The App Store application, available in all versions of iOS from 2.0 onwards, allows users to browse and download applications from a single online repository (hosted by Apple) with the iTunes Store. The only official way to obtain third-party applications for the iPod Touch is through Apple's App Store, which is a branch of iTunes Store.
An Apple ID account created without a credit card can be used to get free content, and gift cards can be used to pay for apps instead of using a credit card. With this account one may download music and videos from the iTunes Store, apps from the App Store, or books from the Apple Books Store. To purchase content on the iPod Touch, the user must create an Apple ID or have an existing account.
New iPods bought after Octohave iOS 5.0 or later preloaded, and can be set up wirelessly, without the need of a PC or Mac. Downloading apps or media from the iTunes Store and App Store does not require a computer, though media not purchased through the iTunes Store still has to be added through a computer. IPod Touch units running iOS 4 or earlier require a Mac or PC to be set up for the first time. At WWDC in June 2010, as of iOS 4, Steve Jobs announced that Apple had "found a way" to make subsequent OS upgrades available free to iPod Touch owners.
Apple's position was that they could add features for free to the iPhone because the revenue from it is accounted for on a subscription basis under accounting rules, rather than as a one time payment (as iPhones were often sold with a carrier contract).
Apple received criticism for this decision and for excluding certain features from the iPod Touch software that the iPhone included.
This makes the iPod Touch fifth generation the first iPod Touch to support four major versions of iOS.Įarly iOS updates prior to iOS 4 have been paid for owners of supported iPod Touch models. On June 8, 2015, it was announced at the WWDC that the iPod Touch fifth generation would support iOS 9, along with other A5 Chip devices. The fifth generation iPod Touch gained the ability to take panoramic photos, a feature shared with the iPhone 4S and iPhone 5. iOS 6, which was released on Septemfor the fourth and fifth generation iPod Touch models, contains 200 new features including Passbook, Facebook integration and Apple Maps. Apple limited some features, most notably the voice control system Siri, to the iPhone. In June 2011, iOS 5, the fifth major release of iOS software, was announced at Apple's WWDC 2011, which added notification, messaging and reminder features. From launch, the iPod Touch was described by journalists as an "iPhone without the phone", and each iPod Touch model to date has been introduced with the same release of iOS as the contemporary iPhone model. Apple operates online stores, allowing users to buy and directly download music, videos and third-party software. Users type on a virtual keyboard displayed on the screen. The iPod Touch runs Apple's Unix-based iOS operating system used on the iPhone, and includes bundled software to browse the Internet, view maps, send and receive email, view media. Apple dropped support for the seventh-generation iPod Touch following the release of iOS 16, ending software support for iPod Touch lineup in the iPod product line as a whole. On May 10, 2022, Apple discontinued the iPod Touch, effectively ending the iPod product line as a whole. The iPod Touch was the last product in Apple's iPod product line after the discontinuation of the iPod Nano and iPod Shuffle on July 27, 2017, after which Apple revised the storage and pricing for the iPod Touch with 32 and 128 GB of storage.
An exception was the fifth generation, in which the low-end (16 GB) model was initially sold without a rear-facing camera and in a single color. IPod Touch models were sold by storage space and color all models of the same generation typically offered identical features, performance, and operating system upgrades. The final generation of iPod Touch, released on May 28, 2019, is the seventh-generation model. The iPod Touch was introduced in 2007 some 100 million iPod Touch units were sold by May 2013. It is similar in design to the iPhone, but it connects to the Internet only through Wi-Fi and does not use cellular network data, so it is not a smartphone. As with other iPod models, the iPod Touch can be used as a music player and a handheld gaming device, but can also be used as a digital camera, a web browser and for messaging. with a touchscreen-controlled user interface. The iPod Touch (stylized as iPod touch) is a discontinued line of iOS-based mobile devices designed and marketed by Apple Inc.