Ask iLounge 7-17-09

Article

Ask iLounge offers readers the opportunity to get answers to their iPod-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.

The most asked question at iLounge.com:

How do I copy music from my iPod onto my computer?

Click here for the answer.

The second most asked question at iLounge.com:

How do I put DVDs on my iPod?

For converting DVDs, web video, TV shows and home movies to your iPod, iPhone or Apple TV, we have a three-part series outlining the best formats, settings, and various tools to use for converting all types of video content for use on these devices.

The Complete Guide to iPod, Apple TV and iPhone Video Formats

The Complete Guide to iPod, iPhone and Apple TV Video Conversion (Mac)

The Complete Guide to iPod, iPhone and Apple TV Video Conversion (Windows)

Top five questions most recently asked by iLounge readers:

Q: What are the best speakers to use with my iPod? (15, 76-79, and 90-92)

Q: What are the best headphones to use with my iPod? (10, 72-75, and 90-92)

Q: I really want to get a nice case for my iPod. Do you have any suggestions? (36-37, 54-67, and 90-92)

Q: How can I connect my iPod to my car stereo? (14, 32-35, 68-71, and 90-92)

Q: Are there any batteries that I can use to extend my iPod's battery life? (82-83 and 90-92)

A: Answers to these and many other questions can be found in two places. Our Free iPod Book 3.3 provides a complete report card to all of the iPod accessories we've reviewed as of summer 2007, as well as over 125 iTunes and iPod tips & tricks. Further, our new 2008 iPod & iPhone Buyers' Guide has accessory tutorials at the page numbers listed in parentheses above. These and other publications in our Library are free downloads, developed by the editors of iLounge!

And now, for this week's Ask iLounge column:

I’ve had a second-generation iPod touch since late 2008 and recently purchased an iPhone 3GS. After syncing the 3GS with iTunes I was able to transfer all my apps with no problem but none of my data (specifically game saves) was transferred. Is there any way to sync game save data between iPhones (or iPod touch in this case). It is frustrating to have to restart progress on all these games.

- Hector

Although there is no way to transfer specific game and other application data between multiple devices, you can easily migrate this data to a new device simply by restoring the backup from your previous device. Since the iPod touch and iPhone both run the same basic OS, the backups made from the iPod touch are compatible with the iPhone and you can easily restore your backups between devices.

To do this, simply connect your iPod touch to your computer and right-click on it where it appears in the Devices listing in iTunes. An option to “Restore from Backup” should appear on the context menu.

Selecting the “Restore” option will display another dialog box prompting you to choose which backup you wish to restore. If you have more than one backup, select the one that most closely matches the last date that you synced your previous iPod touch.

Note that this is an all-or-nothing procedure. Restoring from backup will overwrite any existing settings and application data on your device with the data in the backup. Once the restore completes, however, any data from third-party applications that were on your iPod touch should now show up on your iPhone.

My son gave me his 40 GB iPod from 2004. He has a Mac. There are over 5400 songs on the iPod and I would like to transfer and edit these songs to add to my iTunes library. Windows recognizes the drive but no songs appear on it. Unless I missed it, I didn’t find an answer to this specific issue on your discussion page. I’ve looked at the third party software you’ve recommended, but I don’t see anything positively stating iPod from Mac OS X to Windows. Any comments would help greatly as I really don’t want to lose all the songs which took a long time to compile.

- William

The key to restoring a Mac-formatted iPod onto a Windows computer is to install software that allows you to read Mac-formatted disks under Windows. The iPod itself is simply an external hard drive as far as your underlying operating system is concerned, and Windows cannot normally read Mac-formatted hard drives.

There is a third-party tool available, MacDrive that can facilitate this for you. This is not an iPod-specific tool, but rather a generic software package for Windows that allows Windows to read any Mac-formatted disk, including an iPod. MacDrive is a commercial software package that sells for $50 USD, but there is a free trial available that should be fully functional for a limited time period.

Once you have MacDrive installed, your iPod should appear to your Windows computer in the same way it would for a Mac. At this point the iPod recovery tools and procedures that we discuss in our iPod 201 article on Copying Content from your iPod to your Computer can be used to recover the content from your iPod back into your iTunes library.

Is it possible and safe to play and/or charge my iPhone 3GS on my Bose docking station that I use with my iPod?

