Looks like no one’s replied in a while. To start the conversation again, simply ask a new question.

can i still buy music on my ipod touch gen 4?

I have an iPod Touch Gen 4. Works perfect and still has good battery life so there is no reason for me to upgrade. However I can't seem to access the store to buy music. The iTunes app is still installed but when I try to open it nothing happens. Just wondering if I can still buy music on it because I'd hate to lose that option, it's still a good iPod. Thanks.

Posted on Aug 7, 2019 8:11 AM

Reply
Question marked as Best reply

Posted on Aug 7, 2019 9:18 AM

That is because the 4th gen is running an ancient version of iOS.


The 4th gen iPod touch can't be updated past 6.1.6. iOS 6 was released in 2012 and replaced with iOS 7 by 2013. The iTunes Store and App Store no longer work on iOS 6.


You can still buy music with iTunes on a PC / Mac. Then sync the bought songs with your iPod.

13 replies
Question marked as Best reply

Aug 7, 2019 9:18 AM in response to MikeInFla

That is because the 4th gen is running an ancient version of iOS.


The 4th gen iPod touch can't be updated past 6.1.6. iOS 6 was released in 2012 and replaced with iOS 7 by 2013. The iTunes Store and App Store no longer work on iOS 6.


You can still buy music with iTunes on a PC / Mac. Then sync the bought songs with your iPod.

Aug 8, 2019 7:30 PM in response to MikeInFla

Elitegate gave you inaccurate info and Apple's recommedation is wrong, also.

You CAN still access the iOS App Store via iOS 6.1.6.


Some one in the iPad support communities very recently can still access the iOS App Store on their iPad still running iOS 6.1.6.


Have you tried a hard reset of your iPod Touch by holding down both the Home and sleep/wake buttons simultaneously until your iPad goes to black and restarts with Apple logo, then release the buttons?


If you can still access the iOS App Store after the hard reset, there is a good chance you can still access the iTunes music and media store app, as well, but NOT 100% sure.

Aug 9, 2019 8:48 AM in response to MichelPM

Haven't tried that yet, afraid it will delete all of my downloaded apps. Not that big of a deal since these days I only use it for music anyway. But I still have things on there I do not want deleted so I will research a little more and see.


Currently when I connect to WiFi and try to open iTunes it just "spins" and never opens. I forgot where I saw it, but somewhere on the iPod I found a "purchase history" and that did take me to a screen showing what I bought and similar songs that could be bought, however I could not get into a full search category from iTunes. At the moment I can't remember where I saw my purchase history, just looked for it and couldn't find it.


Thanks,


Mike

Aug 9, 2019 10:29 AM in response to MikeInFla

A simple, low level, hard reset of any iDevice DOES NOT, I repeat, DOES NOT erase any apps or data.

It simply resets some of the low level firmware code for iOS, only.

You are confusing a simple hard reset with a more complicated procedure using the iOS Settings app under General, Reset, Erase All Content and Reset All Settings which a hugely different thing than what I am telling you to try/do.


Perform the hard reset procedure as a describe and see if this will allow you to both access the iOS App Store content, as well as the iTunes Store app content, as well.


Best of Luck to You!

Aug 9, 2019 10:31 AM in response to MichelPM

I‘m afraid you are wrong. Also there is no 6.1.6 for any iPad, 6.1.6 was the last version released for the iPhone 3GS and iPod touch 4th generation. The first generation iPad (original 2010 model) got it‘s last firmware update with 5.1.1 and ALL other iPads, all iPad Air models, all iPad mini models support atleast iOS 7 or newer. Some were discontinued with 9.3.5/9.3.6 or 10.3.3/10.3.4 and others still got 12.4. Maybe someone was able to access the App Store on their iPad 2 still running 6.1.3 or something... i haven‘t seen the post you are referring to.


I just gave a working solution (to use the iTunes Store on a computer) because for the OP the iTunes- or App Store doesn’t seem to work on iOS 6.

Aug 9, 2019 10:53 AM in response to Elitegate

There was a post yesterday, as a matter of fact.

The OP left his 1st gen iPad Mini running on the last version of iOS 6, which is iOS 6.16.

The original iPad Mini started life on iOS 6.

He left his iPad Mini runnng on iOS 6.1.6 because he was afraid other newer versions of iOS would slow down his iPad Mini.

So he never upgraded the iOS on the device later on.

He wasn’t completely clear if he could not access anything in the iTunes Store app or the iOS App Store app or these apps were simply crashing on launch.

A simple hard reset of his iPad, he was able to launch these apps and access both stores, again, running iOS 6.1.6.


Aug 9, 2019 10:56 AM in response to Elitegate

FYI,

Users do this.

I have a nearly 4-year old iPad Pro that is still running iOS 10.3.3 even though iOS 12.4 is the current version.

iOS 11, IMSO, was complete and total garbage version for a newly introduced, 64-bit iOS version.

So, I skipped it, in its entirety.

There is one major unresponsive touch screen bug in iOS 12, affecting a significant, growing minority of iPad Pro users across all three model years of iPad Pros, that I am not risking my iPad Pro to currently, that Apple has not addressed/fixed/solved.

So, until this happens, I have left my iPad Pro happily running iOS 10.3.3 with no issue.

Aug 9, 2019 3:52 PM in response to MichelPM

Last version of iOS 6 for the 1st gen iPad mini was 6.1.3. Also for every other device capable of running iOS 6. Except for iPhone 5 which got 6.1.4, and iPod touch 4th and iPhone 3GS got 6.1.6. 6.1.5 was iPod touch 4th gen only and got replaced by 6.1.6.


But it doesn't matter, they were just bugfix updates.


Maybe it works to perform a hard reset and the OP should try this. I'm aware some people won't update their firmwares. But in case it doesn't work, i just gave another solution. To use the iTunes Store on a PC / Mac with the iTunes software. I'm not saying that your solution is wrong. Maybe a hard reset works. I have no device running iOS 6 and can't test it.

Aug 12, 2019 5:46 AM in response to Elitegate

Ok, so I finally figured it out. 95% of the time I play my music at work from my iPod. There is no wifi at work so every time I think about it I am where I do not have a connection. So I remembered to play with it this weekend while at home and here is what I found:


go into Music as if you are going to play a song. In the upper left is a "store" button. if I hit the store button it takes me directly to the music store where I can make purchases directly from my ancient iPod. However the iTunes app no longer works so from here on out I can just go into the music app and make purchases there.

Aug 12, 2019 7:46 AM in response to MikeInFla

I am NOT sure what is going on with your iPod Touch.

I have an even older iPod Touch 2nd gen from 2008 running iOS 4.2.1.

I can still get into the iTunes Store app, no problem.

It just takes some time for the content lists to fully load to my iPod Touch.

But I can still get in tap on a tv show or movie and actually looks like I can tap the purchase icon and puchase something, if I had the room.

That 2nd gen iPod Touch is only an 8 GBs model and basically it is full.

I have less than 1 GB of internal storage left on that 2nd gen iPod Touch.

can i still buy music on my ipod touch gen 4?

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple ID.