Where is option to have side bar in iTunes 12 ?

Upon reading this thread and many others in a similar vein I am starting to wonder why Apple seems to think that I wouldl be very happy to have a 16-core iPhone sitting on my desk... Despite looking rather like a flower pot it doesn't even have a phone module!

Why on earth anyone thinks that a professional Desktop (or even a Notebook for that matter) should have an iPhone GUI - where you use your finger rather than a mouse to operate it - beats me and I'm sick to death of being 'told' by Apple what is good for me! Even Microsoft realized that after the fiasco of the missing Startmenu in Win8.0 - it magically reappeared in Win8.1 and is a standard feature of Win10....

After 40+ years in IT I find it unbelievable that a (previously) well-regarded IT company sees it necessary to 'dumb down' their Operating System to such an extend that it resembles a Mobile Phone!!

I will be avoiding an update to Mavericks as long as possible but the day I am 'forced' to do so will be the day that the flowerpot lands on the compost heap!

(unless,I figure out how to install a Linux Version on it)

I agree with the last few posts. I don't want an iPhone GUI. I don't want a "dumbed-down" OS. I want more control over my desktop. It is not a smartphone, pad, etc. Another thing that changed a while back was Apple's "discussions" "forums" -- It's harder to search. And, when you click on a post to check it out, and try to go back, it doesn't put you back where you were! Oh no, you've got to scroll down again and again. It's counter-productive.

is it possible to start over? for example, can i delete 12, and install 10.7, then import all of my songs, playlists, movies, and whatnot into the new old itunes application? I may have to go with something like itunes 11.4 to have iphone/pad syncing with ios8. But is a fresh start ever a good idea?

My objection to the way Apple is currently changing its apps is that, while some may prefer something "less cluttered" or what they term "clunky", some people like the functionality and Apple has chosen to cater to only one segment of its customer base. Worse, they don't even provide a "heads up how-to" when making major interface changes. I prefer to be able to see in the sidebar in iTunes that there are updates for applications without having to click on applications to find that out. Apple is now wasting my time.

Zanaelf wrote:

Thanks... but still stuck on moving individual songs from iTunes library and depositing them in selective playlists on the iPod... Apple broke iTunes... 😟

I didn't read through the whole thread so maybe it has already been mentioned, but I discovered by accident that in most views if you click & drag on a song, album or whatever, the sidebar will magically slide into view. That makes it easy to add things to playlists or transfer them to other devices shown in the sidebar.

yeah and where are the bit rate, date added, kind etc sort options? really apple?

It's all there Francais. Just not always in the places you used to look.

Thank you! I get tired of the hide and seek of the column view...

Francais wrote:

yeah and where are the bit rate, date added, kind etc sort options? really apple?

The keyword in all of this is Options. Usability options have been removed, and that equals bad interactive design. Great that you like it, I'm sure others do to, but we all used to have a choice to use the sidebar or *not* and now that choice has been removed, and how to use the software is being dictated to us, which again equals bad interactive design.

theqofe wrote:

Usability options have been removed, and that equals bad interactive design. […] but we all used to have a choice to use the sidebar or *not* and now that choice has been removed, and how to use the software is being dictated to us, which again equals bad interactive design.

Could you please explain this further, I have been reading this a lot and I still don't get it. Those two options are still there, they might be called differently but they are still there. You don't want the sidebar, use the My Music view and the sidebar is permanently disabled, except when you absolutely need it (moving songs/albums to a playlist etc). You want the sidebar, use the Playlists view and the sidebar is permanently enabled. I really don't see which options are missing there, actually the sidebar is better than ever, e.g. I have tons of playlists and I need to scroll quite a bit to get to the end of all the lists, previously when I wanted to change from music to videos, I had to scroll all the way up again (if I wanted to use the GUI instead of a keyboard shortcut anyways), now switching between different media is much easier.

Now, I get that they removed some options, like having one horizontal artists column on the left and the list view in the main window (might be possible to hack this back into the interface, haven't checked that, but the old Get Info window is still there, so seems possible), but there are so many options to look at your music, I am pretty sure almost everyone will find a view that does exactly what they want, if they actually try to find it.

I can supply a couple of specifics: In the previous sidebar, one could see not just "music" or just "movies" or just "apps", but all of these categories in the sidebar at the same time. One of my specific complaints is that now I have to take extra steps to see if there are apps that are awaiting updating, whereas in the previous sidebar I could, at a glance, see if there were app updates waiting, if there were new shows added to a tv series I subscribe to, etc. Now one is required to click on each of these items. Not in and of itself necessarily a huge deal, but taken with many other changes Apple has instituted, it now takes more time to do what I need to do.

As with many others, I find Apple's new approach in removing useful user interfaces for the sake of looks rather than functionality to be disturbing (another example being the removal of the single line/single cell up and down arrows on the scroll bar affecting not just Finder windows, but also MS Word & Excel). Apple is beginning to behave more like Microsoft in that they have clearly moved into the realm of form over function.

Another issue that has been mentioned in other threads: If you've plugged in a device and are in the Sync Music window, there is no quick link to the iTunes Store. I used to be able to slide the mouse over to the sidebar and click once to get to the store. There is no iTunes Store icon on the new header bar. You have to go to the iTunes toolbar, click on Store, get the drop-down menu and click on Home. I'm not sure why this function was eliminated from the device "silo". As I add or delete songs on my iPod, it's not uncommon for me to think of a song that would fit well with the rest of a playlist. I'd like to quickly search for and purchase said song, sync it on my iPod before I disconnect and head out the door.

To anyone that wants to go back to iTunes 11.4, OSDaily.com has an article with instructions here:

––> http://osxdaily.com/2014/10/26/downgrades-itunes-12/

I tried this on my Mountain Lion OS and it worked. Good Luck!

Pretty reliable from OSDaily, but still be cautious. I used a similar workaround going back to Safari 6.1.6 from 6.2 because the 6.2 version has a bug that makes it crash right in the middle of things! Going back broke the Share button/ Mail share options. It still lets me share, but there are no options. Gave up one thing for another. But, I am still researching a fix/workaround for that. It's better than having it crash with no warning.

Cheers!