Where is option to have side bar in iTunes 12 ?

Back to the original point... assuming Apple read this.

Please restore the full sidebar in iTunes.

I'm not a computer expert, just an ordinary user who doesn't have the time or inclination to do elaborate workarounds to try to regain useful prior functionality. I've found that quite a few recent Apple updates create more problems than they aim to solve. Net result, I'm less likely to download updates.

You realise the "full sidebar" is in iTunes, right?

I don't know about you, but to me one click does not seem like an elaborate workaround. There is no lost functionality.

Well, I've seen the sidebar by clicking on Playlists but it isn't the classic sidebar, is it? Can that be fully restored?

redhotchilipep wrote:

Back to the original point... assuming Apple read this.

Please restore the full sidebar in iTunes.

To begin with, as has been mentioned several times now nobody at Apple who can change the behavior of iTunes is likely ever to read anything posted to these forums. Believe it or not, there are good reasons for this, mostly having to do with the volume of posts & the lack of relevant details in most of them necessary to make it clear to the software engineering department what the problem is, how many users it affects, etc.

That's why it is important not just to use the feedback forms but to include in them all the relevant info you can about the issue & what you would like to see done about it. "Restore the full sidebar" is not enough. That's because (again, as has been mentioned many times in this topic) the sidebar is still available & it isn't clear from that brief request what actual functionally the 'less-than-full' current version lacks that users typically want or need restored.

It is also worth considering that not everybody wants or needs the 'full' sidebar, & among those that do there will be different ideas about how it should be reinstated. Because of that, the more clearly & completely you explain your reasons for your request, the more likely it is that it will get serious consideration.

redhotchilipep wrote:

Well, I've seen the sidebar by clicking on Playlists but it isn't the classic sidebar, is it? Can that be fully restored?

What specifically would the 'classic' sidebar enable you to do that you can't do or can't do as easily with the new format?

For example, even when the Playlist view is not selected, you can still add items to playlists or to other devices, because when you start to drag a song, group of selected songs, an album, or whatever in the main window, the new sidebar appears automatically. In fact, since it only shows the playlists & devices that you can add items to, it is at least arguably more user friendly than the old classic one.

Terence Devlin wrote:

You realise the "full sidebar" is in iTunes, right?

I don't know about you, but to me one click does not seem like an elaborate workaround. There is no lost functionality.

Yeah, it's there. But if you access a shared library, it takes several clicks to retrieve the side bar. Every time I access my main library from my TV Mac mini running v12, it feels like the jack*** who designed this new version had little idea how people use iTunes. They do their polling or focus groups, or however they build a consensus for making changes, but they keep coming back with new versions that strip useful features, and/or mess with an established and cherished interface. And for what? Tell me, what was the purpose of changing the side bar in this manner? It smacks of pure retardedness and an attitude of not caring what customers want and think. Apple has become too big and too rich.

I just spent $3,000 at my "local" apple store, 100 miles from my residence. I had tried to call them to speak with one of the business reps, but they kept hanging up on me or routing me to someone not associated with the store. Huh? Anyway, I finally gave up, placed the order on the web site and then drove the 100 miles to pick up the top of the line MBP. When I got there, I explained to the sales rep the phone situation and how much trouble it had caused me. He said, "Yeah, we're having problems with our phone system." No apology, nothing. Just put his hand out for my credit card. I edit video and audio, and am a power user who's spent tens of thousands of dollars over the years with Apple. I'm not some millennial thumb twiddler living at home with mom and dad. I have money, and I spend it on good equipment. Apple is making that harder, and it all began before Jobs died. The beginning? The Final Cut Pro debacle.

Except for a desktop, I'm done with Apple. Window is so bad now I could never go there, so Microsoft is just as bad as Apple, maybe even worse. I already crushed my iToy phone 4S and went back to real phone, my old Blackberry and a new Blackberry Classic on order. My iPad sits unused (what worthless crap a tablet is) so I'll sell that, too. Apple has burned a loyal customer, me, who bought his first Mac in 1984. They will have to work hard to bring me back. I doubt it will happen. There's No Country for Old Men.

A perfect demonstration of my point about the quality of feedback.

I think the guys spent too much time in creating the icon for the trashcan.

RogerOut wrote:

Yeah, it's there. But if you access a shared library, it takes several clicks to retrieve the side bar.

??? If by shared libraries you mean iTunes libraries on other Macs or PC's, it takes me just one click.

Haha, you're right. Don't know what I was referring to there.

