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  • ipods, itunes, kids – how to setup ?
  • iainc
    Full Member

    currently we have 3 ipods all which we connect to house pc which has itunes and all our music library. Kids (10 and 6) shortly getting ipod Touch and they will be wanting to download their own stuff etc.

    How do I set up the Touch ? do I asssociate it to the house pc and main itunes, meaning they will want password etc for downloads, or can I set them up their own itunes ? Presume if I do the latter then the main pc won’t recognise the Touch etc ?

    confused luddite here 😳

    z1ppy
    Full Member

    Set them up an iTunes account each, you can set them up an account that not associated with a credit card, just lie & say there aged 18 when you do, otherwise iTunes gets all pissy & says no they can’t have an account (& remembers for a while, so you can’t even test different ages – v annoying)

    http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/12936/create-an-itunes-account-without-a-credit-card/

    Something else that popped up when I was search for that (above) that look useful

    http://ipod.about.com/od/KidsiPhoneiPodTouch/tp/Nine-Things-Before-Giving-Kids-Ipod-Touch-Iphone.htm

    iainc
    Full Member

    thanks zippy – so if I set them up their own accounts, do I do this on the pc ? and what then happens when I open itunes ? does it just open as normal and display all the downloads from the various accounts or what ?

    probably a stupid question !

    edit – just seen edit link, thanks

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    ampthill
    Full Member

    My memory is that on our main PC we have itunes. Most of the music is in my music libary but shared with all other users of the PC. itunes is set on all logins to store music in my area. Thats so if anyone buys an album we all get it.

    But each of us has itunes associated with a different Apple Account. So if daughter logs into PC and opens itunes then it logs into her account and if she buys something then it is charged to her. A constraint is that itunes can only be open once on the PC. You can’t switch user and then open itunes again. This led to a bit of tension in the early days if some one went out leaving itunes open but its happened alot less recently

    Both kids are under 18 and have bank accounts. They have amazon accounts and apple accounts that charge to their bank accounts. I don’t think that we have lied at any point.

    My son does loads of stuff like podasts direct to his ipod touch via wi fi. Obviuosly these then don’t show up on the PC

    I may of course be wrong on some of this. If you want further clarification then ask again my son will be at home later and is the most active user so will probably know best…

    iainc
    Full Member

    thanks ampthill – lots of useful stuff – will post up in a few days if stuck 😆

    wrightyson
    Free Member

    For **** sake turn off in app purchases and set up a password that only you know for the iTunes account or you may end up with a very stressful week like I had when my son spunked the best part of £150 on bullets and weapons on a game!!!!!! 😯

    iainc
    Full Member

    daft question re this –

    y memory is that on our main PC we have itunes. Most of the music is in my music libary but shared with all other users of the PC

    how do I set itunes such that other users can access the library ? just spent ages and failing !

    snakebite
    Free Member

    Home share I think. to be honest, I just set up separate log in user accounts on the PC, then everyone has their own itunes when they connect their ipod/touch/ipad etc. they can all pull music from my itunes library via homeshare or folder/file import.

    ampthill
    Full Member

    Yes I think its turn on home sharing for each my music folder

    Sandwich
    Full Member

    Set up a folder in the shared section and then tell iTunes on each log-in where that folder is. If you drag and drop the library folder onto the open iTunes window It should just add the new stuff after the first sync. Don’t forget to turn off the “add to library when copying” music option in preferences/options otherwise the music will be duplicated.

    iainc
    Full Member

    Many thanks

    TheLittlestHobo
    Free Member

    For a 6 and a 10yr old you are making it overly complicated IMO. Your are also opening up mega can of worms if they get tempted to make purchases without daddies knowledge.

    My 10 & 5 yr old have access to my iTunes account. The account has my password which only I know. They have a playlist each which has their chosen music in. Their apps are controlled when each is individually synced so we don’t have to all have the same stuff.

    What’s the point of having 3 separate accounts?

    sharkbait
    Free Member

    So that when the kids are given an iTunes voucher it goes into their apple ID so only they can spend it and there’s no arguments about who has bought what.
    Ive done this with my three kids (12 and 10) and although it sounds a pain in reality it works well and I bet you end up doing it too at some point.

    ask1974
    Free Member

    STOP…..

    Individual iTunes accounts within a family environment are very problematic long term and cost a fortune. There are also some annoying differences between iCloud and iTunes. IMO best to share an account for as long as you can before starting a new one. Some of the best reasons NOT to have seperate accounts are as follows;

    – Home sharing only works between iTunes libraries on computers logged into the same account with content either ripped or imported or PURCHASED USING THAT ACCOUNT (very important)
    – Apple TV can only be associated with one account. Logging in/out constantly is a PITA
    – You have to BUY the same App every time you want to add it to a new device
    – You can’t share a single large music library

    If you all share the same account you share the same music, apps etc… You only have to make a purchase once and all users get a copy (if wanted). The only reason to start a new account is if you reach the limit of iTunes authorised computers (5) or reach the limit of associated iCloud iOS devices (10). This is only important if using iTunes Match (I think) but as I’ve not tested the limit I don’t know for sure. iTunes Match is an iCould service so bare in mind that if you want to sync data (contacts etc) between devices you can’t also employ iTunes Match if sharing an iCloud account. I suspect this would become unmanageable.

