Managing multiple devices on 1 computer

We recently purchased ipod shuffles for each of our kids. I have a ipod nano that i've had for years. How do I manage multiple devices through iTunes?

Hi, welcome to Apple Discussions.
*How to use multiple iPods with one computer*
The Apple support document How to use multiple iPods with one computer suggests a number of ways. I use method two (Sync with selected playlists) with a slight twist. Rather than regular playlists I set the grouping field to indicate which users should receive which tracks and create smart playlists based on the content of this field.
e.g.
"Alice's Tracks" is "Grouping contains Alice" + "Kind contains audio"
"Bob's Videos" is "Grouping contains Bob" + "Kind does not contain audio"
Tracks that both Alice & Bob want on their iPods have the grouping set to "Alice/Bob"
etc.
I currently manage our family's five iPods using this system, each getting a different selection to suit their tastes and the capacity of their iPod. An advantage of using the grouping field is that it is stored in file tags (for non-wav audio files anyway) so that it is relatively easy to recreate the playlists should the iTunes library get trashed. Also useful if you move files about manually as playlist membership is preserved when you delete & re-import the tracks.
tt2

Similar Messages

How to connect and manage multiple devices against one computer/account?

I have 2 i phones, 2 i Pads and 2 i Touches and need to maintain unique photos/music/apps on each device. How do I do this using 1 i tunes account and 1 computer?

Open itunes, connect iphone, select what you want, sync, disconnect iphone.
Connect other iphone, select what you want, sync, disconnect iphone.
Connect ipad, select what you want, sync, disconnect ipad.
Connect other ipad, select what you want, sync, disconnect ipad.
Connect ipod, select what you want, sync, disconnect ipod.
Connect other ipod, select what you want, sync, disconnect ipod.

HT1495 how can i sync aps on multiple devices on one computer

Trying to use multiple devices on same computer but don't want the devices to have all the same aps. how can i seperate that without having to check the aps i want each time a sync?

Assuming the photos are in an iPhoto Library on the Air and you want to import them into your iPhoto Library on your Powermac there is an application that can copy all photos in the Air library that are not in your Powermac library into your Powermac library. However, no keywords or other metadeata willl be brought over with them and they will come over in a new event each time you run it. Take a look at: Sync iPhoto libraries | SyncPhotos (formerly iPhotoSync) | Haystack Software.
There's another application, iPhoto Library Manager, that will let you copy events or albums from the Air library to the Powermac library. However, you will have to select the events/albums you want to copy. It's not automatic. This method will copy keywords and other metadata along with the photos.
OT

How do I manage multiple devices on the iCloud

How do I manage multiple devices on the icloud. We have 2 ipods, 2 iphones, ipad and a mac and right now the icloud thinks my son has my phone.

Try going to Settings>Mail,Contacts,Calendars>My Info (in the Contacts section), then select your contact from the list.

Managing multiple devices in a family - iCloud better using Mac or PC?

Anyone using a Mac to manage multiple i devices? We're sharing an iTunes account in the family and are finding limitations using iCloud on our PC. Specifically, can you manage iCloud on each device from a Mac?

The only practicable way to do this is for each person who has an iCloud account to have their own user account on the Mac, They can then sign into iCloud and keep their data separate from everyong else.
It is possible to have a single user account and sign into one iCloud account in System Preferences>iCloud and then sign into subsequent ones in System Preferences>Mail, Contacts and Calendars, but if you do this with a number of accounts it will get messy, and everyone will see everyone else's data and emails.
If you enable 'Fast use switching' you can have several user accounts running at once and simply switch between them (though of course this all takes processing power and RAM). Probably better for everyone to sign in and sign out to their user account when they want to use the Mac - that feels like everyone having their own computer.

Managing Multiple iPods on One Computer

Can I manage three iPods on one computer? One is an iPod Mini and two are Fifth Generation 80 GB iPods, so I need to be able to have at least two different music libraries due to memory space. (Three would be preferable.) Does anyone know if this is possible? Thank you!
Dell Desktop Windows XP

