Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with ipod

Audiobooks for the technologically illiterate

OrangeDisk — Mon, 06 May 2013 08:40:15 -0800

I want to provide a way for a relative to listen to audiobooks while working out. He is almost completely technologically illiterate, and his wife will have to put the books on the device for him. His wife is ok technologically, but has to have new things spelled out very clearly. I'm thinking iPod Shuffle + Audible. Am I'm missing a simpler solution? They have an iMac, and his wife uses an iPhone but does not know how to sync the iPhone to the iMac. Mostly, I think this is because she doesn't see any reason to sync (since she backs up photos to iCloud), not because she can't understand how to do it. I *think* she could load an audio book from Audible into iTunes, and from there onto a shuffle. They have WiFi, and his wife was able to set up her iPhone to access it.

But is there some simpler solution I'm missing? Some sort of one-stop-shopping there where they can buy the book on the computer, and it magically appears on a device where he can just push play and happily listen to his book? Something like a kindle for audio books would be perfect. He's not going to listen to music or do anything else with the device.

My New iPod Needs a Name

Krazor — Sat, 27 Apr 2013 16:24:22 -0800

After years of loyal service, my constant companion, the iPod, gave up the ghost. I just received my replacement today, and before I can use it, I have to give it an appropriate name. Bizarrely specific guidelines inside. My last iPod was named Hierophant, (noun - a person who brings religious congregants into the presence of that which is deemed holy.
1. (in ancient Greece) an official high priest of religious mysteries
2. a person who interprets and explains esoteric mysteries), and I would like the new name to be along those lines, but I'm coming up short. Please help!

When I think of what I want the name to be, these words come to mind: mystic, ancient, vaguely dark, possibly religious, obscure, mythological, Greek, Latin, Egyptian, archive, profane, secret, powerful.

Feel free to pick and choose any combination of those, or don't if you can come up with something more fitting. I would really appreciate it! Thank you!

P.S. If it's a cool word in another language, that works too!

what music to put in background when working/incrs. concentration/studyg

earthwalker7 — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 12:52:17 -0800

what music to put in background when working / to increase concentration / while studying I get bored a lot when working and get also distracted easily by outside noises. I'm looking for non-distracting music to put in the background. I'm familiar with iMusic. And there's some classical. Any further suggestions?

How do I get my music off my iPod and onto my PC again?

rubbish bin night — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 05:24:38 -0800

I recently messed up a backup and as a result the only easily-accessible digital copy of my entire music collection is the one on my iPod. What's the best way to copy the files from my iPod back onto my laptop? I used to have Anapod Explorer but I see that it has been discontinued (probably ages ago), so I can't download it again.

Is there another program I can buy (or = free is even better!) which will enable me to get the music back from my iPod? The alternative is to purchase a hard drive with my files on it, which Backblaze will send out to me. It's great to have that option as a last resort but it will set me back $189 so I'd prefer to get the files from the iPod if at all possible.

I use a PC.

Thanks for your help!

Pick music for my 10 year-old son's iPod!

unSane — Sun, 24 Mar 2013 16:15:19 -0800

Please name one song, or album, that I should put on my 10 year-old son's iPod. My 10 year old son has a new iPod. Right now it has exactly one song on it (Hello, Goodbye, which he loves). He's asked me to put some music on it for him, but I thought instead of inflicting my own taste (which I'll do anyway) I'd throw it open to the hive mind.

Name one song or album I should put on it. I'll compile a list, and report back his reactions at some point.

Data points: he's got no particular taste in music (except he learned to sing Southern Man when he was four, which was odd) but he does really like things he can sing along to and/or dance crazily to. He does like the Beatles, and some Neil Young/Buffalo Springield, and I think he had Bulls on Parade as an earworm at some point. But I really want to introduce him to stuff that will be the beginning of a journey somewhere.

