Newbie owner of 2nd gen iPod Touch

[k6578]

I've been using Mac and OS X for years. I recently got a second hand 2nd generation iPod Touch from a friend and so now I have the MacBook Pro, iPod Touch and dumb phone combination for college. First time having an iOS device.

The highest my Touch can go is iOS 4.2.1 which means I can't download the apps for Facebook or Twitter. For FB, I've added a bookmark to the home screen and I've set it so that FB emails me (separate address from my personal one) every time there's a notification and that will show up on the Mail icon on the Touch. So far it works I guess.. Any other ways?

And for Notes, there's no way to sync wirelessly is there? So when I sync it with iTunes, where do the Notes go on the computer?

Also, how do you make screen caps?

Any other tips for a newbie? What apps are there that works with 4.2.1?

Thanks!

[CrickettGrrrl]

Hi!

I still use my 2nd Gen iPod touch (& dumb phone). Since I got it in 2009 I keep using older versions of apps for Facebook, etc. which i've added over the past few years (& not updated) and it still works fine. I'm not sure if you could possibly get the older versions any more.

Anyway, to make a screen shot, press the top button & the Home button simultaneously, the screen cap will be automatically added to your camera/picture roll.

Look for your notes in a folder in the sidebar of Mail on your MacBook. I often email a note to myself since I don't use syncing.

Even though it's pretty old now as tech things go, it can still do a lot. Handy tips: Double-tapping the space bar adds a period quickly. Holding various keys on the keyboard reveals variations, you slide your finger up & over to choose. Example, you're typing in an address, holding the period will display a menu with .com, .net., .edu etc. Or hold the e and see a menu with é etc.

Touching the very top bar of the screen will scroll up to the top very quickly if you're reading a long article.

See an image on the net that you want to save? Hold your finger on it until a menu pops up, choose save image, it's added to camera roll. Holding your finger on a word will bring up the dictionary menu, etc.

Tons more stuff really, have fun exploring!

[Madd the Sane]

Notes are, on Lion and later, kept in a separate Notes app. As I haven't used my second-gen iPod Touch since I gave it to my mom, I don't know if the notes sync will still work on Lion or later. It should, but I can't guarantee it.

[k6578]

Originally Posted by CrickettGrrrl

Hi!

I still use my 2nd Gen iPod touch (& dumb phone). Since I got it in 2009 I keep using older versions of apps for Facebook, etc. which i've added over the past few years (& not updated) and it still works fine. I'm not sure if you could possibly get the older versions any more.

Anyway, to make a screen shot, press the top button & the Home button simultaneously, the screen cap will be automatically added to your camera/picture roll.

Look for your notes in a folder in the sidebar of Mail on your MacBook. I often email a note to myself since I don't use syncing.

Even though it's pretty old now as tech things go, it can still do a lot. Handy tips: Double-tapping the space bar adds a period quickly. Holding various keys on the keyboard reveals variations, you slide your finger up & over to choose. Example, you're typing in an address, holding the period will display a menu with .com, .net., .edu etc. Or hold the e and see a menu with é etc.

Touching the very top bar of the screen will scroll up to the top very quickly if you're reading a long article.

See an image on the net that you want to save? Hold your finger on it until a menu pops up, choose save image, it's added to camera roll. Holding your finger on a word will bring up the dictionary menu, etc.

Tons more stuff really, have fun exploring!

Thanks for the great tips!

Agree, it's still a very useful device even though it's "old".

Originally Posted by Madd the Sane

Notes are, on Lion and later, kept in a separate Notes app. As I haven't used my second-gen iPod Touch since I gave it to my mom, I don't know if the notes sync will still work on Lion or later. It should, but I can't guarantee it.

I'm still using Snow Leopard haha. I'll keep that in mind if/when I upgrade.

[CrickettGrrrl]

Great! (re SL) Then you'll def find your notes in Mail.

Trying to remember more tips....Ummm, off the top of my head: in Contacts you can hold your finger on an address and then Maps will open up and pinpoint it. Then you can tap the tiny icons on either side of the pin to see Google Street View or get driving instructions.

You'll enjoy discovering all these layers, so much stuff!

[k6578]

Originally Posted by CrickettGrrrl

Holding your finger on a word will bring up the dictionary menu, etc.

This one I can't seem to get. Do I have to install a dictionary app first?

[ChrisMan287]

Jailbreak it, get Installous and download/install older versions of apps that you want.

[Rockoar]

I'm still using my 2nd gen iPod touch too. It's quite useless when it comes to download newer apps as it won't support pretty much any but I still am able to surf the web and use it for twitter whenever I find a Wi-Fi connection out there.

I have the official Facebook app + Tweetbot, which I download a while I go so I guess that's the only reason I'm still able to use them since my iPod Touch 'forced' me to update to the latest iOS version it is compatible with.


*I think jailbraking it will be a good option shall you need to download older versions of apps since there's no other way to get them now. It's a good way to fight back the programmed obsolescence of the product.

[CrickettGrrrl]

Originally Posted by k6578

This one I can't seem to get. Do I have to install a dictionary app first?

Arrrggghhhhhh!! Sorry about that! --Getting confused, it works on my iPad --which runs a newer version iOS. Duh.

Since I have older apps which still work for the most part, I don't feel the need to jailbreak --but reading some of the other comments, maybe you should consider that.

[k6578]

Right now I'm just mainly using my touch to check email, calendar and facebook and to surf on safari. Thats pretty much all i do on it along with music and videos. So I don't think I need to jailbreak it at this moment.

