iPod & iTunes: The Missing Manual, Fourth Edition

Using the iPod Shuffle

Through a simple interface of colored lights, buttons, and a switch on the back, your iPod Shuffle responds to your commands and tells you what it’s up to. The circular control ring on the front of the Shuffle (Figure 3-1) has the familiar and buttons on the left and right sides that let you go backward or forward through the songs stored on the player. At the top and bottom of the ring are the volume controls: a plus sign (+) for louder and a minus sign (−) for softer.

The all-important button is right in the center of the control ring. Push the button to play a song and push it again to pause the track. Tapping any of the controls on the front of the Shuffle causes the little green light within the case to flicker in acknowledgement that you’re pushing its buttons.

Full-size iPods have a separate switch that deactivates all the buttons temporarily, keeping the iPod on or off and at the same volume even if the player’s controls get bumped accidentally. There’s no separate Hold switch on the Shuffle, but you can put it in Hold mode just the same by pressing the button for 3 seconds. Turn off the Hold mode by pressing again for another 3 seconds.

As shown in ...