Apple iPod Touch User Guide

iPod touch overview

This guide describes iOS 9.1 for:

iPod touch 5th generation

iPod touch 6th generation

Your iPod touch features and apps may vary depending on the model of

iPod touch you have, and on your location and language. To find out

which features are supported in your area, see

. To learn which features are

iPod touch at a glance

www.apple.com/ios/feature-availability/

available on your iPod touch, see

.

Accessories

The following accessories are included with iPod touch:

Apple EarPods. Use the Apple EarPods to listen to music, videos,

audiobooks, podcasts, and games.

Connecting cable. Using the Lightning to USB Cable, connect

iPod touch to your computer to sync and charge, or to the USB power

adapter (sold separately) to charge.

Multi-Touch screen

A few simple gestures—tap, drag, swipe, and pinch—are all you need to

use iPod touch and its apps.

www.apple.com/ipod-

touch/specs.html

Buttons

Sleep/Wake button

When you’re not using iPod touch, press the Sleep/Wake button to lock

iPod touch. Locking iPod touch puts the display to sleep, saves the

battery, and prevents anything from happening if you touch the screen.

You can still listen to music and adjust the volume using the buttons on

the side of iPod touch, and receive FaceTime calls, text messages,

alarms, notifications, and other updates.

iPod touch locks automatically if you don’t touch the screen for a minute

or so. To adjust the timing, go to Settings > General > Auto-Lock.

Turn on iPod touch. Press and hold the Sleep/Wake button until the

Apple logo appears.

Unlock iPod touch. Press either the Sleep/Wake or Home button, then

drag the slider.

Turn off iPod touch. Press and hold the Sleep/Wake button until the

slider appears, then drag the slider.

For additional security, you can require a passcode to unlock iPod touch.

Go to Settings > Passcode. See .

Home button

The Home button takes you to the Home screen and provides other

convenient shortcuts. On the Home screen, tap any app to open it.

See apps you’ve opened. Double-click the Home button when

iPod touch is unlocked, then swipe left or right. See .

Use Siri or Voice Control. Press and hold the Home button. See

and .

You can also use the Home button to turn accessibility features on or off.

Use a passcode with data protection

Start at home

Make

requests Voice Control

See .

Volume controls

When you listen to songs, movies, or other media, the buttons on the

side of iPod touch adjust the audio volume. Otherwise, the buttons

control the volume for alerts and other sound effects.

WARNING: For important information about avoiding hearing loss, see

.

Lock the ringer and alerts volume. Go to Settings > Sounds, then turn

off Change with Buttons. To limit the volume for music and videos, go

to Settings > Music > Volume Limit.

Note: In some European Union (EU) countries, iPod touch may warn

that you’re setting the volume above the EU recommended level for

hearing safety. To increase the volume beyond this level, you may need

to briefly release the volume control. To limit the maximum headset

volume to this level, go to Settings > Music > Volume Limit. To prevent

changes to the volume limit, go to

Settings > General > Restrictions > Volume Limit.

Accessibility Shortcut

Important safety information

Use Do Not Disturb. You can also silence calls, alerts, and notifications

using Do Not Disturb. Swipe up from the bottom edge of the screen to

open Control Center, then tap . See .

You can also use either volume button to take a picture or record a

video. See .

Status icons

The icons in the status bar at the top of the screen give information about

iPod touch:

Status icon What it means

Wi-Fi

iPod touch is connected to the Internet over a
Wi-Fi network. See .

Network activity

Shows that there’s network activity. Some
third-party apps may also use this icon to
indicate an active process.

Syncing

iPod touch is syncing with iTunes. See

.

Airplane mode

Airplane mode is on—you can’t access the
Internet or use Bluetooth® devices. Non­wireless features are available. See

.

Do Not Disturb

“Do Not Disturb” is turned on. See

.

