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iTunes Store Tutorial
iTunes is a powerful media browser/player that comes with every mac but is also available for windows users. Except the basics that a music software can do, iTunes has a lot of other things that can offer to a user.
Through the iTunes store, for instance, where you can browse, download and/or buy almost any content of digital media. More specific, you can buy songs and/or albums, you can download podcasts, you can browse and get educational digital content from iTunesU section and if you have an iDevice(iPod, iPhone, iPad etc.) you can browse and download apps through the iTunes app store. Depending on the country, the iTunes store may give you more options such as movies and tv shows rentals.
Apple, in the last updates of iTunes extended its capabilities by introducing Ping which is a social network for music.
So, iTunes is an application for playing and organizing your music and videos but it’s also a store in your computer that has everything you need for your iDevices and not only.
In this tutorial i will show you how to use the iTunes store. I decided to write this topic because i see people buying an iPod/iPhone and they really are very disappointed because they don’t know how to use iTunes or they find it hard.
First of all you download iTunes from Apple’s homepage (pc and mac). iTunes setup includes quicktime. That means, installing iTunes will install quicktime also, because iTunes uses quicktime plugins for its reasons. After downloading you proceed with the appropriate steps for installing it.
Now that we have iTunes installed, let’s go and open it for the first time!
Wow..beautiful interface..right?
In the left panel you see a list that includes your Library, the Store, Genius playlist and some default playlists..
If you want to choose what your Library will show, go to iTunes preferences and in general tab check the items you want to see. Select iTunes store. You can now start browsing all the music digital content.
At the top of the iTunes store homepage you can see a black bar with menus. According to the country you are, the menus might be different (there might be more or less options). This is for the greek iTunes store. Through the menus you can browse all the digital content that the iTunes store of your country can offer. You can go to a store of another country by navigating to the lower right corner of the iTunes store page and click a small flag icon. Then, iTunes will load a page with all the countries where Apple has an iTunes store.
Ok! nice interface and nice everything...But how i download all this content??
In order to download or buy things from the iTunes store, you have to create an iTunes account. There are two choices for that.
The first choice is to create an account with a credit card if you want to buy content.
The second choice, which is a hidden one (and i think Apple deliberately kept it hidden), is to create an account without a credit card if you want to just download things for free.
If you select the second option you can anytime add a credit card in your account.
•Create iTunes account - Option one
In the upper right corner in the black bar of the iTunes store page you can see a “sign in” link.
After clicking it, a window pops - up and asks for your user information. If you have account you just type your email and password and you sign in. If you don’t, click on the “create new account”.
Then, you click continue in the welcome screen and accept the terms. The next screen that shows up, asks for your personal information. Make sure you complete all the fields and give a valid email address because they will sent you a confirmation email when you are done.
After that, is the payment method screen. You select your credit card and you enter some additional information that is needed in order to use your card and you give your address (enter actual information).
We are almost done...After the payment method screen, iTunes will ask you to verify your account by sending you a mail in the email address you entered earlier. Visit you mail account and check your inbox for the new mail iTunes sent. Click on the “verify now” link to verify your account. iTunes will pop up, click on the “verify address” and then on the “return to iTunes” buttons. This last step will take you back to an iTunes store page where you can see tutorials about iTunes or you just click on done to go to the iTunes store homepage.
Now that we have created our account we can sign in and start downloading or buying anything.
•Create iTunes account - Option two
With this type of account you can browse anything and download only free items. But, you can any time add a credit card in your account by going in the account preferences.
To create this type of account select the iTunes store from the left panel on the iTunes and navigate to the App Store from the menu in the top black bar. When iTunes loads App store page, find on the right a list of the “Free Apps” and click “see all”. Browse the top free apps and when you find the one you want, click on the free button. Then the same window as before will pop up and click “create new account”. Follow the same instructions as before until you get to the payment method.
In this screen now, in the payment method will be another one option among with the other options. This option is the “none” radio button. Check this one and continue the rest as before.
Now you can download all the free items from the iTunes store. If you want to add a credit card then you press your account name (upper right corner) give your password and press view account.
Then in the next screen select “edit payment information” and make the appropriate changes!
Κυριακή, 14 Νοεμβρίου 2010