i-phone help

[Dandontdare]

Decided to join the 21st century and get me a smartphone as my old one keeps switching itself off for no reason and doesn't do clever things like everyone else's phone.
Against my better judgement I was persuaded to get an i-phone5s because I use an i-pod for my music and was told transferring it would be easy.

Soon as I connected it however, my PC tells me that I need to download a newer version of i-tunes - I did this and have  lost 90% of my music (it has only retained songs purchased through the i-tunes store, so I'm having to re-import everything else including all the CDs I ripped - massive pain in the arse).

It has also deleted all my playlists - now these are still on my i-pod classic and i-pod nano (as are all my missing tunes) but I can't work out how to import them back into i-tunes. The apple support centre points me towards programs such as ipod2PC, but these all cost money - is there an easy free way?

I've really no idea what I'm doing with this phone - any recommendations for easy idiot-proof starter guides?

[Buttonman]

Good luck Phil! I don't have an iPhone but my experience is from every Apple upgrade that your imported music is always the first victim. Hopefully the cloud will mean this is less of a problem in the future but they are keen that your music is bought from them and then alone. Another major hassle is it losing all your track names so you have to type them individually.

[IndigoPrime]

Soon as I connected it however, my PC tells me that I need to download a newer version of i-tunes - I did this and have  lost 90% of my music (it has only retained songs purchased through the i-tunes store, so I'm having to re-import everything else including all the CDs I ripped - massive pain in the arse).

Where was your music originally stored? It might just be that the location got broken during the update. In the Preferences > Advanced, you can define the location of the iTunes Media folder. I'd rummage around your PC before re-ripping everything, frankly.

It has also deleted all my playlists

Have you tried this? https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT203225

The apple support centre points me towards programs such as ipod2PC, but these all cost money - is there an easy free way?

It somewhat depends on the age of the iPods, but I'd try iExplorer initially (although in the free version, the 'intelligent' iTunes music transfer isn't available, so you'll still have some manual faffage to deal with). 

I've really no idea what I'm doing with this phone - any recommendations for easy idiot-proof starter guides?

I write for Macworld UK. Both it and the US publication have loads of content for iPhones. Just search for those terms and whatever you want to find out, really.

Hopefully the cloud will mean this is less of a problem in the future but they are keen that your music is bought from them and then alone. Another major hassle is it losing all your track names so you have to type them individually.

I've never had that happen, and I'm on record has considering iTunes a heap of crap. But I think you're being harsh on Apple. The company faced the ire of the music industry for dramatically simplifying the process of ripping existing CD collections, and the iTunes Store was merely about convenience rather than an attempt to force you down that avenue for music purchase. I don't think Apple gives a monkeys where you buy your music, because it's a drop in the ocean to the company. What it cares about is you using Apple products to consume media.

[I, Cosh]

I don't think Apple gives a monkeys where you buy your music, because it's a drop in the ocean to the company. What it cares about is you using Apple products to consume media.

I buy music from loads of different places and my single biggest bugbear with iTunes is that it seems incapable of rescanning your nominated music library folders for new content on opening. So I have to go in and manually add each new folder (to avoid duplication.) Even Windows bleedin' Media Player handles this effortlessly.

[IndigoPrime]

I suppose it depends on how you organise things. The default in iTunes is /Music/iTunes/iTunes Music, and Keep iTunes Media folder organized. With those settings, things rarely go wrong. If you get some new tunes from somewhere, you just drag them to iTunes and let it file them. If you've got iCloud Music Library or iTunes Match, it'll upload or flag accordingly. (Again, I'm not really defending iTunes—it's horrible software. But I've never had an issue with music management. That's one of the things it does broadly well, to my mind.)

[Theblazeuk]

I just have a big folder of 'Music'. Itunes scans it but on the odd occasion I've needed to re-add, you just drag the folder in to iTunes. Storing all your music in different folders is futsie.

[Dandontdare]

most of the CDs were originally ripped into windows media, and I still have that library, so I left the PC running when I went to bed last night importing and converting a couple of thousand songs. I think all I've lost is a handful of CDs I ripped directly into i-tunes in the last year or two.

It's the fact that I finally after much procrastination, organised my top tunes (about 700 of them) into playlists, and those have gone from i-tunes (but are still on my ipod)

Can't get any internet on my phone at all now - I've logged in to my company's free WiFi but the phone is  showing "no service" and any webpage requested says "unable to connect to server"

This may just be because of a crappy connection at work, but here's another (probably dumb newbie) question - do most people switch off the "mobile data" function so they don't accidentally use up their data allowance when WiFi connection is lost? If I'm surfing the net, can I easily see whether this is going through WiFi or eating up my data allowance - I'm wary of, say, watching Netflix thinking I'm on WiFi but burning through my whole 1gb data allowance in one go.



I hate technology.

[Mardroid]

if you have both wifi and data on then if you are connected to wifi, that is given the priority. YOu can see if the wifi is connected via an icon at the top of the screen. I use an android device, and it appears in the form of bars, small to large, on top of each other. If there's wifi, but it is not fully connected (i.e. you have to sign in) there is an exlamation mark near the icon.

