Q: What are your thoughts on the New iTunes 11?

     RollTheBeats

     More generally Apple seem to have this obsessions with 'Albums'. I do have lots of albums but I never browse or listen to music by album. Perhaps it's because the main genres I listen to are dance music and because I'm a DJ but I just don't get this focus on albums. Surely one of the main benefits of digital music is that is that you're liberated from the constraints of listening to 'albums' and you can listen to what YOU want in the order you want. I guess it just goes to show that we all listen to music in different ways, something Apple clearly forgot when they were designing iTunes 11.

I actually like the way it's more album-oriented - the expanded album view in particular - it's the only thing I do like about it. I've started listening more to complete albums now than I have for quite a while, as I did back in the old days when there were only CDs, vinyl and cassettes.

But this is a complete backwards step and an odd concept for most people much younger than me, and I suspect it's baffled a lot of Apple's most important target market. I totally agree that they've forgotten the point of being able to customise your system to do what YOU want it to.

RollTheBeats wrote:

 

[snip]

The two major issues I have -

 

1. Removal of the option to have the column browser on the left, lots of people complaining about this -  https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4553820?start=0&tstart=0

 

2. The new Search. [snip] ... Now it throws me into a different view depending whether the match is an 'artist' or  'album' but I don't like these views I want everything in a list like 'song' view but I can only get the search results in this view if the match is a 'song'. It's complete BS, just give me the freaking search results in a list like the old iTunes! Also it no longer searches the comment tag which severely limits the search functionality if, like me, you save meta data in the comment tag.

I've never really used the Column Browser, but you have a good point with #1.

As to #2, I think you're wrong. The work-around for the new Search view is to de-select the "Search Entire Library" box when you click on the magnifying glass. That preference will then be changed into the old search behavior. This was pointed out by many reviewers shortly after 11 was released. It makes a HUGE difference in search speed and usability. As with the lack of a Sidebar by default, it's an example of Apple making a new way of working the default behavior when most users would prefer the old way. And weirdly for an app that Apple tried to make faster and more streamlined, the new Search is slower in the default configuration. Happily, unlike with the removal of Cover Flow, the old function (and speed) is still there.

Further, iTunes 11 does, in fact, search my Comments tag and lists the results in whatever view I'm in -- as long as I've deselected "Search Entire Library."

Have you updated to 11.0.1? Among the fixes is a "more responsive" Search.

@Mark Block

Thanks for the tip re: search - I'll give that's  try.

I've updated my work computer to 11.0 but haven't updated to 11.0.1 yet. Thankfully my computer at home is still on 10.7 and that's the way it's going stay unless Apple reinstate column browser on the left because that really is a deal breaker for me. I have quite a large library and I found the column browser invaluable for navigating my collection but it's madness to have it above the main window especially on a wide screen monitor.

Mark Block thanks for #2, I have not noticed that this thing is sitting there.

To be honest the new search function is not too bad. However, I could freak out when this stupid app jumps from one view into the next and if you return to the previous vew I cannot remember where it was. Man, developers, that cannot be too difficult to set a flag. There is a golden rule, regardless how much you drink you must remember where home is, translates that into software.

...I am not complaining about design. Apple can do it pink with ligth green stripes and purple ornaments, I do not care. But this thing must work.

..and thank you Apple that you are reading complains. You fixed in the 11.0. version as well some strange behaviour with the sidebar, thanks, but you are not done!!

Here my crash testing which you, Apple, obvioulsy missed out to do:

If you add music via Automatically Add to iTunes folder this thing always crashes, regardless if you are playing or not playing music at the same time. That drives me just nuts.

If I am playing music from my NAS via AirPlay this thing randomly stops transmitting the music via air but continues reading the file. Press Pause then Play and for the next 30min we are back in business. I could cry, but iTunes 11.0.1 can do much worse. Through my own fault (I even could say through some undocumented software behaviour), I needed to re-build my music database. First try, point to the folder on my NAS and press oK. In a previous version a rebuild would start, now silence. Tried it with library consolidate. Yes, it starts re-building. Obviously a job for the night. Next morning I could not believe that iTunes only randomly included files in the database, about one third was missing. Now brute force. Close itunes delete all databases and let it rebuild. Again overnight job with a result that files were missing. I tried it again, now everything is restored. What the hack is this piece of software doing ?

