Apple Updates iTunes to Version 11.0.2 with Bug Fixes, Composers View for Music

[MacRumors]

Shortly after releasing a Java update to fix a vulnerability that allowed hackers to access the computers of Apple employees, Apple released iTunes version 11.0.2.

The update offers a Composers view for music, bug fixes, and enhanced responsiveness when accessing large playlists. It also offers a fix for an error that prevented purchases from showing up in the library.

The 54.2 MB update is available through the Mac App Store and it can also be downloaded from Apple's support website.

iTunes 11 was originally released in November of 2012, with a major redesign of the store, improved search, a simplified MiniPlayer, and new iCloud enhancements. iTunes was previously updated to version 11.0.1 in December, fixing bugs with iCloud and iTunes Match.

Article Link: Apple Updates iTunes to Version 11.0.2 with Bug Fixes, Composers View for Music

[unobtainium]

Does it allow you to store media on an external drive and prevent iTunes from creating a local media folder every time you accidentally open iTunes when the external drive isn't mounted?

[Mike Oxard]

Originally Posted by unobtainium

Does it allow you to store media on an external drive and prevent iTunes from creating a local media folder every time you accidentally open iTunes when the external drive isn't mounted?

So if you don't mount your external and buy something from the iTunes store or add something to your library, where would it keep the download? Perhaps automatic consolidation when the external is re-attached is what is really needed?

[unobtainium]

Originally Posted by Mike Oxard

So if you don't mount your external and buy something from the iTunes store or add something to your library, where would it keep the download? Perhaps automatic consolidation when the external is re-attached is what is really needed?

Yeah, automatic consolidation when it's mounted would be an excellent idea. The thing is most Apple laptops now have teeny tiny SSD drives, but peoples media collections are only getting bigger. It would be nice if iTunes could cater a bit more to those who need to use an external.

I use my Time Capsule as external storage, which is probably why I'm always forgetting to quit iTunes before leaving my house. I have to manually consolidate my library several times a week because of this. Maybe I should just use a physical external HD. Would make it easier to remember.

[EwanMcTeagle]

Originally Posted by unobtainium

Yeah, automatic consolidation when it's mounted would be an excellent idea. The thing is most Apple laptops now have teeny tiny SSD drives, but peoples media collections are only getting bigger. It would be nice if iTunes could cater a bit more to those who need to use an external.

I use my Time Capsule as external storage, which is probably why I'm always forgetting to quit iTunes before leaving my house. I have to manually consolidate my library several times a week because of this. Maybe I should just use a physical external HD. Would make it easier to remember.

I also have my music library on TC and haven't had problems with the iTunes Library. I have the TC set to mount at start up - maybe that's the trick?
Anyways, maybe that'll help you.

[Unggoy Murderer]

Originally Posted by unobtainium

Does it allow you to store media on an external drive and prevent iTunes from creating a local media folder every time you accidentally open iTunes when the external drive isn't mounted?

Don't unmount it then? My iTunes Library is on an external disk and operates perfectly.

[unobtainium]

Originally Posted by Unggoy Murderer

Don't unmount it then? My iTunes Library is on an external disk and operates perfectly.

It's a Time Capsule so when I leave my house it unmounts automatically.

[Unggoy Murderer]

Originally Posted by unobtainium

It's a Time Capsule so when I leave my house it unmounts automatically.

Ahhh, it's wireless? I see your issue now, sorry.

[extradryny]

Originally Posted by unobtainium

Does it allow you to store media on an external drive and prevent iTunes from creating a local media folder every time you accidentally open iTunes when the external drive isn't mounted?

I don't get it.. what would you want it to do (honest question)? To me, iTunes ability to work locally when I'm away from my external drive (say, traveling on business), but then recognize when I'm back home and switch back to my external drive, is one of the few things it truly does well.

[unobtainium]

Originally Posted by extradryny

I don't get it.. what would you want it to do (honest question)? To me, iTunes ability to work locally when I'm away from my external drive (say, traveling on business), but then recognize when I'm back home and switch back to my external drive, is one of the few things it truly does well.

But it doesn't consolidate when you get home does it? Mine doesn't. It shows little exclamation marks beside all my songs until I manually go in and edit the location of my media in preferences and it consolidates everything for 5 minutes or so. It's okay I guess, but seems like it could be smoother. For example, why create a new local folder unless you actually purchase something or download from the store while away from your external?