He does love things that are a bit abstruse or that aren't things you'd expect kids of his age to 'get'. He also likes to know stuff about the music, why it's important or interesting, for example.

iTunes, seriously, not an option.

crush-onastick — Thu, 14 Feb 2013 07:34:12 -0800

I have a 2nd generation ipod shuffle (the kind that's about 1 inch by 1 1/2 inches and is just a giant clip) which I would like to start using again. However, there is not a single computer nor human in our house which will tolerate iTunes. It's not an option, really; never using the shuffle again will happen before installing iTunes will. I have seen a couple apps on the internet for using this type of shuffle without iTunes, but I haven't found any reviews of them or clear instructions for them. Thus, I am asking y'all. Anybody know a good, easy way to get songs off my vortexbox and onto my little shuffle? I don't need playlists or synching or stats or anything, just the ability to move files from one place to another and listen to them on the shuffle. Thanks! In case it's not clear, we have no Apple products in the house beyond this shuffle. No iPhones, no MacBooks, not iPods. Nothing. We've got a bunch of Windows laptops (Windows 7, Windows XP and I think a Vista machine), a couple Android phones, and a vortexbox appliance running squeezebox server with lots of music on it. There are no music files stored locally on any of the laptops, although copying things to the laptop as an intermediate step to putting them on the shuffle is fine, I suppose, but storing music on my laptop is not an option.

I have had nothing but trouble, frustration and irritation trying to deal with iTunes in this set up and haven't used it since all our music went onto the vortexbox. If there's not a non-iTunes way to this, I just won't do it.

It's probably obvious from the question that I really know nothing at all about these tools. So I'm willing to accept that someone like me can't do this. Thanks.

also knowing the past tense of "jailbreak" would be cool

NoraReed — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 21:27:40 -0800

I just jailbreaked (jailbroke?) my iPod Touch. What are the must-have apps, modifications, etc that I should get for it? I'm running iOS 6. I'm particularly interested in good Notification Center widgets, since that seems to be the biggest thing that can't be done through the regular App Store. Recommendations for good themes would be swell too. I've looked through a lot of the Featured stuff in Cydia, but there's a really overwhelming amount of stuff in there and I have no idea what's good. What has particularly helped and/or amused you?

How should we listen to music at home?

The corpse in the library — Sat, 02 Feb 2013 14:18:19 -0800

The last time I bought a stereo, Reagan was president. I don't know if they're even called stereos any more. Please help me figure out what I want and how to set it up. Right now we have music on a MacBook Air and on CDs. We have an AirPort Extreme (not Express). We have an original iPad and assorted iPods and iPhones of various ages and capabilities.

We don't have any stereo equipment other a crappy portable CD player, a Samsung "sound bar" hooked up to the TV, and a dying iHome dock/radio/speaker thing.

I want to be able to play CDs without copying them to the computer first.

I want an FM radio (broadcast, not over the Internet).

I listen to a lot of podcasts, using iTunes and on my iPhone.

Some of our MP3 are from Apple, some from Amazon, some from who-knows-where. They're all on the MacBook.

I want people to be able to play music without involving the MacBook, so I can read Metafilter uninterrupted.

We want speakers in at least two rooms. It needs to be possible to turn them on and off in each room.

I want it to be simple to use.

Did my iPod Classic finally kick the bucket?

muckster — Wed, 23 Jan 2013 01:53:36 -0800

Did my iPod Classic finally kick the bucket? It's a generic "Portable Audio Player" now, and Windows refuses to format it. I've had this 80 GB iPod classic for a long time. Last night, I decided to reformat it because it was starting to feel slow and I wanted to replace all the music on it.

It didn't go so well. The iPod is now recognized by Windows 7 only as "Portable Audio Player". When I try to open it in Windows Explorer, I get "You need to format the disk in drive I: before you can use it."

Neither Winamp (my main music player) nor iTunes recognize it. I tried switching USB ports, rebooting, resetting, no luck.

When I try to format it--with any combination of settings--I get the following messages: "Windows was unable to complete the format" and "Check to see that the disk and drive are connected properly, make sure that the disk is not read-only, and then try again. For more information, search Help for read-only files and how to change them."

I did a bunch of googling and found mentions of this problem but no solution. I tried resetting, I tried entering disc mode, and I did the self check. The hard drive test gives me these results:

Retracts: 93
Reallocs: 904
Pending Sectors: 10
PowerOn Hours: 4759
Star/Stops: 930
Temp: 27c, Min 9 Max 51

Does the high number of reallocs mean that the HD is dying? Is there any hope for this thing? I would appreciate any & all suggestion what else I might try. I love my ipod but I'm not sure how I feel about buying a new one at this point. Thanks much!

