Where is option to have side bar in iTunes 12 ?

roberbaran wrote:

Apple had to pay programmers to remove the functionality that almost everyone on this list wants.

Even if by "this list" you mean only the participants in this topic, that isn't strictly true. Some of us actually like the new format & find it better suited & more intuitive than the older ones for the way we use the app. But because others use it in different ways, for them it is worse.

The real problem is that over the years iTunes has become such a monstrosity with so many different functions that there is no way it can be designed to work in a way that everybody will find intuitive or well suited to their needs. Some have suggested breaking it up into several different apps, but it isn't clear if that would make things better or worse.

R C-R wrote:

roberbaran wrote:

Apple had to pay programmers to remove the functionality that almost everyone on this list wants.

...

The real problem is that over the years iTunes has become such a monstrosity with so many different functions that there is no way it can be designed to work in a way that everybody will find intuitive or well suited to their needs. Some have suggested breaking it up into several different apps, but it isn't clear if that would make things better or worse.

Yeah, that was the assertion of the original designer of iTunes. How could he have envisioned that a store front would be integrated into his program?

The thing is, Apple has been scaling back on features since v8 that were already there and in use. Apple said, for example, that no one used the feature to randomize a single playlist. Well, I guess I'm "no one." lol I used that feature all the time. Anyway, to me, these "updates" are becoming a fiasco, just like Windows 8. Can you imagine the gazillions of Windows users in business being confronted by the loss of the start menu? These huge companies lose their hearing and can't hear what customers are telling them. I'm pretty certain of that. Or they just don't care.

RogerOut wrote:

The thing is, Apple has been scaling back on features since v8 that were already there and in use. Apple said, for example, that no one used the feature to randomize a single playlist. Well, I guess I'm "no one." lol I used that feature all the time.

FWIW, that feature is still there in iTunes 12. Just select a playlist & click on the "shuffle" icon that looks like crossed arrows.

"Hovering the mouse" is part of Apple's new "Guess where everything is" design philosophy.

That's the best description of the design philosophy I've read.

I'm still on the fence about going back. Seems like a can of worms. But as a musician I also liked the old controller as I use the progress bar when I'm figuring out a part and need to hear it over and over.

Also, Have you figured out where the internet radio channels went? I miss perusing web music...

R C-R wrote:

RogerOut wrote:

The thing is, Apple has been scaling back on features since v8 that were already there and in use. Apple said, for example, that no one used the feature to randomize a single playlist. Well, I guess I'm "no one." lol I used that feature all the time.

FWIW, that feature is still there in iTunes 12. Just select a playlist & click on the "shuffle" icon that looks like crossed arrows.

Again, no. Read what I wrote. I said randomize a single playlist, meaning reordering in the actual list, not just shuffle play order. Version 11 and v12 DON'T do that, they just shuffle the song play order, they don't change the actual order of the songs in the list so it can be synced to a device in that new order. iTunes 10 and previous versions literally reordered the song list. The best shuffle features were in V8, with the ability to set the shuffle randomizing parameters. In v9 Apple removed the ability to control the shuffle parameters. However in v9 the shuffled playlist stayed in that order until you specifically did a reshuffle. Then in v10, if shuffle was turned on for a particular playlist, it would reshuffle any time you simply selected the list. Then in v11, shuffle only reordered the play order but not the list itself. In short, from v8 forward, Apple kept removing the various capabilities of shuffle. Now it's nearly worthless except for playback in iTunes.

serfy

As a musician, you should check out Transcribe by Seventhstring software. It's a GREAT program for learning songs. And no, I don't have anything to do with the company, I just use their software. A lot.

Well here is great kick in the pants.. If you attempt to load 10 or 11 you can't, if you try to remove 12 you can't apparently it is built into the OS!!!

Wasn't Microsoft sued regarding the Browser being part of the OS... As I recall they lost.

All of the iTunes replacement software available are as useless as iTunes.. Shame to it used to be a powerful product..