[Menneisyys2]

Originally Posted by CrickettGrrrl

Arrrggghhhhhh!! Sorry about that! --Getting confused, it works on my iPad --which runs a newer version iOS. Duh.

Since I have older apps which still work for the most part, I don't feel the need to jailbreak --but reading some of the other comments, maybe you should consider that.

Yup, indeed it needs to be done as Apple artificially phased out the otherwise, even with 4.2.1, perfectly usable iPod touch 2 (and the iPhone 3G - but, of course, the iPhone 3G is useless on 4.2.1) by not letting developers compile apps for iOS versions less than 4.3.

And all this less than two years after finishing selling the iPt 2G. It was one of the speediest rendering an old platform useless, I'd say. Very lame and greedy of Apple.

[AbacabMR]

Originally Posted by Menneisyys2

Yup, indeed it needs to be done as Apple artificially phased out the otherwise, even with 4.2.1, perfectly usable iPod touch 2 (and the iPhone 3G - but, of course, the iPhone 3G is useless on 4.2.1) by not letting developers compile apps for iOS versions less than 4.3.

And all this less than two years after finishing selling the iPt 2G. It was one of the speediest rendering an old platform useless, I'd say. Very lame and greedy of Apple.

+1

My 2nd gen fills my needs very well... and little by little the apps become 'obsolete' as I recently received a notification from a newspaper app that is was no longer supported and I needed to upgrade to the newer version of that app... the new app just isn't compatible with 4.2.1...

If it gets to the point where I cant use the apps I really need, I'll probably migrate to Android... all relevant apps are usually supported on both platforms anyway.

[iphonedude2008]

You should jailbreak. Especially on a 2nd gen. You will get a lot of cool tweaks and apps.

[burgundyyears]

Originally Posted by AbacabMR

+1

My 2nd gen fills my needs very well... and little by little the apps become 'obsolete' as I recently received a notification from a newspaper app that is was no longer supported and I needed to upgrade to the newer version of that app... the new app just isn't compatible with 4.2.1...

If it gets to the point where I cant use the apps I really need, I'll probably migrate to Android... all relevant apps are usually supported on both platforms anyway.

Word of warning, Android devices have even shorter half-lives than iOS devices when it comes to software. I'd like to see a single non-phone Android device that is still getting any OS updates 2.5 years after it has been released as my iPT 4G gets (let alone at the same exact time the brand new model gets updated) - ones that don't involve hacking bootloaders, dodgy online ROM downloads with broken features, etc. As far as I can tell, they don't exist. You're lucky if you get any updates for those devices.

ETA: Case in point, the Samsung Galaxy Player 4.0 came out about a year ago with Android 2.3. The best you can update to now appears to be some sort of Android 4.0 hack where a bunch a basic features don't work yet and said update is totally unsupported by Samsung (4.0 not even being the current Android version). And this device is over a year newer than my Touch! Especially for the non-phone Android devices, it's just expected that if you want software updates, you're going to be dropping a couple hundred dollars every year for a current Android device. No thanks.

[AbacabMR]

@Burgundyyears

I will definitely look closer into that. My understanding is that an Android device does not automatically get a OS update ... unless it's from Google (case in point the new-and-non-available Nexus 4).

It is indeed a downer... thanks for the heads up on that one.

I was thinking about this yesterday and I'm not the type to tweak and dabble into the OS ... the iPod seem to provide more of a comprehensive environment.

It's just that Android seem so 'easy' and it does support FLAC natively... And there is not that 'closed environment' approach. If there would be a 'Jelly bean' iPod-like device (non-phone for me) from Google, I would probably go for that. I almost considered buying the Nexus 4 and simply use the phone in a 'pay as you go' plan that cost about 100$ per year for my own usage (very very rare).

If only it was available...

[touchipods]

Originally Posted by AbacabMR

@Burgundyyears

I will definitely look closer into that. My understanding is that an Android device does not automatically get a OS update ... unless it's from Google (case in point the new-and-non-available Nexus 4).

It is indeed a downer... thanks for the heads up on that one.

I was thinking about this yesterday and I'm not the type to tweak and dabble into the OS ... the iPod seem to provide more of a comprehensive environment.

It's just that Android seem so 'easy' and it does support FLAC natively... And there is not that 'closed environment' approach. If there would be a 'Jelly bean' iPod-like device (non-phone for me) from Google, I would probably go for that. I almost considered buying the Nexus 4 and simply use the phone in a 'pay as you go' plan that cost about 100$ per year for my own usage (very very rare).

If only it was available...

Look into Sony Walkman F or Z series powered by Android. Z series is at 2.3.5 while the F 4.0.4 firmware. Z should get 4.0 in the near future. Perhaps both would get 4.1 (Jelly Bean) eventually.

[k6578]

Had some time on my hands so I decided to jailbreak it and now I've successfully installed the older Facebook app and it works.

Thanks for all the suggestions everyone!

[k6578]

Question about the Facebook app, how come it doesn't show the red number for notifications on the home screen automatically? It only updates when I open the app. Is this normal for this version, or how can I get it to update automatically? I have all the Push settings on but it's not working either.

Edit: It works now

[adildacoolset]

Originally Posted by iphonedude2008

You should jailbreak. Especially on a 2nd gen. You will get a lot of cool tweaks and apps.

I agree. Especially since apple don't update it anymore