Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

iApps wishlist

D

Dahl

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Nov 21, 2002
641
24
L.A.
I love my iApps, but there are things that hopefully will be addressed in future updates.

Here are some of the things I have on my Apple wish list:

iTunes - I would love to be able to alphabetize artists the right way, like authors of books, artists should be placed under their last name, not first.
Now I know it might be hard to do, since iTunes won't know if it's a band name or an artist name. Maybe if iTunes had an artist or band name button, you could check/uncheck ?
I would also love to see that iTunes automatically removed old songs from the library just like iPhoto does, so you don't have those "ghost" files.

iPhoto - Great little program, what I now use all the time. But I would like to see more options, when you want to make a book. More font sizes and lay out types would be awesome.

I don't know if there are any way to address these things without updates, if so I haven't found them.

What would you like to see ?
 
iPhoto: I'd like to see it get a speed boost for those with large libraries. I've got over 2500 pics, and iPhoto just drrragggggs. And when I start a slideshow, it starts 20 pictures from the one I had highlighted.

iTunes: A lyrics tag. You could download lyrics with each purchase from the iTMS. An iPod update would allow these lyrics to be viewed on your iPod with the song you're listening to, so you can sing along (*not recommended for all users ;))

iCal: More integration with the OS and with other apps, like Mail.app

iSync: open it up to other uses, like backing up your home folder on your iPod or other external device. Right now I use Synk for this. It's pretty good, but I'd like to see Apple open this up to the masses. Few people know about Synk.
 
iPhoto is horrible on any system. I have maybe a total of a hundred pictures in my library, and it runs agonizingly slow on my dual 1.25 G4. I think I've heard reports of it still being slow even on dual G5's. It definately needs some work.
 
I currently have more then 1000 photos in iPhoto, most of them high resolution and I don't thhink it's that bad on my dual 2.0, but it would be better, I agree about that.
 
iTunes - being able to 'link' two songs together (that are supposed to go one after the other on the CD without a pause) without any pause or crossfade. But if you play the 2nd song without listening to the first one before it, normal conditions apply. I know there's the 'Join CD tracks' feature but I still want them as separate trakcs, if you know what I mean. Currently the 'crossfade' makes a mess of these transitions (even when set to 0 seconds) but is fine for all other song transitions.

Also, make dialogs modal (e.g. get info panel can stay open and dynamically change arcording to what you select).

iPhoto - more speed. At the moment, if your photo collection size > available RAM = slow...! More online options for those outside of the US ;).

iCal - more integration and get rid of that stupid new info drawer!

Incidently, I love the new Address Book and Mail in Panther. I think they have been nicely updated and work well. Unlike others, I have no problems with Safari either.
 
Better options for bookmarks in Safari would be good too.
I want to alphabetize them.
 
Originally posted by johnnyjibbs

Also, make dialogs modal (e.g. get info panel can stay open and dynamically change arcording to what you select).
Click to expand...

This is just another example of Apple not adhering to its own guidelines that other developers (me included) spend so much time doing. They make it all seem for nothing.
 
Actually, another thing with iPhoto. I wish it would actually rename the image files (or have an option to do so). It's easy to rename the images you look at in iPhoto but when you want to search for the image file they are still called IMG107.jpg or whatever your camera wants to call them. This is annoying when you want to browse images in the Finder (espcially now that the columns preview mode is so slow!).

BTW, if there is an option that I am unaware of to do this already, please let me know!
 
itunes: stats! stats! stats! i want a total time played, that adds up the time you play a song even if you don't listen to the whole thing, and i want it to add up playcounts and put them by the artist/album in the browse window. anyother stats would be cool too, like your average amount of songs listened to per day

ical: the biggest lacking feature is the ability to recieve alerts when you don't have the program open. also it would be cool if ical was integrated into the desktop i think.

iphoto: a huge amount of work will have to go into that program before i'll even touch it
 
I see a lot of things here that I long for on a regular basis. Song linking would be great. I'd also like to see iSync copy my web PWs. I hate having to enter all my PWs again when I reformat a disk (I've one this on two machines in the last month).

I voice these requests to Apple whenever I think of them. Does anyone else? If enough people ask for a feature we will likely see it in a future update.

