I would prefer the iTunes circa 2009. I thought it was bad then while having no idea ho bad Apple could screw up the software.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Apple May Be Planning to Break Up iTunes With New Music and Podcast Apps for Mac
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
More than 50% of my library of over 10,000 songs are my own library apart from Apple Music. Just move that stuff over to the new Music app. Apple could easily just add a “show Apple Music library” check mark box to differentiate your personal library. I see this is as a non issue which can be polished with good software.
Just like the largest river in the world, it’s also the largest online shopping store in the world. Makes sense to me. And the video streaming portion of it is called “Amazon Prime Video”. Note the “video” in the title. Also note there is an app for iOS and tvOS named equally so...to watch video. Also makes sense to me.
And I disagree. iTunes doesn’t reliably work well anymore and does not align and match well with iOS. Just like Facebook and Google: Break it up!
Last edited:
Nope, Not doing it, I will always have 2 hard copies for multiple reasons. When you eventually get burned from Apple's shenanigans on media availability, you will see the logic.
Apple software has a habit of breaking things that weren't previously broken.
I have multiple backups of various devices, including different iPads and iPhones and an iPod, on iTunes. I have music that is mine, not Apple's, on iTunes. I really don't want to see Apple screw up syncing and backups, so I hope they leave the basic functionality iTunes intact. Given that I don't trust them to do that, I would rather they keep their paws off iTunes.
I have multiple backups of various devices, including different iPads and iPhones and an iPod, on iTunes. I have music that is mine, not Apple's, on iTunes. I really don't want to see Apple screw up syncing and backups, so I hope they leave the basic functionality iTunes intact. Given that I don't trust them to do that, I would rather they keep their paws off iTunes.
I wonder if Apple should make an app for maintenance, an app where you can monitor the health, storage, downloads etc on all devices. A more in-depth version of the iCloud dashboard.
Last edited:
This. iTunes isn't bloated, it is incredibly versatile. You can pretty much configure the UI to look EXACTLY like iTunes of yore (less the chonky bevels). For DJs and audio professionals it is an incredible tool. As long as your library is on an SSD it boots up instantly and even with a 100K+ library you never see beachballs anymore.
Bloated is loading the entire UIKit from iOS to launch a single window application that neither works nor feels like a Mac app.
Agree 100%. It’s one of Apple’s best apps. But you’ll never earn any forum cred unless you muster up some faux outrage and proclaim it a “mess.”
OTOH, maybe there really are a lot of people here who are not even slightly tech savvy.
Well, good luck when your loved music is pulled from Apple Music or your favourite TV show disappear. Enjoy subscribing your media and your "future".
You're not alone.
Music, movies, and print media have always been a bit too intimate for me to have a company tell me what catalog I can choose from with a monthly subscription.
I'd rather own a 1,000 self-curated songs than have access to 100,000s or a 1,000,000 songs that I have to sift through and rent them in perpetuity.
Last edited:
I only ran iTunes on Windows for a very short time, and it definitely felt odd. Things didn't work quite the same. I wonder how much of that was Microsoft attempting to sabotage Apple. You can't assume they wouldn't try...
I highly doubt it considering competing music apps worked just fine. I felt the iTunes team are just inexperienced and never learned the skills to develop well for Windows
They should separate the music functionality out, lose the iTunes name, and make a lean, clean Apple Music player.
Well, they do have a reason for screwing it up. A way to steer people to the mac? Yeah, that doesn't make sense to me either, because there are so many other options for the Windows market. *shrug*
But then, why did the 'Windows Phone' blow so hard.
Have you tried connecting to your NAS iTunes library on a Mac vs PC? Tell me which one performs better
All I want and care about is (a) the ability to organize a collection of music files, and (b) sync those music files to my iPods, iPads, and iPhones. Optionally, I'd like to be able to buy songs to easily add them to said collection. That's all I NEED iTunes to be. If they want to break up the TV shows and Movies section into a different app, that's fine so long as I can own/buy things to add to that collection and download copies of things to watch offline should I so desire. If they cannot do that with whatever this rumored successor is to iTunes 12.9.x for Mac, then I'm downloading a version of iTunes for Windows and just using that from now on.
