iTunes

Download and install apps from the App Store
Mac Tip #352, 20 August 2008

Recent software updates for the iPod touch and iPhone have made it possible to add software that isn’t installed by default. Do this through the App Store — a name that suggests apps cost money, although many are in fact free.

Call up the App Store from within iTunes

Connect to the Internet, open iTunes, and click on iTunes Store in the left-hand column of the window. When the iTunes Store appears click the link for the App Store.

Browse the App Store

The App Store page appears in iTunes. Notice the quick link for a list of all free applications, under Categories on the left of the App Store page.

See more information about an app

Browse around the App Store until you find an app you like. Click the name of the app to find out more, or click the Get App button to initiate a download. The screenshot shows more information about Evernote, a free application I thoroughly recommend. If you decide you want the application click the Get App button.

You may find you need to log in to the iTunes Store.

Confirm the purchase for apps that have a cost

If the app has a cost attached you may see an alert, asking you to confirm this purchase. Click Buy or Cancel, as appropriate. Free apps don’t spark an alert.

The app downloads — probably very quickly, as most are small.

See all downloaded apps

Click on Applications in the list of sources on the left of the iTunes window. A page displays all applications you have downloaded. In my screenshot, the free Sudoku game is now available under Applications, along with some others I’d previously downloaded. Next time I sync my iPod the game will be transferred.

All iPod apps automatically show up on the Home Screens of the iPod.

Sync your iPod to transfer apps

Sudoku is being installed on my iPod, during a sync.

The app is available on my iPod

Sudoku is displayed along with some other applications on Page 2 of my iPod’s Home Screen.

Notes

Other iPods don’t have all the features of an iPod touch and cannot run apps, but otherwise synchronise in the same way. The iPhone should be very similar to the iPod touch, but unfortunately I don’t have one and can’t check exactly how it works.

If you can add useful information for other readers about synchronising or using apps on an iPod touch or iPhone, please leave comments below.

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Sync the versatile iPod touch
Mac Tip #351, 13 August 2008

The iPod touch is a miniature computer you can use for web surfing, email, watching videos, listening to music, checking maps and all kinds of other activities.

It’s tiny:

• Height: 4.3 inches (110 mm)
• Width: 2.4 inches (61.8 mm)
• Depth: 0.31 inch (8 mm)
• Weight: 4.2 ounces (120 grams)

You interact with it by touching the screen directly — there’s no keyboard or mouse. If you need to enter text, such as a web address or to type an email an onscreen keyboard is displayed where you can tap out the letters and numbers you need.

See a gallery of photos of my iPod touch in use.

Like any other iPod you plug it into your computer and iTunes transfers across any music, videos, podcasts, audiobooks, photos, contacts and even bookmarks that you tell it to.

Plug in your iPod and wait a moment or two for iTunes to recognise it.

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Select the iPod in the list of Devices on the left hand side of the iTunes window. A summary of information about your iPod is displayed, including its capacity in Gigabytes, the software version and its serial number. Click the Serial Number label once to see instead the iPod touch’s Identifier number.

Click the tabs across the top of the window to access specific settings for Music, Movies, TV Shows, Podcasts, Photos, Info and Applications. The Info tab allows you to choose settings for synchronising Contacts and Calendars, Mail Accounts, Safari Bookmarks and MobileMe.

The iPod should Sync automatically, but to force it to sync, especially if you’ve changed any settings, click the Sync button in the bottom right corner of the window.

Recent software updates have made it possible for iPod touch and iPhone owners to add applications through Apple’s App Store — some free, some not. A Tip coming soon will explain how that works.

Notes: other iPods don’t have all the features of an iPod touch, but otherwise synchronise in the same way. The iPhone should be very similar to the iPod touch, but unfortunately I don’t have one and can’t check exactly how it works.

If you can add useful information for other readers about synchronising an iPod or iPhone, please leave comments below.

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Play Tunes across the Network
Mac Tip #336, 30 April 2008

I’m lucky enough to have and use two networked computers. I also have a fair bit of music and numerous audio and video podcasts all on my MacBook Pro, one of those two machines.

Sometimes though, I want to watch a podcast or listen to an audio track while I’m working on the other machine, a white MacBook, that has no music, audio or video on its hard drive. Luckily iTunes makes it possible, in fact easy, to share the one library of music and videos.

The first step is to open up iTunes on the Mac that holds all the audio and video files (the Source machine). Go to iTunes Preferences > Sharing and check the box for ‘Share my library on my local network’. Check a radio button for sharing either the entire library or only selected playlists. Decide whether or not to password protect the library.

The screenshot shows how I’ve set up iTunes Sharing on my MacBook Pro.

Click OK once you’ve selected the settings you want to use. Now make sure to leave iTunes running on that source machine.

On another Mac open iTunes and visit the Sharing section of the Preferences. Check the box for ‘Look for shared libraries’.

If a shared library is available it will be displayed in the source list at the left of the iTunes window, under the ‘Shared’ heading.

The screenshot shows iTunes on my white MacBook — the Music library is empty. When I click on Miraz Jordan’s Library under the Shared heading in the Sources list though, I have access to much of the content on my MacBook Pro.

Double click a track from the source machine’s library to play it on the machine you have in front of you. My screenshot shows me playing an episode of Tekzilla Daily in the Artwork Viewer, with a list of all items from the MacBook Pro’s library in the main part of the window. I would normally play such a video in a fullsize window, but wanted my screenshot to demonstrate what’s going on.

While playing that video I was simultaneously playing a music track on the MacBook Pro in the other room.

Watch out

Some interesting things emerged while I played tracks from the other Mac:

1. I was unable to rate items from the shared music library on the remote Mac.
2. I couldn’t reliably scroll around in the video I was watching. I wanted to ‘rewind’ to catch up on something I missed and just couldn’t seem to achieve that.
3. The short, 1 minute video I watched started playing immediately, as did a 10 minute video. When I tried for a 20 minute video though it looked as though things weren’t working — a ‘Loading’ message appeared and stayed on screen for quite some time. Eventually the video began. I imagine it took a while to transmit the video across my wireless network.
4. When I tried to play an item I’d purchased from the iTunes Store I had to authorise the computer I wanted to play it on.

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If you have more than one computer try out playing audio and video content from one iTunes Library on another machine. It’s fun.

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