iTunes slow

finniii

As David Ellsworth 1 said, don't forget to go to your System Preferences ->App Store and uncheck automatic install -otherwise the downgrade (that's really an upgrade for now) won't stay for long.

Start by downloading the older version of iTunes: http://mac.filehorse.com/download-itunes/5833/

I got the link from another thread on this board, and it works.

Next, open Terminal and type sudo rm -r /Applications/iTunes.app

It will prompt for your password -enter it and press return.

Now you can open the iTunes installer you downloaded and install normally. You won't lose any playlists or songs (at least I didn't the three times I did this before remembering to shut off the automatic install in preferences).

I saw this fix in two other threads that it seems Apple has removed for some reason. Glad I copied/pasted/saved the instructions for future reference! This version of iTunes is ludicrously bad, and I hope Apple comes up with an fix before too much longer. I'm sick of seeing that red dot and reminders that there is a newer version available...

Thank you very much finniii,

Followed your advice but went back even further to version 12.2.2.25, which is the last version before things started to slow down.

At least I can listen to my music now in peace until Apple gets their act together and issue a proper update!

Thanks for the help! After updating to 12.3.1 my computer would freeze. Opening Terminal and type sudo rm -r /Applications/iTunes.app -then downloading 12.3 fixed the problem. I had the exact same issue with El Capitan update and had to re-install Yosemite. You've been a massive help. I appreciate it.

Glad to be of help, but the real credit goes to the guys who figured it out in another thread. Apple has seen fit to delete the thread, so I am afraid I can't give them the proper credit for their help. I suspect this thread could get deleted as well, so I suggest copying the Terminal commands and a download link and saving them for future reference.

I've been having these same issues since I upgraded to 12.3.1 and El Capitan. I'm willing to go back to 12.3 but I do not understand this statement in the fix:

Open Terminal and type sudo rm -r /Applications/iTunes.app

My computer is an iMac. Could you please tell me where to look for this TERMINAL??

Inside your Applications folder is a Utilities folder. Inside that is an application called Terminal. It's a way to enter Unix-based commands, and shouldn't be messed with unless you know what you're doing. That said, this is an easy one.

Open Terminal. A small window will appear with old-fashioned ascii text. The cursor will be a black square.

Tye the following exactly: sudo rm -r /Applications/iTunes.app

Hit return.

The application will prompt you for your password. Type it, then hit return. Quit the Terminal app.

(you can also copy the text from this window and paste it into the Terminal window)

This will delete your iTunes application so you can install the older version. It will not erase your music, playlists, etc. Reinstall the iTunes application from the file you downloaded before starting.

Scary stuff (for me). But I've done that. Now do I need to quit iTunes before installing the downloaded 12.3 ? Thanks for your help.

YYou should quit iTunes before you begin.

OK! All is well - thank you soon much for the help.

You helped me so much last night - I have another question. Before the last iTunes update that caused all the trouble - I know all my music was put into: Music, iTunes Music, iTunes Media. I know longer see this "Media folder" at all, although I have it checked in iTunes preferences to COPY FILES TO iTUNES MEDIA FOLDER WHEN ADDING TO LIBRARY. Do you still see this in your songs destination? I don't know if this is a big deal or not.

My music is all in Music->iTunes->iTunes Media as usual.

I suppose it's possible that when the file was updated, it got moved around inside that window. How many items are in your iTunes Folder? You might try COMMAND + J in order to toggle the SORT BY view window. Sort by NAME, and see if the folder reappears in the alphabetical list.

If that doesn't work, open a Finder window and use the Search box in the upper-right corner to search for the folder. If your music is still there (as it should be!) then the folder is there somewhere. 🙂

I'm another one who had iTunes become completely unusable after "upgrading" a couple of weeks ago. Thanks to the comments in this thread I managed to fix it, but not until I had spent an entire Saturday on and off the phone with Apple techs who insisted first that 1) I download and install el Capitan, 2) download the latest iTunes (again) and reinstall it, and 3) move my 700GB+ library from its external drive to the computer's HD (a process that took about 10 hours by USB), all to no avail. I was going to take it to a "Genius" bar and dump it for them to fix, but stumbled on this thread the night before my appointment. It saved the day.

For reference, my system is 2009 27" 2.8 GHz Intel Core i7 iMac with 16GB of RAM. FWIW, el Capitan doesn't seem to have a deleterious effect. The culprit appears to be entirely that latest iTunes. I'm now back at 12.2.2.

Start by downloading the older version of iTunes: http://mac.filehorse.com/download-itunes/5833/

I got the link from another thread on this board, and it works.

I'm sorry, but while this is genuinely helpful in that it may likely temporarily fix the frustrating symptoms that many people are seeing with iTunes 12.3.1, and I and others are indeed grateful for the sleuthing and sharing going into helping others make iTunes at a minimum usable, it all stems from a real breakdown in responsibility and accountability from Apple and desperately requires a prompt fix by Apple. Despite a known major problem with this latest release, the refusal of Apple to acknowledge this issue and fix it means that it has now driven its users to have to download versions of Apple software from unverified sources, delete files via Terminal (many evidently for the first time), install the unverified, non-current version of critical software and hoping nothing breaks during the downgrade, and then disable auto-update to prevent both a) the sure return of a known, verified, repeatable, major bug, and b) any ability to take advantage of future iTunes updates if a real fix isn't addressed and incorporated in the iTunes code base going forward.

