iTouch

[nun69]

can somebody explain to me exacrlt what these do? We don't have iPhones or iPads but I wonder if this is something my kids might like for Christmas...they are 12 and 7.....

[catgoddess]

It's an iPod (called iPod Touch). It plays music and games/apps and only works with iTunes like other iPods. It would be good for the age group of your kids if you don't want them to have a cell phone. My nephew had one, but he quickly outgrew it once his parents gave him a smart phone. He's 13.

[jacinda]

My 9 yr old desperately wants an iPod Touch. I told her she better start saving then ;D She doesn't even listen to her MP3 player these days, so I'm thinking she doesn't really NEED the Ipod Touch anyway. She has a birthday coming up in October, so she can save her birthday money up for it if she wants, but her Dad and I have agreed it's not something we'll be buying her with our money. They're $200 - $400 here, and birthday money will be lucky to be $100 all up.

[farrijc]

it does everything an iphone does... except the actual phone part. All my kids (ages 9,7, and 5) have one and they adore them. They mainly use them to play games/apps, but they also use the camera/videocamera quite a bit. They all have netflix, too. If your kids have other friends/family with apple devices, they can message or face time them IF they are on wifi. It's just like having an ipad, just more portable.

[navaja77]

I believe you can also text and use the iTouch like a phone so long as you have wifi service available to you. You can use Skype or an app called iCall to make calls. I only know this because my brother's ex used to use my wifi to make calls on her iTouch. She didn't have her own phone.
Here is an article I found about making your iTouch as awesome as an iPhone.
http://iphone.appstorm.net/roundups/...-as-an-iphone/

[nun69]

so if we got them one, would them need Apple service or can we just use our WiFi in the house? I think it would be great for Abby so she could face time with family back home, especially my sister......I also would suspect this is the age that if kids don't already have a cell phone in Ben's age group (12) then they may have iPod touches

[lorryfach]

You just use regular WiFi. You don't need anything special from Apple.

[breakingbrie]

I looove my ipod touch Dh bought me this newest one for Christmas I'm on it now. I love that I can skype my mom, have all my music, take decent pics and have net all in one little ipod. I don't use it for calling or txting, since well, that's what my phone is for lol. I just use it with wifi. And at places like the E.R. when we're stuck waiting for hours, I can connect to wifi and they can have netflix - or there's plenty of apps for them to play to stay busy. They are pretty awesome though lol.

[mariewilcox]

Cheyanne has one that she saved up for when she was 10. She uses it all the time. If she's at home (or out anywhere that there is wifi) she uses it to text and she can receive phone calls with wifi using an app called Text Free. She uses the camera a lot too and of course plays games. For her she uses it for the music the most I would say and texting. She got an iHome cube for Christmas that charges it but also has the benefit of being a really nice speaker so when she's in her room she just turns that on and uses it as a radio or uses Spotify with it. She asks for iTunes gift cards for birthday and Christmas so she always has money on her account if she wants to buy a song or app.

[Shawna]

My girls are 9 and almost 12 and they both got iPod Touches for Christmas last year and they both use them all the time. Like pretty much never leave the house without them, they are constantly using them lol so it was money well spent for us! They load the music they want from our iTunes library (and they love getting iTunes cards for gifts so they can buy new songs & apps) and then they have all their favorite apps they like to use (YouTube, Netflix, Pandora, games etc). They also are able to text & FaceTime with them while on wifi.

Also make sure you get a good protective case for them. My girls first picked out cutesy cases that don't really protect the screen very well and my older daughter shattered her screen when someone bumped into her and knocked it out of her hand and it hit the ground face down. Thank goodness for Toys R Us's $25 warranty replacement plan that I had bought, they replaced it with a brand new one for free! So after that the girls got Otterbox cases because they are much more protective!

[maryinaz]

My younger boys have them and they don't have smart phones. They are freshmen in high school and are allowed to go to the library at lunchtime and use them. They truly can do just about anything when hooked up to WiFi.

As a side note, I was really surprised (and not in a good way since my boys don't have them), when at curriculum night, most of their teachers assumed that all kids had smart phones and one even had an app up for them to use! At least my boys can get it on their Touches, as they won't be getting smart phones any time soon. My older 2 boys have only had them a year or two. Heck, I didn't get one until last year.

[Lyd]

Yep - we have an iTouch that our kids share. They LOVE it. It does everything our iPhones do except for actually making phone calls. As far as texting goes . . . they can use iMessages, so they can send messages back and forth with other people on Apple devices, but it's not exactly the same as being able to text anyone, anytime. But, we don't let our kids use that feature anyway, as they are still really young. We don't even give them access to the Internet on the iTouch. There are good security restrictions, so you can make sure kids of different ages only have access to the things you want.

[MommaTrish]

Ryan got an iPod touch for Christmas last year. We have complete control over what is on it, so he doesn't have a ton on it. But he does have a few lego ninjago games, some PBS apps, podcasts (older superhero programs and stuff like that) and a few CDs. He loves it, and it keeps him from stealing my Kindle and using up the battery in the middle of the night.

[emmasmommy]

My 8 and 5 year olds have them and LOVE them. They text back and forth with my husband, my mother and me (and a couple of their friends who also have an apple product) but other than that, I am in control of what they're doing. Mine only use the wifi in OUR house. They aren't allowed to bring them anywhere (unless we go on a long road trip).

[nun69]

Originally Posted by MommaTrish

it keeps him from stealing my Kindle and using up the battery in the middle of the night.

this, this is one of the EXACT reason why I am thinking about getting them!!!! because between Abby & Peyton they run BOTH mine and Matt's Kindles down!!!!

[lovely1m]

Mine is almost 7, his dad gave him one for his 6th birthday and even though he also has an iPad, he still loves his iPod Touch. He uses it for listening to music mostly, but plays some games. He would probably play more games if he didn't have the iPad already.

[staciahall]

Here's another positive. My son bought his own for music several years back and has all his music on it. Once he had his own car, he uses it there to play music using the auxiliary port. That thing has been in use about 6 years and is still kicking!

[Jennilyn]

My girls are 11 and almost 8 and they've had theirs for 2 years. My 11 year old has tons of music on hers and 1 app that is pretty large so her 8GB one is always full. We're getting her a new 32GB iPod Touch 5 for Christmas (split between us & her grandparents). She's getting to the age where 1 big expensive thing is better than a bunch of cheaper things.

[MommaTrish]

Originally Posted by nun69

this, this is one of the EXACT reason why I am thinking about getting them!!!! because between Abby & Peyton they run BOTH mine and Matt's Kindles down!!!!

lol! Ryan has some sleep issues and only sleeps in 3-4 hour increments and then is awake for 30 minutes to an hour. Each night he'd get on my Kindle and get on Netflix or play Angry Birds and it would keep him up even longer. Now he just turns on a podcast and falls back asleep quicker.

[nun69]

Trish Peyton was the same exact way...we would wake up and find our Kindles "dead" on his bedroom floor or downstairs and we would find our phones in places they weren't suppose to be so finally we started giving him Melatonin and when that didn;t work we had to start giving him something a little stronger (Rx) and THANKS the Lord, we ALL sleep so much better now!!!!!!!!