With the release of iTunes 9 came iTunes LP, The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW)’s Dave Caolo gave iTunes LP a glowing review, but if you’re wondering just how Apple worked their magic with the new format, web developer Jay Robinson has picked it apart thoroughly.
“As it turns out, simply replacing the ‘.itlp’ extension with ‘.zip’ reveals the contents of the package, which are actually HTML, CSS, and a little JavaScript,” Tim Wasson reports for TUAW. “The Flash-like interfaces really use no Flash, but instead rely on the proposed CSS3 animation properties.”
Wasson reports, “We’ve also been informed by a loyal tipster that if you take that unzipped folder of content and put it in your Sites directory (with Web sharing turned on, naturally), you might try browsing to it from your iPhone or iPod touch and seeing what shows up in Mobile Safari. Fascinating.”
Full article, with links, here.
Jay Robinson’s article is here.
MacDailyNews Take: We tested it on our iPhone 3GS units with Tyrese’s “Mayhem” iTunes LP. On our Mac, we just secondary-clicked (right-clicked) on the .itlp and chose “Show Package Contents.” No renaming to .zip necessary. Then we moved the contents into our Sites folder, turned on Web Sharing, and visited the “site” via the iPhones. The comic worked visually (speech bubbles, too), but the audio didn’t play.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “iWill” for the heads up.]
I was able to see the contents without renaming but I forgot how I did this. I think right click and open package contents.
Fascinating!
This looks really easy for small indy bands to take advantage of.
iTunes 9 is about to become the backbone for a new Apple TV Media Center, with its ability to share a library with other users on the local network. Store all your media on one box, backed up by TimeMachine. Add the ability to run iPhone style apps, add some form of TiVO etc…
@drz,
And the Apple TV won’t be a big-ass PC like some other company envisioned it.
Excuse me – I should have said “isn’t” instead of “won’t be”.
Once again, Apple goes with open standards.
What formats is Micro$ucks using, anyway these days? Thought so.
iTunes 9 is really nice. The sharing feature is very nice as my wife and I enjoy the same classical music; Beach Boys, Stones, Beatles, LZ, etc. The app management file in sync is very nice. Makes it much easier to clean up.
“And the Apple TV won’t be a big-ass PC like some other company envisioned it.”
Truly, it shan’t.
Does anyone know how to bust open iphone/pod apps. The ones with the .ipa extension. I thought it would simply be a matter of ‘show package contents’ but no. I was wondering if it is possible to break in to them to pinch the audio files and maybe customise some graphics. Can the software developer kit open existing apps, or just create new ones.
Probably works a bit like Flash huh. Flash won’t open a swf file for customising.
Worked it out. Just rename the ipa to zip then open it. Not sure how to get it back together though. You cant just rename a folder something.zip and I suspect re zipping it then renaming it ipa would mangle it. But if you just want to hack in to look or nick stuff it should be ok.
Spoke too soon. None of the graphics a readable, they just come up with question marks. Maybe you’d need the SDK to reassemble or backwards engineer anything.
OK someone else take the floor.
The expression, Danny, is “I’ll get my coat”
Cheers for trying..
iTunes LP is a brilliant addition, giving digital media the equivalent of the CD booklet back. I am surprised it took this long for someone to think of this, but leave it to Apple to take the time to do it right.
So much for the big deal about U2’s mobile album on Blackberry.
I love U2, but really Bono? You had your own iPod model, you’re a major investor in Palm, RIM’s sponsoring your tour, and you pal around with Bill Gates.
“Pick a side, we’re at war” — Stephen colbert
How long before they go on limewire and the labels get another thing to be upset about?