I'm not sure what icons apple use, but I think it's similar.

If you have limited data allowance, then I would say its best not to access high GB data over the internet (i.e. music, video stuff (those are a real data gobbler) and something heavily graphical.). Just access that stuff when you are in a wifi area. But small stuff like general web surfing and email shouldn't eat up a whole lot of data.

Just leaving the data on when you're travelling (i.e. if you want to know about incoming messages from mail, facebook, whatsapp, viber, etc, shouldn't eat up much data. It does gobble up a bit more battery though, so be aware. Leaving on the wifi will eat battery too as it will scan periodically for hotspots. But not a whole lot unless you're actively using it.

[IndigoPrime]

Apple currently goes for:

Signal strength | carrier name | connectivity type

So if you see a Wi-Fi symbol, you're connected to a wireless network. If you see 4G, 3G or GPRS, you're not.

[radiator]

I'm an Apple fan, but I've certainly had my fair share of hassle with iTunes in the past.

My current Apple beef is with the 4th Gen Apple TV I recently purchased.

I love almost everything about it - the design, the UI, the simplicity.... but the damn thing simply incapable of performing its primary function - eg streaming content without falling over or dropping out every twenty minutes. And it's definitely not a connection issue as other devices on the same network can do it flawlessly.

It's utterly baffling.

[IndigoPrime]

Just out of curiosity, are you on BT? If not, do you have some other router with a dual-band network? Apple TVs really aren't a fan of them. (The general recommendation is to separately name the networks and have the Apple TV join the 2.4 Ghz band.)

Our old Apple TV is either rock solid or refuses to believe there's a network until you give it the equivalent of a smack (i.e. restart the thing). I've not tried the new one as a general unit yet, but it seems broadly OK, although game data downloads can be flaky.

[radiator]

Just out of curiosity, are you on BT? If not, do you have some other router with a dual-band network? Apple TVs really aren't a fan of them. (The general recommendation is to separately name the networks and have the Apple TV join the 2.4 Ghz band.)

Our old Apple TV is either rock solid or refuses to believe there's a network until you give it the equivalent of a smack (i.e. restart the thing). I've not tried the new one as a general unit yet, but it seems broadly OK, although game data downloads can be flaky.

Not on BT - I'm in the US.

Thanks for the tips, I'll check out that router thing.

It's mildly frustrating because I bought it to consolidate all my media/iTunes stuff into one place (and have everything controlled through the one remote).

Before now I was just streaming everything on my Smart TV, and that works pretty much perfectly. Seems really, really strange to me that a (expensive) dedicated device can't do the same straight out of the box.

And it's not just me having this problem - just Google 'Apple TV Netflix streaming error' or 'Apple TV iTunes Store error' and see for yourself.

[Dandontdare]

thanks for all the tips and help folks, I'm finally getting to grips with the beastie. Overall it's a mixture of impressively amazing and frustrating.

Finally got my old number ported in (took me while to work out how to stop the phone to stop telling people that messages were coming from the temporary number), and I guess I'll get to grips with the keyboard in time - I see people texting on the tram with those little pop-up letters flashing by at 100mph, but my fat thumbs keep pressing the wrong buttons.

Some things are mind-bogglingly impressive such as the fingerprint scanner in the on button (I feel like I'm in a scifi movie!), and certain very cool apps, but I can't say I'm impressed with mobile internet - seem to spend all my time searching for WiFi connection, trying to connect to it or losing the connection half way through something. The ads show people watching movies up a mountain or mixing albums in a rainforest, but I can't even get a decent connection in Salford Quays! (we have free WiFi at work but it's a very crappy signal)

[IndigoPrime]

but my fat thumbs keep pressing the wrong buttons

Slow down, take your time, and, when possible, recognise that the system's autocorrect is reasonably efficient and smart. The keyboard also attempts to intelligently resize letters, depending on what you previously typed, to boost accuracy.

I can't say I'm impressed with mobile internet - seem to spend all my time searching for WiFi connection, trying to connect to it or losing the connection half way through something. The ads show people watching movies up a mountain or mixing albums in a rainforest, but I can't even get a decent connection in Salford Quays! (we have free WiFi at work but it's a very crappy signal)

That's a carrier thing rather than your iPhone. Are you on a contract or pay-and-go? If the latter, it might be worth looking at alternatives if constant connectivity is your thing. (And I can sympathise—in our house, we barely get an O2 signal at all. We get 3G only in the garden. Not great when the broadband keels over.)

[radiator]

Another bizarre Apple/iTunes irritation.

I set up a family sharing account so that all of our iTunes purchases - apps, movies and the like, could be shared between me and my girlfriend.

For reasons known only to Apple, this forces every single purchase made by either of us to be charged to my debit card, including things like my girlfriend's Spotify subscription.

The only way to prevent this, and be able to pay for things separately again, is to entirely deactivate family sharing.

Utterly, utterly baffling.

Also seriously considering taking the Apple TV back for a refund. It's just sitting there gathering dust at the moment because it simply can't stream TV content as reliably as the TV or Playstation.

Similarly baffling.