Basic question on syncing.

I have an iPod touch that I used to use quite a bit. I have a bunch of apps on the device. I stopped using it so much when my parents unexpectedly bought me an Android smartphone. However, there are soooo many cool apps not available on Android and so now I've decided to start playing around on my iPod again.

That said, it has been about a year, and I have changed computers. I have downloaded iTunes on my new computer. I purchased an app using some gift cards, and now my iTunes account has one app in the library (whilst my iPod has numerous apps). When I tried to sync the devices to get the new app on my iPod, it is either A) get new app on iPod but delete all other content on iPod or B) do not sync (meaning I keep all my other apps, but also not install newly acquired app).

What do I do to correct this?

 

You'll want to transfer purchases from the iPod before doing any syncing. Connect the iPod, dismiss any messages that appear > Click File > Transfer Purchases. This should prompt you to sign in with your AppleID and begin the transfer once you've done that.

Beyond that, since it is a new library, you will need to do that erase and sync but you will at least have all of your apps on the computer.

 

100 percent correct