iPhone: The Missing Manual

Chapter 10. iTunes for iPhoners

For the five or six people out there who've never heard of it, iTunes is Apple's multimedia, multifunction jukebox software. It's been loading music onto iPods since the turn of the 21st century. And without it, you won't get very far with your iPhone.

That's because the iTunes program is your iPhone's loading dock, administrative department, media supplier, and best friend. Most people use iTunes to manipulate their digital movies, photos, and music, from converting songs off a CD into iPhone-ready music files to buying songs, audio books and video online. But you, as an iPhone owner, need it even more urgently, because you can't activate your iPhone or sign up for AT&T service without it.

If you already have a copy of iTunes on your Mac or PC, you may have encountered a warning that iTunes wants to update itself to at least version 7.3. With a click on the OK button, you can download and install that version. And you should—your iPhone won't work with earlier versions.

If you've never had any version of iTunes, fire up your Web browser and go to www.apple.com/itunes/download.

Once the file lands on your computer, double-click the installer icon and follow the instructions onscreen to add iTunes to your life. This chapter give you a crash course in iTunes. The next chapter covers syncing it with your iPhone.

The iTunes Window: What's Where

Here's a quick tour of the main iTunes window and what all its parts do.

The Source panel at the left side lists all ...