Update 2.2 breaks all "Sort xxx" fields from iTunes library
Previous AppleTV software versions utilized data in the iTunes "Sort" fields in music lists for Artist, Composer, etc.
Having carefully coded over 9000 items in my iTunes library to use the Sort Artist and Sort Composer fields to bring coherence to my music collection, I am now presented with completely unusable lists for either.
In the "Artist" field, I had everything coded to sort by last name, with all the "one-offs" at the bottom of the list. Before the update, the AppleTV honored that sort order. Now, the Artist list has reverted back to sorting by first name, and every shmoe who sang one song on a soundtrack is now interspersed with the artists I actually want to scroll through...in a list with thousands of names.
In the "Composer" field, I had similarly coded to separate serious classical composers from pop song authors. The AppleTV used to list Composers in my coded sort order. No more!
Having spent days to organize the contents of my iTunes library, I am not amused. The whole point of having the Sort fields is violated here, and as far as I am concerned, the AppleTV is rendered close to useless.
Oh by the way, if you were using the old trick of using leading punctuation to move items to the top of a displayed list, it no longer works with this release either. They had already killed it on iPods, so it was bound to go away sooner or later, but at least iPods follow the "Sort" field codes.
When I placed a call to Apple Tech Support, the rep couldn't get the concept of what the Sort fields did, so he finally put me through to a "Product Specialist"...I had to explain to the Specialist how the Sort fields work in iTunes and how it used to work on AppleTV. At least he got the concept, but there was clearly no consideration for this interface feature in the design of this latest update.
Unbelievably annoying.
Having carefully coded over 9000 items in my iTunes library to use the Sort Artist and Sort Composer fields to bring coherence to my music collection, I am now presented with completely unusable lists for either.
In the "Artist" field, I had everything coded to sort by last name, with all the "one-offs" at the bottom of the list. Before the update, the AppleTV honored that sort order. Now, the Artist list has reverted back to sorting by first name, and every shmoe who sang one song on a soundtrack is now interspersed with the artists I actually want to scroll through...in a list with thousands of names.
In the "Composer" field, I had similarly coded to separate serious classical composers from pop song authors. The AppleTV used to list Composers in my coded sort order. No more!
Having spent days to organize the contents of my iTunes library, I am not amused. The whole point of having the Sort fields is violated here, and as far as I am concerned, the AppleTV is rendered close to useless.
Oh by the way, if you were using the old trick of using leading punctuation to move items to the top of a displayed list, it no longer works with this release either. They had already killed it on iPods, so it was bound to go away sooner or later, but at least iPods follow the "Sort" field codes.
When I placed a call to Apple Tech Support, the rep couldn't get the concept of what the Sort fields did, so he finally put me through to a "Product Specialist"...I had to explain to the Specialist how the Sort fields work in iTunes and how it used to work on AppleTV. At least he got the concept, but there was clearly no consideration for this interface feature in the design of this latest update.
Unbelievably annoying.
MacPro, Mac OS X (10.4.11)
