How to Download New Software Onto a First Generation iPod Touch

By Mario Calhoun

Download the software update to your first-generation iPod Touch.
i Earphones on Purple image by JJAVA from Fotolia.com

If you have the first-generation iPod Touch, you must update the device's existing software to 3.1 before you can download and use applications available in the App Store. Many of these applications were created specifically for devices that have the 3.1 software update, which include the iPhone and the second generation iPod Touch. According to the official Apple site, the iOS 4 software is not compatible with the first-generation iPod Touch. However, the 3.1 software update is available in the iTunes Store, and costs $4.95 as of July 2010.

Step 1

Insert the USB cable into the dock connector on the iPod Touch, and insert the opposite end of the cable into an available USB 2.0 port on your computer.

Step 2

Open the iTunes program on your computer, and wait for the program to detect your iPod Touch. The iPod Touch will appear in the iTunes' source list, on the left side of the program window, when it is detected. Click the iPod Touch in the source list, and click "Check for Update" in the summary section in iTunes.

Step 3

Click the "Update" button on the pop-up box to update your iPod Touch. The iTunes program will direct you to the iTunes Store, which will ask to charge your iTunes account for the price of the 3.1 software update. Enter your iTunes ID password, and click "Buy."

Step 4

Leave the iPod Touch connected to your computer, and wait for the 3.1 software installation to complete. Click the eject button next to the iPod Touch in the iTunes' source list, and remove the cable from the iPod Touch and the computer's USB port.

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