What are your thoughts on the New iTunes 11?

Apple was quick to listen to users of iWork. This article talks about how Apple has been adding old features back into the new iWork for iMac:

http://www.cultofmac.com/255380/apple-starts-adding-back-old-features-to-iwork-o n-the-mac-fixes-bugs-on-ios/

I feel like they've never listened when it comes to iTunes.

Please continue to post feedback about what you feel is missing in iTunes 11:

http://www.apple.com/feedback/itunesapp.html

It's crap, its been out long enough for Apple to take on board all the criticism and do something about it. And have they?

I dont use it as much as I used to. I was upset them took away DJ. I think it looks and works like it was developed by a native PC person/team., not a mac centric person/team.

It has taken a little getting used to, but I have not had any major problems, am up to 11.3 at this time.

maccapt320 wrote:

It has taken a little getting used to, but I have not had any major problems, am up to 11.3 at this time.

I have a windows computer I decided to put it on and I've been playing around with it for some time. It took a ridiculously long time getting used to it for me, but I think I'm with you on this one... What features they decided not to take out, actually do work OK (half the problem is figuring out how to get to some of those features the first few times)... It still irritates me a bit somewhat in the way it does some things, but overall I find it does what I use itunes for... I'd still prefer itunes 10.7 for its ease of use, but I do see one or two nice features in 11 that are not available in 10.7.

I heard of enough usb cable sync horror stories (sync never comes back, corrupts database too easily, requiring a factory reset, etc), to frighten me to stay on 10.7 for a good while. I have not tried syncing itunes 11 to an iphone over usb.

What would be the general concensus out there on usb syncing, particularly on a mac? reliable? flaky? tempermental? an utter disaster?

At this point, I am still not motivated to upgrade, but I am finally considering it as a non zero possibility.

pegaudet wrote:

What would be the general concensus out there on usb syncing, particularly on a mac? reliable? flaky? tempermental? an utter disaster?

At this point, I am still not motivated to upgrade, but I am finally considering it as a non zero possibility.

Consensus, from Mac users? No chance 🙂

Personally USB syncing is fine. iPods & iPhones have always been reliable when syncing. I tend to get a fair amount of new content so it's the quickest way to get it on the devices. 2 way merging of contacts etc is just great. Occasionally there would be conflicts but far less than with Palm, Sony or Android devices I used in the past. Wifi syncing is too slow & causes interference on my mouse! It seems kinda pointless to have it draining battery whilst on my desk.

The biggest problem I have is the time it takes for a sync to "update genius results", I should just turn it off.

The little files window for Application files is pretty useless too, but I don't think 11 improves it much anyway.

Lack of 'non-server' based calendar & contact syncing is a reason for me to avoid 10.9.

Lets see how bad 3rd party solutions are before writing it off, iTunes 11 is maturing, so staying away is less important.

pegaudet wrote:

... I have not tried syncing itunes 11 to an iphone over usb.

What would be the general concensus out there on usb syncing, particularly on a mac? reliable? flaky? tempermental? an utter disaster?...

I sync my iPhone 5 and iPad 1 on a daily basis using iTunes 11. I generally do it via wi-fi, but if I want it to go a little faster, or if one or other device doesn't show up with wi-fi (which used to happen fairly often), I plug in the USB cable. In almost a year of using iTunes 11 on my laptop -- syncing every day with two devices -- I have not had a single issue with a USB connection. The wi-fi sync was less reliable, but it has been better with iTunes 11 than iTunes 10, and it has been perfect since the latest iTunes update (11.1.3).

I did, for the first time ever, have a corrupt iTunes database last month, but it was unrelated to syncing. The circumstance was unusual: I had been switching back and forth between an external 4 TB USB drive with an iTunes 10.7 library (from my Mac Mini) and the iTunes 11 library on my MacBook Pro. I think the .xml file got corrupted. But because I have a Time Machine backup, I replaced the iTunes data files (xml, itl and itdb) with the previous night's backup. Took less than 5 minutes and I was back in business.

The reason I keep 10.7 on the Mac Mini is Cover Flow. I am still irritated by the loss of Cover Flow.

Agreed. It's terrible.

Finally upgraded to itunes 11 because I had to install Mavericks on my Mac and the work-arounds are just too complex and also blocks the store if you reinstall itunes10.7.

wavb soundclip files now gone. Fk knows what else. Horrible, horrible interface. Loss of coverflow....

They seem uninterested in what the loyal customer thinks - just about their precious stock options.

Not that the Apple Corp care, but I've just bought an Android. I'll see when my latest Macbook Pro becomes unusable (when apple no longer support the machine, in all probability) and then it's off to PC World for me.

Hopefully they make enough money off the hipsters before their share price tumbles, a la Blackberry. But it's a shame to see such a previously fantastic company teetering on the edge and not even realising it.

Mark Block wrote:

I think the .xml file got corrupted.

FWIW the crucial file is the .itl. The .xml is rebuilt from it when the library is updated after tag/playlist edits, or playing a song.

tt2

cosycottage worte:

But it's a shame to see such a previously fantastic company teetering on the edge and not even realising it.

How right you are brother... how right !!!

This is a huge thread and I'm just now dealing with 11 and can't get back to 10.7--here is my biggest problem: not only have they made it terribly difficult to get all of your apps downloaded, but now my phone doesn't sync automatically. In fact, it's a tossup whether plugging in will even launch the iTunes app. On the occasions that it does, it never syncs.

I've been using iTunes since 2006, so I'm not an idiot. I have it set up the way I want it--certain things sync automatically, others manually. I've even completely uninstalled and reinstalled the software (against Apple's "better judgement", which I no longer trust). I've been an Apple user since the 80s....starting to get nervous when their decisions all seem to be the wrong ones.

I think it looks and feels like a four year old developed it. It was a very lazy redesign. The old interface was simply straightforward and easy to use. Now even young people such as my self are having a hard time using it. I downgraded after about 10 minutes of using iTunes 11. I downgraded my sister, and my parents, because they all hated it so much and my parents actually COULD NOT USE IT! It's so hard to search or make a playlist, not to mention how ugly it is.

I'm now trying iTunes 11 more than a week.... not even the loss of cover flow, even more... everything is more than worse on iTunes 11. To name ist worse is more than whitwashing!

Updates of Apps, handling with single pieces of music, workflows... everything is made for the worse.

<Edited by Host>

so back again on iTunes 10.7... what a revelation!

One more thing I hate about iTunes 11. (Been spending some time with iTunes11 on a new Mac)

"Up Next" only lets you see a few songs at a time. Really awkward to quickly rearrange the playlist like you could with iTunes DJ. iTunes DJ you could view the whole playlist by resizing the window (that was opened seperately !).

I've spent a lot of time with iTunes 11. The ONLY thing i like about it it's a 64bit app on Mavericks, so the performance is snappy.

Apparently I'll be keeping my main library on a Mac dedicated to running iTunes 10.7 forever, since all new OS and gear moving forward will be forced to abide by the contraints of iTunes 11.