[bushido]

Originally Posted by extradryny

I don't get it.. what would you want it to do (honest question)? To me, iTunes ability to work locally when I'm away from my external drive (say, traveling on business), but then recognize when I'm back home and switch back to my external drive, is one of the few things it truly does well.

that doesnt work for me ... never has. even back in 2004 it didnt work

i have itunes on my macbook
movies on one external hdd
tv shows on another external hd

everything plays fine ... BUT as soon as i unplug the hdds it obviously cant find the files but when i plug in the hdds again, it still doesnt find those files unless i click on each file with an "!" and open the "info" tap to re-assigng them with the file

[Fabian90]

Originally Posted by bushido

that doesnt work for me ... never has. even back in 2004 it didnt work

i have itunes on my macbook
movies on one external hdd
tv shows on another external hd

everything plays fine ... BUT as soon as i unplug the hdds it obviously cant find the files but when i plug in the hdds again, it still doesnt find those files unless i click on each file with an "!" and open the "info" tap to re-assigng them with the file

i want an option to store the music on my internal drive and tv shows on an external one. i work as a dj and i always must have my music with me, tv shows and movies however don't fit on my internal HDD. at the moment it's not possible to set a different location for music and other media.

i like that itunes organizes my files but please let me put the movie/tv show location to another one that my internal disk...

[Mike Oxard]

Originally Posted by Fabian90

i want an option to store the music on my internal drive and tv shows on an external one. i work as a dj and i always must have my music with me, tv shows and movies however don't fit on my internal HDD. at the moment it's not possible to set a different location for music and other media.

i like that itunes organizes my files but please let me put the movie/tv show location to another one that my internal disk...

Uncheck "Copy files to iTunes Media folder when adding to library" and you can leave your tv shows and movies wherever you want.

[w0lf]

Originally Posted by Fabian90

i want an option to store the music on my internal drive and tv shows on an external one. i work as a dj and i always must have my music with me, tv shows and movies however don't fit on my internal HDD. at the moment it's not possible to set a different location for music and other media.

i like that itunes organizes my files but please let me put the movie/tv show location to another one that my internal disk...

I'm pretty sure you can work around this manually using symbolic links.

1) Close itunes
2) Delete the Movies and TV Shows folders in Music -> iTunes -> iTunes Media
3) Make Movies and TV Shows folders on your external drive and put your items in it
4) Open the application Terminal
5) Use the ln command to create links to your external drive

Usage:
ln -s path-to-actual-folder(folder you made on external drive) name-of-link(itunes media folder)

Example:
ln -s /Volumes/HD2/Movies ~/Music/iTunes/iTunes\ Media/Movies
ln -s /Volumes/HD2/TV\ Shows ~/Music/iTunes/iTunes\ Media/TV\ Shows

I think that should allow iTunes to organize your stuff on an external along with the other stuff you keep on your internal drive. Not sure what side effects disconnecting your external would have though.

[MagnusVonMagnum]

Originally Posted by Fabian90

i want an option to store the music on my internal drive and tv shows on an external one. i work as a dj and i always must have my music with me, tv shows and movies however don't fit on my internal HDD. at the moment it's not possible to set a different location for music and other media.

i like that itunes organizes my files but please let me put the movie/tv show location to another one that my internal disk...

You can do that. Simply turn off iTunes organization. It will still organize CDs, etc. that you scan in, but NOT stuff you "add" in yourself. I keep MP3s separate from AAC and TV Shows and Movies in their own directories.

----------

Originally Posted by idunn

For the lack of Coverflow alone, I've avoided iTunes 11 like the plague. Some obviously do not care about that, but with version 10.7 I've had little trouble with an external library—so perhaps another reason to avoid version 11 for now.

I also have refused to update my server due to the changes. I used CoverFlow for everything EXCEPT the main music list (I liked the LIST view sorted by album WITH artwork and I can get neither properly now. You can get the list but you get no artwork and cover flow is just gone).

I submitted feedback and told them what I thought and asked them why they couldn't offer those OPTIONS in the new version for those of us that want them (not hurting anyone) plus a few suggestions for the min-player, but I'm sure it all went straight to the bit-bucket. Apple doesn't give a crap what users WANT. They never have. I had some small hope that with Steve Jobs gone (he flat out said he didn't care what people wanted; he would do his vision instead) that things would change a bit, but I guess not.

The MOVIE view is particularly AWFUL. The art icons are just WAY WAY TOO BIG and there is no option to resize them (just try to find a movie in that mode with 600+ movies in your library). Using a list view means you don't get to see ANY cover art associated with the movie and it just looks bland. What HORRIBLE choices. I can't believe the people at Apple are that BLIND. It doesn't give me much hope for the future of Apple. It really doesn't.

