Apple Inside iTunes

Learn more about In-App Purchases.

Tue, 14 May 2013 02:30:41 GMT

Many free and paid apps offer opportunities to make purchases from within while you're using them on your iOS devices -- to add levels, buy extra lives, and manage auto-renewing subscriptions, for instance. Learn More About In-App Purchases provides an overview of what In-App Purchases are and how they work, and the Parental Controls section includes information about using the Restrictions setting on individual iOS devices (in the General area of Settings) to limit what can be done with them.

Exercising parental control over your family's use of iTunes.

Wed, 08 May 2013 03:42:47 GMT

iTunes provides powerful access to a very large and diverse world of books, music, movies, TV shows, mobile apps, podcasts, and iTunes U courses. As a parent you can set access for individual family members based on ratings, their ages, and your judgement. Parents' Guide to iTunes provides an overview of what you can manage (age restrictions for movies, blocks against explicit content, and more) and includes links to greater detail about how to do those things. In addition, you can learn how to manage access to mobile devices and app purchases.

New download options for movies, TV shows, and music.

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 03:36:33 GMT

Ever wanted to buy a TV show while on the go but were concerned about download speeds and sizes? Now when you buy a TV season, you can choose to download the first available episode right away, or leave all episodes for later. You can also choose when to download movies and large music box sets (playlists containing more than 100 tracks). Click or tap Buy and a dialog will appear letting you control the download behavior, and it will remind you that you can always download the content later via Purchased in iTunes -- a benefit of iTunes in the Cloud.

Increase the security of your Apple ID with two-step verification.

Tue, 09 Apr 2013 02:10:10 GMT

To reduce the possibility of unauthorized use of your Apple ID, you can now add an extra level of security by setting up two-step verification. When you turn it on, both your password and a four-digit verification code sent to one of your devices will be required before you (or anyone else) can sign in to manage your Apple ID, seek related support from Apple, or make purchases in the iTunes Store, App Store, or iBookstore from a new device. Frequently asked questions about two-step verification for Apple ID provides an overview of the process, additional details, and how to set it up.

Create playlists from your music automatically with Genius.

Mon, 01 Apr 2013 17:32:50 GMT

Genius searches your library for songs that go great together, then organizes them into genre-based mixes you'll love, like Hip-Hop/Rap Mix, Singer/Songwriter Mix, R&B/Soul Mix, and more, depending on what you have in your iTunes library on your computer. Use the Store menu to turn Genius on. To see and use the mixes it creates for you automatically, click Playlists on your computer and then Genius Mixes. On iPhone and iPod touch, use the Genius button in the Music app and on iPad, they're listed first under Playlists, marked with a Genius icon. You can also custom-create your own Genius playlists of songs that will go well with a song you select as the starting point. Move the pointer over a song, click the arrow that will appear, and select Create Genius Playlist. The resulting playlist will be marked with the Genius icon and automatically named after the song you seeded it with.

Now create custom stations of your favorite podcasts with My Stations.

Thu, 21 Mar 2013 21:31:35 GMT

The latest version of the Podcasts app adds the ability to create stations so you can organize the podcasts you subscribe to into groups that fit your listening/watching habits and interests -- Commute Time, for example, or maybe For the Kids, Science, Comedy, Treadmill, and so on. Your stations are stored in iCloud and kept up to date on all your devices. Just tap My Stations for the controls you need to create and name stations and populate them with podcasts, and tap Settings to determine how you want downloads and play order handled for each podcast, and to add additional podcasts to the station.

View App

Use smart playlists for automatic playlist creation and maintenance.

Mon, 11 Mar 2013 18:40:51 GMT

Smart playlists (indicated by a gear icon in your list of playlists) maintain themselves according to the rules they're programmed with. Several examples come built into iTunes like Top Rated, Recently Added, and Top 25 Most Played, and you can create additional ones yourself. To look at how they work, select Top 25 Most Played, click the gear icon on the bottom left of the window and choose Edit Smart Playlist. As you'll see in the panel that appears, you can have different rules and use the checkbox and menu at the top to choose whether to match all or any of them, and you can use the area below the list of rules to control the size and selection criteria and turn live updating on and off. The plus and minus buttons to the right of each rule let you add and subtract rules, and clicking the rule menus will show you all the words you can use to create them -- Album Rating, Date Added, begins with, is not, and many more. A rule like "Genre is not Holiday" or "Genre is not Audiobook" for instance can keep tracks out of a smart playlist that you really didn't want in there.

Use views to better browse your music library.

