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iTunes 12 - A Wish List

I've been watching the debates about iTunes11 and thought I'd start a slightly more positive thread;

(that said, I have already downgraded back to 10.7 and will stay with that until iTunes 12 starts to catch up with iTunes 10.7)

So what should iTunes12 have?

obviously, there'll be a lot of people with CoverFlow at the top of their Christmas list.

bring back the album art preview, and the ability to click it and have it open full size.

being able to open a playlist in a separate window is also high on the list.

fix the search facility so it's not backwards.

bring back DJ view

find duplicates (i think they've put that back already, but I'm still in 10.7)

make the interface look more like a new Apple product, and less like a 1985 Apple product (or 2008 windows product)

get rid of Composer's View? ;-)

what else?

none of these 'up'grades fixes a fundamental problem that has been bugging me for ages. does no-one else have this problem?

but i need to explain;

i go out with my iPhone. i listen to some songs that i like and some songs that i don't like (which i promptly delete), and i hear a song that i like somewhere else , so i buy it on iTunes.

nothing unusual there then.

later, i'm on my iMac and listening to some music. again, i hear something i like and something i don't like.

i delete the one i don't like.

i plug my iPhone into my iMac. as soon as its connected, i get a message saying "iTunes has found purchased songs on your iPhone that are not on this Mac, do i want to transfer these items from this iPhone back to your iTunes Library?"

which songs???

i don't know whether it means songs I've purchased on the phone, which should now be imported onto the mac, or whether its referring to the phone copy of songs i've recently deleted from the Mac!

please can it show me a list???!!!

Posted on Feb 25, 2013 8:09 AM

38 replies

Sep 27, 2013 3:19 PM in response to Chris CA

I'm really struggling with this.

This is a discussion site. "discussions.apple.com"

I'm not interested in feeble fixes, and I'm not here for an argument. I started this thread because I, like many other people, think iTunes11 is not very good. It is not up to Apple's very high standards. I thought I'd be positive and think about possible improvements.

If you just want a quarrel why don't you hang in "https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4555356?answerId=23102468022#23102468022".

That's where the real haters are. 95 pages of posts almost unanimously disliking iTunes11. Company men going there don't stay long.

If you just want to say iTunes11 cannot be improved, I'm sorry, but I can't suggest where you should go. There doesn't seem to be an appropriate discussion.

If you just want to say Apple is great, tell your boss.

and... I do pay attention. Especially to my own spelling.

and... hey Thronborg, top post!!!

(not expecting this post to stay online for long).

Sep 27, 2013 3:22 PM in response to Paul Richards4

For iTunes 12 I wish Apple would:

1. Acquire a solid understanding of what their customers want, including experienced users.

2. Fully test iTunes prior to releasing it.

Boy, would that be a refreshing change from the current way they do biznaz.

Oct 9, 2013 10:18 AM in response to Paul Richards4

I'd like to have in iTunes 12 the "sound bars", which showed the highs and lows. This feature was deleted in iTunes 11, and I really liked it. I'd also like to have the option of having in Mac the vertical window buttons, as in iTunes 10 early versions. I'd also like Cover Flow to come back.

This vertical window buttons.

Chris CA

Level 10

82,434 points

Oct 9, 2013 11:23 AM in response to Carlos Hernández

Carlos Hernández wrote:

This vertical window buttons.

iTunes menu View > View Sidebar.

Chris CA

Level 10

82,434 points

Oct 9, 2013 11:28 AM in response to Paul Richards4

Paul Richards4 wrote:

I thought I'd be positive and think about possible improvements.

Then post feedback as opposed to only posting them in a user-to-user help forum since we (users) cannot fix iTunes.

If you just want to say iTunes11 cannot be improved, I'm sorry, but I can't suggest where you should go. There doesn't seem to be an appropriate discussion.

If you just want to say Apple is great, tell your boss.

I never stated it couldn't or shouldn't be improved or even that you should not discuss it here.

My boss doesn't care about Apple. Don't know why you would suggest this. Perhaps you should complain to your boss about iTunes.

???

Oct 13, 2013 2:49 AM in response to Carlos Hernández

I was refering to both the red, yellow and green buttons to close, minimize and maximize buttons on Mac, which in those iTunes verions were vertical, and to the bars that appeared a top, in the player.

Jan 4, 2014 8:25 PM in response to Paul Richards4

I finally caved in to itunes 11 because I was sick and tired of daily prompts to upgrade and now I cannot minimize my playlist and am so mad at myself! Pls tell me how to get back 10.7! I tried a link thru PC World which was supposed to be reputable but it had a malicious virus attached to it. I spent 2 days wasted and am so mad at myself. It is obvious apple does not want you to create your own playlists from different albums say of sinatra. I am so angry. Please advise. I have a new Windows 7 pc and the only other way would be to get out my old Windows XP which still has iTunes 10 on it. Thank you.

Jan 4, 2014 9:32 PM in response to Paul Richards4

Hi guys!

I have been thinking... yes.

Was not iTunes dedicated for music only from the beginning? Now its streaming radio, TV, video, Store, iCloud, synking iphone, Podcast etc. etc.

Would it not be easier to split them up?

1. iTunes Only handling music and video.No store.