Hey, do you think Meister Terence understands the no country for old men reference? I have $100 that says he doesn't. But since Terence is the Einstein of the iTunes forum, we'll let him be the arbiter of quality. He seems to knowing everything, I'm sure he knows the voice and words I use when writing to Apple feedback. :rolleyes:

You know, I've left Feedback; I really have. Several times. But it would help if that Feedback box weren't little better than a Twitter post-sized deal where people could leave some actual detail or discuss interrelated problems. It's amazing how much of my trust in the company has been lost since mid-October, but seriously, as much as everybody keeps saying "leave Feedback, leave Feedback," I feel like doing so just drops my message into a slush pile the size of Mount Everest.

I rolled my computer back six months, and I'm staying with Mavericks, Safari 7, and iTunes 11.2 for as long as I can. (11.3 is when they introduced streaming Extras, which crash and burn every time my Internet connection is even slightly spotty -- which is pretty much always -- so I'm not even going to upgrade that any further.) Six months of reconstruction is worth it to me compared to the sheer torture the new people in charge made of my life for the last month, and has been a whole lot easier than playing hide-and-seek with the features I formerly used on a daily basis.

And don't any of you dare pull that insulting "if you'd just take the time..." garbage on me. I don't have the time. I've been all-out for the last half-year (which is why, thank God, my last backup was half a year old) and averaging five hours of sleep a night. Thanksgiving break was my first chance to breathe, and my first opportunity to fix this mess. Playing guessing games about where features have hidden themselves is NOT the way I can use my productive time, nor is it a good use of the rare free time I have to unwind. I never, ever swore at my computer before the "upgrade," and I feel like I did nothing but swear at it after. For those of you who have the leisure time to invest in playing hide-and-seek with iTunes 12, more power to you. For me, I've gone back to "it just works" and I'll stay there for as long as I can. And when I can't stay there anymore, Apple will have exactly one shot to show me that they've taken these problems seriously and fixed the interface; if they haven't, I will ditch the whole ecosystem in a heartbeat. It's a shame; I just bought my MacBook Pro in January, and the plan was for it to last me until my PhD was finished (roughly five years from now). Now I'm not even sure that I'll be able to keep using it until its AppleCare plan expires. 😟

Honestly, I installed Yosemite yesterday which looks even worse than iTunes 12 from a point of view concerning GUI design. I've never seen a GUI team investing such a headless and heartless ambition to develop a nice, good looking user interface for an operating system which reminds me a lot of the new "Windows 7" likely translucent design goal. The big point is, use transparencies where they really make sense, and leave transparencies out where they don't make sense at all (because it makes no use or follows the purpose of a function, or is just because it looks "hippy" to make it all translucent like Windows 7).

I believe there are much better ways to design a user interface for an application that has to fulfill 4 main tasks for managing

- Audio & Video Content

- Shopping system

- iPhone

Well roll eyes all you like. You wrote three paragraphs of which exactly this much

But if you access a shared library, it takes several clicks to retrieve the side bar.

is relevant to the topic. As feedback it's poor because it lacks any detail, and, as others point out, inaccurate. The rest is whining. That's why Apple don't use the forum as a feedback mechanism. I'm vaguely familiar with McCarthy. It comes from teaching courses on the American novel.

Terence Devlin wrote:

Well roll eyes all you like. You wrote three paragraphs of which exactly this much

But if you access a shared library, it takes several clicks to retrieve the side bar.

is relevant to the topic. As feedback it's poor because it lacks any detail, and, as others point out, inaccurate. The rest is whining. That's why Apple don't use the forum as a feedback mechanism. I'm vaguely familiar with McCarthy. It comes from teaching courses on the American novel.

I know it was lousy feedback because... and here it comes: I wasn't writing feedback, I was ranting. There is a difference, obviously. Except for posting a brief comment about v12 to Apple feedback and making my feelings known about the side bar, I sure as heck won't spend any more time doing Apple's work for them. I've found numerous bugs in v12 but no way will I write them up. If they want me to beta test their software, they can pay me. I don't work for free.

If you're familiar with 'No Country for Old Men', you'd know that a key thread in the story is about one man's vanity (the near-retirement sheriff), how he wants the world to conform to what make sense to him. He is set straight by his uncle near the end of the story. I referred to this story in my rant because I realize that a lot of my discomfort and *****-ness about a changing world is due to my own vanity, how I want the world to be. We're all guilty of it to some degree. And it's not simply about resistance to change, it's a far more sticky psychological problem than that. In short, my rant was an expression of my own vanity and I freely admitted it. Yeah, an A+ essay, no doubt. See how easy it is, Einstein? ;-)

I know it was lousy feedback because... and here it comes: I wasn't writing feedback, I was ranting.

So you're rude, bad mannered and don't keep your word also? After all when you signed up to the forum you agreed to the terms and what they specifically exclude is ranting. But hey ho, it simply demonstrates to others the reason Apple would not regard this as a useful source of feedback. Because it isn't. Because of people like you.