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Apple Planning Major Overhaul of iTunes to Emphasize iCloud and Sharing
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I'm content with the way things work now with one exception. I'd like my iTunes Match music to stream instead of download to my devices the first time I want to listen to it.
I'd prefer to have my own personal streaming music service for $25/year. I used Rhapsody for a couple of years and enjoyed the access to unlimited music. But, I'd rather be limited to my own purchased music for $100 less per year.
I'd prefer to have my own personal streaming music service for $25/year. I used Rhapsody for a couple of years and enjoyed the access to unlimited music. But, I'd rather be limited to my own purchased music for $100 less per year.
I was using itunes last night to listen to a song and as usual my Mac locked up, turns out iTunes was using about 2GB or ram...yeah bloated doesn't even begin to cover that.
However I am a little bit worried about this update, will iTunes remain as powerful as it currently is, or will it be stripped down, features like lyrics tagging and the ability to add hq artwork removed?
I'm slightly obsessive with my music, I have everything tagged as i like and (almost) every song has lyrics (in some cases the lyrics had to be manually altered for live recordings etc), sorted into the correct genre etc.
So a snappier version of iTunes, capable of doing everything the current version can do, excellent. A dumbed down version...no thanks.
However I am a little bit worried about this update, will iTunes remain as powerful as it currently is, or will it be stripped down, features like lyrics tagging and the ability to add hq artwork removed?
I'm slightly obsessive with my music, I have everything tagged as i like and (almost) every song has lyrics (in some cases the lyrics had to be manually altered for live recordings etc), sorted into the correct genre etc.
So a snappier version of iTunes, capable of doing everything the current version can do, excellent. A dumbed down version...no thanks.
My personal wishlist:
•Stop locking away the user input when iTunes is adding files or changing ID3 tags.
•Give brightness/contrast sliders for video content. The only way to actually change the settings on video is to play them at QT 7 player (shame that the ML QTX player still doesn't have this)
•Stop slowing down the entire UI when the app is checking things in iCloud for iTunes match. Do this in background as a separate task.
•More supported formats please. I'm sick of converting each FLAC to ALAC. (Though I don't see this happening like ever)
•Better batch tag handling (Again I don't see this happening but I desperately need stuff like "Capitalize" to work on a batch of files.)
•Better album art and track name find (Look for them on places other than the store)
•Use Core animation like in Safari ML for the library (It's been much faster since iTunes 10.2 due to Core Image, but adding core animation would make it even smoother)
•Better navigation and tabbed browsing. Add tabs for different albums I'm checking so I can go from one album to the next one with ease. As it stands today, switching between albums is basically impossible without typing the name on search bar over and over again or creating a temporary playlist, which is lame.
•Stop locking away the user input when iTunes is adding files or changing ID3 tags.
•Give brightness/contrast sliders for video content. The only way to actually change the settings on video is to play them at QT 7 player (shame that the ML QTX player still doesn't have this)
•Stop slowing down the entire UI when the app is checking things in iCloud for iTunes match. Do this in background as a separate task.
•More supported formats please. I'm sick of converting each FLAC to ALAC. (Though I don't see this happening like ever)
•Better batch tag handling (Again I don't see this happening but I desperately need stuff like "Capitalize" to work on a batch of files.)
•Better album art and track name find (Look for them on places other than the store)
•Use Core animation like in Safari ML for the library (It's been much faster since iTunes 10.2 due to Core Image, but adding core animation would make it even smoother)
•Better navigation and tabbed browsing. Add tabs for different albums I'm checking so I can go from one album to the next one with ease. As it stands today, switching between albums is basically impossible without typing the name on search bar over and over again or creating a temporary playlist, which is lame.
Not unless they port the Yellow Box modern equivalent to Windows [and all necessary mach-o, pbs, etc.] or they expand the team and fork the project to maintain two separate branches for Windows and OS X.
If Apple would like to have more music discovery and help tie things together some more while possibly giving Ping some meaning - why not integrate a concerts ticket purchase type function. Your favorite artist could list upcoming concerts, buy tickets which then show in your iOS 6 passbook app. This would pump blood through Ping again, 'tickets on sale from iTunes'.