If you are adding a second or more iPod for your own use, just connect the new iPod to your computer and follow the on screen instructions. It will update from your existing library. Depending on the size of your library and the type of iPod you choose you can have it update all songs and playlists, selected playlists only or you can manage it manually.
If the iPods belong to different people, there are basically two ways of using multiple iPods on a computer and these involve:
a) Sharing a single iTunes library and or user account.
b) Creating multiple user accounts and having separate libraries.
Sharing a Library and/or User Account
If you want to share the one library, you can set either or all of the iPods so that they only get updated with only certain playlists (you can update from more than one if you wish):
Loading songs onto iPod automatically - Windows
Choosing the update option "Sync Music - Selected playlists" allows you to create a playlist specifically for the iPod and drag the tracks you want into it. If you tire of the list and want to change it, you just add or remove the songs you don't want. The ones you take out out remain in the library to be used some other time if you choose. You can read more about playlists at these links:
iTunes: Creating playlists of your favorite songs
How to create a Smart Playlist with iTunes
Or you can choose to update any or all of the iPods manually and just drag whatever content you want to them: Managing content manually on iPod
Loading the iPod shuffle differs slightly but it can still be used with the others, for details have a look at this page:
Loading songs onto iPod shuffle - Windows
It's also possible to have multiple libraries in a single account. To create or access a second (or more) library, hold down the Option key (or Shift key in Windows) when launching iTunes 7. In the resulting dialogue you will get the option to create a new library or navigate to the other Library.
Note: You can only have one Library open at a time and iTunes will default to the last library opened if you don't use the keyboard command to choose one. This can prove tricky when using multiple iPods, if you don't use the keyboard command you can risk syncing to the wrong library:
Using multiple iTunes libraries -Windows
Separate User Accounts
Another option is to create a separate User account for each person on your PC or Mac. Different accounts by definition would give you completely separate libraries. Each account has it's own iTunes folder, Library and iTunes Music folder and you load it with CDs etc just as you did with your original one. The iPod can be set to update however the owner chooses, sync all, manual or sync specific playlists
I don't use Windows so I can't give you a step by step on that one, however I can point you to another web page which should help you out if you need it. You can read about Windows user accounts here:
Using Windows XP User Accounts

What is the best way to manage multiple devices with one iMac - different users with seperate itunes accounts or one mac user with different itune logons and libraries?

Hello
I have just purchased an imac which I am very happy with. In our household we also have two iphones (one mine and one husbands) and one ipod (my sons). We all have individual itunes accounts set up on our previous computer (not a mac). We have sepereate apps and music, although there may be the odd occasion where we would like to share a song (if this is possible) across devices.
I am just wondering the best way to manage these devices using the new imac. Should I create individual accounts to logon to the imac, then from within these launch our own itunes accounts and sync our devices with these. Or should I be using one version of itunes, logging on to this with our different itunes usernames and storing things in libraries.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks

I am presuming that we cannot share downloaded apps and music between accounts because of the copyright issue,
Though I'm no copyright lawyer, as long as it's within a household, you can share content among users. Such sharing is, absent specific language preventing it not present in the iTunes Store terms of use, generally considered to be "personal use". So you can share apps and music amongst your users on your computer and with their devices. You just can't give any of that content to friends or relatives who don't live with you.
What I am not clear on, it making sure that this appears in each itunes account - is it easy to find the file storage folders that match the itunes accounts and what would these be?
The iTunes library and files are by default in a user's Home/Music folder. But you don't have to find the folder; in fact putting a file into the folder yourself won't add the file to iTunes. Just drag the file into the iTunes window. iTunes will copy it to the correct location.
Regards.

Managing multiple iPods from one computer

The existing posts re: managing multiple iPods/iTunes accounts from one computer don't seem to address my question. I have been sharing my iPod with the family, and want to get my son his own for his birthday. Can I manage both iPods from the same computer? Does the iTunes software have the ability to "recognize" which iPod unit is attached? I'm dying to get his music out of my iPod ...

Can I manage both iPods from the same computer?
Yes.
I'm dying to get his music out of my iPod ...
Create new playlist and put the music you want in it.
Open iTunes prefs -> iPod and select Automatically update only selected playlists and pick this new playlist.

Methods to managing multiple devices and accounts.

My wife just got a new iPhone. this is added to my iPhone and a few iPod touches for the kids. Between cloud accounts, apple accounts, itunes accounts, . . . What is the best way to manages multiple accounts and what is the differentiation between the different accounts? I am not even sure what accounts are available. Is my Apple account different from my iTunes account? Apple ID seems to be everywhere. So I need my wife to have her own Apple ID, this I believe to be true. But what about syncing to the general iTunes account. We have one iMac with all our music on it. How can she sync with her Mac Book for contacts or what ever and sync to the family iTunes account for music. I am so confused? Help.
Thank you,
Doug

Have a read
http://www.macstories.net/stories/ios-5-icloud-tips-sharing-an-apple-id-with-you r-family/

How can I manage multiple devices in iCloud?

