# Anyone still able to use iPods? (Classics, Shuffles, Nanos, etc) **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 21, 2025, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-still-able-to-use-ipods-classics-shuffles-nanos-etc/1025924 "2025-12-21T20:34:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2025, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-still-able-to-use-ipods-classics-shuffles-nanos-etc/1025924/21 "2025-12-22T21:22:22Z")
> [@Tripler](#): > > a 2005-era iPod Shuffle that still plays music, fitting into my pocket perfectly on my runs. Mine finally died to to battery swelling, but my technique from Day 1 was to never, never, ever use any Apple software with it, just to mount it as a normal USB drive, copy files onto it, and re-generate the index file using a little script. ---
**Author:** ![Jaycat.again](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaycat.again/32/11525_2.png) [@Jaycat.again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaycat.again)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2025, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-still-able-to-use-ipods-classics-shuffles-nanos-etc/1025924/22 "2025-12-22T23:14:19Z")
> [@Tripler](#): > > - Do you have an iPod device that still works? > - Are you able to update/change playlists on it it? > - How do you do it? > - If not, have you used third party software to keep it alive and functional? 1. Yes. 2. Sometimes. It seems to depend on if my computer is in a cooperative mood. 3. Plug it into the USB port and drag the playlist from ITunes to the IPod. 4. N/A. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2025, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-still-able-to-use-ipods-classics-shuffles-nanos-etc/1025924/23 "2025-12-23T13:50:08Z")
I’ve got a 3rd gen iPod Touch with 64GB of storage that is full of MP3s, about 10,000. I still use it while mowing occasionally, earbuds with hearing protection muffs on top. The iPod touch still holds a charge after ~15 years. ---
**Author:** ![Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiendish_astronaut/32/3295_2.png) [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiendish_Astronaut)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2025, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-still-able-to-use-ipods-classics-shuffles-nanos-etc/1025924/24 "2025-12-23T15:43:56Z")
I’m listening to it now, and it’s my go-to music playing device when outside the house. But I’ve rfurbished this one: I took out the old hard drive which took up 80% of the space and the relatively small battery and replaced them with solid state drives (i.e. mini-SD cards) totalling 1Gb, which lie flat on the backplate and the rest of the space is filled by a gigantic battery. The SD drives use hardly any power and the battery is huge so this thing lasts forever. I replaced the scratched cover in front of the screen, bought a colourful wheel and I am very happy with the result. All these things were bought off the internet and it didn’t take any particular electronics knowledge to fit it all together. There’s a whole community of people who do this, and some of them sell their efforts on eBay and elsewhere. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2025, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-still-able-to-use-ipods-classics-shuffles-nanos-etc/1025924/25 "2025-12-23T15:54:43Z")
I have a bunch of iPod Shuffles and Nanos and they all work fine. I prefer having my own offline collection of music. I have a full sized iPod that doesn’t work because I think the hard drive is bad. I may look to replace the drive using the method someone else in thread mentioned. ---
**Author:** ![Tripler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripler/32/21807_2.png) [@Tripler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tripler)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2025, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-still-able-to-use-ipods-classics-shuffles-nanos-etc/1025924/26 "2025-12-24T19:53:41Z")
> [@Lare](#): > > My personal solution involved futzing around wth a text file (and I am Windows-based) so please don’t get your hopes too high. > [@Lare](#): > > I see some suggestions to getting to your iPod. I hope that works, because my iPod still powers up on Win 11. That means I can create a playlist there. The rest of this post deals with working with that playlist. > [@Lare](#): > > Re-reading your follow-up post I am not sure if I understood what you were initially asking so I hope that this (and prior posts) have helped. So here’s where I’m at . . . _when_ I had iTunes installed, I could see all of my music, play it all, navigate folders, and build/edit playlists within the Windows program. For whatever reason, my desktop (“Ol’ Gurdy”) refuses to acknowledge _any_ Apple device as being connected through the iTunes program–even though Windows pops open a folder as if it were a normal ol’ USB device. (iTunes: “Boo!” I can’t believe I’m going to say this… Windows: "Huzzah!’ I feel so dirty . . . ) This makes me wonder if this is strictly an _Ol’ Gurdy_-based software thing, however: - my issue seems to have been reported **a lot** in online Apple forums, and I got it to work _in the past_, and, - nobody here on the SDMB seems to be having an interface issue when they connect their iPod to a computer. So, @Lare, you _ **have** _ helped–you’ve given me an alternative to try out next week. I’d like to offer you either a warm, juicy green-chile bacon cheeseburger, or, some biscochitos. I’ve got some work to do. . . and this time _ **I’m taking notes** _! (I’m sure this’ll come up again.) I’ll get cracking after a tech-free Christmas. Tripler “More to follow. . . _Out_.” ---
**Author:** ![Al128](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/al128/32/16541_2.png) [@Al128](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al128)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2025, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-still-able-to-use-ipods-classics-shuffles-nanos-etc/1025924/27 "2025-12-25T18:29:13Z")
seems to be “sign of the times” that a device that is otherwise perfectly OK is slowly being run off the landing strip for: - SW-incompatability - HW-incompatability (physical interfaces no longer being supported) - battery woes, whose replacement cost doesn’t hold any relationship to the current value of a device… I (sorta) keep that in mind when I purchase any “devices” nowadays → and no longer spend a significant amount of money on them, for the same reason … _somewhat planned obscolescence_ (sp?) IOW: I am somewhat OK’ish with a $50 DAC no longer being supported after 10 years and going to waste, wheras I would pull my hair out if a “$5k audiophile-true-class-A” DAC is no longer supported and gets turned into a doorstop … ---
**Author:** ![Lare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/53a042/32.png) [@Lare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lare)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2025, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-still-able-to-use-ipods-classics-shuffles-nanos-etc/1025924/28 "2025-12-26T22:02:39Z")
> [@Tripler](#): > > I’d like to offer you either a warm, juicy green-chile bacon cheeseburger, Sold! And I’m even cheap, feeling that Whataburger’s green chile burger is more than adequate! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-still-able-to-use-ipods-classics-shuffles-nanos-etc/1025924.md?page=1)