ITOOKHISFLUTE  To save space on a shrinking hard drive, I keep none of my music on the computer, just the ipod. Occasionally I'll back up the iPod because otherwise all my music can go with a glitch in the firmware, or losing the iPod, etc. This is why I need iPod ripping software, which can extract from the iPod and onto an external drive.

This is the best genuinely free iPod access application I've tried, having tried many.

iPod Viewer: would always duplicate instead of skipping files when re-backing up (but was otherwise good)

Expod: was good but limited

iPod->Folder: had wrong progress reports, gave the songs four-character combinations and random folder allocation

Ollie's iPod Extractor: only extracts directly to iTunes

YamiPod: Not only does it copy quickly relative to others tried, but it also has a good level of customisation, I can copy them over as a load of songs, or categorised in Artist folders, categorised one deeper into Album folders, etc. And of course a vital function if you plan to back up again but not from scratch, just keeping the difference, there are options on how to respond to duplicate files.

It's simple, but at the same time has a host of options and functions, it works, and it's a nice clean interface.

I'll see how it compares to using iTunes, it has other built in functions such as a last.fm scrobbler and more.

I'm glad I kept looking, this was the application I needed to find.  
(Version 1.8)

MAC ADAM  Good App need improvements…

• when searching duplicates, the app no let me know "TimeChange" to know what is the more recent.

If you could let auto delete all the older files after ask

• Lost files make lose my files :(  
(Version 1.7b1)

JOHNODD  yamipod is a wonderfull application that runs on mac os x 10.4.9 and older and currently doesn't support newer versions of itunes but works great if you are using a older machine  
(Version 1.6)

MISTERE  Best app out there for getting music off your ipod and it does loads of other things too. Regularly updated and you can't beat the price. Big thanks to the developer(s).  
(Version 1.3)

BUZZARD  The current version of YamiPod does not work with iTunes 7.0 and iPod video. You will receive a message saying "firmware is not supported" and YamiPod will quit. Importantly, it will not unmount your iPod and the iPod will continue to say "Do not disconnect", so there is a chance of directory damage when you do disconnect it.

Warning: It's probably wise to NOT run YamiPod until a new release fixes this major bug.  
(Version 0.99.5)

RONNIE2  Works beautifully.

I tried it hoping it would actually have cross-platforn function. Currently, using a 3G ipod formatted for windoze, yamipod is functioning on a WinXP desktop and a G4 powerbook. I may try it on Linux if I go totally wild.

iTunes (which has begun to suck for many other reasons) would not do anything crossplatform with my 3G. And, for those reviewers having problems with yamipod. My functioning Mac is now iTunes-free. One reason is that Apple is in the practice of sabotaging iPod copying software using malicious code within iTunes(see ipod-download).

Lastly, there are a few totally bearable eccentricities with this beta.

1)It has occasionally (rarely) sluggish playback,

2)Yamipod jumps to the front of other apps each time a new song begins to play (for a few seconds).

3)One must select before playing selected songs. Being an American, one might not know the meaning of "enqueue", or be willing to suffer this delayed gratification.

Great software. Yamipod is my ami.  
(Version 0.90)

ANONYMOUS  I've been using this since version 0.80 and I've found it very useful. It obviously had some problems during development, that's why it's called "development" (take a hint - it hasn't reached v1.0 yet). The developer responds quickly to email. If you can't bear to work through problems, wait for version 1.1.

Compared to the problems I've experienced with Apple's stupid iTunes sync process, Yamipod is a star! I wouldn't want to use my iPod without it.  
(Version 0.86)

FALCON  it's horrible ....I meet the same problems as Edzeke

thanks a lot !!!

Y- ami- pod....is not a friend (Ami means friend in french !!)  
(Version 0.82)

ANONYMOUS  Works fine with lyrics....however it only finds the songs about 80% of the time  
(Version 0.8)

CITRUSBEARD  It looked good until I tried to check for duplicates. The best result I got was an "application unexpectedly quit" notice. I figured it was worth a second try. That's when YamiPod corrupted my 4G iPod. Now I've got 20 gigs worth of music to re-copy and re-oganize. Beware the beta ...

iMac G4 17inch

OS X 10.2.8  
(Version 0.5.8)