Filed under: iPod Family, iTS
How To: Tell if your iPod touch has the January Upgrade
You probably already know that you can go directly to the iPod touch January Upgrade purchase page by following this link. What you might not know is that in order to purchase the iPod touch January upgrade you must be logged into your iTunes account and you must be running iTunes 7.6. You cannot make this purchase using earlier versions of the software.
If you ever restore your iPod and need to get back those upgrades, once again you need to use the magic of 7.6 plus be signed into the account with which you purchased it. I found out the hard way that your Mac doesn't automatically "remember" that you purchased it and that it belongs on your iPod touch.
I was one of the many people affected by the week-long "Error -2" outages at the iTunes store and had bought it with my secondary account. After restoring, my iPod just wouldn't reload the upgrade. I knew I had bought it and I knew it was available in my home folder in Library/iTunes/Mobile Applications. The problem was that I needed to sign into my secondary account (rarely used--except for doing posts like these) and then synchronize while signed in.
A few calls to Apple and a lot of annoyance later, I hope these tips may save you some grief. You can tell if your iPod touch has been "blessed" by checking its Summary tab in iTunes. Next to the Software Version, you should see the magic phrase "(with Software Upgrade)".
![TUAW [Cafepress]](http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.tuaw.com/media/tuaw-cafepress-promo.png)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
058 said 4:13PM on 1-31-2008
And when you don't want the update ? I still get the message when I connect my iPod to my mac, displaying: software upgrade $$$ (f*ck off)..
How can I get rid of it ?
Reply
Mark said 5:02PM on 1-31-2008
Jailbreak 1.1.3 and it'll go away, and you'll have the apps for free. =)
quandmeme said 4:15PM on 1-31-2008
This is especially valuable news given the expectation that this is a beta test for apps created with the SDK and delivered thru ITS. Your suffering is a good warning for how (not) to do future app installs.
Reply
artifex said 4:33PM on 1-31-2008
I'm assuming this is the same thing you have to do when buying/restoring games, yes? Think of it less as a traditional firmware upgrade and more like a software bundle you bought.
Reply
mabhatter said 9:11PM on 2-06-2008
From a customer service POV this is awful. It would seem they should simply register your Touch serial number against purchase of the update. What happens in 12 months when you ebay it... is this a firmware update/ part of the hardware.. or playing some kind of software package games? I could almost understand paying for the update... if it was PERMANENTLY part of the device after that.
Your whole situation is unacceptable nonsense for a 6 month old device to have to deal with. It's compounding problems just to make bad customer service after the sale "work".
Reply
MacGeek Pro said 6:08PM on 1-31-2008
I have an iPod touch, bought at Best Buy, and also added the two year Best Buy warranty to it. I am finding more and more dead pixels on my touch (so far the count is 13) and I am considering taking it back to Best Buy. More than likely, they'll just hand me a brand new unit. If that unit does not come from the factory with 1.1.3 and the extra apps, would my purchase of the extra apps transfer onto that new iPod touch?
In short, is the purchased upgrade tied to the hardware serial #? If it is, I'll just wait for the newer touch's with the apps preloaded to get through the supply chain before I whine about my always white pixels. (So annoying when watching video!)
Reply
Craig said 8:15PM on 1-31-2008
Your title makes no sense. You should correct that.
Reply