How can I view my music in list view in iTunes 12.4?

Its about 30 seconds in and I can't believe how much I hate the 12.4 redesign. Where for instance is list view for my music? Where is Playlist view? Where is the Home Movies tab? Do they test this crap on chimps or just throw it out there and assume we will just suck it up like lemmings?

MacBook Pro with Retina display, OS X El Capitan (10.11.4)

Posted on May 17, 2016 12:34 AM

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54 replies

May 17, 2016 1:59 AM in response to PDXSMB

Where for instance is list view for my music?

You can change the view for your library in the sidebar. Under Library, click the view you want to use. If "list view" is the plain list with columns, click Songs.

Where is Playlist view?

If "playlist view" is what you saw before when you clicked the Playlist button (which showed the sidebar), the sidebar is now visible by default. If "playlist view" means something else, please post back with more info.

Where is the Home Movies tab?

Select to show your Movies library. In the sidebar, under Library, click Home Movies.


Overall, this version is different, but it makes more sense overall. I'm glad the sidebar is back as a permanent fixture of the interface.

May 17, 2016 10:01 AM in response to PDXSMB

Your question has already been answered but I can't resist chiming in to say I wholeheartedly agree with you - I loathe this new update every bit as much as you do. Even now that I know how it works - I consider it burdensome and onerous. They have forced me to go to hidden drop down options where before I had simple icons to click on. Grrrr. Somebody had too much time on their hands. C'mon, Apple, put your productivity towards developing new technology like the iPad that could actually replace a laptop, or an Apple Watch that could actually function independently of an iPhone during my long morning runs. Don't waste valuable talent making any more of these (non) "improvements" to iTunes - unless it's to bring it back to what it was. http://www.theverge.com/2016/5/16/11684666/apple-itunes-design-update-released-1 2-4

May 19, 2016 3:15 PM in response to Jack Holland

I'm not so sure it's hyperbole at all, Jack.


But I'm glad you replied because that gave me an auto-notification that reminded me of this thread so that I can share a new trick with this new 12.4 release that I just discovered this morning.


Earlier I mentioned hating to have to click through the onerous drop-down menus to switch between apps and music and podcasts, etc. Well by experimenting with the menu commands I learned that there are keyboard shortcuts which will accomplish the same thing much more easily. When in iTunes, to view:

Your music: CMD + 1

Your movies: CMD + 2

Your TV shows : CMD + 3

Your podcasts: CMD + 4

Your apps: CMD + 7


There are additional such shortcuts for every number 1 through 9 and you can see the whole list if within iTunes you click on "View" in the menu bar, then "Media Kind". I was going BONKERS and cussing up a blue streak every time I wanted to switch from apps to music to podcasts until I learned these and I've already memorized the combinations I use most frequently.


Now if they would only make the default button on the iPhone syncing screen the "sync" button like it used to be, instead of the "done" button as they have switched it to....but I'm so ecstatic about having found a way to defeat the blasted drop-down menu that I'll hold my peace on that item for now.....

May 19, 2016 5:03 PM in response to EMGULS79

Hi Emguls


Didn’t the previous version have something similar ? Because the functionality could be achieved by pointing and clicking we never needed to summon these shortcuts.


As with all UI changes, eventually we get used to the most retrograde of design moves (don’t get me started on how inferior Pages 5.62 is to 4.3) but in most cases you can see some overarching concept in what Apple are attempting, namely preparing us for the integration on OSX and iOS. But iTunes needs a ground-up rebuild to separate the functions of user library and shop front; to split sound, visual and App catalogues; and remove the accretions of pointless complications of the last ten years.


I’ll admit that to create something so simple requires far more thought and ingenuity than another mere round of bolting on of features, but that’s precisely why we love Apple right ? Apple customers have a right to expect the very best – and quite simply we’re not being given it.


Another round of rearranging the Titanic’s deckchairs could make old hands jump ship. I’ll bet there are smart programmers out there who would love to implement third party solutions to Apple’s Gordian Knot.


I can’t see iTunes staggering on for much longer – even its (very) few fans wouldn't put up much of a fight to prevent a radical overhaul.

May 29, 2016 12:29 PM in response to PDXSMB

I'm with you. After the update I imported some video files and was dumbfounded to see the interface had again changed. I've been an Apple Fanboy for many years and am now retired from 40 years of IT work. My biggest complaint with Windoze was Microsoft's insistence on changing the entire interface with each version; change for the sake of change, with little or no real improvement in the product. It was extremely annoying, time wasting, and expensive since we had to get everyone else up to speed so work could get done. Just being able to open a Windoze file or mange one's files was an exercise in total frustration. The consistent interface of the Mac OS was a big draw for me personally. It was my oasis when I returned home. Soon after Steve Jobs died, that policy has been thrown to the wayside and it's as if the patients are now running the asylum. I'm beginning to have the same frustrations I had with Windoze. Steve Jobs was not only a visionary, he was an excellent captain of the ship and didn't tolerate anyone who didn't get with the program. Yet, he was also able to inspire true creativity among his staff. That's true leadership and extremely rare. Wake up Apple, people here are providing valuable feedback. Listen or reap the result when someone else eventually does listen and eats your lunch. No one, not even Apple, lasts forever. And the biggest reason is when a company no longer listens to its customer base and provides what they need or want and someone else does.

May 29, 2016 4:54 PM in response to Andrew White2

Ha! I, too, was in IT - though for a little less than half of what you were (but in either case that still pretty much covered the whole lifespan of Windows PC's anyway as I was just starting out when our office got its first Windows PC - I don't think it was even 3.1 yet). I became a superuser and, while not an MCSE I certainly had my fair share of advanced classes in Windows support. Apple at home was - and still is - a similar "oasis" for me, I'm not lucky enough to be completely "retired" yet but I AM "retired" from IT as I went into a completely different field (medical coding).


I used to be proud of my skills in being able to outwit Microsoft's gremlins but the day finally came when I woke up and realized it was even smarter to throw in the towel and get a system (Apple) that - even with the relatively minor little quirks such as those mentioned in these forms - does NOT require a rocket scientist's skills to figure out solutions to those quirks.

Jun 2, 2016 10:32 AM in response to rockmyplimsoul

And now I just discovered these f&^%#ing idiots removed the capability of converting between file formats- I used to often need to make a .wav into an .aac. Looks like you can't do that anymore. WHY???? Even if .aac is the preferred file format it would seem there's no way to change it within iTunes, as I used to by control-clicking the file I wanted to convert

Jun 2, 2016 11:06 AM in response to rockmyplimsoul

No one's here to defend (or question) Apple's choices, just help others.

Fair point, but I’ve been doing just that since 1985 and it’s becoming increasingly difficult when Apple repeatedly shoot themselves in the interface foot.


I find the 12.4 UI a great improvement over previous releases

But specifically the 'Save a File in a New Format’ function. Do you honestly consider this an improvement ?

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How can I view my music in list view in iTunes 12.4?

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