“It’s been two years since the last major update to iTunes, with changes I called “the most radical alterations to the program’s interface since its inception.” I could use those same words to describe iTunes 12, which features yet another interface overhaul,” Kirk McElhearn writes for Macworld.
“But the other shock is that iTunes 12 is light on new features, just a Recently Added section in some views, and a new Get Info window, along with some minor changes to device syncing,” McElhearn writes. “It almost begs the question: Without new features, is it really necessary to alter the look and navigation of iTunes every couple of years?”
McElhearn writes, “iTunes 12 feels like essentially the same app as iTunes 11, only less intuitive.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Note: Rate iTunes 12’s user interface in our poll.
I prefer the new version.
Regardless of what people prefer, can we agree that iTunes has been confusing as hell for, I don’t know, the last decade?
I _build_ custom software, and I find iTunes to be a pain in the ass every time I actually use it. I’ve pretty much given up having any idea about how my library of music is organized. I pay for iTunes Match, then just kinda play a playlist or an artist and hope it generally plays some of the music I’ve paid for. Ugh.
Hmmm, confusing… I say yes.
One thing to consider, changes to iTunes are most likely going on INSIDE iTunes. As OS changes happen, iTunes needs to know how to handle them. Also bug fixes etc may be happening.
PS to anyone who has features they do or do not like, I would say that external licensing is the main problem area.
Just saying.
I did not at first, but I like it now. For a long-time iTunes user, it is not better or worse, just different. I’ve been using iTunes since version 1.0, which was before Mac OS X, and I had no problems getting things done with previous versions. And I have no problems getting the same things done with the new version, now that I understand it.
It is actually MORE intuitive, for a new user who has not built up years of habits with the older versions. The main difference is that I first select the iTunes media category, for example Music. Then, the iTunes screen only shows content and controls that are relevant for playing and managing songs. If I select Movies, the iTunes screen is about movies. The previous versions tried to show “everything” on the screen at once, especially in the sidebar. That made it was cluttered and confusing.
“it is not better or worse, just different.” That’s the whole problem with iTunes. They fiddle with the interface but never address any long-standing problems. Here’s just a few:
Movies and videos can’t be kept on an external volume. It’s the whole library or nothing.
Audiobooks can’t be downloaded from the cloud.
You can pick and choose which audiobooks sync to an iDevice but when syncing music videos it’s all or nothing.
You can’t sort by music video in the library.
These are all problems people have been complaining about for years but they never get addressed. Even if you go to apple.com/feedback, the latest version of iTunes listed is 11.2.
ITunes needs the same level of rewrite that OS X got in Snow Leopard, and it’s worth it to Apple to do this because I know many people who use android devices just because they hate iTunes that much. I find iTunes annoying but it’s not bad enough to drive me to Google.
FOR LONG-TIME iTUNES USERS, the new version is not better or worse. That’s what I said. For new and novice users, the new design is better.
> Movies and videos can’t be kept on an external volume…
That’s not true. Go to iTunes Preferences Advanced tab. Uncheck “Copy files to iTunes Media folder when adding to library.” Organize your video files on an external volume, however you want. Then, add them to the iTunes folder from that external volume. iTunes will use those video files from where they are located (no the external volume), and NOT put a copy in the designated iTunes Media folder.
> Audiobooks can’t be downloaded from the cloud.
That’s probably due to the licensing agreement with book publishers, not a technical limitation of iTunes. If Apple could legally do it, it would no doubt be a function of iTunes.
> You can pick and choose which audiobooks sync to an iDevice but when syncing music videos it’s all or nothing.
That’s because music videos are treated as songs; you can’t pick and choose individual songs either (like with audiobooks). Instead, you create a playlist, and add the songs you want to that playlist, and sync the playlist. And that’s what you do with music videos, to select specific ones to sync to the device. It’s not “all or nothing.”
> You can’t sort by music video in the library.
