Can I transfer music from my iTunes account to my dad’s new iPod Touch?

Question

Can I transfer music from my iTunes account to my dad’s new iPod Touch?

Please someone give me a straight answer, I find all this very confusing.

My dad had an iPod Nano for years. He has no AppleID account of his own. I would purchase the music he wanted on MY iTunes account on my home computer, plug HIS iPod Nano into my computer, and then manually drag & transfer those purchases to his iPod Nano so he could listen. Everyone was happy.

But now his Nano has died and Apple has frustratingly discontinued all iPods except the new iPod Touch! Now everything is more complicated. So, my questions:

1) If I buy him an iPod Touch and I DON’T set up a new AppleID for him when I set it up, can he use the new ipod Touch just like his old Nano, where I can just plug it into my computer and then manually drag and drop all the music he wants (from my iTunes account) TO that new iPod Touch ?

2) What if during set-up I DO create him an AppleID? If that iPod Touch is now associated with a newly created AppleID, would iTunes then prevent me from allowing me to manually drag and drop all the songs from MY iTunes account to his new iPod ??

Please advise in a clear manner, as I am not techy and am very confused. Thanks

Posted on Feb 2, 2021 7:14 AM

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Answer 1

Best reply

Joseph_S.

Community Specialist

Feb 4, 2021 9:11 AM in response to Starfish_1995

Hello Starfish_1995,

It sounds like you are interested in getting a new iPod touch but you are curious how you can get the music from your computer on it and if it would transfer just like your iPod nano.

Here are three different ways that can help with some resources:

As someone else is using the device, it is usually recommended to use different Apple ID's so personal information such as messages, phone calls and photos don't sync. To prevent this but still share your iTunes purchases, you can set up Family Sharing. Check out the information about this below:

Overall information about What is Family Sharing?, and the YouTube video from Apple Support about it How Family Sharing works. Also see:
- Set up Family Sharing
- Share App Store, iTunes Store, and Apple Books purchases with Family Sharing
- Note: in doing this, you do not need to sync the device to a computer.

2. If you choose to use the same Apple ID, you can redownload the music directly from the device, Redownload music.

3. You can also continue to sync the music from your computer to the iPod touch. See: Sync your iPhone, iPad, or iPod using your computer and the YouTube video from Apple Support How to sync music from your Mac to your iPhone or iPad in macOS Catalina.

Hope this information helps.

Have a good day.

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Answer 2

Feb 7, 2021 12:43 PM in response to Joseph_S.

Im sorry, but this information wasn't helpful at all.

To be clear: I don't want to "Family Share" , or use any Apple ID on the new iPod Touch.

All i want to do is buy the iPod Touch and set it up with NO Apple ID. I just want to know if I do this (and thus have NO Apple ID associated with the iPod Touch) if I will still be able to plug in into my computer and manually drag and drop the songs from MY Apple ID itunes account, TO the new iPod Touch (that is not associated with any Apple ID).

I feel like if I try to do the above, that iTunes will tell me its not able to transfer the songs because MY Apple ID technically owns them, and I'd be trying to transfer MY purchases to another iOS device that Apple doesn't know who owns that device.

Transferring MY Apple ID songs to the old Nano iPod was no problem since there was no option to have to associate the Nano device with an Apple ID, and essentially I would just like to use the iPod Touch in the same way as I used the Nano, and I just want to know if that's possible, or if iTunes would prevent me from doing that for the reasons I just stated.

Is anyone in this community able to gibe me a clear answer on this? Apple is SO user unfriendly and is very complicated to use.

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Answer 3

Feb 7, 2021 8:43 PM in response to bobjbkln

THANK-YOU bobjbkln for the clear and concise response! I really appreciate your speedy and helpful reply. That is all I was wondering: if my Dad’s new iPod Touch could be used just like the Nano was, where I could just drag and drop songs from MY personal iTunes library onto it, without having to be logged into an AppleID on the new iPod Touch (since this way of listening WAS possible on the Nano).

I understand that technology is evolving and we all have to learn to adjust to change, but I am pretty annoyed that Apple has flat-out discontinued the iPod Nano!! I still have one myself and I use it ALL the time when I go for runs or exercise outside and I really appreciate the *small* size of it and how easy it it to use (i.e not having to make sure it’s linked to an AppleID account, etc.). It’s just small, basic, and simple to use. So now, when this Nano inevitably dies , my only choice to bring music with me on a run will be to log a bulky iPod Touch along with me?? So dumb (I wouldn’t want an Apple Watch).

thanks again for your help tho lol ! :)

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Answer 4

bobjbkln

Level 6

9,925 points

Feb 7, 2021 8:22 PM in response to Starfish_1995

An iPod touch requires that it be associated with an Apple ID and will not work the way you envision.

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Can I transfer music from my iTunes account to my dad’s new iPod Touch?

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