I have a hand-me-down Ipod Touch 3 that I use for web browsing and email…rarely for music. I don’t even really use Itunes… I used my daughters’ to load some music about 8 months ago.
I understand there is an OS upgrade… don’t know anything else about it good or bad.
I understand that I’d need to use Itunes to first download and then install the upgrade… my wife has it downloaded and ready on her Itunes but I’m a little wary since her general computer savvy is less than my own although her specific “I-savvy” is greater.
Before you do this, I have to ask why you are doing it. If the device works as you need it to, I would probably not do the upgrade. I believe most of the new iOS5 features are made for the iphone 4 and 4S anyway. Also, if it’s out of warranty and something goes wrong during the upgrade, apple will not help you and you will be left with a very expensive paperweight. This happened to TWO iphones of mine. No more firmware or baseband upgrades for me if I am out of warranty.
If you still want to upgrade and haven’t touched itunes in a while, the first thing you will be told to do is upgrade that to the latest version. Then plug in your device and do a “check for updates”. Make sure you copy any content on the ipod to the PC, if it’s not already there (file -> transfer purchases). iTunes should handle everything from there.
It said “Allows messaging from your Touch” . I assumed that to mean texting which would be nice. Don’t know how that could work without a phone account.
The iOS 5 upgrade is mostly a non-event. The average user won’t notice much new… well, except for that stupid calendar/weather/stock thing that keeps getting pulled down accidentally in certain of the games I play. The one I can’t turn off.
There may be some advantages to certain people, like the ability to do a wireless sync and to install new iOS updates without connecting to your computer. There’s supposed to be multi-tasking involved, but either my apps don’t do it or I’m expecting something more from multi-tasking.
Incorrect. Siri (the voice assistant) is only available on the new iPhone 4s, but all the other features are available for everything back to the iPhone 3GS, including the OP’s 3rd generation iPod Touch.
iMessage is basically a free text-message service that work between iOS 5 devices. All you need is a wifi connection.
Multitasking was included with iOS 4 last year. It is system-wide and not dependent on apps. To engage it, double tap the home button and a list of recently used apps will appear at the bottom of the screen. You can swipe left and right to show more apps in order of most recently used, as well as controls for whatever music app you are using.
unfortunately, the notification center ( the calendar/weather/stock thing ) gets engaged accidentally anytime an app uses a swiping gesture from the top of the screen. I think Apple should allow some way to avoid that problem, perhaps in the next update.
What iOS 5 is the biggest upgrade since iOS 2. I love it on my iPhone 4. The new iMessage allows anyone with an iPhone to text message to an ipod touch just using the regular messages app and vice versa.
The OP should probably read the description of the upgrade and decide if it has features he/she wants. http://www.apple.com/ios/.
Multi taking is really just saved state - apps remember what you where doing when you switch to another app. Or they will if the developer creates them that way.
I guess I was expecting more from a feature called “multitasking.” I replaced a very old Palm Tungsten with iPod Touch 4th Gen (running iOS 4 when I got it, so I really can’t compare to older iOS versions).
What iOS calls multitasking performs (from my perspective as a user, anyway) the way my Palm OS did from the early days, back when my Handspring Visor was hip.
I guess iOS 5 must clearly have some features that some people love. I’m looking forward to updates that don’t need my computer, but the only other changes I’ve noticed are all irritations. Minor irritations, yes, but nothing worth months of hype.
What about the ability to download your iTunes music purchased elsewhere? I have iTunes on my laptop and my desktop, and when I log on to one after purchasing on the other, the newest version of iTunes pops up and asks me if I want to download those new purchases.
I think - but am not sure - there’s a way to do that on the iPod Touch with the new OS upgrade. Not that it’s essential if you’re synching the handheld to the computer with the new music, but it sounded like something that might be worthwhile.
iOS 5 is the biggest upgrade since iOS 2. I love it on my iPhone 4. The new iMessage allows anyone with an iPhone to text message to an ipod touch just using the regular messages app and vice versa.