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Apple Music Set for Design Overhaul in Time for WWDC in June

bluespark said:
I also like the interconnectedness between my library and Apple Music, but I've otherwise soured on much of the service. For me, the complexity of the interface means:

-- that I will occasionally find something I like, only to lose it later and not remember how I got there;
-- that I am never sure whether I am using it optimally or are aware of all features I might like;
-- that certain of the menus (e.g., the three dots) seem like "junk drawers" where Apple threw everything it hadn't figured out to incorporate into the main interface; and
-- that I spend more time clicking through menus than I'd like, i.e., that the experience isn't ultimately satisfying or fun.

Apart from the complexity, I would like better controls for my own library (older versions of iTunes were easier and more enjoyable in several ways) and less focus on features that are peripheral to listening, i.e., Connect.

Finally, I miss the music discoverability features of the old iTunes Music Store, back when playing a track would give you much more artist information, similar picks, collections that included music from that artist, etc. Back in the day, iTunes used to be my go-to source for learning about new artists that were similar to others I liked. The so-called "cleaner" interface the iTunes Store moved to several years ago took that away (for me at least). I would hope Apple would look at some of its past successes when thinking about both iTunes and Apple Music.
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All fair points. There is definitely a learning curve. However, on the last point when you go to a specific album there are always suggestions at the bottom, either "more from that artist" and "related albums you might like" or something like that. I have discovered quite a few gems using that feature.
 
legacyb4 said:
If you disable Apple Music Connect under Settings/Restrictions, Playlists can be displayed on the main 5 button tab which makes it easier to get to.
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Genius - thanks for that. Who'd have thought barring my iPhone from certain features would make it easier to use? How about a simple preference control to streamline the interface and get rid of stuff you never use instead?
 
robotica said:
I absolutely hate what Apple Music has done to the music app.

Apple basically destroyed the iPod part of the iPhone. I actually had to download a third party app to be able to control my music to any functional degree.

Apple please reinstate in the old music application and make a separate Apple Music app.
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While I appreciate change, it has to be a good, useful change, not what Apple did with the music app. I've tolerated the app for the most part (what else can I do?), but I'm looking forward to some real improvements.
 
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Fix the freaking tagging problem.
Apple Music screwed up my iTunes to the um-fixable level.
 
I hope that the Mac side of this involves splitting iTunes up into more focused apps. Music, Videos, Podcasts, etc...
 
Maybe if they could simply allow clicking on an artist name to take the user to all of that artists albums, or clicking on an album name to take the user to all the tracks on that album throughout the app... its not rocket science!
 
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robotica said:
I absolutely hate what Apple Music has done to the music app.

Apple basically destroyed the iPod part of the iPhone. I actually had to download a third party app to be able to control my music to any functional degree.

Apple please reinstate in the old music application and make a separate Apple Music app.
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Which 3rd party app? I need it!
 
Apple music is great a service and really great at discovering new music. The human curated lists are fantastic.

However, getting around your own collection is the hassle. I often search and can't find a song that is in the collection. It also seems to go down frequently.

Looking forward to the refresh. Don't care much about iTunes because I hardly use it anyway.
 
All I want is the ability to customize the Music app.

I really don't care about Apple Music. It's a fine service, but I just don't want it. Therefore, let me hide "For You," "Connect," and "New" And return "Albums," "Artists," "Songs," "Playlists," etc. to the bottom selection bar. Why on a 4.7" phone and a 9.7" tablet do I only have 3 options when my old 3.5" iPhone had 5/6 under iOS 6.

It's frustrating
 
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Yes,,, overhaul it... its past it's "used by" date.

Despite the problems, more seem to be using it...... fair enough...

This is what happens when u have everything tired to one app .... u wanna start split things off afterwards...

Separating music from Connect etc..... where as Apples view is, well its still music related.
 
I honestly hace no problem using it at all. I find it a lot simpler than Spotify.

Desktop iTunes has serious problems.
 
obiwan said:
Nope. No playlists button at the bottom of my app. I tapped the music app, then at the bottom I see 'For you', 'New', 'Radio', 'Connect' and 'My Music'.