Dahl - check these AppleScripts to remove ghost files (they hang on streaming music, but I contacted the author to let him know and he implied that it might be something he can look into correcting - until then, you just have to be a little more selective as you proceed).

http://www.hubis.net/

Dan

edit: BTW - these scripts are very powerful, and have helped me organize my library very quickly - I recommend them to everyone
 
I don't think the RAM is iPhoto's problem. I've monitored my RAM when iPhoto is open, and I've still got lots of unused RAM. iPhoto is more of a CPU hog. It will use 100% of my CPU when it is open.

As for Safari, I'd like to be able to resume my downloads. A 40 MB file at 2 kbps can be hell with a bad dialup connection.
 
iDVD should be able to handle AC3 and DTS surround audio files... Yeah, right...

DVD Studio Pro doesn't support DTS, what bloody chance of iDVD getting there?:mad:
 
iCal
Calendar groups/categories. I have 18 calendars which i could split into 3 groups: Work; Personal and Other. It would be nice to be able to switch off/on a group at a time instead of having to do it individually.

iPhoto
Sub folders in Albums. eg Holidays/Summer2004 or Family/Chris and Family/Karyn etc

iTunes
Random sort order. Useful when I want to burn songs to a CD (esp as some of my CD players don't have a shuffle/random option)

Safari
Option when downloading to choose a folder
 
Originally posted by dukemeiser
As for Safari, I'd like to be able to resume my downloads. A 40 MB file at 2 kbps can be hell with a bad dialup connection.
Click to expand...

If you can afford a Mac, then you can afford a decent connection :rolleyes:

Seriously though, resumable downloads would be great.
 
Originally posted by dukemeiser
iPhoto: I'd like to see it get a speed boost for those with large libraries.
iTunes: A lyrics tag.
iCal: More integration with the OS and with other apps, like Mail.app
iSync: open it up to other uses, like backing up your home folder on your iPod or other external device.
Click to expand...
All sound good.

Mail.app -
- I want it to remember the format someone sends me an email in, and use that as the default format for sending to them.
- Address book birthdates in iCal.
- Oh, and don't beep for new mail if it's for the Junk mail folder!

iTunes -
- jukebox option - so if I have guests over they can browse and double click on the songs they want to hear and have them queued.
- what about video clips (hey, it uses Quicktime anyway!).
- when importing a CD lookup and download the cover-art.
- When writing a CD, put in the song names (there is a format for it!). Then if the CD is put in another machine it'll show song names.

Quicktime player -
- merge it with DVD Player... isn't that a natural? (also good for the Windows Quicktime).
- Also, surely iDVD could produce Quicktime clips - complete with buttons and menus?

iDisk - allow it to use the FTP site my internet provider gives me! (and fix FTP uploading)

And in terms of a new iApp...
iWeb - a basic, standards based, easy to use website creator. Nice for integration with iPhoto, iTunes, Quicktime etc.

:)
 
Originally posted by Nermal
If you can afford a Mac, then you can afford a decent connection :rolleyes:
.
Click to expand...

Thats not a very valid assumption.

Just because I can afford gas dosn't mean I can afford a McLaren F1 to drive :rolleyes:

macs are very expensive; some of us use every bit of our extra cash to pay for the mac, leaving none left over for things like high speed connection.

other people, like me, can afford the mac, as well as a good connection, but live in a place where anything other than dial up is not offered.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

iTunes: Needs a 'stop' button, not just a 'pause' button.

iPhoto: wish it didnt try to organize aliases of photos in its folders. for example, it makes folders based on dates....I have photoshop images that it puts in folders dates "2017". This creates a whole scattering of folders and aliases within iphotos directory.

idvd: make your own templates....maybe it could offer a blank template starter, and you could build it from there and use it.

OS X in general: zoom button should maximize the window and lock it in place - period. I know what it does and why it does it, but thats not intuitive and its not the best way to go about it.

The apple menu should include a "start" menu similar to that of a windows computer. The 'dock' would then be used as a 'taskbar' to show only the applications/windows open, instead of being used as an application launcher.
 
Originally posted by joshuwa72
OS X in general: zoom button should maximize the window and lock it in place - period. I know what it does and why it does it, but thats not intuitive and its not the best way to go about it.

