How to Manage Automatic Downloads on Your iPod Touch, iPhone or iPad

Automatic downloads make transferring data between all of your Apple devices easier than ever before. If you download an application onto your iPad, for example, that application will then automatically download right to your iPhone. Likewise, downloading an application using your computer will cause that app to automatically appear on your iPod Touch. You don’t have to manually download the same app on both your Apple iOS devices and your computer. All you have to do is enable automatic downloads on each of your devices, which you can do in just a few easy steps.

Step 1

Turn on the first Apple device that you want to use with the “Automatic Downloads” function. Tap the “Settings” icon on the device’s “Home” screen to continue.

Step 2

Scroll through the “Settings” application on your device until you find the listing reading “Store.” Tap this listing one time to continue.

Step 3

Tap the button labeled “Off” next to “Music” to automatically download purchased music to this device. The word “Off” will immediately change to “On.” With this option enabled, any songs or albums that you download on any other Apple devices (including via your computer with the iTunes software) will automatically download to this device.

Step 4

Tap the button labeled “Off” next to “Apps” to automatically download purchased applications to the device you are using. As with the “Music” section, the word “Off” will change to read “On.” Downloading an application using the “Store” application on the device you are using will cause that application to automatically download to both your computer and all other Apple devices with “Automatic Downloads” enabled. The reverse of this process is also true.

Step 5

Go through the list of installed applications at the bottom of the screen and enable automatic downloading for any app that you desire. Certain applications like the New York Times support automatic downloads from one device to another. If new stories become available on the New York Times application, for example, you can download them on one device to have them automatically appear on all other devices in your home.

Step 6

Repeat these steps on any other Apple device that you own.