How to downgrade iTunes 12 to 11.4?
I did exactly that last night, and now have iTunes 11.4 running on Yosemite 10.10.4.
I read articles detailing steps to follow like in the link you posted, but they failed to get my iTunes to run.
The editor of the first article even said
This probably won’t work on OS X Yosemite because Yosemite has always had a version of iTunes 12, which could mean the only option would be to downgrade from OS X Yosemite back down to OS X Mavericks, and then downgrade iTunes 12 to 11 as described here.
But it IS possible, and not really that difficult.
I figured out that I had to edit the version number in some files. Here's my steps to use in addition to the ones given if you still encounter problems.
Although editing the files is very simple, I understand while some users may not want to attempt it.
After following the steps outlined in the article, iTunes didn’t want to open so I looked at the iTunes/iTunes Music Library.xml file. I noticed v12.2.2 was listed on the 8th line, so I changed it to 11.4.
Then I had to change the version number in the first line of the iTunes/Library Name/iTunes Library file inside the iTunes/Library Name folder.
When iTunes started again it said it was importing from the XML file.
It can take a long time to import the library the first time. I have nearly 20,000 tracks and it took about 20 minutes.
It will seem like it’s frozen, but just let it finish. After that you’ll probably get the “not a valid library” warning
When I clicked OK, iTunes opened and began analyzing the songs (another 10 minutes or so) and there never was a Damaged Library file created.
I copied my iTunes Plug-ins folder and Scripts folder into the new Library/iTunes folder and they’re all working now, including iWOW, and my playlists are intact.
My podcasts weren't completely organized and artwork I'd added was missing, so I had to spend time changing some data in the Get Info window.
Although I have three libraries in my iTunes folder, I only had to edit the iTunes Library and files for my Main library - the others opened right up when selected by holding Option while opening iTunes. Don't know why the main library wouldn't open until I changed the version number while the others did, but that's what happened.
One nice thing about iTunes 11 is you don’t have to hold the Option key while clicking the green button to maximize the window. So that seems to be a function of the app, not a Yosemite requirement.
After spending hours reverting, I’m not sure I gained anything – v11 looks a lot like v12, and I thought I’d get back the sidebar artwork, now I find that was an iTunes 10 feature. D’oh!
I was trying to avoid the bloat – don’t want Apple Music or Apple Music Connect, and fortunately (unfortunately?) I don’t own any devices I need to sync. I'm now looking for an iTunes alternative.
I hope these additional steps help someone, GOOD LUCK and GOODBYE ITUNES 12!
agoraphonics
Level 1
(4 points)
bnbayer