- Cam

It is perfectly safe to connect your iPhone 3GS to any Made-for-iPod Dock Connector accessory such as the Bose SoundDock. However, whether or not your iPhone 3GS will charge depends on the model of Bose docking station that you are using.

Last year, Apple dropped support for the older 12V FireWire charging standard from most of their iPods and the iPhone. This rendered a number of older accessories such as the original Bose SoundDock incompatible for charging purposes. Connecting the iPhone 3GS will display a warning notifying you that charging is not supported with this particular accessory.

Note that on these older speaker docks you can still listen to your iPhone through the speakers, but it will simply not charge from the Dock. In this case, you would either need to charge it separately with a different accessory or you will need to look at purchasing a third-party charging adapter such as the Scosche PassPort (iLounge rating: B) or Griffin Charge Converter (iLounge rating: B+).

Further, unless the accessory is specially made for the iPhone you will likely also receive a warning message warning you that you may receive interference from the cellular radio and prompting you to turn on Airplane Mode to avoid this.

Enabling Airplane Mode turns off the cellular radio on your iPhone, which will prevent interference with the speakers, but of course you will not be able to receive phone calls or data while listening to your iPhone. Note that this is only a recommendation, however; Airplane Mode is not required to use your speakers, and whether or not you hear any interference will depend on a number of factors, most notably whether you are using a 3G or EDGE connection; interference over GPRS or EDGE data connections is significantly more pronounced than over a 3G connection.

I have deleted my Recently Added folder from iTunes and am wondering if you could tell me, if I can get it back again on my iTunes?

- Holly

There’s actually nothing particularly special about the Recently Added playlist in iTunes. It is actually simply a Smart Playlist that iTunes provides by default, and you can easily re-create it with the same settings, or even tweak these settings to your own preferences.

Simply choose File, New Smart Playlist from the iTunes menu. A new Smart Playlist creation dialog box will appear. Fill it in as shown:

When done, click OK, and name it “Recently Added.” Note that you can easily change the settings above as well to your own preferences. For example, if you want your Recently Added playlist to contain more or fewer tracks, simply change the “Date Added” from the standard setting of 4 weeks to whatever your actual preference is. Other criteria can also be added to limit your selection in other ways, such as only selecting tracks from a certain genre, only those tracks that have not been listened to recently, or a specific number or duration of tracks.

Feel free to experiment with the Recently Added Smart Playlist or even create other ones. It’s a great way to organize the music in your iTunes library automatically and is one of the most powerful features found in iTunes.

If I have a new, un-synced iPod touch, can I connect to my computer and get iTunes to restore the last backup of my old (stolen) iPod touch to the new one? Both are second-generation iPod touches, running iPhone OS 3.0.

- Simon

Most definitely. By default, iTunes makes a backup of your iPod touch each time you connect it, and when you connect a brand new iPod touch or iPhone to your iTunes library, iTunes will ask you whether or not you want to set it up as a new device or restore it from a previous backup.

Selecting the previous backup will basically set up your new iPod touch with all of the settings from your previous device, including any third-party application data, device preferences, and even your sync settings in iTunes. Your media is not specifically backed up, as this can be synced back from your iTunes library, but your sync preferences such as selected playlists are stored in the backup and restored as part of this process. Basically, after restoring your backup, your new iPod touch should be indistinguishable from your previous one.

Note that if you chose to set your iPod touch up as a new iPod when you connect it, you can still restore the backup manually at any time simply by right-clicking on your iPod touch icon in the iTunes Devices list and choosing the “Restore” option from the context menu.

In iTunes on my PC, songs appear to be in the correct order for a given album. But on my iPod classic many songs are listed and play in alphabetical order. How do I fix this and how do I prevent it from happening in the future?

- Harvey

The likely problem here is that your tracks in iTunes do not contain a track number, or that this information is not being synced properly to your iPod.

In iTunes itself, you have the option to sort your tracks on any displayed column, so you can customize the sort order as you prefer. However, the sort order you select in iTunes does not transfer to your iPod except for within actual playlists. Rather, when browsing through your music collection on your iPod by artist or album, tracks are sorted by track number within each album, or alphabetically if not track number information is found.

You can check your tracks for track number information in iTunes by displaying the Track Number column. To do this, either right-click on the column headings and choose “Track Number” from the context menu, or choose View, View Options from the iTunes menu.