If anyone at Apple is listening:

1. Side bar is always required, should be an option to turn it off for users that don't like the side bar.

2. Devices should always bee see in the side bar whether wired or attached via WiFi

3. Ability to shuffle my play lists as I like them I really don't need Apple deciding the order in which I listen to music

4. Stop making add on products that are imbedded in the OS it is unnecessary

Apple has already seen a drop in usage of the iTunes Store, it could get far worse if you don't start listening to your users, remember us we keep Apple stock soaring high, Stop already with AD a second on your website and all of your products... We as consumer know what we want and have little need of Apple informing us of our needs..

Sorry got carried away, anyone else want to add to the list

RogerOut wrote:

Again, no. Read what I wrote. I said randomize a single playlist, meaning reordering in the actual list, not just shuffle play order. Version 11 and v12 DON'T do that, they just shuffle the song play order, they don't change the actual order of the songs in the list so it can be synced to a device in that new order.

I'm not sure what you mean by not changing the actual order of the songs in the list. All list views, playlist views included, can be sorted by various criteria. They will play in that order unless shuffle is on, in which case they play in a random order. You can create any order you want if you sort a list view by clicking on the first column header (the unlabeled one showing play order numbers) & dragging songs up or down.

But the order they play on some other device depends entirely on the features that device supports. For instance, you can create an 'on the fly' playlist on an iPhone or add one to it from iTunes, but the order the items on the playlist play on the iPhone depend on the settings of the iPhone, not the order in which the items were added to it. Likewise, I export playlists or individual songs from iTunes to USB sticks to use with various devices like my car's audio system & a portable player that accepts USB sticks. Both support only either a play order that depends strictly on the alphanumerically organized song title or on a random shuffle mode I have no control over.

I know all that. I'm talking about shuffle randomizing the playlist, not sorting by column headers, etc.. I just laid out the history of it. I give up, moving on. Thanks for the input.

Zanaelf wrote:

Well the internet radio channels are there , you would have to load the icons in the "ribbon" microsoft looking thingy with the flat boring plain icons .... You would have to click the "..." thingy to add it there ...

Just how the icons look at me first glance... why I hate flat design...

1) Obviously thats note..

2) Camera Film , does this mean video of photo ?

3)A square and a line, could be anything...

4)Microphone ? Input jack ? Antennae ?

5) Scholar/university section of iTunes store.

6) Toilet roll ? Paper ? a book ?

7) recognisable Apple silhouette of a paint brush, pencil and ruler, for apps.

8)Cavern ? Ghost ? UFO ? a Bell ?

9) Radio antennae

Hahaha, hilarious. You nailed it. Flat is so stupid and, uh, so Microsoft... Ugh. 😀

Ziatron wrote:

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I have seen Apple reverse course several times. To make that happen, you MUST leave feedback. I can tell you for a fact, it does get read.

https://www.apple.com/feedback/itunesapp.html

Thank you Ziatron. Yes, please leave them feedback. If you have the time, energy, and Apple ID to vent here, then you also have the time, energy, and Apple ID to leave feedback in a channel that might actually get read.

I don't expect (or want) Apple to drop everything they're doing to enact every UX/UI concept users such as me come up with, but if dozens or hundreds of us explain functionality that was removed, they might reconsider.

I left a polite note explaining why a full-time sidebar was both consistent and useful in iTunes, and I asked them why I can no longer command-click multiple items to delete. We'll see if anything happens on those fronts.

Removing the sidebar was a horrible decision in regards to the UX/UI. I scathingly despise iTunes 12. Even little things like the small mini player collapse widget in the top right were removed? Why? Did whomever do the re-design ever use the software? I have to remember 1000's of key commands I don't want a three key command to collapse to mini-player. There have been very few times where I have felt a piece of Apple software took a step backward and this particular blunder is in my opinion up there with soldering ram to a motherboard. I'll be using iTunes 11.4 until things change.

It's going to be a pain to downgrade but, here is the the link. Re: Downgrade iTunes 12 to iTunes 11