Do Not Disturb

Take photos and videos

Connect to Wi‑Fi

Sync

with iTunes

Travel

with iPod touch

Do Not

Disturb

VPN You’re connected to a network using VPN.

See .

Portrait orientation lock

The iPod touch screen is locked in portrait
orientation. See

.

Alarm

An alarm is set. See .

Location Services

An item is using Location Services. See

.

Bluetooth

Blue or white icon: Bluetooth is on and
paired with a device, such as a headset.

Gray icon: Bluetooth is on. If paired with a
device, the device may be out of range or
turned off.

No icon: Bluetooth is turned off.

See .

Bluetooth battery

Shows the battery level of a supported paired
Bluetooth device.

Battery

Shows the iPod touch battery level or
charging status. See

.

VPN settings

Change the screen

orientation

Alarms and timers

Privacy

Bluetooth devices

Charge and monitor the

battery

What’s new

Apps and app enhancements

Get the news. News makes it easy to follow stories from your favorite

newspapers, magazines, and blogs. Pick your favorite topics and sources,

and News collects the best stories, personalized just for you. (Not

available in all areas.) See .

Richer notes. Create drawings, make checklists, take and import

pictures, add files and links to your notes, and share them with others.

See .

More ways to get around. In select cities, Maps provides public

transportation information and details your entire journey, from walking

to the bus stop to hopping off at your destination. See .

Find your friends or a misplaced iPod touch. Find My Friends and

Find My iPhone apps are now included with every iPod touch, making it

easier than ever to locate friends and family or find a missing device.

See and .

Assistance—when and where you need it

A more understanding Siri. While looking at a webpage, tell Siri,

Get started

News at a glance

Notes at a glance

Find places

Find My Friends Find My iPod touch

“Remind me about this when I get home.” Or “play more songs like this”

when you listen to music. See .

Smarter search. Type “weather” and get up-to-date forecasts. Enter

your favorite team to see sports scores and schedules. Search can even

suggest contacts, apps, nearby places, and more that you might find

useful, with no typing required. See .

Answers before you ask for them. Based on the apps you commonly

use and the time of day you use them, proactive assistant suggests things

you might want to do next, before you ask. For example, opening the

News app first thing in the morning or playing your “Chill Out” playlist

before you go to bed. See .

Under-the-hood improvements

Control your home. iPod touch communicates with your home’s smart

technology. Use iPod touch to set up your HomeKit accessories, and

control them even when you’re away from home. See .

Greater security. Two-factor authentication is an extra layer of security

for your Apple ID designed to ensure all the photos, documents, and

other important data you store with Apple can be accessed only by you,

and only with your devices. It’s built in to iOS 9 and OS X El Capitan.

See .

Set up iPod touch

Make requests

Search

Proactive assistant

HomeKit basics

Use two-factor authentication for security

Set up iPod touch

WARNING: To avoid injury, read

before using iPod touch.

With only a Wi-Fi connection, you can easily set up iPod touch. You can

also set up iPod touch by connecting it to a computer and using iTunes

(see ).

Set up iPod touch. Turn on iPod touch, then follow the setup assistant.

Setup Assistant steps you through the setup process, including:

Connecting to a Wi-Fi network

Activating iPod touch with your Apple ID

Enabling location services

Setting up a passcode

Restoring data from a backup or another device (if applicable)

Signing in with your Apple ID to enable iCloud, Apple Music, the

App Store, and more

Enrolling in two-factor authentication (if applicable)

Setting up iCloud Keychain

Enabling Siri

You can also restore iPod touch from an iCloud or iTunes backup or

migrate from an Android device during setup. See .

Important safety information

Connect iPod touch to your computer

Back up iPod touch

Note: Find My iPod touch is turned on when you sign in to iCloud.

Activation Lock is engaged to help prevent anyone else from setting up

your iPod touch, even if it is completely restored. Before you sell or give

away your iPod touch, you should reset it to erase your personal content

and turn off Activation Lock. See .

