How to

How to Use iTunes Match: The Complete Walkthrough

Jeff Benjamin ∙ November 14, 2011

After a little bit of a delay, iTunes Match was released to the public today. iTunes Match is a service that's built into the latest version of iTunes. It lets you match, upload, and play music on a variety of different devices.

This is an extremely cool service that allows you to take your entire iTunes library with you on the go, even if you have a measly 8GB iPhone.

Unfortunately, we don't think that Apple has done a very good job explaining the full benefits of iTunes Match. For that reason, we've created this ultimate iTunes Match tutorial, FAQ, and video walkthrough...

How to Enable iTunes Match On Your iPhone or iPad

Alex Heath ∙ November 14, 2011

Apple released iTunes Match today, and users can now access their entire music library in iCloud on any authenticated iDevice running iOS 5. On the iPhone and iPad, iTunes Match can be easily enabled in the device's Settings.

Once enabled, iTunes Match will allow you to download and start playing any uploaded track at any given time on multiple iDevices.

How to Enable iTunes Match on Apple TV 2 [Video]

Jeff Benjamin ∙ November 2, 2011

So by now you've probably heard the news: Apple has released iTunes 10.5.1 beta 2, and along with it comes iTunes Match Support for Apple TV 2.

But how do you go about enabling iTunes match on the Apple TV? It's actually much easier than one would expect.

Check out our video demonstration of iTunes Match on Apple TV inside...

How to Fix iBooks on a Jailbroken iOS 5 Device

Jeff Benjamin ∙ October 25, 2011

Yesterday, a book about Steve Jobs was released; perhaps you've heard of it?

Sadly, if you're an iBooks reader with a jailbroken iOS 5 device, you won't be doing too much catching up on the late Apple CEO's affairs, or otherwise.

That's because iBooks crashes on iOS 5 devices that are jailbroken, rendering it quite useless. Fortunately, there is a workaround. Check out the video tutorial inside, for an in-depth walkthrough on the fix...

How to Get Ready for iOS 5 and iCloud Tomorrow

Alex Heath ∙ October 11, 2011

Apple is finally releasing iOS 5.0 and iCloud to the public tomorrow. Both products was initially previewed to developers at Apple's WWDC conference this past June.

After 7 consecutive developer betas, iOS 5 reached its final Gold Master version on October 4th. The public version drops tomorrow with iCloud. It's time to get ready...

How to Downgrade iTunes and Fix the “iTunes Library.itl” Cannot Be Read Error

Jeff Benjamin ∙ September 21, 2011

So, you downloaded and installed the iTunes beta for iTunes Match without first thinking about the consequences. No sweat.

If you've since tried to downgrade your iTunes beta back to a publicly released version of iTunes, resulting in the horrible ‘”iTunes Library.itl” cannot be read because it was created by a newer version of iTunes’ error message, don't succumb to tears just yet; we've got a fix that might just work.

Save the precious iTunes library that you've spent hours upon hours massaging to perfection, and tune in to the following video tutorial...

How to Fix the iPhone’s Dreaded Recovery Loop and Downgrade Back to iOS 4.3.3

Jeff Benjamin ∙ September 21, 2011

If you're the type of person who likes to sell your current iPhone and use the funds to upgrade to the latest and greatest iPhone, then you've been there before. Restoring your iPhone to stock, and cleaning it up, is essential if you want to ensure you get top dollar for your device.

Thankfully, Cody already covered quite a few bases in his article, here. But what if you're still having issues downgrading your iPhone, or getting it back to stock after jailbreaking? I know a lot of you have personally told me about your struggles with the iPhone's dreaded recovery loop.

If you're having issues downgrading your iPhone back to iOS 4.3.3, issues with iTunes Error (1), and/or you're stuck in the recovery loop, and can't get out, this video tutorial should fix what ails you...

How to Enable Automatic Downloads in iTunes 10.3

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 2, 2018

Although the average consumer has to wait a month or more to get their paws on the new Mac operating system, and twice that long for iOS 5, there is one cool new feature Apple unveiled this week that users can take advantage of right away.

