Querstion about iTunes U on iPod Classic

I've only just discovered iTunes U myself so I'm only just now exploring it's features. I downloaded the Open University Exploring Mathematics material hoping that I could sync it to my old 160Gb iPod but that has no sections in the menus for iTunes U. I therefore used the extended Media Kind feature in iTunes 9.x to switch the kind to Podcast which works, but is a bit unsatisfying.

However, I've just replaced my daughter's old 5th gen with the new 160Gb Classic so I switched the Media Kind back to iTunes U and set up the sync accoringly assuming the newer model must include iTunes U support. But even when this content is synced to the iPod there are *no menu entries for iTunes U on the iPod* making the content inaccessible! Some mistake surely? I've hunted throught the menus & settings but there is no access. Using *Music > Search* can locate the titles, but only gives access to the audio track of these video items. I don't know if the iPhone/iPod Tocuh are any better, but it appears the only way to make use of iTunes U content on any other type of iPod is to convert them to Podcasts. Playlists don't work either - again audio only access. I really wish I was more surprised but frankly, given the failure to address the issues of grouping on Album Artist, discrimating albums of the same album title but different album artists (Greatest Hits), manage multi-track audiobooks etc., all of which are still broken on the latest iPod model, it seems like par for the course.

😟

tt2

It gets worse....

To all intents & purposes iTunes has decided that the iTunes U video files I downloaded are now audio only. When iTunes plays them I get the video stream, but they appear in the library without the usual video symbol and I don't have an option to convert to say TV Show or any other video type. My iPod won't see they have video content at all.

I'm going to delete & redownload but getting these files to work an an iPod looks increasingly complicated.

tt2

I also can't get to my iTunes U classes on ipod classic. The lectures appear in iTunes 9.0, but there is no menu option on the iPod. Worse, search doesn't locate them on iPod. Finally, I tried adding the files manually and still they fail to appear on iPod Classic. i also checked to see if the iPod software needed to be updated but that checks out OK.

A workaround to this problem would be appreciated! Or Maybe apple will undo whatever they did to carve out iTunes U. I fail to see what improvement this new category brings.

This feature certainly needs more work. I had to delete & re-download the series to resolve the "appears as audio only on iPod" issue. Second time around the files turned up as Movies. I had another go at persuading them to be podcasts as there is one audio-only file in this series and Podcast would seem to handle mixed media correctly - no joy. In the end I've been able to group the video files as a TV Show which at least means I can watch them in sequence on the iPod.

tt2

I love the new iTunesU feature in iTunes... now if they would just port it over to the iPod that would be awesome. Also, for the love of Pete, please fix the audiobook issue so they can be categorized by book, much as they are in the podcast section of the iPod or in the audiobook section in iTunes!!!!!

I have "!" preceeding the track Number which prevents me from playing the track.

Do I need to restore my library to elim. this problem?

I am sorry, but I don't think there is.

Itunes U only works on Iphone or Ipod touch I'm afraid.........

Itunes U only works on Iphone or Ipod touch I'm afraid.........

Then why put an iTunes U tab on the iPod Classic sync pages? This looks like another feature where the ease of use for which Apple is famed is sadly missing.

tt2

In the ITunes U tab, for each subscription you need to 'get info', select the 'options' tab, then change 'media kind' to 'podcast' in the dropdown list.

The iTunes U content will then sync with ipod classic, as podcasts.

Hope this works for you

deepblue wrote:
In the ITunes U tab, for each subscription you need to 'get info', select the 'options' tab, then change 'media kind' to 'podcast' in the dropdown list.

The iTunes U content will then sync with ipod classic, as podcasts.

Hope this works for you

Hi, & welcome to Apple Discussions.

Sadly it didn't work for me - see up the thread where having turned some iTunes U video tracks into podcasts using the method you described I ended up only being able to access the audio. More to the point however is that the feature has been provided in iTunes, given a visible interface on the iPod's content management pages and then completely fails to deliver. Either Apple should make a trivial update to the iPod's firmware to support iTunes U as a separate media section, or iTunes should handle the task of putting the content into the Podcast menus on the iPod and provide a message to say that's how it is being managed. "It just works", hah!

tt2

this problem has been killing me!!! turingtest2 also mentioned some other problems that i've noticed and been annoyed about. especially as apple is known for its user-friendliness.

Is there somewhere where users can register this kinds of errors/oversights? Or perhaps a log of what apple plans of fixing in future updates?

cheers all,

Is there somewhere where users can register this kinds of errors/oversights?

iTunes Feedback and/or iPod Feedback

Or perhaps a log of what apple plans of fixing in future updates?

No. I've seen the occasional comment from an "iTunes Mike" acknowleging a problem in a thread and promising it will be fixed on a future build, but there's nothing akin to the kind of detailed bug tracking/planned improvments that you'd find on say a SourceForge project.

tt2

tt2:

I have an older 160GB Classic iPod and I found the iTunes U Podcasts listed under Genre !!

However, I needed to display the Genre filed in iTunes so that I knew what had been used. For instance, the two different series of History Podcast I downloaded from UC Berkeley are listed with a Genre of (wait for it!) *UC Berkeley* !!

I also found them on my iPod listed _by artist_ but using the Author field from iTunes. That is, in iTunes the Podcast has an Author of Isabelle Pafford and lo-and-behold if I look under Music/Artists on my iPod, there she is!

It seems to me that whoever (in the product design team) determines Podcast and iTunes U criteria isn't actually a podcast user. Why else would there be these strange quirks affecting Podcasts on an otherwise brilliant device?

Phil