iTunes 11: No more album art preview for selected track??? :(

I wanted to point out another issue with the Artist view. Below is a double album of Pink Floyd - The Wall. If you don't edit your tags to have 1 of 2, 2 of 2 CDs, then it lumps all of the music together as one list. Now obviously, you could remedy this by fixing the tags, or renumbering the tracks to be all of one album. But this isn't an issue with List view... you just don't get the album art in List view anymore.

Just to add my two cents. I am also incredibly disappointed to no longer have an album preview anymore. Apple I really do hope you are reading this thread and taking notice at how many users are posting their disappoinment about something so simple allowing your users to choose for themselves if they want the option. I cant imagine it would really be that difficult.

Personally, I just used the shuffle by playlist only option, that is what brought me here. I just tell everyone that apple is trying to make it simpler, but I am dissapointed in apple with all of the customization features that apple has taken away, to try to be uniform, just like a socialist country

I don't have time to read the 40 pages of this thread in order to find out if this was already mentioned, but I was very irritated with the missing album art preview in the sidebar, and after doing some googling I have discovered why this feature was removed, and what it has been replaced with.

So without further ado,

HERE IS HOW TO VIEW ARTWORK FOR MUSIC THAT ISN'T CURRENTLY PLAYING!

Use the Song view to browse, just like itunes 10, when you want to peak at the artwork, click the album view at the top. You'll see your currently selected artwork, zoomed large in the main area. THE NEW ALBUM VIEW IS THE REPLACEMENT FOR THE SIDEBAR ARTWORK PREWIEW. Now, you don't have to continue browsing in album view, simply click back to Songs view and continue your browsing. Toggle back and forth whenever neccessary. Its not perfect, but this is the reason the feature dissapeared. Your currently playing track was never affected and you've now successfully previewed artwork for other albums.

The only missing feature I still can't figure out is how to browse multiple artowk images on a particular track, be it currently playing or not. You can do it via "get info", but that's about 15 extra steps. Nonetheless, many will remember that those little artwork browser arrows dissapeared BEFORE itunes 11. It was ******** at the time, and its still ******** now, but there you have it. Hope that helps.

Even in album view, you can't click the artwork to display it in it's native size, Benny. That's the whole point.

But, no, you shouldn't go back and read the other 40 pages of this thread.

Yeah, and fair enough point. I wish it didn't require an extra click either, but previous to discovering that I couldn't figure out how to see it at all without playing it. I don't really need full resolution most times, but at leat there is that zoomed view in the main area. I'm much more irritated by lack of ability to view multiple images. I wonder why they even allow you to upload multiple images if there is no way to browse beyond the first without going to "get info."

The same thing happened on the new iPad too. Old music player was superior. And its an extra smack in the face because the "remote" app still has the old view. It's actually better to browse music on my iPad via remote than it is to play the music locally. That's just sad.

I do serious database work on my music collection. The Songs view is the only one where you can see defining characteristics all at once. I am forever refining my listings of performers, record company labels and even the foreign spelling of composers and titles of movements or pieces. And adding dates and notes.

The problem now is it's very very difficult to differentiate the separatoin of albums if you are looking, say, at the ten recordings you have of the Rachmaninoff Symphonic Dances. Even if I can tell they are different because the listings change for another gorup, it's impossible now to really know which recording is which. All you'd need is an album cover. And the previous version's separation line between albums was very useful too.

I think the songs view in iTunes 11 is slower to update and search than it was previously. I will guess they removed the album view because that would slow it down even more.

Hello Kim,

I used capitol letters to let others know that i was offering another workaround. It probably is buried elsewhere in this thread, hence the disclaimer, but rather than keep the bit of info that helped me to myself, I decided to share it with others that may be having the same issues, and jump to the back of the thread looking for a solution. I never claimed to have solved anything, I simply claimed precisely what my bold letters stated. Seems a bit a bit presumptuous of you to put words in my mouth, but I can see that you've got so much positive input to share with this thread that people will surely come out of the woodwork to help out! Thanks for your positive input!

I used capitol letters to let others know that i was offering another workaround.

Nice try, but ALL CAPS means shouting.

Yeah. I'm not saying anything new here except that the loss of cover view is utterly inexplicably. It was a really lovely feature, and its absense seems absurd.

Considering Kim is the poster of this thread way back in November, she's heard all the suggestions. So have I. I have decided to start breaking away from iTunes and going to JRiver's Media Center 18. They have an excellent Windows version. But the Mac version is in Alpha testing right now and I already like it better than iTunes. Best of all, MC doesn't try to take over your library.

Media Center is not free software, that is the only issue. But I decided I am going to invest in MC as software made by people who listen. And they are listening. Apple, what about you? I've sent feedback three separate times now regarding iTunes 11.

If you're interested in the Mac Alpha, go to the JRiver web site, click on the Download tab, and you'll see a message on the lower part of the page regarding early versions of the Mac Alpha available on the support forum. If you're not comfortable with issues of the Alpha, don't install it. It's actually pretty well-behaved as an Alpha. Developments are happening every week, but there's a bit to go before Beta.

iTunes may be free software by itself but it comes with many commercial ties, much like free-to-play games. I decided I don't need the iTunes Store all *that* much. Sorry Apple, you're really blowing it this time.

Message was edited by: TPerhai for typos and an added comment.

What is extremely interesting to me, is how crippled so many users are by the lack of dynamic album art view in the side bar. Why is their such heavy reliance on this particular feature and why does the lack of it seem to cause said users to utterly "freak out" in peril? The tone from many is as if they have been deeply betrayed and hurt, by a piece of computer software? This thread should be included as example in in all future editions of textbooks for Human Psychology 101. The thread should be under: "Defense Mechanisms: Regression." 🙂

PS: I think TPerhai has the best idea yet with getting the new JRiver Media Center for Mac. Of course it isn't free, but as Mayor Carmine De Pasto says to Dean Vernon Wormer in Animal House: " If you want this year's homecoming parade in my town, you have to pay for it."

MaxSeven777 wrote:

Why is their such heavy reliance on this particular feature and why does the lack of it seem to cause said users to utterly "freak out" in peril?

The sidebar art window is a great tool that helps manage a large library. You can drag and drop art to and from this window, and add artwork to multiple selections with one click. I don't like having features I'm accustomed to using being arbitrarily removed, do you?

I have a friend with a music database almost as large as mine with equally detailed tagging. He was unaware of many of the tricks of iTunes and how with the help of Dougscripts.com you have a world of tools for maintaining your database. We were always going to get together for a 'lesson'.

Now with iTunes 11 there is not the same capability. I haven't the same enthusiasm. And very sadly there's no way I can show him the same things.