    *Remember you can have an iOS device associated with different iTunes / iCloud accounts*

    For example; when I bought my wife her iPhone I created her own iCloud account for backup and data sync between iMac and iPhone (contacts, calendar etc…), but logged her into my iTunes account. This meant that every app I had purchased was immediately available for her to download FOC. If either of us buy anything from iTunes it’s available to the other. I have an iTunes Match subscription which allows all [my] devices to sync music via the cloud but as my wife uses a seperate iCloud account this service is not available to her. She doesn’t use music on her iPhone so not really an issue.

    My iTunes account is associated with an iMac, MacBook, Windows XP PC, iPhone (2), iPad 1, iPad 2 and Apple TV. I still have two spare computer authorisations and could add another five iOS devices.

    If giving Kids iOS devices then definitely keep the same account, keep the password secret and turn off ‘in-app’ purchases. Once the kids get older and start to really drive an iTunes account and have need to sync data then there is good argument for an individual account.

    Finally. If you can be bothered try to buy CDs and rip to your computer rather than buy music through iTunes, that or download via other online services. Once you buy content from Apple it’s locked into the account used to purchase it and cannot be used by an alternate account (hence the issue with Apple TV and Home Sharing). If you rip or import to iTunes you can copy between accounts at will. Be aware of this or you’ll end up buying the same content time and time again… Ironically this is what copy protection is there to prevent but…!!!

    ampthill
    Full Member

    Once you buy content from Apple it’s locked into the account used to purchase it and cannot be used by an alternate account

    Are you sure. When my son wakes up I’ll check with him. But it looks like when he buys an album I get it.

    I thought music bought from itunes is just an ACC file. They dropped protected ACC years back

    I agree cloud purchases on apple tv are different

    Sandwich
    Full Member

    The bit about locked into the account is incorrect, the machine it plays on is the important bit, the content needs to be authorised to play on the desktop or laptop you are syncing to. I’ve just discovered this little gem as my latest phone is associated to my laptop as it is the only machine that supports iTunes 11. My old G5 becomes a large HD on firewire to access the content anything that my kids bought is not available on the laptop until I get them to authorise it. Anything they bought on the G5 can be played by anyone using that machine using the shared folder system.

    thegreatape
    Free Member

    I’ve set up a new iTunes account for my daughter when she got an iPod for Christmas – so she can redeem vouchers and get free apps without having to go through my (with credit card attached) iTunes account, and also so that the inane witterings of her and her friends through iMessage don’t come anywhere near me.

    Can we still both access the music on our home computer. It’s only stuff ripped off CD’s that both of us might want to have on our iPod’s. Anything I purchase she won’t want, and anything she purchases I won’t want. So should we be ok using the same computer for 2 iTunes accounts?

    ask1974
    Free Member

    The bit about locked into the account is incorrect, the machine it plays on is the important bit, the content needs to be authorised to play on the desktop or laptop you are syncing to

    Hi Sandwich, not entirely true but you’re correct about the machine being used to sync. However any iTunes purchase track is locked into the account used to purchase it as the meta data is stamped with the account details. If you have Apple TV2 try playing a track purchased from a different account than the one Apple TV is associated with… won’t work.

    There are ways around the system but i stand by my advice, if you want to share apps and music it’s much easier with a single account until such time as it’s stretched to far. I can’t see any advantage to using separate accounts for kids. Happy to be shown if I’m missing something as I have to deal with iTunes issues on a weekly basis at work…

    sharkbait
    Free Member

    Ask: so next time my three girls have a blazing row about who bought what with who’s iTunes credit you can come and sort it out!
    The only way they would play music through the Apple TV is via AirTunes from the mac or their iPods so the Appletv thing is really a non-issue…. I believe the OP was asking for advice re his kids and iTunes.

    ampthill
    Full Member

    Thregreatape I think I’ve answered that further up

    I’ve done a bit of googling. AAC tracks are now DRM free. They are a file you can do what you like with. Doesn’t mater who bought them or which account played them

    http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1711

    ask1974
    Free Member

    The only way they would play music through the Apple TV is via AirTunes from the mac or their iPods so the Appletv thing is really a non-issue…. I believe the OP was asking for advice re his kids and iTunes.

    Yes, but why does this require a separate account? I’m not advocating that you can’t, or shouldn’t, just that I personally would not as there will be issues further down the line. Seen it plenty of times. Totally appreciate the OP was asking about music but iTunes is about a lot more than that so the point is valid.

    Bottom line he can do either. I’d keep it to one account and put a limit on the spend, then change the password if they started misusing it.

    sharkbait
    Free Member

    Yes, but why does this require a separate account?

    A separate account is purely to keep each childs libraries (better than a playlist each) and credit separate from each other. It doesn’t mean they can’t share music/apps but it does mean that little Jonny can’t spend little Jimmy’s iTunes credit that he was given for his birthday.

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