkdirpublic_html“.

• Next, we will give read/write access to everyone for the “public_html” folder with the command “sudo chmod 777 -R public_html“.

• Now, use the command “cd /opt/lampp/htdocs“, to navigate into the htdocs folder.

• Here, just run the command “sudo ln -s /home/username/public_html ./username“. Replace “username” with your Username in Linux. In my case, the username is “akshay”, so the command I’m using is “sudo ln -s /home/akshay/public_html ./akshay”.

Your “public_html” folder is now ready to host files for XAMPP to run. Let’s install Own Cloud now.

Installing OwnCloud on Ubuntu 16.10

• Download the ZIP file for Own Cloud from their official website.

• Extract this into the “public_html” folder you created while setting up XAMPP.

Running Own Cloud on XAMPP in Ubuntu 16.10

You can now run Own Cloud on your Ubuntu 16.10 system, with XAMPP. Just follow the steps below:

• In Terminal, run the command “sudo /opt/lampp/lampp start“. This will start the XAMPP server on your system.

• Now, in your browser, just navigate to “http://localhost/username/owncloud”. Replace “username” with your username. In my case the address is “http://localhost/akshay/owncloud“.

• You will be presented with a screen where you’ll have to create your admin username, and password. Simply choose whatever you want to use as your login credentials.

Note: If you encounter an error that Own Cloud could not write data, just launch Terminal, and run the command “sudo chmod 777 /home/username/public_html/own cloud”. Replace “username” with your username.

• Once you sign in, you’ll be taken to the main Own Cloud interface. This is where you can upload, delete, and otherwise manage all your files.

Connecting to Own Cloud from iPhone

So that you’ve uploaded all of the documents you need which will get access on your iPhone, in your Own Cloud server. There’s still the problem of actually connecting your iPhone to Own Cloud before you may without a doubt switch files among the gadgets. To try this, you’ll have to allow the config file for Own Cloud to permit get admission to the use of the IP address of your pc.

Editing the Own Cloud config File

Editing the Own Cloud config is easy, just follow the steps below:

• In Terminal, navigate to the OwnCloud config folder, using “cd /home/username/public_html/owncloud/config“.

• Here, run the command “sudo nano config.php“. This will open up the config file inside Terminal, ready to be edited.

• Simply locate the line that says “trusted_domains“. You will see “localhost” already added there. Create a new line after “localhost”, and type the IP address of your computer inside single quotes. The edited “trusted_domains” section should look something like this:

'trusted_domains' =>
array
(
'localhost',
'192.168.2.236',
),

Connecting iPhone to Own Cloud

Connecting your iPhone to your Own Cloud server is easy, and can be done in one of two ways. We’ll discuss both of them here, and you can use the one that suits you better.

1. Connecting from iPhone to Own Cloud with Safari

To connect your iPhone to your Own Cloud server, just follow the steps below:

• Launch Safari on your iPhone, and in the address bar, navigate to “http://ipaddress/username/owncloud/“. Obviously,replace “ip address” with the IP address of your computer, and “username” with your username.

• You will be presented with a login  Use the credentials you created while setting up Own Cloud to log in. Once you do this, you will be shown all the files and folders present on your Own Cloud server. You can browse the files, and download any files that you want.

2. Connecting from iPhone to Own Cloud with a WebDAV client

Own Cloud supports WebDAV to transfer files, and if you have an app (like Documents 5 by Readdle), that can connect to WebDAV servers, you can easily access your Own Cloud server with it. There are quite a number of iPhone file managers that support WebDAV, and you can use any one of them to connect to Own Cloud. I’m using Documents 5.

• Launch Documents 5 on your iPhone, and tap on the icon that says “Services“. Here, tap on “Add Account“.

• Choose “WebDAV Server” from the list, and enter a name for the server, along with the URL “http://ipaddress/username/owncloud/remote.php/webdav/“. Enter your Own Cloud username and password, as well.

• Once you’re done, just tap on “Save“, and Documents will connect to your Own Cloud server. You will then be able to view (and download) all the files available on your Own Cloud server.

Note: If you use DHCP (you probably do), chances are, your computer’s IP address will keep changing, and you will have to manually edit the config file every time it happens. It’s better if you assign a static IP address to your computer, so you only have to edit the config file once.

Google Play Music to Manage Music between Linux and iPhone

Considering the fact that we’re out of luck with iTunes on Linux, we’ll have to show to other options. This type of options is Google Play music. The tune carrier will can help you upload your song to the cloud, and you may get right of entry to in your iPhone with the respectable Google Play track app. With this, we’re absolutely bidding adieu to iTunes. So, permit’s see how to get this done.

Using Google Music Manager to Upload Music on Google Play Music

The first thing we’ll have to do, before accessing our music on our iPhone, is uploading our music library on the Google Play Music website. To do this, we’ll need to install Google Music Manager. This can be done easily by following the steps given below:

• Download the Google Music Manager client from the official website. It is downloaded a s .deb package in Ubuntu, and will directly open in the Software Center, and you can install it.
• From your Application launcher, look for Google Music Manager, and launch it.

• Follow the steps to get Music Manager set up, and running. Once everything is done,your music library will be automatically uploaded to your Google Play Music library.

• Once your songs have uploaded (it may take time, depending on the size of your library), you can launch the Google Play Music app on your iPhone (download), and sign in with your Google account. You’ll find your music right there.

Within the destiny, you just should placed your new music files for your tune folder in Linux, and Google music manager will automatically add it to the Google Play song library, so that you can get access it on your iPhone, and another device you have Google Play music installed on.

Use your iOS device with Linux with these services

You may manage the whole thing in your iPhone or maybe iPad with Linux, using the services i’ve mentioned in this text. Plus, all of those offerings have a free tier to be had that you could use. Google Play music gives a free plan that will can help you add up to 50,000 songs at the cloud, and Own Cloud permits you to host your very own server, which means that you don’t want to pay them something. obviously, that is nowhere as clean as using iTunes to sync an iPhone – a system that simply works – however, this is the closest you may come to using an iPhone with Linux.