I don't stream, I buy my music, managed in iTunes and play thru Pure Music... What will happen to me??
The most likely outcome will be you are either forced to subscribe to Apple Music or unable to sync your music to your iPhone anymore.
If bloated refers to useless functions, I agree with you — probably every iTunes feature is worthwhile to some users, even if they're in the minority. But I do have a problem with the UI, which I find has grown increasingly confusing. I'd like to see an overhaul with tabs for each major area — music, video, movies, apps, photos, and so on — which would be easier than having a separate app for each one.
How rude. Just because some people are too lazy to do their own managing, have limited music taste, and enjoy renting thier music and videos doesn’t mean everyone wants to.
How much these "renters" miss out on. Instead of picking their own music and videos they are restricted to what Apple or Spotify offer instead of the wide variety offered by the world, small bands, etc. everything is not available on these music services.
I’ll never subscribe to any music platform. I want MY music, when I want it, in the playlists I want it.
Get on board, you don’t own the world
If Apple takes away our ability to Sync our own Music Content directly to our iPhones, and or iPads, for free, independently of Apple Music, and be able to fully control our own Metadata, Playlists, Smart Playlist, then it means that Apple is no longer allowing us to Share our own Music Content between our own Apple Devices for FREE!
Forced Subscription?!
We bought those devices with the understanding that such Free Sharing of own Music Content was possible between all our Apple Devices!
If that FREE Sharing is taken away, that means that Apple is forcing its customers to pay for this Syncing, as part fo Apple Music Subscription, which not all their Customers are interested in!
It’s not like our devices just woke up one day, and realized that they are “to weak” to Sync-Share [SARCASM
!!!]
It’s more likely that Apple might be planning to “wake up someday”, and announce that they will no longer allow Syncing-Sharing Music Content between our Apple Devices, for FREE!
That would clearly show that Apple doesn’t care about their customers’ feelings on that issue! That they feel that they are powerful enough to force all their customers to Buy Apple Music Subscription, as the only way for to continue to Sync-Share our own Music Content between our own Apple Devices! In short - Forced Subscription?!
What are they going to do next, force us to Save all our Documents on iCloud, instead of a local copy on our Hard Drives?!?!
If such Forced Subscription was to happen, it would give a Great Gift to Apple Haters, with Headlines like - Walled Garden = Jail, with decreasing rights for the Apple Customers = Inmates! In short, it will be a PR Nightmare for Apple!
Worse yet…
If Apple makes it difficult, if not impossible, for 3rd party developers to re-create a workflow that we now have for Syncing of our Music Content between our Macs and iOS, than it will make the $10 Per Month Apple Music Subscription an even more obvious MONEY GRAB, which would simply be GREED, because Apple is not exactly hurting for $$$, and is on a brink of going out of business, because they temporarily dropped below 1 TRILLION in Value!!! [SARCASM !!!]
Given my longtime Apple Loyalties, it will be a STAB IN THE HEART, if such MONEY GRAB, MY WAY OR HIGHWAY, APPLE KNOWS BEST, POWER GRAB, FORCED SUBSCRIPTION were to happen!
It’d be great if Apple did Think Different, Think Nice:
I'd like to see Apple issue an Official Statement on this Topic, something like:
Apple will never force its Customers to Subscribe to Apple Music against their will! Apple does not do Forced Subscriptions!
Our Customers will always be able to Sync-Share their Music Content between their Macs and iOS Devices, and curate their Content with their own Customizable Playlists and Smart Playlists, as they have done for year, no matter what kind of changes we shall make to iTunes! We will never take such CHOICES away from our Customers!
