Q: Is there any way to get the fifth generation iPod to switch itself off automatically. The reason is that I fall asleep with the iPod on at night and when I wake up in the morning the battery is almost dead. Is there anything I can do?
– Andrew
A: Certainly. The simplest solution to this is to use the iPod’s “Sleep” timer, which can be found under Extras, Clock on the iPod.
Select any one of the displayed clocks, and then choose Sleep Timer from the bottom of the menu. Choose a preset length of time, and the iPod will automatically stop playing and shut off at the end of this time period. The sleep timer setting will also be indicated on the “Now Playing” screen by a small clock icon with the remaining time-to-sleep shown at the top of the screen.
Alternatively, if you regularly fall asleep to the same music (or a variation thereof), a limited Smart Playlist can also be created to provide a preset amount of music to fall asleep by.
A Smart Playlist like the following, for example, would automatically select 30 minutes of music from the “Slow Mix” playlist:
As with any playlist, the iPod will stop playing when it reaches the end, and then go to sleep after the normal timeout (as it does normally when it’s not playing anything).
Finally, a third option that you may want to consider is an iPod-based clock/radio such as the iHome iH8 (iLounge review: B+) or XtremeMac Luna (iLounge review: A-). Many of these offer built-in sleep timer modes with additional features such as gradual music fade-down during the sleep timer intervals. You can find reviews of these and other clock radio iPod accessories in our Speakers – Clock Radio Reviews section.