Article
Ask iLounge 2-13-09
By Jesse Hollington
Applications Editor, iLounge
Published: Friday, February 13, 2009
Category: Ask iLounge
Ask iLounge offers readers the opportunity to get answers to their iPod-, iPhone-, iPad-, iTunes-, or Apple TV-related questions from a member of the iLounge editorial team. We'll answer several questions here each week, and of course, you can always get help with more immediate concerns from the iLounge Discussion Forums. Submit your questions for consideration using our Ask iLounge Submit Form. We reserve the right to edit questions for grammar, spelling, and length.
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Q:
I own the Otterbox waterproof case for my 30GB iPod. However, I immediately noticed that when my iPod was played through it the bass level from the music was greatly diminished. I’m now looking to buy a new case and I’m leaning toward the AquaPac as I have read many good reviews. Before I purchase it however, I would like to make sure it doesn’t suffer from the same diminished bass issue. I can’t find any mention of sound quality in your reviews of these two products, which is very surprising from a website dedicated to accessories for a music player.
- Buzzy
A:Although waterproof cases do have an electrical connection for your headphones, these are simply pass-through connectors and should not modify the sound quality in any way.
The most likely cause of your particular problem is that you’re not getting a proper connection between the iPod and the case. You would get a similar effect if your headphones weren’t plugged in properly to your iPod itself. You should check your connections to ensure that they are snug between the case and your iPod, and if the problem persists, we would recommend contacting the manufacturer as this may be a product defect, in which case they might be able to provide you with a replacement.
I just upgraded my entire music library to iTunes Plus. My iPod touch still contains all of the old versions of the newly upgraded tracks. I manage my iPod content manually. Is there a quick and easy way to replace the old tracks on the touch with the new “Plus” versions?
- Dennis
A:Unfortunately, this is one of the limitations of managing your iPod content manually rather than using automatic synchronization. In manual management mode, your iPod is treated as a completely separate library with no direct association to the tracks in your iTunes library on your computer. As a result, iTunes doesn’t really have any idea which tracks match up between the devices.
Without switching to automatic sync, which would replace everything on your device, your only solution is going to be to manually transfer these tracks to your iPod touch as you would for any other tracks. Provided the iTunes Plus upgrade did in fact replace the original tracks in your iTunes library, and these are the same versions of the tracks you previously copied to your iPod touch, you should be able to re-transfer them and overwrite the existing tracks.
You can also track down all of your iTunes Plus tracks by creating a Smart Playlist. The key is to looks for 256kbps files with a “Kind” of “Purchased AAC.” You can also further refine this by including a criteria for “Date Added” if you want to ensure you include only recent iTunes Plus tracks, since the date added is updated when your existing tracks are upgraded to iTunes Plus.

You could then transfer these tracks directly from the Smart Playlist onto your iPod touch by just dragging and dropping them over as you normally would.
I purchased the game “uno” for my iPhone and it has never worked right. I went to iTunes and they told me to contact the manufacturer. The manufacturer recommended that I take the game off and reinstall it but I do not know how to do that without paying for it again. I have downloaded other games with no problem. Can anyone help?
- Kathy
A:Any games you purchase on your device are automatically transferred back to your iTunes library, so you can easily remove and re-install the game as long as you have synchronized with iTunes since you purchased it.
You can actually confirm that the game is in your library simply by looking at the “Applications” tab in iTunes. It should be listed there along with any other games or applications that you have purchased.
You can remove the game from your iPhone either via your iPhone sync settings in iTunes or by deleting it directly on the device. To remove it via iTunes, simply connect your iPhone to your computer and select it from the iTunes Devices list. A Summary screen for your iPhone should appear in the main window, and there should be an “Applications” tab on the far right.

From here, you can choose to sync only selected applications. Any apps that are not checked will be removed from your device on the next sync. Note that any data stored in these applications will also be removed.
You can also choose to delete the application directly from your iPhone by holding your finger down on the application icon until a small X appears in the top-right corner. Tapping on this X will prompt you to delete the application from your device. Again, this will remove all of the application’s data as well.

When you next connect to iTunes, you can then visit the applications tab and re-select the application to reinstall it on your device.
Lastly, note that unlike music and other media content from the iTunes Store, you can re-download previously-purchased applications at no additional charge. Simply attempt to purchase the application again, either on your iPhone or via iTunes, and you will receive a note that you have already purchased the application and can download it again for free.