Better yet…
Apple should offer Apple Music Independently of iTunes, so that Customers, like myself, are able to continue Curating their own Customizable Playlists and Smart Playlists in iTunes, and have Independent Subscription to Apple Music, in a Separate App, which allows Downloading of Music for Offline Listening!
If such Independence between iTunes and Apple Music was to finally exist, I would HAPPILY give my $10 monthly to Apple vs. Spotify!
I’ve been ready to give that $10 to Apple for a long time! If Spotify can have a Separate App, without me having to worry about my iTunes, and Syncing to my iPhone, why can’t Apple do it also?
I don’t do much with Video, but I am guessing that people who do would appreciate a similar Independence for their own Video Content too! And then, if they want to back it up to iCloud, and pay for that storage, it should be their decision, not Apple's!
Forced Subscription?!
We bought those devices with the understanding that such Free Sharing of own Music Content was possible between all our Apple Devices!
If that FREE Sharing is taken away, that means that Apple is forcing its customers to pay for this Syncing, as part fo Apple Music Subscription, which not all their Customers are interested in!
It’s not like our devices just woke up one day, and realized that they are “to weak” to Sync-Share [SARCASM
!!!]It’s more likely that Apple might be planning to “wake up someday”, and announce that they will no longer allow Syncing-Sharing Music Content between our Apple Devices, for FREE!
That would clearly show that Apple doesn’t care about their customers’ feelings on that issue! That they feel that they are powerful enough to force all their customers to Buy Apple Music Subscription, as the only way for to continue to Sync-Share our own Music Content between our own Apple Devices! In short - Forced Subscription?!
What are they going to do next, force us to Save all our Documents on iCloud, instead of a local copy on our Hard Drives?!?!
If such Forced Subscription was to happen, it would give a Great Gift to Apple Haters, with Headlines like - Walled Garden = Jail, with decreasing rights for the Apple Customers = Inmates! In short, it will be a PR Nightmare for Apple!
Worse yet…
If Apple makes it difficult, if not impossible, for 3rd party developers to re-create a workflow that we now have for Syncing of our Music Content between our Macs and iOS, than it will make the $10 Per Month Apple Music Subscription an even more obvious MONEY GRAB, which would simply be GREED, because Apple is not exactly hurting for $$$, and is on a brink of going out of business, because they temporarily dropped below 1 TRILLION in Value!!! [SARCASM
!!!]Given my longtime Apple Loyalties, it will be a STAB IN THE HEART, if such MONEY GRAB, MY WAY OR HIGHWAY, APPLE KNOWS BEST, POWER GRAB, FORCED SUBSCRIPTION were to happen!
It’d be great if Apple did Think Different, Think Nice:
I'd like to see Apple issue an Official Statement on this Topic, something like:
Apple will never force its Customers to Subscribe to Apple Music against their will! Apple does not do Forced Subscriptions!
Our Customers will always be able to Sync-Share their Music Content between their Macs and iOS Devices, and curate their Content with their own Customizable Playlists and Smart Playlists, as they have done for year, no matter what kind of changes we shall make to iTunes! We will never take such CHOICES away from our Customers!
Better yet…
Apple should offer Apple Music Independently of iTunes, so that Customers, like myself, are able to continue Curating their own Customizable Playlists and Smart Playlists in iTunes, and have Independent Subscription to Apple Music, in a Separate App, which allows Downloading of Music for Offline Listening!
If such Independence between iTunes and Apple Music was to finally exist, I would HAPPILY give my $10 monthly to Apple vs. Spotify!
I’ve been ready to give that $10 to Apple for a long time! If Spotify can have a Separate App, without me having to worry about my iTunes, and Syncing to my iPhone, why can’t Apple do it also?
I don’t do much with Video, but I am guessing that people who do would appreciate a similar Independence for their own Video Content too! And then, if they want to back it up to iCloud, and pay for that storage, it should be their decision, not Apple's!
