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An in-depth look at iTunes 11; what’s new and what’s missing

Monday, December 3, 2012 · 2:32 pm · 45 Comments

“Alongside the launch of the iPhone 5, iPod Nano, and iPod Touch, Apple promised us an October release of iTunes 11; the biggest update to their all-in-one media management tool since the inclusion of a music store in 2003. As October came and went, Apple failed to deliver on time, instead pushing the release back to ‘November,’ and on the 29th the new iTunes finally shipped,” Alex Arena writes fro Mactuts+. “With this major release comes a new interface, seamless iCloud integration, and a major design overhaul.”

What’s new/improved:
Up Next
iTunes Store
Gift Card Redemption
Mini Player
Search

What’s missing:
Cover Flow
The Sidebar [stil there, just hidden by default]
Multiple Windows
iTunes DJ
Duplicate Remover

Much more in the full article here.

Related articles:
CNET reviews iTunes 11: Complete makeover brings speed; Apple on the right path – November 30, 2012
Top 5 new features in iTunes 11: iCloud integration, new interface, Up Next, and more – November 29, 2012
Apple releases iTunes 11 – November 29, 2012

Categories: News

Tags: Cover Flow, Duplicate Remover, Gift Card Redemption, iTunes 11, iTunes DJ, itunes store, Mini Player, Multiple Windows, search, The Sidebar, Up Next

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Comment Feed

45 Comments

Stuart

Monday, December 3, 2012 - 2:41 pm · Reply

No cover-flow is the reason I’m not upgrading iTunes, until it is returned.
- ItsFutile_ButNotThatBad
  
  Monday, December 3, 2012 - 2:49 pm · Reply
  
  You do realize that eventually you will be forced to right? If you have an iOS device or you upgrade your OS?
- Four More Years
  
  Monday, December 3, 2012 - 3:02 pm · Reply
  
  Whats so great about cover flow? The Album view is way faster to search visually.
  
  Cover flow is very accurate in that it WAS the way we used to flick through our PHYSICAL stacks of records in the 90′s and before. But, if it had been possible I’d much rather all those albums would suddenly jump up into a grid in front of me. Then I could see a lot more quicker and select the one I wanted easier. Thats exactly what iTunes 11 does.
  
  Yeah I know the previous version also allowed you to see a grid. Removing cover flow is no big deal…….or am I missing something?
  - spyintheskyuk
    
    Monday, December 3, 2012 - 3:16 pm · Reply
    
    Well we all view differently and Cover Flow works the way I want to, I thought it was Microsoft who told us how we must work. Lots of things needed changing in iTunes not aware Coverflow was one of them
    - Armand Welsh
      
      Monday, December 3, 2012 - 5:07 pm · Reply
      
      No, you got that backwards. Microsoft let you work the way you want. Apple tells you how to do things their way.
      
      That is why Microsoft is so buggy, because there are dozens of ways to do things and your are totally open to change things. Apple has always been about a closed ecosystem of tightly integrated products working seamlessly.
      
      If you want to do thing your way, learn to hack/program or get a PC. If you want a system you don’t have to fix every week, but offers very little customization, then get an apple device.
- LordRobin
  
  Tuesday, December 4, 2012 - 4:33 pm · Reply
  
  Seriously? Cover Flow is the deal-breaker for you? I have never used Cover Flow for anything other than just to fiddle around with it. I never saw the point. Flip through the album covers to find what you’re looking for? Why not use search? And if you’re looking for ideas for something to listen to, isn’t it quicker to scroll through a list?
  
  ——RM
ken1w

Monday, December 3, 2012 - 2:43 pm · Reply

You can still open a video in a separate window. But you can no longer open a playlist or the iTunes Store in a separate window. That was useful to me because I have a two-display system. I liked to put iTunes in full screen mode, and it would let me open a separate window and place it on the other screen. It was one of the few apps that let me make use of the second screen in full screen mode.
Nerd Beautiful

Monday, December 3, 2012 - 2:53 pm · Reply

Cover flow has always been a complete waste.
- Apple is Always Right
  
  Monday, December 3, 2012 - 3:07 pm · Reply
  
  agreed. cover flow is a waste.
  great update… some bugs… chanching the ratings for example… you give one star to a song and automatically change the star of ther other song.
  - Apple is Always Right
    
    Monday, December 3, 2012 - 10:35 pm · Reply
    
    Artists mode
- opsono
  
  Tuesday, December 4, 2012 - 11:07 am · Reply
  
  Agreed. First thing I turned off. With well over three thousand songs/albums in my library, cover flow was nothing but a sloppily navigable waste of time and space.
  - LordRobin
    
    Tuesday, December 4, 2012 - 4:36 pm · Reply
    
    Not to mention a significant portion of my music is old MP3s with no cover art available (even after I did online searches to fill in as much art as I could). That means cover flow (and “album view”, for that matter) shows lots and lots of grey squares with music notes on them.
    