Connect to Wi‑Fi

If appears at the top of the screen, you’re connected to a Wi-Fi

network. iPod touch reconnects anytime you return to the same location.

Configure Wi-Fi. Go to Settings > Wi-Fi, then turn Wi-Fi on or off.

(You can also turn it on or off in Control Center.)

Choose a network: Tap one of the listed networks, then enter the

password, if asked.

Ask to join networks: Turn Ask to Join Networks on to be prompted

when a Wi-Fi network is available. Otherwise, you must manually

join a network when a previously used network isn’t available.

Join a closed Wi-Fi network: Tap Other, then enter the name of the

closed network. You need to know the network name, security type,

and password.

Adjust the settings for a Wi-Fi network: Tap next to a network.

You can set an HTTP proxy, define static network settings, turn on

BootP, or renew the settings provided by a DHCP server.

Sell or give away iPod touch

Forget a network: Tap next to a network you’ve joined before,

then tap Forget this Network.

Set up your own Wi-Fi network. If you have an unconfigured AirPort

base station turned on and within range, you can use iPod touch to set it

up. Go to Settings > Wi-Fi and look for Set up an AirPort base station.

Tap your base station and Setup Assistant will do the rest.

Manage an AirPort network. If iPod touch is connected to an AirPort

base station, go to Settings > Wi-Fi, tap next to the network name,

then tap Manage This Network. If you haven’t yet downloaded AirPort

Utility, tap OK to open the App Store, then download it.

Connect to the Internet

iPod touch connects to the Internet by joining Wi-Fi networks. When

joined to a Wi-Fi network that is connected to the Internet, iPod touch

connects to the Internet automatically whenever you use Mail, Safari,

FaceTime, Game Center, Stocks, Maps, Weather, the iTunes Store, or

the App Store.

Apple ID

Your Apple ID is the account you use for just about everything you do

with Apple, including storing your content in iCloud, downloading apps

from the App Store, streaming Apple Music content, buying music,

movies, and TV shows from the iTunes Store, and purchasing books

from the iBooks Store.

If you already have an Apple ID, use it when you first set up iPod touch,

and whenever you need to sign in to use an Apple service. If you don’t

already have an Apple ID, you can create one whenever you’re asked to

sign in. You only need one Apple ID for everything you do with Apple.

For more information, see .

iCloud

iCloud offers free mail, contacts, calendar, and other features that you

can set up simply by signing in to iCloud with your Apple ID, then

making sure that the features you want to use are turned on.

Set up iCloud. Go to Settings > iCloud. Create an Apple ID if needed, or

use your existing one.

iCloud stores your photos and videos, documents, music, calendars,

contacts, News favorites and saved stories, and more. Content stored in

iCloud is pushed wirelessly to your other iOS devices and computers

signed in to iCloud with the same Apple ID.

iCloud is available on devices with iOS 5 or later, on Mac computers

with OS X Lion v10.7.5 or later, and on PCs with iCloud for Windows

4.0 (Windows 7 or Windows 8 is required). You can also sign in to

from any Mac or PC to access your iCloud information and

features like Photos, Find My iPhone, Mail, Calendar, Contacts, iWork

appleid.apple.com

iCloud.com

for iCloud, and more.

Note: iCloud may not be available in all areas, and iCloud features may

vary by area. For more information, go to .

iCloud features include:

Music, Movies, TV Shows, Apps, and Books: Automatically get

iTunes purchases on all your devices set up with iCloud, or

download previous iTunes music and TV show purchases for free,

anytime. With an iTunes Match subscription, all your music,

including music you imported from CDs or purchased somewhere

other than the iTunes Store, can also be stored in iCloud and played

on demand. With an Apple Music membership, any music you added

from Apple Music is accessible from iPod touch. See .

Download previous App Store and iBooks Store purchases to

iPod touch for free, anytime.