Once the Track Number column is displayed, select the affected album in iTunes and confirm that the track numbers are correctly displayed. These are the numbers that your iPod will use to sort your tracks on the iPod itself.

If the track numbers are missing, you can add them simply by selecting each track and choosing File, Get Info from the iTunes menu to display the track’s properties. You can fill in the track number for each track, and use the Previous and Next buttons found at the bottom of this dialog box to quickly navigate between tracks and fill in the info for each.

If the track numbers are correct in iTunes, then the second possibility is that they have not been transferred to your iPod properly. If you are manually managing your iPod via drag-and-drop, you will need to ensure that you have specifically re-copied these tracks to your iPod, as the track information will not sync automatically when changed or updated in your iTunes library.

You can check to see if the tracks on the iPod itself contain the correct track information simply by expanding the iPod in your iTunes Devices list and browsing through it from there.

If you find the track information is not present or incorrect on the iPod itself, you can try deleting and re-transferring the tracks from your iTunes library. If this is a widespread problem, simply restoring your iPod and resyncing all of your content from your iTunes library is probably the simplest solution. However, if this only affects a few tracks then you can delete the specific tracks from your iPod and re-transfer them. To do this, you can either switch your iPod to manual management and delete them manually, or you can enable the “Sync only checked songs and videos” option in iTunes and uncheck the affected tracks in your iTunes library. After the tracks have been removed, you can either transfer them back manually by drag-and-drop, switch back into automatic sync mode if that’s what you were using before, or simply recheck the tracks and sync again if you used the “Sync unchecked” option to remove them.

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Ask iLounge Archives:

11-20-09: Sharing iTunes libraries between two user accounts, Enlarging text on iPhone 3GS, Transferring an iPod to a new user, iPhone shuffles when walking, New 8GB iPod touch models, Transferring purchases from a remote iTunes library

11-13-09: Syncing different contact info with two iPhones on the same computer, iPod shows no content, Syncing music and videos in playlists, Exclamation marks next to tracks in iTunes, Playing podcasts on 3G iPod shuffle.

11-6-09: Storing iPod software updates, Playing an iPod continuously, Transferring play counts to a new iTunes library, iPhone backups, Klipsch S4i earphones

10-30-09: Authorization problems with iPod touch, Changing Grid View background in iTunes, iTunes library and Music Folder are different sizes, Older iPods and firmware updates, Reconciling two different iTunes libraries, Syncing multiple devices to one iTunes library

10-23-09: Using a laptop with an iTunes library on an external hard drive, Transferring YouTube videos to iPod, iPod touch accessibility settings, Disabling Shake to Shuffle on iPod nano, Purchased songs fail to download from iTunes Store, Charging and powering off iPhone

See the rest of the Archives...

10-16-09: Moving iTunes to a new computer, Transferring contacts from Blackberry to an iPhone, Disabling iPhone Backups, Using AV cables for audio only, Problems syncing photos to iPod touch, Memorex iFlip and iPhone compatibility

10-9-09: iPhone OS and external keyboards, Adjusting ratings in a remote iTunes library, Excluding tracks from Genius Mixes, Moving iTunes library out of My Documents, Playlist folders on iPod touch, Refreshing random Smart Playlists

9-25-09: iTunes 9 and Shopping Cart, Restoring iTunes to an external hard drive, Using an HTTP Proxy over 3G, Problems transferring movies from iTunes to IPhone, iPod touch shuffle mode, Using an iPhone without a SIM card

9-18-09: Recovering unlisted media content from iPod, Repeat and continuous video playback on iPod touch, iPhone 3G vs 3GS, Customizing iTunes sorting, Rebuilding an iTunes library, Removing artwork from iPod in iTunes 9

9-11-09: Genius Mixes and iPod classic, Drag-and-drop content to iPod, Sharing home libraries in iTunes 9, Using an iPod without iTunes, Waking to a playlist on iPod touch, Kensington LiquidAUX, Disabling Geotagging Warnings

8-28-09: Consolidating Multiple iTunes Libraries, iPod touch Bluetooth headset compatibility, iPod holds less than advertised number of songs, Transferring media between iTunes Store accounts