Please help me fix my iPod!

reductiondesign — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 17:52:48 -0800

My wonderful iPod, going on nine years now, seems to have finally gotten to the point where I can't fix it anymore. I've replaced the hard drive, battery, hard drive cable, and logic board, and yet all it does is turn on, show the Apple logo, and turn off, repeating over and over. What else could be wrong, and how can I fix it? This is a B&W 4th gen iPod, originally 40 GB.

Why ismy iPhone giving me a headache?

Enchanting Grasshopper — Sun, 13 Jan 2013 12:44:10 -0800

I am on my 3rd iPhone in 3 months, which is annoying. What is more annoying is that when I added my songs to this third one, some of them don't show up when I select the artist, but they're there when I select all songs. http://www.tested.com/forums/please-help/10160-artist-name-not-showing-up-on-iphone/

This is the only helpful advice I found, although it wasn't really helpful because it didn't work, and I don't understand why that would be the case anyway, because they're exactly the same files I put on my first two iPhones, and I didn't have this problem. I want to be able to select the artist and have all the albums displayed, the way an iPhone is supposed to work. Please help, because it is driving me nutsssssssssssssssssssssssssss!

ITunes alternative to get music onto an iPhone?

gottabefunky — Wed, 02 Jan 2013 13:18:51 -0800

Is there a clean and simple alternative to iTunes for getting music from my Macbook Air onto my iPhone 4S? Unless I'm missing something, most of the programs suggested in previous similar questions (iExplorer, etc) seemed designed to get music from your iPhone/iPod back onto your computer, not vice versa.

Basically I'd like something that operates like iTunes' "manage files manually" option should, clean and simple drag-and-drop, without all the your-phone-is-not-linked-to-this-library, sure-you-can-do-that-but-only-if-you-erase-your-phone-first bullshit inherent in that bloated monstrosity.

What to do with an old iPod touch?

ista — Mon, 31 Dec 2012 08:12:27 -0800

I have an iPod Touch 4G 8GB. Since I've moved from iTunes / MP3's towards subscription-based services, I've been using it less and less. What are some projects to make it useful again? I have in my possession: TV w/ HDMI input, 2.1 speaker system w/ audio input jack, Windows desktop w/ wifi + HDMI output, iPad 2G, Android phone, subscription to Amazon Prime, subscription to Rhapsody (soon to be Spotify if they can't get their act together and develop a real iPad app... ahem.)

I'm not interested in "turn it into an eReader/game player/portable wikipedia!"-- I already have all that capability without hauling another gadget around. I have a couple ideas and questions below, but I'm open to any other creative suggestions.

1. First thought is a media device a la Apple TV, using an Apple-to-HDMI cable. Can this be done? Will the image quality suffer vs. running an HDMI cable from my desktop? Will it support Amazon Prime streaming? What about YouTube?

2. Music hub for the speakers. Are there any apps or hacks that would allow me to stream or control the music from iPad/desktop/phone wirelessly, keeping the Touch plugged into the speakers?

3. Last thought is an alarm clock. Are there any really great paid clock apps out there?

Thanks in advance.

Help me name my new multi-app

bfu — Wed, 26 Dec 2012 09:08:00 -0800

Help me name my new product, which combines the functionality of popular existing apps, but is specialized with high-security features. I'm the owner of and active participant in a small IT consulting firm. We do custom development for clients that would like to use "regular" desktop and tablet apps but can't -- because of various security regulations or compliance requirements.

For example, Client X can't use Dropbox or Evernote because they're subject to rules that require end-to-end encryption and a complete audit trail, etc. I step in and replicate the basic functionality of those apps (website, desktop client, mobile client, etc.) to the customer's specs, but I do it in a way that keeps their legal department and auditors happy.

Lately I've been getting a lot of requests for basically the same functionality, so I'm rolling it all into one product under a single "brand name". That's where I'm stuck. The development was the easy part!

The product is basically a secure version of the following apps/sites rolled into one:

Dropbox (w/ file version archive, sharing, and commenting)
Evernote
Google Reader
A Generic Twitter Client
Google Docs Viewer
Instapaper

I've got desktop clients for Mac and Windows, and a mobile app for iOS and Android.

My favorite name so far was "KitchenSYNC" but that's already taken.

I'm up for pretty much any name - a conglomeration of tech words (like SyncSpace) or a completely random name, the only requirement being that the .com and twitter handles are both available.

