iPod 101: Keep Time

If you want time to be on your side, look no further than your trusty iPod.

All iPods with a display feature a clock to help you keep track of the time, an alarm to remind you of important events or prevent you from oversleeping, and a sleep timer that will automatically turn off your iPod after a set interval so you can listen to tunes as you drift off to slumberland.

If you have a Fifth Generation iPod (iPod with video) or iPod nano, your clock is actually a World Clock; you can create multiple clocks set for different cities around the world, each with its own alarm. Plus, both of these iPods feature a stopwatch for you workoutaholics—or efficiency sticklers. Here's how to use the time features in your iPod.

  1. Fifth Generation iPod and iPod nano only

Setting the Time and Date

To set the time and date on your iPod, follow these instructions. If you have a Fifth Generation iPod or iPod nano, follow the instructions for Adding World Clocks first, then come back here if you need help with setting the time.

  1. Select Extras > Clock > Date & Time. Fifth Generation iPod and iPod nano users, choose Settings, then choose Date & Time.
  2. In the Date & Time menu, choose Set Time Zone, then choose the appropriate region for your location.
  3. To set the date and time, choose Set Date & Time and in the resulting screen, scroll the Click Wheel to choose the current hour and then press the Next/Fast-forward button to move to the minutes increment. Continue in this manner to set AM or PM, and then the day, the month, and the year.
  4. Select Time in the Date & Time menu to toggle the selection to a 12-hour or 24-hour clock.
  5. If you'd like the time to appear in the title bar (when enabled, the time appears in place of a menu name), choose Time In Title to toggle the display to On.

Setting an Alarm

All iPods with a display allow you to set an alarm that will play a beeping sound through the internal speaker, or music from a playlist (you'll need to have your earphones on or have external speakers hooked up to your iPod to hear music). If you have a Fifth Generation iPod or iPod nano, you can set multiple alarms since each clock gets its own alarm.

  1. Select Extras > Clock > Alarm Clock. Fifth Generation iPod and iPod nano users, choose Extras, choose any clock, then choose Alarm Clock.
  2. To enable the alarm clock, choose Alarm to toggle the selection to On.
  3. To set the alarm time, choose Time, then scroll the Click Wheel to set the time that you want the alarm to sound.
  4. To choose a sound source, choose Sound, then choose Beep to play the alarm through the internal speaker, or choose a playlist to play music from it.

Once you set an alarm, you'll see a bell icon appear on the right side of the screen in the Clock menu, or next to that clocks time display with a Fifth Generation iPod. If you set a Beep alarm, the alarm sounds briefly and will turn itself off after it sounds. If you set a playlist alarm, the music will start playing when the alarm goes off and continue until you press the Play/Pause button to pause it.

Setting the Sleep Timer

If you enjoy falling asleep to music, you can set a sleep timer that automatically turns off your iPod after a specified time interval is reached. Here's how.

  1. Select Extras > Clock > Sleep Timer. Fifth Generation iPod and iPod nano users, choose Extras, choose any clock, then choose Sleep Timer.
  2. Scroll the Click Wheel to a preferred time interval—you can choose Off, 15 Minutes, 30 Minutes, 60 Minutes, 90 Minutes, or 120 Minutes—then press the Center button to choose it.

Your iPod will begin counting down the time. You can now tuck yourself in bed and play whatever you want. Once your chosen interval has been reached, your iPod will turn itself off. Fifth Generation iPod and iPod nano users, although you can set multiple alarms, please note that you can have only one active sleep timer at a time no matter which clock you choose to set it.

Adding World Clocks

Fifth Generation iPod and iPod nano allow you to keep track of the time in multiple cities around the world.

Fifth Generation iPod and iPod nano allow you to keep time on one or more clocks. You can monitor time in different cities around the world, or keep multiple clocks set for your current location, which will allow you to set multiple alarms (see "Setting an Alarm " for instructions). Here's how to add a clock.

  1. Select Extras > Clock > New Clock.
  2. In the Region menu, choose a region from the list.
  3. In the resulting City menu, choose a city that represents the clock you wish to add.

The Clock menu now displays your new clock. If you decide to add more, repeat the above instructions; all subsequent clocks will appear in the Clock menu in the order in which you create them.

Using the Stopwatch

The stopwatch features a counter that displays your total time, a lap timer, and a log of your performance when you're done.

The stopwatch on Fifth Generation iPods and iPod nano comes in mighty handy whether you're lap training or simply want to find out how much time it takes to do something. Here's a quick start guide to using it (for more detailed information, see our support article "iPod: Using the Stopwatch").

  1. Select Extras > Stopwatch > Timer to display the Stopwatch screen.
  2. To start timing, scroll the Click Wheel to highlight the Start (left) button and press the Center button to "click" it.
  3. Both the total time counter (the top time display) and the lap timer begin. During this time, the Start button changes to a Pause button, while the Clear (right) button changes to a Lap button.
  4. If you want to keep track of your lap times, choose the Lap button (using the Click Wheel and Center button) when you complete a lap; the stopwatch records the lap time in its log, resets the lap timer, and starts counting again.
  5. To stop the timers at any time, choose the Pause button. The left button now changes to a Resume button, while the right button changes to a Done button.
  6. If you're taking a breather, choose the Resume button to continue counting. If you've had enough, choose the Done button to record all your final times to the log.
  7. To view a log of your performance (total time, shortest lap time, average lap time, individual lap times, and more), choose Extras > Stopwatch, then choose the log from the menu (the Stopwatch menu lists logs by date and time).

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Published Date: Feb 18, 2012