8-21-09: Recover Contact/Calendar info from iPod touch, Connect iPod without automatic sync, Managing On-The-Go playlists, iPhone and Stereo Bluetooth Support, Sharing an iTunes library between multiple users on the same computer, Disabling Shake-to-Shuffle on iPod nano

8-14-09: Syncing iPod touch apps and data with a new iTunes library, Automatically adding media files to multiple iTunes libraries from a network share, Downgrading to iTunes 7, iPod nano and disk mode, Displaying release dates on iPod, Playing iPod through TV USB port

8-7-09: Clean up album artwork in iTunes, Syncing media content and calendar/contact info from different computers, Reorganizing recovered tracks in iTunes, Using multiple iPods and iPhones on one computer

7-31-09: Using an iPod and a Zune, iPod and on-TV menus, Backing up Notes from IPod touch, Sharing an iTunes library between a Mac and a PC, Waterproof earphones, 3G iPod and iPhone Accessory compatibility, Shure earphones

7-24-09: Displaying recent plays on web site, iPhone and car integration, iPod classic TV output, Renaming iPhone, Sound quality on different iPod models, iPod shuffle accessory compatibility

7-17-09: Transferring saved application data to new iPhone, Recovering Content from Mac iPod on Windows, iPhone 3GS and charging accessories, Recreating Recently Added playlist, Restoring old iPod touch, Track sorting on iPod classic

7-10-09: Passwords on iPod touch, iPod headphone jack problems, Tagging tracks imported from CD, Adding chapter markers to audiobooks, first-generation iPhone and stereo Bluetooth, Nike+ shoes

7-3-09: iPhone Recent Calls list and location info, iPod touch Bluetooth audio support, Car interface fails after 3.0 upgrade, iPhone battery life, iPhone stereo audio recording,

6-26-09: Recovering a dead iPod touch after 3.0 update, Battery Percentage Display on iPhone 3.0, Options hidden after 3.0 update, iPhone locked after 3.0 update, Managing videos on iPhone, iPod classic accessory compatibility

6-12-09: Conserving power on iPhone, Syncing iPhone Notes, Syncing Apps on new iPod touch, Block pop-ups in Safari, Syncing new iPhone, Playing multiple albums

5-29-09: Sorting tracks in iTunes, iPhone Bluetooth Headset Dock, Recovering Mac-formatted iPod on Windows, Screen damage on 4G iPod nano, Syncing purchased tracks back to iTunes, Managing a class set of iPods

5-22-09: Syncing iTunes content between computers, Importing music into iTunes, Re-transferring apps from a new iTunes library, New iPods and charging accessories, Using multiple iTunes libraries

5-15-09: Starting out with an external hard drive, Syncing playlists manually, Recovering lost iPod serial number, Music count vs Playlist count, Multiple iTunes Store accounts on the same computer, Optimizing album artwork

5-8-09: Organizing audiobooks, Problems transferring purchased items back to iTunes, Keeping played podcast episodes on iPod, Transferring iTunes library to a new computer, iPod shows no content, Using a new iPod with an existing iTunes library

4-24-09: Playing iTunes purchases on a non-networked computer, Finding iPod manuals online, Sharing an iTunes library between separate user accounts, Equalizer on iPod shuffle, Recovering content from Apple TV, Screenshots on iPod touch

4-17-09: Converting tracks to higher bit-rates, Using iPod with non-iTunes content, Using iTunes with an external hard drive, Expired rentals don't delete on iPod, Using only part of a song, Restoring 4G iPod stuck on AC adapter icon

3-27-09: Transferring iTunes library from XP to Vista, Using iPhone as an alarm clock, Splitting iTunes library across two iPods, Recovering iPod onto a computer with an existing iTunes library, Purchased TV Shows stuck in downloads folder, Tagging tracks as Audiobooks in iTunes 8

3-20-09: Using two iPods on a single computer, iPod shuffle 2G/3G accessory compatibility, Displaying TV Show seasons separately in iTunes, Playing iPod through secondary computer, Stopping iPod playback on iPhone, iPod touch 2G and Dock audio

3-13-09: iPod touch vs iPhone, Storing music only on your iPod, Problems transferring rented content, Managing content manually on iPod shuffle, iPod lyrics display, Playing video out to TV from iPhone