Doing this could take on tickettek/ticketmaster who at least in Australia, most people hate because they have ridiculous extra charges. Apple give them competition, they could easily win Australia. And concert tickets would bring in good money for them, how many arena concerts are less than $50-100 a ticket these days!
They could also offer to purchase music concerts instead of having to buy on dvd-I've wondered for years why they don't offer this, it naturally lends itself to it.
Doing this could take on tickettek/ticketmaster who at least in Australia, most people hate because they have ridiculous extra charges. Apple give them competition, they could easily win Australia. And concert tickets would bring in good money for them, how many arena concerts are less than $50-100 a ticket these days!
They could also offer to purchase music concerts instead of having to buy on dvd-I've wondered for years why they don't offer this, it naturally lends itself to it.
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said this yesterday
said this yesterday. +1 for separate apps. Like someone said before "i have PDF's in iTunes"... how stupid does that sound? But its true. We need "Music" ,"iBooks" & "Video" apps so effing bad.
said this yesterday. +1 for separate apps. Like someone said before "i have PDF's in iTunes"... how stupid does that sound? But its true. We need "Music" ,"iBooks" & "Video" apps so effing bad.
I would not only say LONG overdue, but I might say TOO LATE. There is no way Apple is going to compete with a free service (or much lower cost service).
I am (was) a long time iTunes user, spending easily $50-$100 a month buying music. and I was recently introduced to Spotify. I actually feel a little resentment towards Apple's business model. I will never buy another song through iTunes. I would be a fool to do so.
I could do it for free, but I pay $120 a year for premium (which is less than what I was paying for Sirius) and listen to nearly everything from every genre and any era. I have playlists of:
New "Pop" music
Old Pop music (60s, 70s, 80s, 90s)
Classical music (w/ great orchestral recordings, not some scrubby community orchestral recordings which I often times find on iTunes)
Jazz (incredible selection - including some really hard to find selections)
Some stranger "Older" stuff (Les Baxter, Swingle Singers, and more)
On top of that, Spotify offers SEVERAL 'spotify apps' that help you discover like no other music services.
Why would I pay $.99 a track to hear something one or two times?
Apple needs to either BUY Spotify or offer a second business model for distributing their music.
I don't think I'm a 'know it all' or anything, but I work as a high school music teacher. I interact with students and talk about music a lot. Every kids seems to have a spotify account. Kids push the music industry. Spotify is not a fad, it is the real deal and if you haven't used it before, try it and you will see why Apple's music service is in trouble.
It is great until all of your contacts get wiped out when trying to set up a new device to use iCloud. Apple does not provide an automated way to backup and restore iCloud contacts. The only option available is to manually export the contacts from iCal. Which I guess is fine if you can remember to do that frequently or your good at writing scripts to do it automatically.
I hope they get rid of the iTunes Store on iOS devices completely and make purchases available through the Music, Videos, Bookstore, and Podcast Apps. This would allow them to add subscription packages and other things into the App and get rid of the distinction between he shop and your own music.
All I really need from iTunes is Flac support. They never throw me a bone.. Everything else is fun but I'm not a silly nilly so I don't pay those prices for that type of format.Put some actual CD's up for sale like Amazon, mail them to me and I'm a customer, or just offer the equivalent to CD quality for download. Ain't no lossy content in my house!
If you want lossless, why dont you use Apple Lossless. Works great. All my CDs have been ripped using Apple Lossless using error correction, etc. Also, Apple Lossless is now royalty free. There are also free FLAC to Apple Lossless converters.
Share libraries between computer users
One feature that is long overdue is the ability to share libraries between different users on the same machine without having to resort to the kludge of sharing a common media folder for each user account.
Itunes is bloated and needs to be revamped from the ground up. I have no issue with Itunes as a single app managing your media, but the server/sharing functionality should be broken off into a separate service that is always running.
Also they need to update to the latest ID3 tagging and include the ability to tag songs with multiple artists, genre's... its annoying that collaborations become a new artist rather than appearing under both artists.
One feature that is long overdue is the ability to share libraries between different users on the same machine without having to resort to the kludge of sharing a common media folder for each user account.
Itunes is bloated and needs to be revamped from the ground up. I have no issue with Itunes as a single app managing your media, but the server/sharing functionality should be broken off into a separate service that is always running.