No, but you can create a smart playlist with the rule “Media Kind is Music Video.” That gives you a (smart) playlist that only has your music videos, and you can sort it any way you want.
Those specific problems “never get addressed,” because they are already addressed.
> Movies and videos can’t be kept on an external volume…
“That’s not true. Go to iTunes Preferences Advanced tab. Uncheck “Copy files to iTunes Media folder when adding to library.” Organize your video files on an external volume, however you want. Then, add them to the iTunes folder from that external volume. iTunes will use those video files from where they are located (no the external volume), and NOT put a copy in the designated iTunes Media folder.”
That effects all media, not just movies. I like the way iTunes organizes media and would like to specify one drive for music, one for tv series, etc. Just using an alias for the television and movies directories would work but iTunes is deliberately and specifically written to disallow this.
> Audiobooks can’t be downloaded from the cloud.
“That’s probably due to the licensing agreement with book publishers, not a technical limitation of iTunes. If Apple could legally do it, it would no doubt be a function of iTunes.”
I have spoken to Apple on this subject a number of times. Licensing agreements have never been mentioned.
> You can pick and choose which audiobooks sync to an iDevice but when syncing music videos it’s all or nothing.
“That’s because music videos are treated as songs; you can’t pick and choose individual songs either (like with audiobooks). Instead, you create a playlist, and add the songs you want to that playlist, and sync the playlist. And that’s what you do with music videos, to select specific ones to sync to the device. It’s not “all or nothing.””
Music videos should be treated like videos, not songs! It’s only in OS X’s iTunes that they’re treated like songs, under iOS, they show up in the video app. Why? Because they’re videos.
I like the new setup but its annoying that updates no longer tell you whats in the update. Used to be able to click the update in iTunes an it would scroll down with a description of what is in the update. Its now blank, have to view the app in the store to see whats new
Yes, this irritates me to no end. Wish they would restore it.
I agree it is much better but why are apps hidden by default? Took me a while to find the App Store which I like to browse then buy on my phone.
Same here. It took me ten minutes to figure out where the apps were. Sometimes Apple changes things that do not seem to need changing. I am glad my cars do not act that way, I couldn’t get to work.
Will second that… Couldn’t find apps to install files on my iPad. Finally noticed the little icon. Not very intuitive.
I don’t know what it is about Apple and iTunes. A few years ago Apple came out with Snow Leopard, and absolutely fantastic rewrite of the operating system. On the other hand every so often Apple screws with the interface of iTunes yet never fixes the bugs or addresses it’s deeper problems.
I have friends that refused to buy any iDevices and use android just because they hate iTunes that much. This program has been conspicuously ignored by Apple for too many years. It’s in desperate need of a thorough rewrite, and if Apple did that they would probably sell more iDevices.
Your friends (and you) have a serious misconception. The only “iDevices” that need iTunes on a Mac or PC in order to operate are the original music player iPods (now just the iPod shuffle and iPod nano). iOS devices (since iOS 5) no longer need to sync with iTunes on a computer, not even once. They are stand-alone “peer” computers to a Mac and PC, so there is no need to use iTunes on a computer to use an “iDevice.”
So how would you transfer audiobooks back-and-forth between a computer and an iDevice? You can’t. What about audio files that don’t fit Apple’s idea of what is allowed in the cloud? What about transferring movies ripped from DVD to an iDevice. You need a computer to do all this, or at least some external device.
ITunes is one of the most essential pieces of software that Apple distributes, yet it remains the most badly designed.
Bite the bullet and admit that iDevices are not standalone devices – unless you limit yourself to what Apple sells in its various stores. You can’t even load music or videos ripped from other media without tethering to a computer.
No problem with that, I get full use from my iDevices, I just don’t kid myself that they can take the place of a real computer with a real, user accessible file system. Their limitations are some of their greatest security strengths.
Click on the “…” icon and you see the other options. At the bottom of that menu is an “Edit” button, and you can add the Apps icon to the toolbar. Then once you click on Apps, the menu in the center of the toolbar shows App Store.