Dear Mr Tim Cook are you using your producs, please do so, then you would know why we are complaining. You are sailing straight into another app disasater after you failed on the maps front just recently. I liked the idea in an ealier thread to break-up the software into smaller components. This thing became too big for you (or your developers). Or/and market the iOS interface license to 3rd parties. I regret having bought an iPhone which binds me to iTunes.

yes -- count me along with those who are not happy.   Library corruption would certainly explain why it will only sync a small portion of my music library to my ipodtouch.. and why I'm planning on spending some serious time rebuilding and resyncing my entire library (look for a post I made about 8 days that it seems many have viewed but nobody has replied to).  There are other parts of the GUI that I don't like at all... functionality that has been the standard for iTunes for years and years now gone (e.g., Album view, etc.). Don't understand this compulsion to muck with an interface that everyone's gotten used to UNLESS this is the only way to provide new functionality.  But this radical change in the look & feel to me seemed utterly un-necessary.

I've given up trying to make '11' work for me. The 'shuffle songs' function only shuffles within an album and downloaded iPlayer content is regarded as 'home movie' and each file has to be manually changed to 'movie' to get it to play on my Apple TV.

So today I reverted back to 10.7 and after hours of faffing about have finally got my musical sanity back. What Apple has done to iTunes is unforgiveable. There are some minor elements I like but on the whole it really is a huge step backwards.

A benefit i suppose is I really have taken the opportunity to upgrade my artwork and tidied up a lot of spurious blank and unamed files. God forbid Apple to force me to do this work again.

charwingz wrote:

 

... Don't understand this compulsion to muck with an interface that everyone's gotten used to UNLESS this is the only way to provide new functionality.  But this radical change in the look & feel to me seemed utterly un-necessary.

How do you think professional editors (like me) feel about Apple's decision to pull the plug on Final Cut Pro and replace it with Final Cut X? The issues with iTunes are really piddling little nitpicks compared to that. Let's see ... a $150,000 investment in the Final Cut ecosystem for my company plus 5 years worth of honing my skills on a piece of software that Apple OUT OF NOWHERE abandons. Final Cut X, after 7 updates, still cannot be integrated into high-end professional workflows. I'd learn it immediately if it would make me money, if it would land me jobs, but there is NO CALL professionally for Final Cut X editing. Thanks Apple. FU. I can understand Apple trying to force consumers into a new way of working if Apple product people firmly believe that the new way is better. I can disagree with them sometimes, but I get it. I don't get it when Apple undermines careers and destroys a market that had been carefully cultivated. End of rant.

I think Apple has to be much more aware of their customers now that it's dominant in so many areas. It's one thing for people to learn an app that's brand new and superior to the competition; it's quite another thing for millions to be forced to learn something new when the old is fine as is. Will Apple change its philosophy? Should it change? That's a subject for another thread.

I still use Apple products if I perceive them to be the best choice. I believe iTunes is the best app for my needs, even though I much prefer 10.7 to 11. So I use 11 on my laptop (as an experiment) and 10.7 on my main music system because I love Cover Flow. I've had no iTunes crashes on either system that were not directly traceable to third-party hardware or software issues. It's still solid, and the iTunes database functions are still OK in 11. The sound is perfect, which cannot be said for Microsoft's latest efforts. So I guess it could be worse.

How do you think professional editors (like me) feel about Apple's decision to pull the plug on Final Cut Pro and replace it with Final Cut X? The issues with iTunes are really piddling little nitpicks compared to that. Let's see ... a $150,000 investment in the Final Cut ecosystem for my company plus 5 years worth of honing my skills on a piece of software that Apple OUT OF NOWHERE abandons. Final Cut X, after 7 updates, still cannot be integrated into high-end professional workflows. I'd learn it immediately if it would make me money, if it would land me jobs, but there is NO CALL professionally for Final Cut X editing. Thanks Apple. FU. I can understand Apple trying to force consumers into a new way of working if Apple product people firmly believe that the new way is better. I can disagree with them sometimes, but I get it. I don't get it when Apple undermines careers and destroys a market that had been carefully cultivated. End of rant.

I feel your pain with this. I invested in professional tuition on Final Cut Pro back in the early 2000s and learnt the craft of video editing. Final Cut X comes along and completely unravels that investment.

I just can't figure out why Apple persists in marketing what they consider to be a groundbreaking professional application only to then strip it of the very capabilities that put it there in the first place.

Getting back on topic, I agree that the 'refinements' to iTunes 11 are minor by comparison, but I use iTunes far more than I use FCP now and frankly the errors and flaws in iTunes are pretty basic and inexcusable. I really wonder sometimes if the software is tested by people who actually use the product day-to-day.