2. iStore Unite iTunes Store and AppStore, musik and video + Hardware. Buy in one place.

3. iCom A new iPhoneApp where you setup and synk your iPhone/iPad.

4. iCloud Separate it to a stand alone app.

Onwards

Thronborg

Jan 5, 2014 10:57 AM in response to namaste815

Hi namaste815 - there are two answers to your problem -

1 if you really want to go back to 10.7 there are other threads in apple discussions which will guide you through it step by step, BUT - i did it a year ago, was very happy in 10.7 and still would be, except that new iPhones and iPads require iTunes11. So going back may not be an option. Its also worth noting that very old iPods are no longer supported so my old iPod1 touchwheel is no longer recognised by iTunes11.

2 while 10.7 is much nicer graphically - Coverflow has gone, the little cover preview in the corner has gone, etc, iTunes11 is pretty much the same as 10.7 when it comes to making playlists, so maybe we can help you solve your problem with 11...

first, you might feel more comfortable if you turn on the sidebar (at the top, View > show sidebar). Personally I hate it because its just making 11 look like 10.7. I'd rather use 11 as it's meant to be used, but it's pretty unusable!!!

so if you want a playlist of Sinatra, why not just go File > New > Smart Playlist, then

check match the following rule and Artist > contains > and type in Sinatra

Check Live updating.

A new playlist appears in the sidebar called Sinatra. On my computer it shows 30 songs (I didn't know I had that much Sinatra!).

Note that on mine, two of the songs are Nancy Sinatra, so you may want to add another rule - right click the Sinatra playlist, and Edit Smart Playlist.. alongside the rule you entered is a plus sign - click it to add a rule.

Artist > Does Not contain > and type in Nancy.

Presto. Frank only.

When you plug in your devices, make sure that it syncs that playlist to your iPod, iPad or iPhone.

Hope that helps?

Jan 5, 2014 11:06 AM in response to Thronborg

And bring back itunes dj.

Jan 5, 2014 3:35 PM in response to gieljnssns

Thanks for your thoughtful response. However, I already had the show sidebar and still, you CANNOT minimize the music, no way.

I tried putting back 10.7 and you can't unless you want a virus from an unreputable source, even thru PC World Magazine links and suggested websites. My computer man said go google it (useless). The only alternative is turning on my old Windows XP which I have hooked up to a trendnet splitter box. And that does not include the music I have added in the last year. So I am sunk.

I thought of finding it on my backups (Seagate, Click-free). Apple is just like dealing with ebay and paypal as far as I'm concerned, they just want your money and want you to keep upgrading new products. The workers at Apple get $9 an hour to work from home and are all there less than one year working with no benefits. They are all very top-drawer and never condescending. But for people like them and most people (I did my walk-the-dog survey) nobody seems to care about playlists and editing. Any other suggestions?

Jan 5, 2014 4:39 PM in response to Paul Richards4

Here are a few iTunes 12 suggestions. (the rest of the debate over the validity of this is post is a waste of air, people.)

1. Do not have iTunes sort movies into "Home Movies" versus "Movies."

2. Allow a common music folder to be shared among all users of a computer instead of sharing a library on a local network, etc. This would prevent multiple folders containing the same music. (this relates to the iTunes Media Folder location)

3. Improve "Find Duplicates" functionality to look not only at track name but also album name. This would prevent tracks on "best of" albums from being included as duplicates.

Jan 22, 2014 7:10 PM in response to Paul Richards4

I'd like to be able to filter songs from the date i set them a star.Most of my songs have a star. Since I have a lot of songs, when i "discover" one in my database but had it for a while already, it's not easy to remember which "new" songs i just found. I put them in the on the go play list but it woul be nice to have some automatic way where I could make an intelligent playlist that finds songs i recently gave a 3 star rating for example. that's all itunes is missing to me. this way i wouldnt have 10 on the go playlist because it makes a new playlist everytime i sync. that too could be arranged. one on the go playlist where the songs can stay.

Jan 25, 2014 2:50 AM in response to neolio883

Maybe I'm misunderstanding what you're trying to do, but try this anyway...

Go File > New > Smart Playlist

Match the following rule should be checked

In the first dropdown select Rating Is *** (or however many stars you want)

Then click Limit to 1000 (or maybe 10) items selected by Most Recently Added

Back in the sidebar, rename the new playlist (maybe New 3 star songs) and make sure that when you plug your phone or ipod in, that playlist gets synced to it.

I have a smart playlist called "haven't heard for ages"

where the rule is

Last Played is not in the last 24 months

Is that what you're trying to do?

Jan 25, 2014 8:05 AM in response to Paul Richards4

Not quite. I surely know how to make a playlist based on the ratings lol. i have a lot! i went to see the geniuses in a mac store and them too had a hard time understanding what i meant. It's making an intelligent playlist with all the songs i gave 3 stars in let's say the last month only. or year, or day... Regardless the date i added the song, or the year it was released. Only the date i gave it this rating. so i could have a song released in 2000, that i bought in 2010 and it's yesterday that i discover it in my 10 000 songs. and i'm like hey it's good! 3 stars. and it would go in that playlist because today i discovered it and liked it.

iTunes 12 - A Wish List