Makes sense… You want the media that you’re most likely going to play up front, everything else can sit in the background.
Besides, it’s completely customizable.
I agree that the new interface is less intuitive. I preferred the iTunes 11 interface.
Kirk McElhearn? Yawn. Not exactly unbiased. He doesn’t like Yosemite of iOS 8 either as he’s not a fan of so-called “flat” design.
I entirely agree with Kirk’s evaluation.
The only thing I’d add is the in the MDN poll I found I could not rate iTunes 12 ‘Fair’ or ‘Very Good’, merely ‘Good’. For Apple software, that means ‘good enough’, meaning NOT up to Apple’s standards. Incoherence is the key word here.
I like it better. Sometimes less intuitive/higher learning curve means it works better once you get the hang of it.
Are you kidding? I didn’t like the previous interface because it removed a lot of access and I always had to manually re-enable the sidebar they took off by default. Now everything is so much cleaner and organized and roomy all perfectly without the archaic but functional sidebar.
The sidebar was the best way to create playlists. You could see your list of playlists at the same time as your music library.
New iTunes removed that ability. Lame.
In music select playlists and the sidebar should be there. It is on mine.
I hate iTunes for app discovery
– No Ratings shown in Search Results
– No ability to sort by Ratings
Name a major retailer that doesn’t SHOW ratings in search results or allow sorting by them
And let me add:
No ability to sort by Download Count (popularity), which would also be very useful, and is an option on Google Play and elsewhere
iTunes 11 interface, with some of the new 12 features.
12 went too far with changes.
It takes more clicks to do things that every previous version only requires 1.
I don’t think the MDN poll is useful. The new interface works well after you have invested a bunch of time figuring out how to do the things you need to do and were used to doing in previous versions. It’s hard to represent that in radio buttons.
I really feel the iTunes team wrote on the white board: “Ways to present the data we warehouse” and built a list, and then the app, from that.
I’d prefer they wrote “Tasks users use iTunes for in order of frequency” and built the list, and then the app, from that.
“I’d prefer they wrote “Tasks users use iTunes for in order of frequency” and built the list, and then the app, from that.”
I agree. Editing playlists is a common task for me, and the new interface makes that much more difficult as there is no option to see both playlists and music library at the same time.
For an app that manages so much stuff, they need to allow multiple windows to be opened. That is simple and would accommodate a lot of tasks.
yes!! it is hard to create a manual playlist now because you can’t have multiple windows open. but i thought this was not possible with the previous version either. i don’t know why they got rid of this capability.
I am getting used to the “new graphic Apple trend” with simplified, synthetic and flat style. As long as the underlying software is functional, stable and easy to use, why not, go with a boring look. In this regard the risk is below CERO. Insecure? Sure
But Even just plain words on drop down menus?
It most be a retro fashion style at Apple. The 80s are coming back.
Parts of iTunes are becoming and old database. Drop down windows and menus are so old and unintuitive, they are part of the first graphic user interface for computers.
Jony Ive might be a genius as an industrial designer, but his graphic knowledge and influence is becoming more and more evident. Please allow creative and talented graphic designers do their thing.
1) I think Apple made a lot of changes to the interface that weren’t significant enough improvements to overcome the sense that “things are different, not better” effect.
2) A lot of things that are slightly improved seem like they are worse simply because they are different and take some time to adjust to due to learning how to do it the new way and remembering that.
3) Apple is doing everything it can to make me hate Album Cover Art. They do this with iOS as well. When you have a large music collection, Album cover art can simply not be used for navigation.
4) FINALLY, Apple has changed the “Compilation” check box to read what it is really meant to be “Album is a compilation of songs by various artists”. I can’t believe how many arguments I got in with people who thought a single artist’s greatest hits was considered a “compilation”. This alone makes me happy for the upgrade.