You wouldn't expect a nun to run pre-sale tests on a new rabbit would you? Or maybe you would!

Hi,

I just downloaded the new version after reading here some comments and making a few tests in my sister's laptop to make sure. My first impresion: Yes, I do like it!

- Sidebar is still there, and it did recover its coloured icons indeed, yeah!   (Visualization > Show Sidebar).

- Column View is still there, only have to select the "Songs" tag.

- This is the first ever Apple product I see that right after installation gives you the opportunity to watch the tutorials. And this should be a must.

- I love the new "next" feature, to insert one or more songs on-the-go without having to stop what you were already hearing. That annoyed me before.

Drawbacks:

- Playlists cannot be opened in new windows... yep, that is a mistake. It sounds as if it were a bug.

- I never used Cover Flow and this Artwork thing myself, but I understand you can simply not remove functionalities that work well and many users love. As it happened with Exposé and Spaces for Lion.

In any case, people, there is an invaluable piece of advice that will save you headaches and dramas: NEVER be the first to upgrade to a new softaware version and NEVER buy the first generation of a new hardware. Unless it is strictly necessary.

Best.

Vdue wrote:

 

Here my crash testing which you, Apple, obvioulsy missed out to do:

If you add music via Automatically Add to iTunes folder this thing always crashes, regardless if you are playing or not playing music at the same time. That drives me just nuts.

A few minutes ago I added 311 songs to my iTunes 11.0.1 Library by dragging an 800mb folder full of mp3s onto an alias of "Automatically Add to iTunes" while iTunes was playing other music. It worked perfectly, as it always has. I don't think iTunes 11 works any less well than iTunes 10 in that regard. I'm thinking there is a problem with your new installation of iTunes conflicting with the old link to the iTunes music folder on your NAS. Guessing -- and I'm not excusing the issue you're having. Apple stuff is supposed to "just work." However, Apple can't test for all the ways users configure their systems with third-party hardware.

Mark Block wrote:

 

Over the years, I agree. iTunes on a Mac has been a great piece of software......  But iTunes 11 is quite simply a less capable local database and music player than it used to be.

 

Apple seems to be flipping the bird to its most long-term and dedicated iTunes users, who generally have libraries too big for Apple's cloud.

I am right there with you... My favorite iTunes was 9, but I could live with 10... powerful LOCAL database.... I have 36,000 songs, and that doesn't include video, books, movies, TV shows... So this cloud thing is of no interest to me... If I need cloud services, I use Dropbox.

iTunes is the most important piece of software I use... constantly every day.... I have learned it's strengths and weaknesses... Adding features, cool... maybe they are great.... but what I've see they don't increase functionality... and if I use coverflow to search my huge database... well, to browse it, really.... it decreases functionality, for me, and, it seems for many others....

Thank God my son was the only one who upgraded on the machine he uses... I'll stay with 10.7, happily

I hate it.

More clicks to do what you wanted before- not sure how that helps

and when you have the ipod/ipad connected there is no easy way to add songs-

It was easy just to drag music over now you have to go through a big ritual to add anything.

How do you get the older version back cause this *****-  the first time I truly hated something Apple did.

I may have to buy a program from a third party just to listen to my music as I hate Apple's.

Not  really liking this new 11.0.1 vesrion of iTunes. Everything seems to run slower now.

For the first time ever, I'm getting a "Timeout" color wheel popping up sometimes when

I search for songs within in my extensive library. I've never seen that before on my

Macbook Pro. Plus of even greater concern, newly purchased tunes from the iTunes

store is not showing up right away in my library. Sometimes I have to go back to the

store an re-download previously purchased songs. I'm a professional mobile DJ and I

spend about 2 to 3 thousand dollars a year purchasing songs from iTunes.

This is unacceptable. Like most people I've come to expect better from Apple.

I've been using the new iTunes since it was released, and ever since I got that hint on how to get my playlist bar back, I'm not hating it QUITE as much as I was.  I'm not loving it by any means - some of the changes they made are just incomprehensible (searching for a song or artist in All Music brings up this stupid drop down list asking to choose from a song or album - *** is THAT for?) and a few other annoyances bring my love for iTunes down several notches.

Those annoyances and not being able to sort my iTunes store search results by the different fields - along with Apple's iOS 6 breaking Asian language support in pdf files - is seriously messing with my "Apple fangirl" status.  What the **** is going on over there anyway?