Q: I have an iPod touch with software version 2.2, and I have found two problems and was wondering if there are solutions. I downloaded a music podcast on my iPod but it wasn’t copied to iTunes. I was under the impression that was supposed to happen. The second problem is that I cannot seem to delete On-The-Go playlists, either on my iPod or in iTunes.
According to the iPod manual which I downloaded from the Apple website, all I have to do is go to the playlist, select Edit and then Clear Playlist to delete the playlist. However, there doesn’t seem to be an Edit button anywhere. Any help would be much appreciated.
– Simon
A: Podcasts downloaded on your device should definitely sync back to iTunes if you are using automatic synchronization.
However, keep in mind that if you are managing the content on your iPod touch manually from iTunes, nothing gets synced back from your iPod to your iTunes library, and in this case podcasts are no exception.
If you are using automatic synchronization, your podcasts should be transferred back from your device after the next sync and show up as an entry in your “Podcasts” section in iTunes.
Note that you will not get any kind of Podcast playlist for these, and unlike music purchased from the iTunes Wi-Fi Store on your device, podcasts are not added to your “Purchases” playlist in iTunes simply because they’re not purchases.
With On-The-Go playlists created on your device, you can only Edit and clear the current On-The-Go play queue—that is the entry that exists at the top of your Playlists screen titled “On-The-Go.”
However, once you sync your iPod touch with iTunes, your On-The-Go playlist syncs back to your iTunes library as a normal playlist with the name “On-The-Go” and a numeric suffix.
Despite the name, these are no longer actual “On-The-Go” playlists, but are simply normal playlists which have been created and synced from your device, and are automatically set for synchronization back to your device.