3-6-09: iPhone playback on other computers, Games on iPod classic and 5G, Transferring iTunes tracks to SD cards, Group compilations on iPhone, Transferring your iTunes library, iPhone Car Integration

2-27-09: Problems transferring iTunes content to external hard drives, Using an iTunes library database from an external hard drive, Converting Palm address book for iPod touch, How iTunes organizes music videos, Preventing iPhoto from opening when connecting an iPod touch

2-20-09: Video docks for 5G iPod, Connecting an old iPod to a new iTunes library, Downloading iTunes 8 on another computer, Erasing a used iPod and starting fresh, Recovering photos from an iPod, Tracking purchases in iTunes

2-13-09: Waterproof cases and sound quality, Upgrading to iTunes Plus with a manually managed iPod, Reinstalling games on the iPhone, iPhone 3G Dock options, Fixing album artwork problems, Display iTunes Applications category

2-6-09: iPod nano voice memo format, Buying iPods abroad, Skipping a playlist when shuffling, Adjusting playback speed of music tracks, Not all TV Shows syncing to iPod, Checking and unchecking multiple items in iTunes

1-23-09: Synchronizing contacts to iPod touch, Pairing iPhone Remote app, iPhone call audio via Dock Connector, Recovering iPhone apps, New iPods and charging, Remote control of Windows via iPhone

1-16-09: Creating Smart Playlists based on other playlists, Transferring or syncing an iTunes library between two computers, Converting Mac-formatted iPod to Windows, Using Artist and Sort Artist fields, Using an iPod on more than one computer, Importing audiobook CDs as audiobooks

1-2-09: Parents controls on iPod touch, Running iTunes from an external hard drive, Search feature on 5G iPods, Syncing videos to iPod touch, Safari problems on iPod touch, Other content on iPod shuffle

12-19-08: Keeping podcast episodes, iPod and TV USB inputs, Converting PC-formatted iPod to Mac, iPod touch e-mail accounts, Backing up iTunes to a hard drive, Managing and syncing iPod touch On-The-Go playlists

12-12-08: Classifying videos in iTunes 8, Sharing music between iPods, Sharing apps between iTunes libraries on the same computer, iH9 and iPhone compatibility, Recreating Purchased folder, Locating Music Videos

12-5-08: Creating custom slideshows for Apple TV, Optimal album artwork size, Transferring iPod touch from PC to Mac, Upgrading to a new iPod touch, Authorizing iPod Games on new computer, Managing iPod content manually

11-21-08: iPod keeps resetting, Organizing iPhone apps, iPod touch video accessories, iPod-compatible online music sources, Reordering playlists manually

11-14-08: Cover Flow on 4G iPod nano, Setting up iPod touch without Internet access, Internet radio for iPod touch, Apps button missing on iPod touch, mm50 speakers and new iPod models, Including Year field on iPod

10-31-08: iPod charging accessory compatibility, Adding tracks to multiple albums, Removing pre-installed games, Transferring contacts from iPod touch to a second computer, iPod touch accessory compatibility, iPod synchronization to a new computer

10-24-08: Importing folders with M3U files, AV cables with 2008 iPods, Moving iTunes libraries between computers, Unknown albums after importing music, Newly added tracks don't show up on iPod

10-17-08: Backup up your iPod, iPods and viruses, Using an iPod on Mac and Windows, Managing photos on an iPod manually, Adding iTunes Shared Music to iPod, iPod video out

10-3-08: Displaying lyrics on iPod touch, Calculating playlist sizes, Transferring tracks to iPod in manual mode, Purchasing older iPod models, Using iPhone without phone service, Shuffle modes

9-26-08: iTunes HD TV episodes showing up twice, Shure MPA-3C and iPod touch, Synchronizing iPod to a new iTunes library, Problems updating iPhone applications, Managing iTunes media files on an external hard drive, Managing multiple iPods on one computer

9-19-08: Removing Genre column in iTunes 8, Syncing TV Shows by playlist, Recovering Mac-formatted iPod on Windows, Recovering photos from iPod, XtremeMac Luna X2, iPod flash memory capacity, Restoring older iPod models

9-12-08: Managing iPhone Backups, iPod disk mode and deleted items, iPod Plays only single tracks, iPhone and T9 predictive text, Copying ratings and play counts from iPod to computer, Automatically retrieving CD information and album artwork

