“Apple’s upcoming new release of iTunes 11, due by the end of October (and likely to launch with the iPad mini), suggests several new user interface concepts that are likely to also be adopted its larger OS X platform,” Daniel Eran Dilger reports for AppleInsider.
“Over the past five years, Apple has introduced a wide variety of new iOS features that have percolated their way ‘back to the Mac,’ as well as having introduced OS X features that have later shown up in its mobile devices,” Dilger reports. “However, Apple’s own first party apps, and in particular iTunes, have also served as harbingers of new user interface directions.”
Dilger reports, “Two years ago, iTunes 10 debuted with a space-efficient, vertical stack of Close/Dock/Zoom buttons, an idea that didn’t last long (outside of the mini player). This year’s new iTunes 11 release, however, boldly remakes the entire app, rethinking a series of features that have piled up within iTunes since it was first released by Apple in 2001. ”
Much more in the full article – recommended – here.
ITunes needed an overhaul. I hope that the newer version is improved dramatically.
How can I use and see Match if I have only iPad 3 and iPod Touch 5? Thanks.
I don’t know how boldly the rethinking went, but unless it’s completely or at least simultaneously web based it’s not good enough. Why download and load up a bloated application that tries to do everything, why not have a web based solution like Amazon’s? Heck, I can’t even highlight plenty of texts on iTunes to copy/paste on a web browser, while iTunes itself is Safari/WebKit based. /semi rant.
Because sometimes your Internet goes out?
I don’t understand the rush by some people to put every last damn thing in “the cloud”, or to make it “web-based”. As it is, I feel cut off from the world when my Internet goes out at home. I can’t imagine what it would be like to lose access to my own files and music because I can’t get online.
——RM
Your music stays on your computer, external HDs, cloud and where you want them; I’m talking about the interface for accessing them. You do realise, webpages can launch local files and have offline cache.
Part of the whole marketing push for iTunes 11 is that iCloud is front and centre.
Yeah, and then you go on vacation to somewhere where there is no wifi, and, for large parts of the day, no phone signal and no data. How’s that work for you then?
That was my situation a couple of weeks back. No sensible person wants their primary apps to be web based.
Can’t believe I am explaining something so obvious: your local files stay with you. The iTunes should be locally accessible as it is now, just loaded on a browser. Parts of iTunes will always rely on a web connection (iTunes Store, App Store etc.) but besides the obvious, the rest remain as is, just the interface is web formatted. It rids having to load iTunes as a stand alone application. Recreating iTunes and all its features (synching to iDevices etc.) via a browser is not easy, but certainly doable and I feel Apple should.
If it is still not clear to some of you, I would recommend thinking on it for a bit.
I hope the IOS approach to playlist does not migrate to OS X. Since IOS 5, the playlist search approach has been cumbersome. Strictly using a cover art grid (shades of MS Metro???) to identify various playlist, each possibly made up of many artists or albums, is not helpful. Would be much more functional to simply have a text based list that I can sort by name, or in whatever order I desire.
You got that right, bro.
I think the iOS Apps Store redesign was a major improvement. I am hopeful iTunes will be in that same ballpark of change.
As long as stays easy to use, and continues to make Apple the leading online store on the web. However changing iTunes in anyway to make Geeks happy no way.
I fear additional dumbing-down of the precise desktop OSX interface in favor of flashy storefronts, forced “cloud” server services, and touchscreen tools.
Apple: stop turning productive desktop machines into dumb consumer terminals. Some iTunes users actually created some of the content they used iTunes to manage. Not everyone wants or needs to feel like they’re cornered in an old LP shop, constantly bombarded by ADD people flashing album covers at you.
Can we pretty fucking please get crossfades and a manual EQ to the iOS version of iTunes? Oh and the ability to set markers+notes in longer podcasts would be awesome.Thank you.
Lets hope they build in Apple IR Remote control features or at least arrow and keyboard control seeing as they killed front row.
But like so many recent Apple software changes from developers that don’t seem to have past primary school, I expect there will be lots of WTF.
Looks like we are also due for an eclipse of ios and Mac osx in the near future building on the fact that HFS+ was bound into the backend of both operating systems and now Apple are making everything else the same.