iPod touch 2012 4th Gen touch, except music... is it useless?

[elf69]

So we are heading into 2020 and my 4th Gen touch (16GB) is old in terms to tech now.

I used to have old apps on there like skype and what not. (yes I know skype not gonna work now)

Is this device now an old relic. I mean my phone has 128gb storage and has my music, photos, etc.
Ipods have had their day now.

Can it be used still with my 2012 macbook pro as like a remote or anything?

Yes it still works as a good music player and internet radio streamer, although the latter is not working so well as IOS 6.1 not supported by some the apps now.

They are not worth anything now, but i'm not interested in that anyway.
I have a couple old speaker docks for it too.

 

[Elitegate]

It is indeed an old relic, but it's still cool to own such iPod. For me it's a lot of nostalgia that comes through. Original iOS 6 look and 30-pin connector + stainless steel back (Steve Jobs design), even though i have always preferred Lightning and an Aluminium Back / Glass because the Stainless Steel scratched like crazy. But that was the original hardware & software design under Steve Jobs, so i do kind of miss it.

The device itself is still good for music (sync your library with iTunes) + you have the headphone jack and the pre-installed iOS 6 stock apps can also be useful to you. (Calendar, Reminders, Clock with Stopwatch, Notes etc...) The Camera however absolutely sucks on the 4th gen (had a 4th gen iPod touch myself back in 2013), but it's an iPod in the end and does a music player also need a camera?

Third-Party App Support is pretty much dead now, however some Apps will offer you a version compatible with iOS 6. Don't focus to much on third-party apps, and just stick to the stock Apps.

Conclusion: For a music player it's still a capable device, for stock apps it will get the job done and for the rest (Third-Party Apps, Safari Browsing, Camera), it's a no. It's just too dated for that.

 

[Slix]

If you still have it downloaded, you can use iTunes Remote on it to control your iTunes library on your MacBook Pro, but I don't believe Apple gives older versions of this app, for some dumb reason.

I have a 4th gen iPod touch that I got when it was brand new in 2010, and used it until mid 2015 when I got the 6th gen. It slowly lost app updates, but everything worked on it until probably 2016 or 17, when a lot of apps no longer let you sign in (Textfree, Snapchat). I recently started using mine more with Bluetooth speakers and headphones, since I never had any of those when it was in constant use back in 2010-2015. I also recently used Twitter on it, and despite it not having modern features (280 characters, polls, etc.), it worked just fine (though a bit slowly, of course). YouTube worked too on m.youtube.com in Safari, and was actually quite speedy. I can't say if this is still the case (since YouTube changes things super often to break older devices...) though.

Some older games are still available for iOS 6, and work very nicely on the original 3.5" screen size. It's a good pocketable game player, especially for some of the 32-bit games that no longer work on iOS 11 on up.

Music of course works very well still. iOS 6 has a great music player (significantly better than modern Apple Music!), and has support for lyrics from iTunes, and playlist creation on device. AirPlay support is on this iPod too, so you can stream your music to an AirPort Express speaker or HomePod as well. Photos from your Mac should still sync as well, and you can also AirPlay those to an Apple TV device.

 

[Jessica Lares]

You would need a newer device/iTunes with the App Store to get it first most likely, but TouchPad by Edovia would work on all of those Macs in your signature (if that iMac is running at the least Tiger).

If not that, then look for something that also takes advantage of macOS's built in Remote Management opposed to a client. 7 years down the line you're going to run into a lot of dead links or the developer will have pulled the version for your macOS.

 

[elf69]

Thanks everyone!

Yeah it's an awesome MP3 player!
and do have music on it just wondered if it could have other uses.

My Imac G4 is 10.3 as I cannot find a copy of 10.4 to install on it. Bought discs off ebay but even after asking they are NOT retail discs as I was told!

I bought the 4th Gen just as the 5th gen came out they did an offer if trade in old ipod get money off a 4th gen.

traded a 3rd gen and a ipod classic as me and my fiancee both bought one.
Still got boxes in spare room somewhere.

 

[cualquiercosa327]

It is a wonderful machine. I own a ipod touch 3 gen 32 gb and it is one of the devices I have given more use.
Sadly recently it stop working, I could buy a new battery but it stops with somekind of kernel panic :/

 

[sracer]

I still have my 64GB 4G iPod Touch. Still works great as a portable media player. Another thing that I like it for is as a quick-n-dirty digital camera (where picture quality is not important). It takes less than 1 second to unlock and take a picture. I found that extreme handy on my travels... I'd take my Panasonic Lumix camera for my primary photos and use the Touch for those times and places where it wasn't practical (due to the time required to set a shot up or conditions that might cause damage).

I even made a little wooden bracket to be able to take 3D photos with it.

 

[retta283]

4th gen Touch was one of the best, even though I remember members here bashing it pretty hard when it was released. The entire September 2010 lineup was bashed here.

I still have an 8GB model, which isn't of much use to me because 8gb is too little for music/video. It was nice back in the day, as I had went for an iPod Touch and dumb phone over the iPhone (AT&T issue). I used it as a YouTube device, I would watch videos in my cab on WiFi whenever there were no fares. Killed many dreadful waiting hours with it. I filmed a few videos using the camera, but it was nothing spectacular. First HD camera I owned though.