The apple menu should include a "start" menu similar to that of a windows computer. The 'dock' would then be used as a 'taskbar' to show only the applications/windows open, instead of being used as an application launcher.
Click to expand...
Coming from Windows, it took me a while to 'understand' the zoom button but now I think it works well. Occasionally in some apps it doesn't behave quite as it should but most of the time it is good. The Mac way of doing things is not to have every window at maximum style. Even though it seems more chaotic, I like the fact you can often see the desktop peaking through, particulalry when checking email, etc using Mail.

If they added a "Start" menu and make it even more like the taskbar, they might as well call it "Windows" instead of "Mac OS X". The dock is Apple's take on one of the most intuitive and best things about Windows: the taskbar. I now love the way it functions. Remember, not only does it launch applications, but you can also click the active application dock icon to switch to it. This is Apple through and through: enabling many powerful actions through a simple interface. Nintendo is about the only other company that seems to understand.

It'd be nice for the dock to have a bit more contextural menu support, however, but overall I think it functions well.

EDIT: You can simulate the Start menu in Windows by dragging the Applications folder to the dock. Or, if you want to customise it, create a new folder with aliases to all your favourite programs (and documents if you want) and then drag that to the dock. Then if you right click the icon, you get a menu just like the Start menu.
 
Originally posted by joshuwa72
OS X in general: zoom button should maximize the window and lock it in place - period. I know what it does and why it does it, but thats not intuitive and its not the best way to go about it.

The apple menu should include a "start" menu similar to that of a windows computer. The 'dock' would then be used as a 'taskbar' to show only the applications/windows open, instead of being used as an application launcher. [/B]
Click to expand...

Dude, it sounds like you want your Mac to run windows ;)

But (and this isn't rocket science) if you only want running apps in the dock, just drag all of the program icons out of the dock...
And, if you want a launcher menu, just drag your applications folder into the dock ==> When you click and hold the mouse, you get a menu with all of your apps.


As for iApp recommendations:
--I want the option to view my iPhoto library as an iTunes-style list. When I know exactly what I'm looking for I don't like to have to rustle through thumbnails. A speed boost would be nice too.
--I want iTunes to support sub-playlists. I also want complex conditionals ((a or b) and c) in smart playlists. And isn't it about time for burned CD's from iTunes to store track data?
--FTP browsing in Safari. I get tired of clicking FTP folder links that just mount in the finder. Not only does it look like Safari has ignored the link completely, I have to actually switch programs to do my FTP'ing.
--Meta tagging files in the Finder. This is a long shot, but I want to be able to "tag" my files in the finder (like iTunes) by author, project, etc. and then search for files based on tag data (i.e. documents by Joe or files from the Oil Spill Project). I had previously given up on this one, but with the new iTunes-like incarnation of the finder, it seems like there may be a glimmer of hope.
 
iPhoto - To be able to publish on any website you specify or have multiple site preferences for different albums and websiites.

I agree with the name changing thing above.. Change the name of the original photo.

Speed.

iMovie needs a speed boost and a better way to make a slideshow in iMovie with photo's.

Sherlock needs more channels. White pages, Maps, and a price bots as well as an RSS feed manager like NewsMac or something.

I'd like to see a built in stock ticker and news feeder in Safari. Something that could cruise at the bottom or top of the browser..
 
Originally posted by pgwalsh
Sherlock needs more channels.
Click to expand...

What these aren't enough for you? ;)

Most of these are included automatically in the "Other Channels" collection in Sherlock in Panther, but all of the links off the dmoz page work in Jaguar too.
 
Originally posted by GregAussie
iTunes -
- jukebox option - so if I have guests over they can browse and double click on the songs they want to hear and have them queued.
- what about video clips (hey, it uses Quicktime anyway!).
- when importing a CD lookup and download the cover-art.
Click to expand...

Yes! Please! :)
 
Originally posted by joshuwa72
Thats not a very valid assumption.

Just because I can afford gas dosn't mean I can afford a McLaren F1 to drive :rolleyes:

macs are very expensive; some of us use every bit of our extra cash to pay for the mac, leaving none left over for things like high speed connection.

other people, like me, can afford the mac, as well as a good connection, but live in a place where anything other than dial up is not offered.
Click to expand...

It's OK, I wasn't being serious (hence the smiley and the "seriously though" for the next part of my message). I don't have broadband, it's cost-prohibitive here in NZ (13c per MB). Fortunately, there are two new services starting up here next month, DSL from Telstra, and satellite from Shin (a company in Singapore). Hopefully they will be reasonably priced :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back