[bryan85]

Originally Posted by unobtainium

Does it allow you to store media on an external drive and prevent iTunes from creating a local media folder every time you accidentally open iTunes when the external drive isn't mounted?

This shouldn't happen. I moved my entire iTunes library to my external drive and used option click to select the iTunes library location. Now when I open iTunes and the drive isn't mounted, it asks me for the location of the library and I can click cancel or create a new one.

[unobtainium]

Originally Posted by bryan85

This shouldn't happen. I moved my entire iTunes library to my external drive and used option click to select the iTunes library location. Now when I open iTunes and the drive isn't mounted, it asks me for the location of the library and I can click cancel or create a new one.

So the problem is that my library file is still stored locally? Excellent, I think you've solved my problem. I left the library file on my Mac because I was told that was how you should do it...Not sure why.

[extradryny]

Originally Posted by unobtainium

I left the library file on my Mac because I was told that was how you should do it...Not sure why.

The reason to keep your library local is so you can use iTunes while away from home for things like subscriptions. When I'm traveling I still want iTunes to keep my podcasts up to date.

Automatic consolidation would be a good feature.

[emvath]

They didn't bring back hybrid view yet? No thanks.

[manu chao]

Originally Posted by unobtainium

Does it allow you to store media on an external drive and prevent iTunes from creating a local media folder every time you accidentally open iTunes when the external drive isn't mounted?

It works for me. My iTunes library is on an internal drive. I have set iTunes to 'Keep iTunes Media folder organised' but I have unchecked the option to 'Copy files to iTunes Media folder when adding to library'.

When I rip a CD or buy anything from iTunes, it gets placed into the media folder inside the iTunes library. But when I import stuff from other sources, they get imported in place. I can thus place movies on an external disk or even a NAS and import them from there into my library (which doesn't copy them).

When I now try to play something that is on a disconnected disk, I get the exclamation mark. But if I re-connect the external disk (or mount the volume from the NAS), I can just start playing the items in question from within iTunes without having to point iTunes at the location.

[bushido]

Originally Posted by manu chao

It works for me. My iTunes library is on an internal drive. I have set iTunes to 'Keep iTunes Media folder organised' but I have unchecked the option to 'Copy files to iTunes Media folder when adding to library'.

When I rip a CD or buy anything from iTunes, it gets placed into the media folder inside the iTunes library. But when I import stuff from other sources, they get imported in place. I can thus place movies on an external disk or even a NAS and import them from there into my library (which doesn't copy them).

When I now try to play something that is on a disconnected disk, I get the exclamation mark. But if I re-connect the external disk (or mount the volume from the NAS), I can just start playing the items in question from within iTunes without having to point iTunes at the location.

i wish that would work for me :-/ it never finds the cover art / files again in my case unless i click on it.
some are found, some arent. it does it quite randomly. the next time im gonna plug it in again its gonna find other files ^^

[Karma*Police]

Originally Posted by unobtainium

Does it allow you to store media on an external drive and prevent iTunes from creating a local media folder every time you accidentally open iTunes when the external drive isn't mounted?

Nice. If they haven't addressed this, you should submit this to iTunes feedback. I plan to do the same.

[Fatalbert]

Originally Posted by unobtainium

Does it allow you to store media on an external drive and prevent iTunes from creating a local media folder every time you accidentally open iTunes when the external drive isn't mounted?

This is what I really want. Having an iTunes library hosted on an AFP server works, but Apple makes it kinda annoying. I don't care at all about these other things they add, though they are more good than bad.

[unobtainium]

Originally Posted by Fatalbert

This is what I really want. Having an iTunes library hosted on an AFP server works, but Apple makes it kinda annoying. I don't care at all about these other things they add, though they are more good than bad.

We should all submit this request to Apple - automatic consolidation for external libraries when you mount your external. They could even integrate it as an automatic feature in the next Time Capsule..would be awesome.

[Fatalbert]

Originally Posted by unobtainium

We should all submit this request to Apple - automatic consolidation for external libraries when you mount your external. They could even integrate it as an automatic feature in the next Time Capsule..would be awesome.

Speaking of that, iTunes has no Time Machine support like the kind iPhoto has. In fact, even 3rd-party apps should be able to hook into Time Machine. For example, Photoshop could give you older versions of a particular document right inside the app.