Last edited:
I appreciate your effort on this lengthy and coloured text wall. But allow me to reiterate a few points here.If Apple takes away our ability to Sync our own Music Content directly to our iPhones, and or iPads, for free, independently of Apple Music, and be able to fully control our own Metadata, Playlists, Smart Playlist, then it means that Apple is no longer allowing us to Share our own Music Content between our own Apple Devices for FREE!
Forced Subscription?!
We bought those devices with the understanding that such Free Sharing of own Music Content was possible between all our Apple Devices!
If that FREE Sharing is taken away, that means that Apple is forcing its customers to pay for this Syncing, as part fo Apple Music Subscription, which not all their Customers are interested in!
It’s not like our devices just woke up one day, and realized that they are “to weak” to Sync-Share [SARCASM
It’s more likely that Apple might be planning to “wake up someday”, and announce that they will no longer allow Syncing-Sharing Music Content between our Apple Devices, for FREE!
That would clearly show that Apple doesn’t care about their customers’ feelings on that issue! That they feel that they are powerful enough to force all their customers to Buy Apple Music Subscription, as the only way for to continue to Sync-Share our own Music Content between our own Apple Devices! In short - Forced Subscription?!
What are they going to do next, force us to Save all our Documents on iCloud, instead of a local copy on our Hard Drives?!?!
If such Forced Subscription was to happen, it would give a Great Gift to Apple Haters, with Headlines like - Walled Garden = Jail, with decreasing rights for the Apple Customers = Inmates! In short, it will be a PR Nightmare for Apple!
Worse yet…
If Apple makes it difficult, if not impossible, for 3rd party developers to re-create a workflow that we now have for Syncing of our Music Content between our Macs and iOS, than it will make the $10 Per Month Apple Music Subscription an even more obvious MONEY GRAB, which would simply be GREED, because Apple is not exactly hurting for $$$, and is on a brink of going out of business, because they temporarily dropped below 1 TRILLION in Value!!! [SARCASM
Given my longtime Apple Loyalties, it will be a STAB IN THE HEART, if such MONEY GRAB, MY WAY OR HIGHWAY, APPLE KNOWS BEST, POWER GRAB, FORCED SUBSCRIPTION were to happen!
It’d be great if Apple did Think Different, Think Nice:
I'd like to see Apple issue an Official Statement on this Topic, something like:
Apple will never force its Customers to Subscribe to Apple Music against their will! Apple does not do Forced Subscriptions!
Our Customers will always be able to Sync-Share their Music Content between their Macs and iOS Devices, and curate their Content with their own Customizable Playlists and Smart Playlists, as they have done for year, no matter what kind of changes we shall make to iTunes! We will never take such CHOICES away from our Customers!
Better yet…
Apple should offer Apple Music Independently of iTunes, so that Customers, like myself, are able to continue Curating their own Customizable Playlists and Smart Playlists in iTunes, and have Independent Subscription to Apple Music, in a Separate App, which allows Downloading of Music for Offline Listening!
If such Independence between iTunes and Apple Music was to finally exist, I would HAPPILY give my $10 monthly to Apple vs. Spotify!
I’ve been ready to give that $10 to Apple for a long time! If Spotify can have a Separate App, without me having to worry about my iTunes, and Syncing to my iPhone, why can’t Apple do it also?
I don’t do much with Video, but I am guessing that people who do would appreciate a similar Independence for their own Video Content too! And then, if they want to back it up to iCloud, and pay for that storage, it should be their decision, not Apple's!
1. If Apple forces subscription as the only way to store the music, music industry will be the ultimate winner. This means two things. One is Apple no longer need to offer 1TB of local storage. Second is sharing “actual content” (Music) will become very tricky if not outright impossible in iOS.
2. Apple does not need to care about what customer think. They care about how investors think. There will only be a small group of people caring about their experience. I do not hope anything positive from this authoritarian style company. One big misconception still around today is customers think their power is enormous. They are wrong.