Also they need to update to the latest ID3 tagging and include the ability to tag songs with multiple artists, genre's... its annoying that collaborations become a new artist rather than appearing under both artists.
Ugh...after seeing how bad the 'podcasts' program is, I dread what they may do to iTunes.
I'd like any bugs nailed down, and performance could be better, but otherwise I LOVE iTunes and I have since launch.
I don't care about "sharing music". And I want to sync with *MY* PC, not Apple's server on Mars.
It's like they have all these strengths versus Android and Windows Phone so they're getting rid of them
Ugh, I guess I'll hope for the best, but I went from excited to buy an iPhone tomorrow, to I'm not buying one until I've seen iOS 6 and this new iTunes, so to see if they even still do what I need them to do.
I'd like any bugs nailed down, and performance could be better, but otherwise I LOVE iTunes and I have since launch.
I don't care about "sharing music". And I want to sync with *MY* PC, not Apple's server on Mars.
It's like they have all these strengths versus Android and Windows Phone so they're getting rid of them
Ugh, I guess I'll hope for the best, but I went from excited to buy an iPhone tomorrow, to I'm not buying one until I've seen iOS 6 and this new iTunes, so to see if they even still do what I need them to do.
This is not good. Apple is making iTunes more and more dependent on having access to iCloud. More than half the people, even in America, don't have the necessary high speed access to make using iCloud feasible. Then there is the problem that iCloud is not reliable, not secure and the laws have not been updated to keep the police out of your data. iCloud is a bad idea. Making anything dependent on iCloud is an even worse idea.
Since I started using spotify, I would say my music purchases have dropped a good 60%. The truth is, Spotify's library is still quite limited. Also, many artists (Black Keys are the first that come to my mind) only put their earliest albums on Spotify. We will see in the future where this goes. For now I only buy music from artists I support on iTunes.
that doesn't make sence,
i understand iCloud to be more like a device or service, like iMac, iPhone, iPad, rather than the an application.
however, using iCloud for all repository (songs, movies, shows, docs, etc) could make sense...
As much as I love iTunes as an app, it needs some tidying up. Too much going on in one app. Just don't make it all big and iOS-ish. Leave it somewhat pro user looking.
Are people really so vain that they are willing to quadruple their bandwidth use just to make their ugly faces clearer?
Spotify is the greatest FREE solution for old geezers like me. It has all the songs I grew up with and a way more international catalog than itunes ever had.
Used to own albums (LPs, remember those) which are now collecting dust.
Converted whatever was possible to CDs which are now collecting dust.
The way we consume audio and video these days makes it unnecessary to own it. It is just so easy to type in what you want to hear and seconds later it starts.
Don't even have to remember which track was on which CD, let alone look around where I put it.
I understand that it's personal preference to own music, but as I am getting older I want as little "stuff" to keep track off or take up physical space.
Do people really still rummage through their CD's to find tracks?
About the only thing I miss is being able to sometimes read the song lyrics.
Would be great if lyrics would be streaming on my screen while the music is playing.
Of course as an option that can be switched on or off.
You mean make Itunes on Windows look and feel like a Windows app? Blasphemy!
Actually, that might be how Apple will make the Metro version of Itunes.
I really hope they introduce a streaming service just like Spotify along with this. I really like the idea of Spotify but in its current incarnation it is really buggy. I suppose that is what you get with something that has really grown/blowing up.
I personally like the way that Rdio does it better but there are certainly some downfalls with that service as well. (Sound quality, no gapless...etc).
I personally like the way that Rdio does it better but there are certainly some downfalls with that service as well. (Sound quality, no gapless...etc).
I hope there is a Metro version of iTunes...really do!
I'm not necessarily opposed to changing the look (although I like it), but my only real complaint is just that it's kind of sluggish and a little flaky, and I'm not crazy about how iTunes keeps spewing more and more and more background processes.
Honestly, I've never had issues with them, and today's PCs have gobs of RAM, but like I just looked, and Apple appears to have EIGHT processes running on my system right now not counting iTunes itself :lol: (and I might be missing some). My iPod and iTunes are a big part of my life, and actually Tivo Desktop uses Bonjour too, but still...