TL;DR: Help me name my new product, which combines the functionality of popular existing apps, but is specialized with high-security features.

ipod touch/itunes n00b needs help recovering from a big PC crash...

thermonuclear.jive.turkey — Sat, 22 Dec 2012 14:43:38 -0800

ipod touch/itunes n00b needs help recovering from a big PC crash... Hi everyone,
I have an earlier generation ipod touch. I had itunes installed on my PC, with an itunes account.

That was some time ago. Since then I went through a catastrophic PC failure and the PC was replaced.

I haven't touched the ipod in a while but I'd like to start using it again and downloading content from itunes. The problem is, how do I recover my itunes account?

I'm guessing my first step is to re-download itunes. Then what? Just make a new account, or will the new itunes detect from the ipod what my old account was?

thanks for the help.

What is a good single term for Apple iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad?

cosmac — Sun, 16 Dec 2012 09:58:56 -0800

I am writing some documentation for an app that runs on the iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad. I need a consistant way to refer to these devices and am looking for something better than "iPhone/iPod/iPad". For example: "Hold your iPhone/iPod/iPad's camera so that the QR code is centered in the brackets." I've come up with either "... iPhone/iPod/iPad (referred to as iPhone from here on)" or "IOS device" Anyone have a better idea?

IPod Touch?

bearette — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 01:14:16 -0800

Does it make sense to get an Ipod Touch because I can't afford an IPhone? I really would like to get an Iphone. However, it would be a bit expensive for me right now. I already have an android phone bought a couple years ago, that I don't like- not user-friendly, does not pick up wifi often, screen too small, camera not good, etc.

I was thinking I could get an Ipod touch which is much cheaper than the iphone and keep using my other cell phone for calls. I do have wifi in my apartment, but I live in a country (China) where wifi is not as readily available nor as reliable as it is in the States (you can get wifi in coffee shops etc but it's not that common in other places unless you are paying for it. It can also be spotty).

I really like the Itouch though and would use it for various applications such as chinese-english dictionary (offline), skype and other instant messenger services to contact folks at home, camera function, and useful apps good helping me organize time/life. I could also use it when I go back to the U.S. to contact people in China through the instant messaging services.

I am just wondering if there is something I am missing here, and if buying the touch doesn't make sense at all....or if I should just be saving up for an iphone.

My knowledge about technology is pretty basic so feel free to assume I don't already know whatever info you want to share :)

Transferring iPod Songs from Nano to Classic

Kombucha3452 — Wed, 05 Dec 2012 19:54:22 -0800

I have an ipod nano 1st generation, and I want to copy all of the music on there to my new ipod classic 5th gen. They are programmed on separate computers and I've been told by techy friends and Apple store employees that if I connect my old ipod to my new computer then it may erase all of the data. I don't want to take that risk. Is there a program that will transfer all of my music from my old ipod nano to my new classic ipod (without erasing my nano's drive)? Thank you!!

Budget iPad audio solutions

craniac — Sat, 01 Dec 2012 13:46:06 -0800

I have an iPad 2, a Sandisk mp3 player and about three ipods floating around my house. I also have a Sony ICF-m1000 table radio. When I plug my iPad into the AUX input on the table radio, it's not nearly loud enough. How can I cheaply amplify the audio from my I-devices so they sound good on the Sony radio? Or maybe connecting the i-devices to the radio is just a dumb idea. I'm looking for small solutions, as my wife is very protective of counter spaces. I ask because I'm sick of skipping CDs. Thanks.

I have a bunch of undeletable podcasts on my iphone 4s that I would like to get rid off but can't.

krautland — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 00:44:06 -0800

I have a bunch of undeletable podcasts on my iphone 4s that I would like to get rid off but can't. this is what it looks like: http://imgur.com/oiNKY this happened because the downloads failed (blame the craptastic chinese mobile connections). I cannot redownload these episodes, I cannot play them, I cannot swipe-to-delete them, I cannot see them in itunes. a restore was no help because my last backup already had these "ghost files" on them. I don't want to wipe the iphone because maps in ios6 is even worse in china. do you know how I can still get rid of these unusable files?

From iPod to iPhone: why not?