9-5-08: AV output from iPhone 3G dock, New playlists not appearing on iPod, Transferring music on iPod touch from multiple computers, Resetting iTunes Store authorization counts, Editing tag information, iPhone task applications

8-29-08: Disabling data on iPhone 3G, iTunes Plus and Apple Backup, Deleting photos from iPod, iPhone v2.0 and TV Out accessories, Consolidating multiple iTunes libraries, Restoring iPod touch from backup

8-22-08: Cleaning up applications in iTunes, Playing back all songs on iPod, Excluding podcasts from Smart Playlists, Bookmarking tracks, Playing tracks back at a consistent volume level

8-15-08: Transferring play counts back to iTunes, Playing iPod while charging, Customizing iPhone alerts, Syncing movies to iPod nano, iTunes not recognizing new CDs, Sudoku reviews

8-8-08: iPhone and SIM card contacts, Syncing iPhone contacts, Hiding SMS previews on iPhone, Playing iPod touch on secondary computer, Syncing photos to iPod, Resuming interrupted iTunes WiFI Store downloads

8-8-08: iLounge Editor-in-Chief Jeremy Horwitz responds to reader questions on all things iLounge, including technical issues related to iPhone 3G, and behind-the-scenes editorial issues

8-1-08: iPhone Edition: Switching between apps, Car charging accessories, Activating older iPhone models, Sending MMS, App Store in wrong language, Excel and A2DP support

7-25-08: MobileMe on iPhone for Calendars only, Buying iPods for International use, Voice recorders for 4G iPods, Free Music for iPod, Problems transferring purchased content to iPod, Playing AAC files in Windows Media Player

7-18-08: Ask iLounge iPhone v2.0 Edition: Installing apps on multiple devices, Converting videos for iPhone 3G, Activating first-gen iPhones, Saved photos on iPod touch, Push e-mail support

7-4-08: Recovering a corrupt iPod, Hard cases for iPhone, Reimporting CDs into iTunes, iPod shows only Other content, Managing multiple audio formats in iTunes, Optimum iPod video output cables

6-27-08: Creating Smart Playlists for Purchased items, Keeping place in multi-track audiobooks, Backing up iTunes before a reformat, iPod Games on 5G and classic, Editing CD tracks before import, Getting Album Artwork automatically

6-20-08: Third-party iPod management tools, Transferring large files on iPod, Shuffling On-The-Go Playlists, Removing played podcasts from iPod, Continuously playing one track, Moving iTunes from PC to Mac

6-13-08: Artists not appearing on iPod, Unchecked items do not play in iTunes, iTunes shows incorrect CD track information, Podcast support on older iPod models, Upgrading to a new iPod, Photo albums on iPod touch

6-6-08: Downloading YouTube videos onto iPod, Selling old iPod models, Fit iTunes Window to Screen, Handing down an iPod, Dock Compatible iPod cases, Problems transferring music from iPod to Mac

5-30-08: Burning iTunes purchases to an MP3 CD, Playing iPhone via computer, Pre-loading a gift iPod on another computer, Music Video playlists on Apple TV, Music videos on 2G iPod nano, Importing existing MP3 and WMA files into iTunes.

5-23-08: Finding and backing up purchased music, Syncing duplicate tracks to iPod, Restoring 4G iPod and AC power, Syncing iPod to a laptop when travelling, Finding photos on iPod, Storing a large iTunes library in multiple folders

5-16-08: Using the iPhone with integrated in-car Bluetooth, Problems with iPods and depleted batteries, Transferring content to a new iPod, iPod displays audio but no video, Removing photos and album artwork from iTunes, Overdrive Media and iPods

5-9-08: About iPod battery life and charging, Using Apple FM Radio remote on older iPod models, Scan and Fix dialog using iPod on Windows Vista, Preserving iTunes metadata when reinstalling Windows, Importing multiple tracks into iTunes, About iTunes and ID3 tags

5-2-08: Transferring digital camera movies to iPod, Reordering and shuffling playlists, Transferring playlists between iTunes libraries, Importing audiobooks, Correcting tags on CD import, Burning CDs with longer gaps

4-25-08: Finding Duplicates in iTunes, Setting files to open in iTunes automatically, Resetting authorizations, 1G iPod nano and voice recording, Syncing a library larger than your iPod capacity, Grouping multi-disc albums