Any responsible, responsive developer would acknowledge this ASAP, and then fix it ASAP (I can't count the number of times I've seen small developers post an update on the iOS or Mac App Stores, and before I ever get around to downloading it, they've already posted a note saying there's a bug in that new version and please hold off on downloading, and then, by that afternoon, boom, there's a fix) - Apple's refusal to confirm known problems is evidently causing many of its longtime users to suffer from the gaslight effect ("maybe it's something I've done", "maybe it's something wrong with my library/machine", "maybe it's my responsibility to fix this") and waste countless hours going in circles with tech support, and its inability to fix these known problems is leading its users into risky, convoluted, unsupported dead-end-downgrade-fork solutions.

Fix this, Apple. I know the bulk of your profits now come from iPhone sales, but the only reason I've bought piles of iPhones over the last 8 years is because they work with iTunes. Now wake up, shape up, fix this... and apologize, willya?

Note: for anyone just following this thread, there is also a much-longer thread on this issue here:

Itunes not responding, running extremely slow

And others:

My iTunes is non responsive with iTunes 12.3.1 I get that coloured beach ball constantly.

iTunes 12.3.1 Memory Hogging

After upgrading to 12.3.1, iTunes slowed way down, the rainbow appearing with every command, every click. Support could…

On getting by with multiple bugs in iTunes 12.3.1 update (some problems and fixes compiled)

Itunes 12.3.1 not responding on 10.10.5

etc...

East Dog is absolutely right that there is clearly a problem, and Apple has been slow to respond to it. But since Apple never talks about this sort of thing, that's not surprising. I am confident they are working on it, but iTunes has become a massively complex piece of software, and releasing updates is not going to have a quick turn-around. ]

Also, as others are quick to point out, this board is Apple's user-to-user help area. It isn't monitored by Apple, and just because it's much talked about here doesn't mean that Apple knows about it. It is very important for people experiencing problems to submit bug reports and send feedback so that Apple does know about it. If you call Apple tech support for any reason, be sure to mention this problem even if you have already downgraded to a stable environment. When they perceive that they have a widespread problem, they will fix it.

In the meantime, we just have to grit our teeth and wait patiently. As frustrating as this one has been for me personally, at least it is an issue with a work-around. It's not keeping me from being productive or enjoying my entertainment library (unlike some past bugs). The downgrade isn't hard to do and only takes a couple of minutes. If you're having trouble with it, post here and someone will walk you through it. 🙂

Couldn't agree more that the Apple Support people will continue to totally deny that there is ANYTHING wrong with iTunes 12.3.1 but we all know there is. Surely they are working on it but let me tell you what all this has cost me. I have/or had 49,000 plus songs in my iTunes library. When I started talking to Apple Support last week over the slowness I had not checked this forum and lord I wish I had before calling them. They had me doing so many different things and none worked but in doing so I loss for 6,000 of my songs due to something they had me try. It had to do with downloading El Capitan, pulling my iTunes Library.xml and my iTunes Library.it out on the desktop. Then had me re-download iTunes and then it's foggy as to what happen but somehow it doubled the size of my storage space on my iMac and when I left it rebuilding the library overnight - it maxed out my space and couldn't download all my music. It's gone. It screws up my TimeMachine backup drive also - so I did NOT have an older backup to restore from. Disaster does not describe how I feel.

Now I have an old iPod Classic which contains a lot of these missing songs. Isn't there a way to change it to a hard drive and download the songs to an external drive and then back into my iTunes? Seems like I recall this from many years ago but I know better than to ask Apple how to do it. But I'm asking you guys - I also have two newer iPod Touch with many of the songs. Can they be done the same way to get my songs back?? I know they don't want this to be possible because you could then share your library with someone else - heaven forbid.

Here's what I have - I am pulling 102mbps in download speeds elsewhere. In iTunes 12.3.1.23, however, it is creeping along when updating apps as if it's only pulling 1.5mbps. Took 10 minutes to update an app of 70mb. Normally would take about 30 seconds. See anything that can help figure this out?

11/15/15 11:33:29.847 AM iTunes[957]: Entered:_AMMuxedVersion2DeviceConnected, mux-device:3

11/15/15 11:33:29.847 AM iTunes[957]: Entered:_AMMuxedVersion2DeviceConnected, mux-device:2

11/15/15 11:33:29.850 AM iTunes[957]: tid:1a03 - unable to query device capabilities

11/15/15 11:33:29.851 AM iTunes[957]: tid:2907 - unable to query device capabilities

11/15/15 11:33:30.570 AM iTunes[957]: ApplePushService: APSConnection being used without a delegate queue

11/15/15 11:33:30.858 AM com.apple.xpc.launchd[1]: (com.apple.xpc.launchd.domain.pid.MediaLibraryService.958) Path not allowed in target domain: type = pid, path = /Library/Frameworks/iTunesLibrary.framework/Versions/A/XPCServices/com.apple.iT unesLibraryService.xpc error = 147: The specified service did not ship in the requestor's bundle, origin = /System/Library/Frameworks/MediaLibrary.framework/Versions/A/XPCServices/com.ap ple.MediaLibraryService.xpc

11/15/15 11:33:30.860 AM com.apple.xpc.launchd[1]: (com.apple.xpc.launchd.domain.pid.MediaLibraryService.958) Path not allowed in target domain: type = pid, path = /Library/Frameworks/iTunesLibrary.framework/Versions/A/XPCServices/com.apple.iT unesLibraryService.xpc error = 147: The specified service did not ship in the requestor's bundle, origin = /System/Library/Frameworks/MediaLibrary.framework/Versions/A/XPCServices/com.ap ple.MediaLibraryService.xpc

11/15/15 11:33:30.985 AM iTunes[957]: Could not find image named 'NSImage'.