The iDevice community all let out a synchronous sigh of relief on Monday as Apple announced the new Automatic Download feature for iTunes and iDevices. While there are some limitations, the feature can help you cut the cord between your iPhone and your computer.

The built-in utility instantly recognizes when you download media on an iDevice or desktop, and automatically pushes that media out to your other devices. Once enabled, any app, song or iBook title you download on one device, will automatically push out to your other gadgets.

Essentially, any iDevice with iOS 4.3.3 or computer with the latest version of iTunes qualifies for the new feature, as long as they are all using a common iTunes account. It doesn't take much to turn on Automatic Downloads and it can be a real timesaver. Check out this quick tutorial:

How to redeem a promo code in the App Store or iTunes

Sébastien Page ∙ Updated September 28, 2020

We sometimes do app giveaways and every time we do one of those, there is someone to ask me how to redeem the promo codes. I really thought that we had already written a post about that, but after doing a quick research, well, turns out we haven't.

In this post, I will show you how to quickly and easily redeem promo code, either from iTunes or the App Store, directly on your iPhone.

Everything You Need to Know About iOS 4.3.3 Jailbreak

Cody Lee ∙ May 7, 2011

Apple released iOS 4.3.3 (4.2.8 for Verizon iPhones) last Wednesday, less than three weeks after the previous software update. The new firmware included a fix for the location tracking file that Apple has gotten into so much water over (is that considered Cider?).

Chances are, most of you didn't consider 4.3.3 big enough to update from 4.3.2. But with the Verizon iPad 2 problem fixed and the infamous tracking bug patched, we may not see another update until iOS 5 is released. If that's the case, then this will likely be the last jailbreak for several months, so why not update?

How to Create Free Ringtones for Your iPhone

Guest Author ∙ August 29, 2010

You either love custom ringtones or you invariably loathe them. You can put me down in the latter category. Nevertheless there are many who love hearing a portion of their favorite jam when someone calls, or assigning certain songs that fit the personality of a specific contact in their address book. If you fit into the group that loves custom alerts, you're in luck.

How to Downgrade Your iPhone From iOS 4 to 3.1.3

Sébastien Page ∙ June 28, 2010

Every time Apple releases a new firmware, they stop signing the older one, which means you technically can't downgrade to a previous firmware by restoring. Fortunately, if you have your ECID SHSH on file on Saurik's servers, then you might be able to downgrade your iPhone from iOS 4 to 3.1.3 or earlier.

The trick is to make iTunes believe it is requesting a signature from Apple's servers while it will actually be talking to Saurik's servers.

Downgrading from iOS 4 to 3.1.3 does require you saved your SHSH on Saurik's servers. If you haven't, then you can't downgrade.

Downgrade from iPhone iOS 4 to firmware 3.1.3

Step 1 for Windows: Make sure you are logged in with administrator privileges. Launch Notepad and navigate to C:/Windows/System32/drivers/etc. Add the following at the very bottom of the file: 74.208.10.249 gs.apple.com

Now save the file back where you found it.

Step 1 for Mac: In Finder, select Go To Folder, and enter /etc. Search the hosts file and right click on it to open with TextEdit. Add the following at the very bottom of the file: 74.208.10.249 gs.apple.com

Click Save As to save the edited file on your desktop. Name the file hosts, and make sure to uncheck the box that says "if no extension is provide, use .txt".

Now drag and drop this edited file to /etc.

Step 2: Download the firmware you want to downgrade to from here.

Step 3: Put your iPhone in DFU mode. Launch iTunes and plug your iPhone in. Press and hold the home and and sleep button together for 10 seconds. After exactly 10 seconds, release the sleep button while still holding the home button. Keep holding the home button until iTunes tells you it has found an iPhone in recovery mode.

Step 4: Now hold the Option key (Mac only) or Shift key (Windows only) while clicking the Restore button in iTunes. A dialog box will pop up and you’ll be able to choose the firmware you downloaded in step 2.

Step 5: At this point, some of you will be fine. The iPhone will restore without any problem. However, some of you might end up in recovery mode again. It's ok. We just need to kick the iPhone out of recovery mode. To do so, download and launch iReb for Windows or iRecovery (both Mac and Windows).

Welcome back to 3.1.3!

[image Life Hacker]