Photos: Use iCloud Photo Library to store all your photos and

videos in iCloud, and access them on any iOS 8.1 or later device,

Mac with OS X Yosemite v10.10.3 or later, and on when

using the same Apple ID. Use iCloud Photo Sharing to share photos

and videos with just the people you choose, and let them add photos,

videos, and comments. See and

.

Family Sharing: Up to six family members can share their purchases

from the iTunes Store, App Store, and iBooks Store. Pay for family

www.apple.com/icloud/

Apple Music

iCloud.com

iCloud Photo Library iCloud Photo

Sharing

purchases with the same credit card and approve kids’ spending

right from a parent’s device. Plus, share photos, a family calendar,

and more. See .

iCloud Drive: Safely store your presentations, spreadsheets, PDFs,

images, and other documents in iCloud, and access them from your

iPod touch, iPhone, iPad, Mac, or PC. iCloud Drive is available on

any iOS 8 or later device and on any Mac with OS X Yosemite

v10.10.0 or later. If you’re using an earlier version of iOS, see

.

Mail, Contacts, Calendars: Keep your mail, contacts, calendars,

notes, and reminders up to date across all your devices. If you use

iCloud, don’t also use iTunes to sync your contacts, calendars, and

bookmarks to iPod touch.

Safari Tabs: See the tabs you have open on your other iOS devices

or Mac OS X computers. See .

News: Access your favorite News sources and topics as well as the

saved stories on all your iOS 9 devices set up with iCloud (not

available in all areas). See .

Backup: Back up iPod touch to iCloud automatically when

connected to power and Wi-Fi. iCloud data and backups sent over

the Internet are encrypted. See .

Find My iPod: Locate your missing iPod touch on a map, lock it

remotely, play a sound, display a message, or erase all the data on it.

Family Sharing

Set

up iCloud Drive

Browse the web

Get started with News

Back up iPod touch

Find My iPod also includes Activation Lock, which requires your

Apple ID and password to disable Find My iPod, erase iPod touch,

or re-activate your device. See .

Find My Friends: Share your location with friends and family. See

.

iCloud Keychain: Keep your passwords and credit card information

up to date across all your designated devices. See .

With iCloud, you get a free mail account and 5 GB of storage for your

mail, documents, photos, and backups. Your purchased music, apps, TV

shows, and books don’t count against your available space.

Upgrade your iCloud storage. Go to Settings > iCloud > Storage, then

tap Change Storage Plan. For information about upgrading your iCloud

storage, go to .

View and download previous or shared purchases.

iTunes Store purchases: Go to the iTunes Store, tap More, then tap

Purchased. You can also access your purchased songs and videos in

the Music and Videos apps. In Music, tap My Music. In Videos, tap

Movies, TV Shows, or Music Videos.

App Store purchases: Go to the App Store, tap Updates, then tap

Purchased.

iBooks Store purchases: Go to iBooks, then tap Purchased.

Find My iPod touch

Find My Friends

iCloud Keychain

iCloud Help

Turn on Automatic Downloads for music, apps, or books. Go to

Settings > iTunes & App Store.

For more information about iCloud, go to . For

support information, go to .

Set up other mail, contacts, and calendar
accounts

iPod touch works with Microsoft Exchange, and many of the most

popular Internet-based mail, contacts, and calendar service providers.

Set up an account. Go to Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendars > Add

Account.

You can add contacts using an LDAP or CardDAV account if your

company or organization supports it. See .

You can add calendars using a CalDAV calendar account, and you can

subscribe to iCalendar (.ics) calendars or import them from Mail. See

.

Manage content on your iOS devices

You can transfer information and files between your iOS devices and

computers, using iCloud or iTunes.

www.apple.com/icloud/

www.apple.com/support/icloud/

Add contacts

Use multiple calendars

iCloud stores your photos and videos, documents, music, calendars,

contacts, and more. It all gets pushed wirelessly to your other iOS

devices and computers, keeping everything up to date. See .

iTunes syncs music, videos, photos, and more between your

computer and iPod touch. Changes you make on one device are

copied to the other when you sync. You can also use iTunes to sync

files and documents. See .