    ——RM
tbone

Monday, December 3, 2012 - 2:56 pm · Reply

Give Podcasts their own app. Then, upgrade all the Podcast apps so they don’t suck so much.
- LordRobin
  
  Tuesday, December 4, 2012 - 4:41 pm · Reply
  
  I am very happy updating my podcasts in iTunes and syncing them to my iPhone, thank you very much. Works well and lets me listen to the podcasts on my Mac or my iPhone, syncing the progress between them.
  
  ——RM
RastaMouse

Monday, December 3, 2012 - 3:00 pm · Reply

iTunes DJ has surely been superseded by Up Next, or am I missing something?
b9bot

Monday, December 3, 2012 - 3:06 pm · Reply

Coverflow was never a feature I liked or used. Up next is better than DJ. The only features I see as needed to be added is the duplicate finder and maybe the multiple windows.
- Chrystian
  
  Monday, December 3, 2012 - 4:43 pm · Reply
  
  You’re missing the point. Why take away iTunes DJ? Up next does not do the same thing at all.
AlaskaJohnboy

Monday, December 3, 2012 - 3:07 pm · Reply

Also missing is the Album list with pics for each album. This was wayyyy more useful than the text-based list of songs that we have in iTunes 11.
And am I the only one with an issue with the font being used to display song prices in the iTunes store? it is barely readable.
- GASMAN
  
  Monday, December 3, 2012 - 3:33 pm · Reply
  
  I agree. That was the way I used iTunes. It was nice to see the song that was playing with the album artwork next to it in list view.
- RevDrX
  
  Monday, December 3, 2012 - 3:35 pm · Reply
  
  Album view still shows artwork.
  
  http://www.apple.com/itunes/what-is/
NCG598

Monday, December 3, 2012 - 3:22 pm · Reply

Duplicate Remover is still there, I used it shortly after installing iTunes 11. Strike that off the list of missing.
- The Other Steve
  
  Monday, December 3, 2012 - 5:41 pm · Reply
  
  I thought that was strange
  - mredofcourse
    
    Monday, December 3, 2012 - 8:53 pm · Reply
    
    What are you two talking about. It’s gone! Are you thinking about the way iTunes warns you that you’re adding a duplicate song to a playlist? Ya, that’s still there, but the Find Duplicates feature is gone baby gone.
Tetrachloride

Monday, December 3, 2012 - 3:22 pm · Reply

As forwarded from a friend:

Cover Flow (which sucks but it is mostly a cool gimmick)
The Sidebar [still there, just hidden by default] (and thus is neither really missing nor a big deal)
Multiple Windows (thank god)
iTunes DJ (Up Next has the same capabilities)
Duplicate Remover (A screw up to be sure but the one time I needed it before, it didn’t work.)
- Chrystian
  
  Monday, December 3, 2012 - 4:49 pm · Reply
  
  No Up Next does not have the same capabilities as iTunes DJ. If you think so, you probably did not do what I did with it.
cascadians

Monday, December 3, 2012 - 4:31 pm · Reply

I like Cover Flow. Is there really no way to see it any more?
bvanlent

Monday, December 3, 2012 - 4:51 pm · Reply

For someone who enjoys album artwork, the reduction of it to a little image next to the title was very disappointing and the main reason I am not upgrading to 11. I think in general it was simplified too much! I liked the latest iTunes 10.
- opsono
  
  Tuesday, December 4, 2012 - 11:27 am · Reply
  
  The mediumish window in the sidebar is gone to display album art, yes. I’ll admit to using and liking that. Adding artwork is a bit more of a pain because, as far as I can tell, the song needs to be playing, or you need to open the Info window, to do it.
skeeter

Monday, December 3, 2012 - 4:52 pm · Reply

iTunes DJ was not just something that “lets people at parties suggest and vote on songs.” Formerly known as Party Shuffle, it lets you shuffle, add, remove, and reorganize playlists on the fly. Use it all the time. Do we lose any of that capability with Up Next?
MikeK

Monday, December 3, 2012 - 4:55 pm · Reply

Biggest missing productivity feature is the ability to move the column browser as a left column instead of up top
barks

Monday, December 3, 2012 - 4:58 pm · Reply

Has anyone else even tried the mini player? It’s a big step backward in my opinion.
No direct volume control.
No track progress bar.
It will not properly show the current song when playing internet radio.
Someone missed the QA for the mini player.
- BobC
  
  Monday, December 3, 2012 - 6:17 pm · Reply
  
  +100
- DJ
  
  Monday, December 3, 2012 - 6:51 pm · Reply
  
  Absolutely – along with cover flow and just about every other feature I liked in iT 10.
  
  Same deal with iPhoto – gets less functional with each upgrade.
- Cubert
  
  Monday, December 3, 2012 - 7:07 pm · Reply
  
  Use command-up arrow/down arrow to change the volume.
- TowerTone
  
  Monday, December 3, 2012 - 7:10 pm · Reply
  
  Direct volume control is done via the keyboard
  
  Track progress can be viewed by clicking the album cover and using the maxi-mini player
  
  You’re right about the internet radio. That’s just silly of Apple to do that.
The Other Steve

Monday, December 3, 2012 - 5:44 pm · Reply

The iTunes store could use tabs and Save for Later or Wish List.
David O.