4-17-08: Ripping CDs to external hard drive, Zeppelin speakers and USB port, Bluetooth stereo on iPhone, Converting TV shows to iPod, Audio recording on iPod touch, Wireless security on iPod touch

4-10-08: Transferring LPs to iTunes, Movie Rentals and 5G iPod, New iPod models on older Macs, Maintaining Playback Position on iPod, Importing CDs on multiple computers

4-3-08: Using several iPods on one computer, Renaming imported CD tracks, iM7 and iPod nano, Burning different CD types, Purchasing from iTunes while travelling, Importing CDs on MacBook Air, Sending photos from iPhone

3-28-08: iPod capacity and bit-rates, International iTunes Gift Cards, iPhone charging accessories, Moving iTunes purchases to another computer, iPod touch and third-party tools, iPod videos play only audio

3-21-08: Basic DVD conversion, 5G iPod and subtitles, Slideshows on iPod touch, Using the Voice Memo function, iPod classic TV output quality, iPod Dock Connector extender cables

3-14-08: About Skip Count, iPhone alarm clocks, 5G firmware updates, Cleaning up after a library move, Syncing new playlists to iPod nano, Authorization of multiple iTunes Store accounts

3-7-08: Transferring MP3 files to new iTunes library, iPhone ringtones on Windows, Wired remotes for iPod classic, Sharing iTunes with multiple users on one PC, iTunes library and Time Capsule, Chargers for 3G iPods

2-29-08: Finding iPhone Backups, Contact Display on iPhone, Automatic vs manual iPod management, iTunes CD burning restrictions, iTunes movie rental expiry on iPods, Downloading podcasts to iPhone

2-22-08: Upgrading your iPhone, Recovering data from corrupted iPod, Recreating default playlists, Syncing iPod Games from more than one computer, Problems playing purchased TV shows on iPod, Output settings when playing movies from iPod to TV

2-15-08: Setting up an AirTunes network, Shuffling music, Playing podcasts sequentially, Firewire support on modern iPods, Recovering Mac-formatted iPods on Windows, Recovering iTunes library from a virus

2-7-08: Transferring music from iPod touch, Voice recorders for 2007 iPods, Cover Flow on 5G iPod, Renaming your iPod, iTunes and iLife, Organizing music transferred from the iPod

1-31-08: Apple TV AirTunes Support, iPod Games on 5G and classic, Keeping videos only on iPod, Syncing iPod using checked songs, Charging with Universal Dock, International iPod and iTunes Store use

1-18-08: Macworld Expo 2008 Special Edition: Questions about the new iTunes Movie Rentals and Apple TV features, including Time Capsule and the Apple TV, Renting HD Movies from iTunes, Transferring rented movies to and from the iPod, Fifth-generation iPods and movie rental support, AirTunes support on Apple TV Take Two.

1-10-08: TV output quality, iPod windows driver installation errors, Connecting iPod to portable DVD player, Syncing games, iPhone charger compatibility, Reformatting iPod for Mac

1-3-08: 2007 iPod models and speakers, Video resolution vs bit-rate, Preventing auto-deletion of podcasts, Videos with no sound, Using iTunes Store when travelling abroad, Transferring videos to iPod, Importing Audiobooks

12-27-07: Your First iPod, Differences between iPod models, Accessory compatibility, Converting DVDs for iPod, New iPods and older computers, Earphone Recommendations, Troubleshooting iPod Problems

12-21-07: Other space on iPod, Search feature on iPod touch, Adding third-party ringtones to iPhone, iPod suddenly shows no content, TV Dock compatibility, Artists appearing more than once on iPod

12-14-07: New iPods - Buy now or wait? Transfer music from an old iPod, Convert MP3 to Lossless, Listening to videos and battery life, Bluetooth headphones for iPod nano, Universal Dock and line-out volume

12-7-07: Using Compilations settings, Re-syncing iPod after hard drive replacement, Locating iTunes Plus tracks, New iPod firmware - video output and iPod Hi-Fi support, Mac-formatted iPods, Cover Flow on iPod, iPhone screen goes blank when on a call

11-29-07: Photo resolution on the iPhone, Obtaining video content for the iPod touch, Restoring older iPod models, Sharing iTunes library on a single computer, Transferring iTunes via external hard drive, Auto-deleting played podcasts