5) Speed… I wish Apple would focus more on the speed of iTunes. There are some simple things Apple could do that would greatly increase the speed for people with large libraries without affecting people with smaller libraries. For example, allow us to keep the iTunes database on one volume while all media files and apps live on another volume while still being managed by iTunes.
The “trending” pop-up is a PITA. I have no need to find what someone else is finding popular, I want to find what I need. “Trending” does not aid that process. Discovery is the absolute weakest feature in iTunes.
My first experience with iTunes 12 was EXACTLY like my first experience with Windows 8. That is about the worst insult I can fling at it. Unlike Win8 the hidden, non-intuitive stuff was at least fairly consistent when finally figured out, but 50% of what I used regularly is still hiding somewhere and if I have to go looking too hard, I will look at Amazon instead.
iTunes has always been a terrible app…but now it has reached a new level of craziness!!!
I’m seriously thinking of switching to Amazon fire just to get the hell rid of iTunes.
iTunes 12 – overall IS CRA{P.. The interface is awful… The functionality is awful… the ‘usability’ is awful..The overall user experience just took a leap backwards 10 years…. F A I L !!!
iTunes 12 plays my music. It doesn’t do anything remarkably better or worse than iTunes 11, and it’s way superior to putting a stack of LPs on a spindle.
I like the iTunes interface and didn’t have any problems working out how to use it.
It’s not a matter of interface, it’s a matter of the core program. Every so often they give it a new interface, confuse people for a while and that way nobody notices that all the old bugs are still there. Putting new lipstick on a pig doesn’t change the smell of the pig.
if you add your own media from EyeTV DVRs, TiVos, and ripped DVDs, the new version is far less friendly and functional for editing metadata. Like most newer Apple software, they want to hide formerly upfront features so as not to offend the Windows switchers.
Second this…
Used to be able to add a new album/movie/tv show from anywhere via drag and drop. Now you have a very small target area to do so.. I don’t want to dig through a finder popup to “browse” to the file.. I have the damn file already on screen and ready to import.
“less intuitive” only if you are whining about change. Otherwise I see it as an improvement.
Some things moved around, and I am still able to do all things I am used to. Instead of “having to request transfer of purchases” it asks me if that’s what I want to do. I think this is a bit better. There has been a reduction of right click features, which is funny, because they were there in a prior beta build of 12. I have not yet “needed” to right click.
Also podcast management is greatly improved.
reduction of right clicks… yeah, but instead of 1 step, now requires multiple.
eject your iPod? great.. used to be able to just click the eject button next to it FROM ANYWHERE. now it takes a minimum of two clicks.
Some of 12’s new stuff.. is good, but they went too far on other stuff. Overall iTunes 12 went downhill.
eject? No one should have to eject. I don’t. Just pull the cable. It’s not like an external HDD/SDD.
then you have the stupid warning alert on the mac about not ejecting… which is yet another click you would have to do.
I agree It’s annoying that you need to eject an iPod anyway..
iTunes simply attempts too much — the brand is struggling under its own weight.
I don’t mind iTunes doing a lot, but only if it was better designed. Treat music videos as videos, not music, allow different storage locations depending on media type and bring back a central location to access everything (the sidebar) from Apps to store, to media to devices.
And spend more time debugging it than painting a new face on it. I still see years old bugs under all that new paint.
Funny, iTunes 12 is the first version I find significantly intuitive. My only criticism is that “…” is cryptic and probably should have been changed to “More” or “+” to make its function clearer.
I upgraded to 12 and most of my movies and TV shows (including ones i bought from iTunes) were moved from the TV and Movies sections to the ‘Home Movie” section and Get Info would not offer me any other media kinds so I could not move them back. I ended up using Time machine to revert. (I should note that I was a hold out that had still been using 10 which may have been part of my problem)
It’s ok, but it does feel like it’s become less intuitive over time. Would be nice if they separated the apps like they do in iOS. It might be time…