Is there a charging stand for the 3G similar to the charger supplied with the original iPhone?
- Patrick
A:Yes, but unlike the original iPhone, the dock is not included with the iPhone 3G. The iPhone 3G Dock (iLounge rating: B+) can be purchased separately for $29.
Apple also sells a three-pack of iPhone 3G Universal Dock adapters for around $10 that will allow you to fit your iPhone 3G properly into the Apple Universal Dock. Note, however, that the iPhone 3G Dock has the unique advantage of including pass-through openings on the bottom for your speakerphone audio, and a line-out port on the back for your iPod audio output (note that your speakerphone audio will not travel through this line-out).
For owners of the Apple Bluetooth Headset, there is unfortunately no dual iPhone and headset charging dock available for the iPhone 3G.
I can’t seem to get the album covers to show up on my girlfriend’s iPod, but using the same computer they do show up on my slightly later edition 80 GB iPod. Any ideas?
- Keith
A:Each iPod that you connect to iTunes has its own independent sync settings, so you should ensure that your girlfriend’s iPod is actually set to have album artwork synchronized to it, since the problem may simply be that this setting is disabled.
You can check this by connecting your girlfriend’s iPod to your computer and choosing it from the iTunes Devices list. Select the “Music” tag and ensure that the option to display album artwork is enabled.

If this option is not enabled but you are using automatic sync, then simply enable it and click the “Apply” button in the bottom right corner. iTunes will begin syncing the iPod and will transfer any album artwork to it in the process.
Note that if you’re managing the content on this iPod manually, then you would need to enable this option and re-transfer any tracks that are missing album artwork. In manual mode, there is no direct relationship between your iPod and iTunes—they are treated as distinct libraries, so although iTunes will do its best to rebuild your artwork on the iPod, there’s no guarantee that everything in your library will match everything on your iPod.
If this option is enabled and you’re still not seeing artwork, the simplest thing to do is to disable the option, click “Apply” to resync the iPod (which will remove all album artwork, including any that might be corrupted). From there, you can simply re-enable the option and re-sync the iPod again to put the album artwork back on. Note that even if you’re using manual management, iTunes will try to re-transfer the artwork to your iPod as best as it can, although there’s no guarantee that it will get it all as the tracks in your iTunes library may not match up with the tracks on your iPod. You may still have some tracks that are missing artwork and would need to retransfer these from your iTunes library manually.
I can’t figure out how to add a tab for Applications to iTunes. Right now I have Music, Movies, TV Shows, Podcasts, Audiobooks and Playlists but I dont know how to add another tab to control the Applications that I download.
- Anonymous
A:You can control which categories are displayed in your iTunes Source list by going into your iTunes preferences.

Simply check the box beside “Applications” to have the applications category appear. This category may not appear unless you actually have applications in your iTunes library.
Note that there’s no really much you can do from this section with your applications. You can delete them from your iTunes library completely (which will also remove them from any iPhone or iPod touch devices they may be installed on), and you can pull up a Get Info screen to check information like version number and purchase date. Settings for which applications are synchronized to your device are handled through the iTunes device settings which appear when you connect your iPod touch or iPhone, and all other application-related settings are handled directly on the device itself.
Ask iLounge Archives:
2-3-12: Deleting pictures from Photo Stream, Transferring Apps to a new iTunes library, Apple Universal Dock and iPhone 4S, Getting Track Names after CD Import, Video Playlists on the iPad
11-25-11: Removing music after activating iTunes Match, Smart Playlists and iTunes Match, Backing up data from an iPhone, Syncing MP3s to an iPod nano, Migrating Playlists to a new Computer
11-11-11: Configure Apple IDs on family iOS devices, Recovering lost audiobooks, Unable to disable passcode lock on iOS devices, Buying an iPod for audio-only use, Preventing deleted tracks from coming back from an iOS device
11-4-11: iPhone 4S storage capacity doesn't match, Transferring HD video from iPhone 4S to a computer, Recovering photos from iPod touch, Notification Center and iMessage in iOS 5
10-21-11: Using iCloud's Find My iPhone on older devices, Batch deleting photos in Camera Roll, Using iTunes Gift Cards internationally, Audiobooks and iCloud, Merging contacts from two devices into iCloud
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1
How do I get MMS to work? I still have to go online to view any photos.
Posted by Alan Kirkpatrick on February 15, 2009 at 4:37 AM (PDT)
2
How can I delete songs from my itunes library without also deleteing them from my external hard drive. My laptop is full and I need more space so that is why I moved most everything to the external, so I could make room by deleting them from my itunes library. I notice the pop up window which promts me to delete songs says the any some removed from the itunes library will also be removed from any sychronized device. What’s up with that?
Posted by Greg on December 9, 2009 at 5:42 PM (PDT)