You can use iCloud or iTunes, or both, depending on your needs. For

example, you can use iCloud to automatically keep your contacts and

calendars up to date on all your devices, and use iTunes to sync music

from your computer to iPod touch.

Important: To avoid duplicates, keep contacts, calendars, and notes in

sync using iCloud or iTunes, but not both.

You can also manually manage content from iTunes, in the device’s

Summary pane. This lets you add songs and videos, by choosing a song,

video, or playlist from your iTunes library and then dragging it to your

iPod touch in iTunes. This is useful if your iTunes library contains more

items than can fit on your device.

Note: If you use iTunes Match or have iCloud Music Library turned on,

you can manually manage only video.

Connect iPod touch to your computer

iCloud

Sync with iTunes

Connecting iPod touch to your computer lets you sync content from your

computer using iTunes. See .

To use iPod touch with your computer, you need:

An Internet connection for your computer (broadband is

recommended)

A Mac or a PC with a USB 2.0 or 3.0 port and one of the following

operating systems:

OS X version 10.6.8 or later

Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows Vista, or Windows XP Home

or Professional with Service Pack 3 or later

Connect iPod touch to your computer. Use the Lightning to USB Cable

provided with iPod touch.

Sync with iTunes

Syncing with iTunes copies information from your computer to

iPod touch, and vice versa. You can sync by connecting iPod touch to

Sync with iTunes

your computer, or you can set up iTunes to sync wirelessly with Wi-Fi.

You can set iTunes to sync music, videos, apps, photos, and more. For

help syncing iPod touch, open iTunes on your computer, choose Help >

iTunes Help, then select Add items to iPod, iPhone, or iPad. iTunes is

available at .

Set up wireless syncing. Connect iPod touch to your computer. In

iTunes on your computer, select your iPod touch, click Summary, then

select Sync with this iPod over Wi-Fi.

If Wi-Fi syncing is turned on, iPod touch syncs when it’s connected to a

power source, both iPod touch and your computer are on and connected

to the same wireless network, and iTunes is open on your computer.

Ways to sync with iTunes on your computer

Connect iPod touch to your computer, select it in iTunes, then set

options in the different panes.

If iPod touch doesn’t appear in iTunes, make sure you’re using the

latest version of iTunes, check that the included Lightning to USB

cable is correctly connected, then try restarting your computer.

In the Summary pane, you can set iTunes to automatically sync

iPod touch when it’s attached to your computer. To temporarily

prevent syncing when you attach the device, hold down Command

and Option (Mac) or Shift and Control (PC) until you see iPod touch

appear in the iTunes window.

www.itunes.com/download/

In the Summary pane, select “Encrypt iPod backup” if you want to

encrypt the information stored on your computer when iTunes

makes a backup. Encrypted backups are indicated by a lock icon ,

and a password is required to restore the backup. If you don’t select

this option, other passwords (such as those for mail accounts) aren’t

included in the backup, and you’ll have to reenter them if you use

the backup to restore iPod touch.

In the Info pane, click Advanced to select options that let you

replace the information on iPod touch with the information from

your computer during the next sync.

In the Music pane, you can sync your entire music library or just

selected playlists, artists, albums, and genres.

Note: If you turn on iCloud Music Library, you can’t use iTunes to

sync music to iPod touch.

In the Photos pane, you can sync photos and videos from a supported

app or folder on your computer.

If you use iCloud to store your contacts, calendars, and bookmarks,

don’t also sync them to iPod touch using iTunes.

If you turn on iCloud Photo Library, you can’t use iTunes to sync

photos and videos to iPod touch.

Date and time

The date and time are usually set for you based on your location—take a

look at the Lock screen to see if they’re correct.