Ber — Thu, 25 Oct 2012 13:59:20 -0800

How do you move songs from an iPod to an iPhone? Google is a bit scant on this and when I try to open the iPod as a drive on my PC it doesn't show the files. My Apple Zealot friend says it's like moving music from a cassette to a LP but I say digital is digital and this is another reason why Steve Jobs is a jerk. OK - I have this iPod Nano full of music. These are songs from my CDs that I ripped on iTunes on my PC and then loaded on the iPod. Then I deleted them from the PC because I didn't need lossy MP3s taking up space on the computer. Now I have an iPhone with more memory than the iPod. So I want to switch that library over. Should be a simple drag and drop in a perfect world. And even though both devices are authorized on this computer, iTunes regards this as an impossible request.

Mac or Windows?

asnowballschance — Sun, 30 Sep 2012 02:28:54 -0800

It’s time for my husband to get a new laptop, and we’re looking at a Mac that we’d share (the alternative is Windows). Help me decide whether a Mac is for us! I have an iPad (with my own iTunes account). My husband has an iPhone (with his own iTunes account). I use iBank, One Day, and BlogPress every day. I also process photos, blog, and comsume eBooks on the iPad. I hav been wonderfully suprised by how easy it's been to replace my Ubuntu desktop w/ the iPad for everything except coding.

Will it be possible to sync both his iPhone and my iPad with it, even though we have separate iTunes accounts? If not, is there a way to transfer purchases from one iTunes account to another?

How much money are we likely to spend on replacing software (MS Office, Gimp, VLC, etc)?

We live in a part of the world with limited bandwidth. Are we even going to be able to download apps for the Mac?

For the sake of discussion, money is no object, and I have no religious views about Windows, Macs, or Linux, except that I desperately want my husband to get a laptop that *just works*.

Looking for what amounts to Apple's earpods in black.

unsound — Fri, 28 Sep 2012 10:05:43 -0800

I'm looking for non-sealing earbuds with iPhone controls that aren't white, and I can't find them. Do you have any recommendations? I commute on foot and by public transit, and feel extremely uncomfortable when I can't hear at least some of what's going on around me. I dislike large headphones, and instead prefer earbuds - both for comfort and for pocket-friendly storage options. I had my phone stolen from me at a bus stop a little over a month ago, because I was holding it in my hand and not paying attention, so the ability to play/pause/skip tracks and adjust volume via the cord is important.

I'd use Apple's earbuds, but given my recent theft experience and the fact that I'm in the #5 city for smartphone theft and the rate is on the rise, I'd like something non-white so that I'm more inconspicuous still.

Do any of you know of such a thing? I've googled extensively, but have had no luck finding something non-sealing with an inline controller/mic in non-white. I can't be the only one looking for something like this, right?

FM transmitter/iPod touch woes

anthom — Sat, 22 Sep 2012 16:41:42 -0800

Can I use an iPod dock extender cable to get audio from my 4th generation iPod touch to an FM transmitter with a male dock connection meant for the iPod mini? If not, what are my options for inexpensive FM transmission from my Touch? My most recent car FM transmitter, a cheapo $10 Big Lots special (this thing), just crapped out on me after 3 months and I'm looking for a reliable, cheap way to play music and podcasts from my Touch. Can it be done?

My car has an aftermarket stereo that's new enough to not have a cassette player, but old enough to have no line-in or other iPod gadgetry. I still have a working Sonnet Podfreq Mini FM transmitter, which I had used with my dearly departed iPod mini. Despite its oddball looks, it's been a remarkably reliable transmitter with a strong signal. Is there a way I can use it with my Touch? Is the audio out on an old dock connector compatible with a newer device? I don't care about charging. I'm guessing due to power incompatibility between the mini and newer iDevices, the Touch wouldn't charge from the Podfreq anyway. If so, could I simply pick up a dock extension cable to plug the Touch into the Podfreq and get my music back?

If this isn't an option, are there any amazing transmitters (yes, I know "amazing transmitters" may seem like an oxymoron...) out there worth the money these days?

at&t vs. verizon for iphone in bay area?

roxie110 — Sun, 16 Sep 2012 18:34:23 -0800

Should I choose ATT or Verizon for iPhone in San Francisco/Bay Area? my flipphone is finally on its last legs and i've never had a smartphone. i'm probably going to get the new iphone (5). i've been with att forever but don't have any contract obligations.

i keep hearing mixed things about verizon vs. att and would love any current information/input/advice on service in the bay area, and about any features that might make one company a better choice than the other. i live in 94117 (north of the panhandle). thank you!