I have 30 devices that I need to manage. I want all devices to be managed under a single iTunes account. Attempting to have a separate itunes account for every device would be a huge headach, and serious time-waster.
I do not care one whit about iTunes on a computer, so please don't point me to the article on using multiple iDevices on a single computer. These devices are not synchronized to computers, unless individual users decide to sync their phone to load up music, photos or whatever. Further, when the phones come into IT I do not care at all for the data stored on the phones. These are business phones. So if a user chooses to put anything on the phone, that user is responsible for backing it up / reloading if we have to wipe it.
So, with those criteria -- HOW do I manage all of these devices on a single iCloud account? Most specifically, I am trying to get "Find My iPhone" to work, but it says that all devices are off-line. I have my assigned phone in my hand, turned on, and using the internet.
In truth, I actually don't care about anything except the Find My iPhone functionality -- we do not sync our phones with iCloud.

The following link has instructions: Manage your iCloud storage - Apple Support

Can I manage multiple devices from a single iTunes account?

Currently have (2) iPhones, and iPOD and planning on acquiring a iPAD Can use a single iTunes account to manage all of these devices?

Here are some tips: How to use multiple iPods, iPads, or iPhones with one computer, http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1495

How do I use iCloud if I have multiple devices using one computer/library, but I don't want contacts, calender, etc. to be shared? Can each device have it's own Apple ID and still pull music, apps, etc. from one library?

Both my mother, father, and I recently got iPhones. We've all had iPods in the past and been able to survive under a single Apple ID/iCloud account. Now that we all have iPhones, we've heard a couple horror stories about parents and kids contacts and calenders merging when they are registered under the same Apple ID. What steps should we take to avoid this problem? We would still like to be able to share the same music, apps, videos, etc. If we all get individual Apple IDs, can we still all use the same iTunes library we have on our computer without any pitfalls?
Thank you! A response would be much appreciated(:

You can share the same Apple ID for purchasng form the iTunes and app stores without any problems, but you should all used separate iCloud accounts with separate Apple IDs. (You are not required to use the same ID for iCloud and other services as you do for the iTunes store.) This will prevent you from ending up with merged data. You should also use separate Apple IDs for iMessage and FaceTime or you will end up getting each other's text messages and FaceTime calls.
This article may be of interest: http://www.macstories.net/stories/ios-5-icloud-tips-sharing-an-apple-id-with-you r-family/, as well as this video: http://macmost.com/setting-up-multiple-ios-devices-for-messages-and-facetime.htm l.

How do i manage multiple devices and multiple libraries?

Hello,
I have 3 computers (mine, my mothers, and my son's). I have 3 ipads, 2 iphones, and 3 ipod touch's that I need to manage and organize.
I want to take all the "kid stuff" off of my ipad, ipod, and iphone, and my mother's ipad and iphone, and put them on my son's ipad and ipod. Son's ipod used to belong to my mother, so it was started with her itunes account. I just synced it with his computer, but had to use her itunes account info to do it. Son's ipad is new and will be delivered soon. My 3 devices have been synced with my computer and my itunes account. Mothers 3 devices are synced with her computer. I just created another itunes account on my son's computer.
How can I get all this data moved around and put on the correct devices and the correct computers? OR, is there an easier way to do this that I don't know about? I'm pretty computer savvy, but my head hurts thinking about how to try to do all this.
I also have a Stora device that I would prefer to have all the media live on, rather than 3 individual laptops.
All of the ipads are generation 1, the phones are 3s and 4 (soon to be 4 and 4s), the ipods are all touch, but do not have cameras, and all the computers are window's based.
Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Thank you,
Sarina

Try going to Settings>Mail,Contacts,Calendars>My Info (in the Contacts section), then select your contact from the list.

Syncing multiple devices to one computer

We have one mac book, two iphones and an ipad and are having trouble syncing them all to the one computer. I have set up a different user account (with the itunes library shared across all users) for one iphone and ipad (who belong to the one person). However when we connect these devices it states that they have already been synced with an itunes account and will need to erase it to do so. They iphone was set up with an old computer and the new ipad through icloud. I have selected to manually manage the music (both with the old and new computer) but itunes keeps telling me it will have to erase the iphone/ipad to sync with this computer - all we really want to do is put music on the devices but definitely don't want to loose the contacts and all the other information.
Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks

Iphone will sync or manually manage with one and only one computer/library at a time. Syncing or manually managing to another will indeed erase the current content this is the design of the iphone.
If you have your contacts on the new computer ( you shold have moved them along with everything else to the new computer), then nothing will be lost.

Managing multiple devices on one account

Where can I get info about managing my children's devices under my account? My daughter has an iPad mini and my son has an iPod. They are currently sincing together...when my daughter gets a message, it is also going to my son's iPod. How can I get them to be separate, but managed under my iTunes account?

I think this is a good starting point:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5114
If it doesn't answer all your questions (especially the part about "managed under my iTunes account), I suggest contacting Apple ID Support:
http://www.apple.com/support/appleid/

Managing multiple devices on 1 computer

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for