Tue, 26 Feb 2013 02:22:20 GMT

iTunes lets you look through your music library in various ways so that when you set out to listen, you can follow your instincts of the moment. An artist you haven't listened to for awhile? Use the Artists tab. An album maybe? Use the Albums tab. And use Genres when you're thinking maybe a little R&B, or perhaps Reggae, and so on. All of those views display album art as well as songs. On your computer, the view selections are across the top in the iTunes Library view, just below the player area. On iOS devices they're across the bottom in the Music app. (To access Genres and a Composers view, tap the More, and to add the Composers view to the computer screen, select iTunes General Preferences and check Show Composers in the View section.)

Read and write customer reviews.

Tue, 19 Feb 2013 08:11:34 GMT

As you've used the iTunes Store, App Store, and iBookstore, you've probably noticed ratings and reviews from us and other customers. You can sort customer reviews by most favorable, most critical, most helpful, or most recent. You can also indicate which reviews you found particularly helpful. Join the conversation by posting reviews and ratings of your own--just click or tap the Ratings and Reviews tab (which is just called Ratings on iPhone and iPod touch), then click or tap the Write a Review button at the top of the Customer Reviews section. You can rate the item, write a review, or both as you choose.

Change what will play next on the fly with the new iTunes.

Mon, 11 Feb 2013 20:12:00 GMT

When you play music from your library with the new iTunes, click the Up Next button on the right in the player to see the coming lineup and to add to, subtract from, and rearrange the list. You can change the order by simply dragging songs within it. To delete a song, point at it and click the X that will appear on the left. To add to the list, point at songs, albums, or artists in your library and either drag and drop them onto the button or click the arrow that will appear to produce a menu of possibilities, including "Add to Up Next." So If a song makes you think of something you haven't listened to for awhile, it's a snap to queue it up. And it works when you're using the miniplayer as well as the full iTunes window.

Creating and editing playlists in the new iTunes.

Mon, 04 Feb 2013 18:39:08 GMT

To create a new playlist, view your library and click Playlists in the button group across the top. Your existing playlists will appear in a column on the left. To add a new one, click the Add button at the bottom of the list and select New Playlist. Your empty list will slide to the right and a graphical view of your library will appear on the left. Use the buttons across the top to focus the view, and drag what you want into your playlist. Enter a name for your list on the upper right and click Done. If you want to edit a list you've already created, click the Gear button to the right of the Add button and select Edit Playlist. You can then add and delete entries just as you do when you create a new playlist.

Keeping track of what you preview.

Mon, 28 Jan 2013 19:42:54 GMT

One of the advantages of browsing for music, movies, and TV shows in the iTunes Store is the ability to preview songs and watch trailers and clips as you go. The Preview History button on the upper right lets you look back at what interested you enough to do that, so you can quickly and conveniently check items out again. And thanks to your Apple ID and iCloud, what you considered on any of your devices will appear in the list available to them all.

Syncing your devices with the new iTunes.

Mon, 14 Jan 2013 20:14:24 GMT

The new iTunes provides a better way to manage syncing what's on your devices with the library on your computer. When you connect a device to the new iTunes the first time, click the Devices button on the upper right in the Library view, select the device and check "Sync with this over Wi-Fi" in the Options section. The device will now remain in the list even when it's not directly connected and it will sync automatically when it's on the same Wi-Fi network as your computer and you plug it into a power source. To change what you want synced, select the device and use the menu items across the top -- Summary, Info, Apps, and so on -- to choose what you want to have happen for that particular device for each category. (The Apps section in particular gives you a much cleaner, clearer way to manage your apps on different devices.) When you're done, click the Apply button on the bottom right to have your changes take effect the next time you sync.

Using In the Store from within your iTunes Library.

Mon, 07 Jan 2013 23:47:42 GMT

In the new iTunes you can easily get the benefit of information in the store while you look through and use your own library. Select an album in your music collection for instance, and you can use the In the Store button (above the cover art on the right) to see into the artist's catalog and related song recommendations. Select movies in your collection and you can view cast information, run time and more, and the In the Store button shows you other movies in the store you might like. Similarly you can view series and episode information for your TV shows and see related recommendations. It's a way to find more of what you'll love.

Send gifts on your iOS device.

Tue, 18 Dec 2012 02:34:37 GMT

Good news with the holidays rapidly approaching. You can now send both gift amounts and individual gift items directly from iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch (iOS 6 or later required). To gift any amount from $10 to $100 (which you can schedule for delivery for up to a year in advance) scroll down to the bottom of the main page in the iTunes and App stores and iBookstore, tap Send Gift, then pick a theme (holiday, birthday, and so on) as well as an amount. You can now also give friends and family individual albums, movies, TV episodes or seasons, music videos, and apps. To give individual items, navigate to the item in the store and tap it, then tap the Share button on the upper right and tap Gift. You can schedule delivery for individual items for up to 90 days in advance.