I think I'm supposed to tap 'My Music'. So I go ahead, and do that. Nope, still no playlists button... (Scratch my head, trying to remember where it is...). I'm currently looking at the last track I played, but I still can't remember where that playlists button is. Ok, let's hit the 'Back' button and see if I can find it.... Nope, now I have 'All Apple Music' or 'My Music'. Ah, just realised it remembered what I was searching for last time (because I couldn't find it in the first place in the messed up interface). Ok, clear the search... Aha, finally found the list of my playlists...

I'll forget this totally unintuitive, messed-up sequence that I seem to have to follow every time. So ok, maybe it doesn't take me ages, but I shouldn't have to go hunting for it, every time I attempt to use it.
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okay, that's weird...I don't have "connect", I have "playlists". "My Music" takes you to recently added, then an alphabetical list. I'm using an iPhone 6 with up-to-date iOS. What is "connect"?

UPDATE - I found out how to replace the CONNECT button with PLAYLISTS:

https://www.macrumors.com/2015/07/01/replace-connect-with-playlists-apple-music/

I must have done that before. Try it and see if it works.
 
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My wishlist for a redesigned music app:

- Landscape mode
- Shake to shuffle
- No transparent status bar over the album art in the Now Playing screen
- More sophisticated miniplayer
- A better and optimized design for the iPad
- Customizable tabs
- No 'connect'
- Merge 'new' and 'for you' tabs
- New app icon
 
bbeagle said:
Ok. I respect that.

I guess it does 90% of what I want - it could be better. But I generally like it.
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The minute people have to take time to "learn" your software, especially a simple music App, should tell you it
boston04and07 said:
I hope that the Mac side of this involves splitting iTunes up into more focused apps. Music, Videos, Podcasts, etc...
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I don't know why people want more stupid apps. iTunes is mostly fine the way it is, it just needs a cleaner UI. What it DOESN'T need to do is split into a million different apps. I like going to ONE place to access my music and video. The issue with Apple Music is, it was a different company and they just shoehorned it in without any thought. And the fact that like everything related to iCloud it's a DESTRUCTIVE service that insists on attaching it's DRM'ed crap to content that I own. It's destroyed my music library on 2 different occasions. Don't even get me started on how garbage iTunes Music Metatagging is as well.
 
CarlosQG said:
As long as they don't remove Beats 1, they can improve the service however they want.

Also, not sure why the hate to Connect, I found out that Enrique Iglesias was launching his new single there (and even heard snippets) about a month ago.
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They won't remove Beats 1. Chances are they'll add more stations. Beats 2, Beats 3 etc. Beats 1 would still be the flagship station while the others will focus on certain genres.
 
Dear AppleMusic Dev team,

Since you are doing the redesign anyway, would it kill you to keep the DRM'ed AppleMusic tracks separate from my careful curated iTunes library tracks? Maybe use parallel directories, one for each? I really don't appreciate the "synergy" of having my iTunes library trashed by whatever latest AppleMusic "feature" has invaded the ever-bloated iTunes application. Like Steve, music in general and my music library in particular is a very important part of my life.

Edit: Deleted suggestion that could only end horribly for those of us who care about our iTunes libraries.
 
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I agree, get it out of iTunes.

And stop pushing album art to my iPhone and iPad iTunes Apps - I DON'T WANT THAT CRAP ON MY DEVICES ... it ain't improving my life, it just flat out PMO.
 
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Rogifan said:
Hopefully this means they've taken their time and are doing a thoughtful redesign not just a knee jerk panic reaction. Makes me wonder though who was responsible for the initial app. Kind of sounds like it was more Beats than Apple. I just hope we don't get another way too long presentation by Cue at WWDC. That was awful.
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I concur. I'd be happy not too see Cue presenting at WWDC, it was painful last time round. Just give us a well designed app.
 
I'm very interested in what they figure out. I don't have problems with the Music UI. I understand that it's more complicated than most apps, but's it's hard to argue what they should do differently. The issue is with music streaming in general. You need to show your library, need to differentiate between on device and in library, and have a place for what's available on the service. I think Apple did a much better job than Spotify.
 
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