Monday, December 3, 2012 - 7:29 pm · Reply

What I miss is Power Search. Can’t believe they deleted such a fine tool for finding stuff to buy!
gallowaycreations

Monday, December 3, 2012 - 8:00 pm · Reply

After using it for, what, 3 days? I can tell you iTunes 11 is full of bugs. FULL of bugs. Especially in TV Shows. And the new, fancy “wall to wall music” stuff is very pretty, and definitely made for Full Screen Mode. Which would be great if I could use Full Screen Mode for more than an hour without getting a kernel panic. So, useless to me at the moment. And iTunes 11 is also obviously made for someone who a) buys all their music from the iTunes Store, and/or b) uses iTunes Match. Neither of which describes me. (Stuff disappears from the iTunes Store waaaay too regularly for me, while the CD’s I buy are still there the next time I look for them. Always. Also, I have too much music for Apple to let me use iTunes Match. Which I find counter intuitive: “You guys who use iTunes the MOST, we don’t want you. You guys with the little music collections? Come on in!”) 11.0.1 can’t come quick enough.
- mredofcourse
  
  Monday, December 3, 2012 - 8:59 pm · Reply
  
  I have multiple iTunes libraries. The largest one is just short of 1TB. That library is way too big for iTunes Match, but I can understand that. It seems to me like they’ll slowly start allowing larger libraries over time. I have two libraries that are used with iTunes Match, and I really like the concept and wish I could pay extra for my main library.
  
  As far as kernel panics and being FULL of bugs… I haven’t experienced this…not one crash of the app itself let alone a kernel panic. I also haven’t been hearing this complaint from others.
  - gallowaycreations
    
    Monday, December 3, 2012 - 9:30 pm · Reply
    
    I’d love to pay more for more than 25,000 tracks! Seems like such an easy solution, even if the limit is something negotiated with the record labels.
    
    Sorry, the kernel panic thing is not related to iTunes 11. I should have made that more clear. It’s something in a video driver on my iMac, I’m sure, but haven’t had time for a complete wipe and rebuild. It just happens to be exacerbated by anything in Full Screen mode, which is a shame because iTunes 11 really does look great that way. But the full of bugs thing I stand by, especially in the TV Shows section. The fact that I have 140 TV Shows, most with multiple seasons, can’t help… or at least exposes a bunch of edge case scenarios where bugs tend to be.
tk01

Monday, December 3, 2012 - 10:13 pm · Reply

After ranting about iTunes 11 on Saturday I thought I’d give it another try this morning, just to be doubly positive I hadn’t been premature in my initial criticism. No…I was right. iTunes 11 is a complete and shocking disappointment. I have relied daily on Apple products for more than 20 years and have long admired their attention to product detail and the brilliant beauty – and usability – of the Mac’s user interface. Since iTunes’ debut in 2001, tens of millions have grown accustomed to its unique graphical and interactive vocabulary. Each iteration of the software built on what came before – a process of evolution that always made sense to those familiar with the product.

But with the debut of iTunes 11, Apple has apparently decided to make revolutionary changes that deploy stylistic devices that are “clean” (but not clear) and look “new” (but are not useful). Progress is wonderful and there are welcome additions, but make no mistake, iTunes 11 is a style makeover that serves no purpose to those of us who are fluent in the language of versions 1 through 10.

I’ve gone to the (not insignificant) trouble of reverting to version 10.7 and it’s here I’ll stay, but how long can I hold out? Apple will eventually issue a phone update or some other software change that will require the newest iTunes. I can only hope future updates will restore much of what has been lost. My biggest fear is that Apple isn’t listening and, worse, couldn’t care less about its users.
- Mike
  
  Tuesday, December 4, 2012 - 12:38 am · Reply
  
  Well said. Apple should not be making so many mistakes. When they were treated as the underdog, they tried a lot harder. Now it seems like every other major product introduction is riddled with bugs … or left to rot on the vine. Anyone want to buy a new copy of iWork ’09 ???
- Krispin
  
  Wednesday, December 5, 2012 - 3:13 pm · Reply
  
  I am really displeased that I have to de-install iTunes, that that’s the only way to regain functionality.
  
  VERY poor changes, all the way around, in 11:
  
  nothing added is useful – it’s just dumbed down and de-fanged
  everything taken away was something I used and came to rely on, especially DJ – *why* on earth was this removed??? *Why* remove “detect duplicates”???
  
  it boggles the mind. Apple has been on a program of punishing me for too long now. I officially give up. Next rig will have to be a Microshaft – I refuse to keep paying premium for Apple’s products. I’m tired of being *expensively* marginalized. If you’re going to force me to adopt your dumbed-down workflow, then you have to charge me far far less.
  
  Choose, Apple.
AnotherbombfromApple

Monday, December 3, 2012 - 10:20 pm · Reply

It stutters around when compared to 10.7, By the looks of it under the hood changes seems to be at the minimum and is more of a cosmetic change with the addition of icloud syncing, which I cant figure out what it does.

I would have thought that they will remove all legacy support for the older iOS device and start afresh, and keep the older one for download for use with older devices..
Apple is Always Right

Monday, December 3, 2012 - 10:29 pm · Reply

Now you can give half star. http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/7/screenshot20121204at126.png/