Set whether iPod touch updates the date and time automatically. Go

to Settings > General > Date & Time, then turn Set Automatically on or

off. If you set iPod touch to update the time automatically, it gets the

correct time based on your Wi-Fi connection. In some cases, iPod touch

may not be able to automatically determine the local time.

Set the date and time manually. Go to Settings > General > Date &

Time, then turn off Set Automatically.

Set whether iPod touch shows 24-hour time or 12-hour time. Go to

Settings > General > Date & Time, then turn 24-Hour Time on or off.

(24-Hour Time may not be available in all areas.)

International settings

Go to Settings > General > Language & Region to set the following:

The language for iPod touch

The preferred language order for apps and websites

The region format

The calendar format

Advanced settings for dates, times, and numbers

To add a keyboard for another language, go to Settings > General >

Keyboard > Keyboards. For more information, see

.

Your iPod touch name

The name of your iPod touch is used by both iTunes and iCloud.

Change the name of your iPod touch. Go to Settings > General >

About > Name.

View this user guide on iPod touch

You can view the iPod touch User Guide on iPod touch in Safari, and in

the iBooks app.

View the user guide in Safari. Tap , then tap the iPod touch User

Guide bookmark. (If you don’t see a bookmark, go to

.)

Add an icon for the user guide to the Home screen: Tap , then tap

Add to Home Screen.

View the user guide in a different language: Tap Change Language

at the bottom of the home page.

View the user guide in iBooks. Open iBooks, then search for

“iPod touch user” in the iBooks Store.

Use international

keyboards

help.apple.com/ipod-touch

For more information about iBooks, see .

Tips for using iOS 9

The Tips app helps you get the most from iPod touch.

Get Tips. Open the Tips app (found inside the Extras folder). New tips

are added weekly.

Get notified when new tips arrive. Go to Settings > Notifications >

Tips.

Get books

Use apps

Start at home

Tap an app to open it.

Press the Home button anytime to return to the Home screen. Swipe left

or right to see other screens.

Basics

Switch between apps

You can easily switch between the apps you’re using.

View open apps. Double-click the Home button to reveal your open

apps. Swipe left or right to see more. To switch to another app, tap it.

Close an app. If an app isn’t working properly, you can force it to quit.

Drag the app up from the app switcher display. Then try opening the app

again.

Search for apps. If you have lots of apps, you can use Search to find and

open them. Drag right from the Home screen to see the Search screen, or

drag the center of the Home screen down to see the search field. See

.

Look around

Drag a list up or down to see more. Swipe to scroll quickly; touch the

screen to stop it. Some lists have an index—tap a letter to jump ahead.

Search

Drag a photo, map, or webpage in any direction to see more.

To quickly jump to the top of a page, tap the status bar at the top of the

screen.

Get a closer look

Pinch open on a photo, webpage, or map for a close-up—then pinch

closed to zoom back out. In Photos, keep pinching to see the collection

or album the photo’s in.

Or double-tap a photo or webpage to zoom in, and double-tap again to

zoom out. In Maps, double-tap to zoom in and tap once with two fingers

to zoom out.

Change the screen orientation

Many apps give you a different view when you rotate iPod touch.

To lock the screen in portrait orientation, swipe up from the bottom edge

of the screen to open Control Center, then tap .

The portrait orientation lock icon appears in the status bar when the

screen orientation is locked.

App extensions

Some apps let you extend the functionality of your apps on iPod touch.

An app extension may appear as a sharing option, action option, a widget

in Notification Center, a file provider, or a custom keyboard. For

example, if you download Pinterest to iPod touch, Pinterest becomes

another option for sharing when you click .

App extensions can also help you edit a photo or video in your Photos

app. For example, you can download a photo-related app that lets you

apply filters to photos from your Photos app.

Install app extensions. Download the app from the App Store, then open

the app and follow the onscreen instructions.

Turn sharing or action options on or off. Tap , then tap More (drag

options to the left if necessary). Turn off third-party sharing or action