11-22-07: Syncing games to iPod, Removing album artwork, Replacing files in iTunes library, Limiting volume on iPod, Preventing iPod sync when connecting with iTunes, Skipping audiobooks when shuffling songs

11-16-07: iTunes and Vista, iPod classic video output (revisited), Transferring iTunes from PC to Mac, Organizing Music Videos in iTunes, Using newer iPods with older OS X versions, Sorting photos on iPod

11-9-07: Editing calendar on iPod touch, Multiple iTunes libraries on one computer, Creating an iTunes Store account without a credit card, Burning CDs with track names, iPod/iPhone remote control, iPhone TV output from Safari

11-2-07: TV Docks for new iPod models, Calculate song file sizes, iPhone backup and restore, Sync selected content with iPhone, Universal Dock compatibility, Managing podcast synchronization

10-26-07: iTunes Plus, Play Slideshow on iPod nano, Activate TV out on new iPods, Recover Mac iPod in Windows, Add descriptions to TV shows, iTunes not opening when iPhone is connected

10-18-07: iPod and Windows Autoplay, Reinstalling iTunes, Manually Managing Videos, iPod charging accessories, iPod touch power and sleep modes, Resyncing recovered iPod content

10-11-07: Managing a class set of iPods, New firmware and older iPods, Windows ME support, Sorting artists by last name, 3G iPod car audio compatibility, Resetting iPod language

10-5-07: iTunes WiFi Store, Videos with no sound, Managing video content manually, Tagging TV Shows, Renaming iPod, Flash support on iPhone, Removing multiple artwork images, iPhone and multi-recipient SMS, US/UK iPod compatibility, Photo storage on iPod touch

9-27-07: iPod classic audio quality, New iPod models: features and accessory compatibility, Transferring music from iPod 5G to classic, iPod nano voice recording, Storing multiple bitrates in iTunes

9-7-07: Special Edition on the new iPod lineup - users most common questions answered about the new iPod lineup and new iTunes release, including accessory compatibility and new software features.

8-30-07: Playing single tracks, iPhone sleep timer, Deleting iPod content, TV shows do not appear on iPod, Manually sorting playlists, Fitting content onto audio CDs, Car line-out solutions

8-23-07: Set Video Kind within files, Authorization and iPod transfer, Chat Clients for iPhone, Importing CDs for gapless playback, Tethering iPhone, Burning Purchased Tracks

8-16-07: Managing podcasts, Bookmarking audiobooks, No artwork in Cover Flow, Storing iTunes content on two hard drives, Sleeping with an iPod, ROKR sunglasses and iPhone, Selling an iPod

8-9-07: Playing Podcast episodes in sequence, Recording radio in iTunes, New iPod with songs already on it, Authorized Computers, Sync iPod with a new computer, Transferring a Windows iPod to a MacBook

8-2-07: Syncing the iPhone to more than one computer, Transferring iTunes music to the Blackberry, Continuous video playback on the iPod, Problems editing track info in iTunes, Transferring content from iPhone to computer, Video playback from the iPhone, Sending MMS messages from the iPhone

Next: iPhone Retro Gems: Isotope, Pinball Fantasies & Turn Turn Tank

Previous: Weird + Small Apps 21: Launching, Animal, and Other Mini-Games, Plus Slideshow Makers

Comments

1

You just explained how one could get their saved program data from one device to another through the restore from backup option. My question is: once you do this, can you continue to sync the same program data between the two devices?

For instance, I have a 3G and a 3GS. I restored my 3GS from my latest 3G backup and got all it’s program data. Let’s say that I play a game and build up some new data on the 3GS. I then sync with iTunes to back it up. If I sync my old 3G with iTunes will it get all of the new program data?

Or do I have to now restore the 3G from the 3GS backup in order to get updated program data on there?

Thanks!

Posted by Shahid Haque-Hausrath on July 18, 2009 at 5:03 PM (PDT)

2

Just to add that I successfully fully restored my new iPhone 3GS from a backup of my (stolen) iTouch 1st gen. However - the iPhone was listed as “iPod Touch” in the devices in iTunes. I simply renamed the device in iTunes and all is now fine.

Posted by Peter James on July 19, 2009 at 8:48 AM (PDT)

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