Organizing your music
In iTunes, you can organize songs and other items into lists, called playlists, in any way you want. For example, you can create playlists with songs to listen to while exercising, or playlists with songs for a particular mood.
You can also create Smart Playlists that update automatically based on rules you define. When you add songs to iTunes that match the rules, they automatically get added to the Smart Playlist.
You can turn on Genius in iTunes and create playlists of songs that go great together, based on a song you select. Genius can also organize your iTunes library automatically by sorting and grouping songs into collections called Genius Mixes.
You can create as many playlists as you like, using any of the songs in your iTunes library. You can’t create a playlist on iPod shuffle when it’s disconnected from iTunes. Adding a song to a playlist or later removing it doesn’t remove it from your iTunes library.
When you listen to playlists on iPod shuffle, all playlists created in iTunes behave the same way. You can choose them by name on your iPod shuffle.
To learn how to set up playlists in iTunes, open iTunes and choose Help > iTunes Help.
Using Genius in iTunes
Genius finds songs in your iTunes library that go great together and uses them to create Genius playlists and Genius Mixes. Genius is a free service, but you need an iTunes Store account to use it. If you don’t have an account, you can set one up when you turn on Genius.
A Genius playlist is based on a song that you select. iTunes then compiles a Genius playlist of songs that go great with the one you selected.
Genius Mixes are preselected compilations of songs that go great together. They’re created for you by iTunes, using songs from your iTunes library. Each Genius Mix is designed to provide a different listening experience each time you play it. iTunes creates up to 12 Genius Mixes, based on the variety of music in your iTunes library.
To create Genius playlists and Genius Mixes, you first need to turn on Genius in iTunes. For information, open iTunes and choose Help > iTunes Help.
Genius playlists and Genius Mixes created in iTunes can be synced to iPod shuffle like any other iTunes playlist. You can’t add Genius Mixes to iPod shuffle manually.
Connecting iPod shuffle to a computer for the first time
The first time you connect iPod shuffle to your computer after installing iTunes, iTunes opens and the Setup Assistant appears. If iTunes doesn’t open automatically, open it yourself.
Use the iPod shuffle Setup Assistant:
1Enter a name for iPod shuffle. This name will appear in the device list in the iTunes window.
2 Select your settings.
Automatic syncing is selected by default. If you keep this option selected and Genius is turned on, iTunes syncs Genius Mixes from your iTunes library to iPod shuffle. If Genius isn’t turned on, iTunes fills iPod shuffle with songs from your iTunes library and places them in the “All Songs” playlist. For more information about automatic and manual syncing, see the next section.
Chapter 3 Setting up iPod shuffle | 11 |