The CD player will play music CDs or MP3 CDs.
To play an iPod or any other type of player, you'll need a cable to go from the head hone jack on the iPod to the auxiliary in jack on the lower right of the radio.
You can only listen to the iPod. You cannot make any selections such as artist or album through the radio. Put the iPod on songs, random, and it will cycle through all the songs on the iPod or select what you want to hear before you start riding.
I think I saw an iPod adapter on the HD web site that will allow you to make selections through the radio. Might want to look into that.