iPhone Secrets

Chapter 4

Wrangling iTunes (While Maintaining Your Sanity)

In This Chapter

• Understanding how to use iTunes effectively
• Working iTunes activations across multiple systems
• Configuring activations and deactivations
• Managing iTunes syncs
• Circumventing time-consuming processes
• Using one iPhone with multiple machines

Apple has gone to great lengths in order to remove the PC (or Mac, for that matter) from the list of necessary items when first setting up an iPhone. With the introduction of iOS 5 (and continued in iOS 6), the idea of “PC-free” was not only introduced, but also forced to the forefront. Think of it less as an option, and more like the new regime. Not that I’m complaining—making the iPhone more of a standalone device can mean only good things for mobile professionals, not to mention those who just aren’t interested in learning the intricacies of a computer operating system in order to properly set up their iOS-based device. Despite the remarkable efforts, though, an iPhone’s potential is still only fully realized with the help of a partner, and as with most right-hand men, iTunes is both a blessing and a curse at times. This chapter will help you tame a necessary evil, and show you how to make iTunes work with you (as opposed to the obvious alternative).

Mastering the Initial iTunes Setup

When Apple initially launched iTunes on Windows, it aptly proclaimed that “Hell Had Frozen Over.” By bringing the liaison used with every modern iPod and iPhone to the archrival operating ...