April 23, 2012
You can now make your book, music and app purchases from any of your devices automatically download to the other devices you want them on regardless of when and where you make the purchases and whether you've been able to sync in the meantime. Turn automatic downloads on for books across your devices, for instance, and you can be sure the book you're reading on your iPad will be on your iPhone when you're waiting at the doctor's office, open to where you left off. Likewise the music you bought on your laptop and want to play for a friend from your iPhone or iPod touch. To turn on the automatic downloads you want on each of your iOS devices, go to the Store section of the Settings app. On your computer, select the Store tab in iTunes Preferences in the File menu.
Syncing your devices with your computer can also be streamlined so that the syncing happens automatically when you plug them in to charge while they're on the same WiFi network as your computer, even if you don't connect them to the computer itself. To turn on the feature on your devices, select iTunes Wi-Fi Sync under General in the Settings app. And the next time you sync via a wired connection, select the device in the left-hand column of iTunes and check "Sync with this (device_name) over Wi-Fi" in the options section.
April 16, 2012
Home sharing lets the users on a home WiFi network share their iTunes libraries so the members of the household can enjoy each others' purchases and copy over what they want on their own computers. The libraries they share will appear in the Shared section in the left-hand iTunes column when the computers are turned on and awake, and connected to the network. Family members can copy music, TV shows, movies, books, apps, podcasts, and iTunes U content from the shared libraries to their local libraries with drag-and-drop simplicity. And iOS devices on the home network can use home sharing to get streaming access to the shared libraries as well, as can Apple TV.
Use the Home Sharing command in the iTunes Advanced menu to turn on home sharing for each computer on the home WiFi network (up to five), entering the same Apple ID each time. When you have home sharing turned on, you're able to see the contents of the libraries being shared in the Sharing section in the left-hand column on iTunes, and you can stream or drag copies of the content to your local library as need be. You can also get streaming access to the home shared libraries on your iOS devices when you're connected to the network. Turn on home sharing at the bottom of the Music or Video pages in the Settings app by entering the same Apple ID you used for the computers on the home sharing network. You can then get access to the shared libraries via the More tab on the bottom right of the Music app, and the Shared button at the top in the Videos app. On Apple TV, use Computer under Settings to turn home sharing on, again with the same Apple ID, and then use the Computer icon in the main menu for streaming access to the libraries.
April 2, 2012
The iTunes Movie Trailers app lets you watch trailers and clips from recent and upcoming movies whenever and wherever you want. If the movie is currently playing in theaters, the Showtimes tab will show you local showtimes. And after you tap a poster to see the clips and trailers you can play, the Details tab will give you a short summary along with basic rating, cast and director info, and a link to the movie's official website, plus related content (other movies, music, books) available in iTunes. If you have an AppleTV, you can also watch the trailers on your big screen using AirPlay.
You can view everything playing in nearby theaters with the Theaters tab on the bottom. And the Calendar tab organizes the contents by date in a scrolling calendar that takes you through what's come out the last few months and what's coming all the way to the end of the year. On the iPad it's like walking through a movie poster gallery where you can touch the posters and view the trailers on the spot. And to help you keep track of what particularly interests you, anytime you're looking at a particular movie, tap the action button on the upper right and you can add it to your favorites list which you can view via the Favorites tab on the lower right. You can also tweet or send an email to share your enthusiasm.
