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

iTunes 5 dev speaks

Two things Apple should do with iTunes 5:
Release it a few months on the Mac first (to thank us for loyalty!)
Have a special version called iTunes Pro, that gives users more power, that comes ONLY with iLife. (In the preferences there is a switch to go from regular to advanced (quite a few apps have this).
This would include more smart items, like folders that when you drag songs into (or even get added by smart systems) get attributes and id3 tags changed automatically to pre-set values, or incremental ones.
Just basically a lot more smart options.
Oh and iTunesPro for Mac users only too :p
 
yikes iTunes pro sounds like a bad idea to me. i bought iLife 04, and am not buying iLife again till i have a new computer.
 
ifjake said:
yikes iTunes pro sounds like a bad idea to me. i bought iLife 04, and am not buying iLife again till i have a new computer.
Click to expand...
I bought iLife 04 too, but didn't get '05 because no itunes 5!
To bunble a program into the box that is free to download seems a bit peevish to me! iTunes Pro would make it work the layout for me (I only really use iPhoto on a regular basis apart from iTunes)
 
I think Apple's goal with iTunes is just to have as many people use it as possible. The more who do, the more shopping at the iTunes store, the more who will buy iPods. If they started differentiating into pro and non-pro, competitor jukeboxes would be able to offer (copy) all the pro features for their free jukeboxes.

That said, I guess they do this with Quicktime, and I think (not that I use them much--I bought musicmatch or something on my father-in-law's computer because my wedding was the next day and some reorganizing of our playlists was necessary) musicmatch and other competitors also have pro versions (the only ones with features).
 
There is really only one feature that I want to see in iTunes 5. I want it so that if I uncheck a song in a playlist it unchecks ONLY in that playlist, not my library, not in all other playlists that song is in, just in tha Playlist. Is this so hard?
 
Apple do it with A LOT of things
Final Cut Pro/Express
Quicktime/Pro
Logic Pro/Express
Soundtrack/Pro
DVD Studio/Pro

Personally I really think it would get more people to buy iLife, and I'd love to have a few more "power" features (as I described above).
No-one has successfully copied the basic functionality of iTunes, so why would they manage it summit like iTunes Pro came out?
 
No no no no and no. Just no. The whole thing about iTunes at the moment is that it's free and identical cross-platform. Everyone on Windows uses and loves it, and when people use my iMac, they're all immediately familiar with iTunes, and sort of figure the rest out from there. Making a version of iTunes that charges for some features or releasing it on the Mac first are (imo) horrible ideas. Would new iPod buyers get the pro version? Would it be bundled on new Macs?
Quicktime Pro is (mostly) different because the viewing portion of it is free, but the editing portion costs money (aside from the stupid fullscreen lock). But an iTunes that costs money? No.

*OK, and sidenote "Apple do it with a lot of things" example - it's just "DVD Studio Pro", there's no "DVD Studio" and "DVD Studio Pro" - just the ONE app.
 
Really, I want nothing more than gapless playback. Support the LAME gapless tags in MP3s, and support tags in AAC.

HE-ACC would be pretty darned nice too, but I just want gapless more than anything else. "Dark Side of the Moon" is a pain to listen to.
 
slb said:
Really, I want nothing more than gapless playback. Support the LAME gapless tags in MP3s, and support tags in AAC.

HE-ACC would be pretty darned nice too, but I just want gapless more than anything else. "Dark Side of the Moon" is a pain to listen to.
Click to expand...

have you played around with the crossfade option in the audio section of the preferences?? this might help make it a bit more bareable
 
I'm happily ushering in iTunes 5 that's for sure. I have a whole list of improvements I would like to see, I just don't want to type them all.

Podcast section, wishlist, and longer previews is just a few off the top of my head.

iTunes is WAYYY over due for an update.
 
Wow, whoever mentioned iTunes 5 Pro should be punished...

What about the 90% of users who use PCs who are just realizing, Hey, this FREE iTunes software is amazing! Maybe ALL macs are this good!

VS Pro thinking. "Im not buying this version from this crappy company. I'll google "itunes pro keygen""

QuickTime Pro was a bad idea, why make it worse?
 
The pro idea should just be an option that can be turned on or off. Not a seperate program to purchase. I agree about iTunes being almost exactly the same cross platform being one of its best features.

I can't wait to see what new features are added to iTunes 5. I would like iTunes to delete the original file after moving it into the iTunes folder. The search feature is already almost perfect and it seems like it will be integrated into Spotlight as well. No other jukebox software that I have tried works as well as iTune's search.

Also, would love to see the album art on the folder when viewing your collection in the Finder. Windows does this, shouldn't be too hard for Apple to do. This might be an OS thing though, not iTunes.

And how about DVD audio?? A lot of artists are starting to release albums on DVD. I would like a way to import the tracks into iTunes.

Off topic:
chameeeleon said:
*OK, and sidenote "Apple do it with a lot of things" example - it's just "DVD Studio Pro", there's no "DVD Studio" and "DVD Studio Pro" - just the ONE app.
Click to expand...

Isn't DVD Studio Pro a pro version of iDVD?? Maybe I am way off with this idea. Just a thought.
 
i dunno, back when i was on the dell, musicmatch was always telling me to upgrade to pro, or super pro, or super dooper looper pro. "oh, you want to do this, do you? sorry, you have to pay for the next version up. eat it." not cool. if Apple did that, that would be lame. and not the mp3 LAME encoder thing, just the regular lame.
 
I've said it before, and I'll say it agiain until Apple listens...

1. Nested playlists - I am DYING for the ability to nest independent playlists within other ones; e.g., if I have Smart Playlist Top 20, I would nest Smart Playlist "Rest of the Hits" within the "Top 20". The second playlist is an independent Smart Playlist with its own selection criteria, etc.
2. Provide options with the suffle function (similar to the options in Smart Playlists, i.e., Shuffle by highest/lowest rated, etc.)
3. Allow Playlists to have multiple logical conditions (for example, one set of logical operators would be Artist is Madonna and Album is Ray of Light (all conditions must be met); the second set would be Genre is Electronica or Genre is Dance - this would give me a playlist with all the tracks I have from Ray of Light and any tracks classified as Electronica or Dance.) Currently, one has to set up "sub-playlists" and combine them into one to achieve this effect.
 
dotdotdot said:
Wow, whoever mentioned iTunes 5 Pro should be punished...

What about the 90% of users who use PCs who are just realizing, Hey, this FREE iTunes software is amazing! Maybe ALL macs are this good!

VS Pro thinking. "Im not buying this version from this crappy company. I'll google "itunes pro keygen""

QuickTime Pro was a bad idea, why make it worse?
Click to expand...

EXactly. This strategy has always failed for Apple. Always.
 
James Philp said:
I bought iLife 04 too, but didn't get '05 because no itunes 5!
To bunble a program into the box that is free to download seems a bit peevish to me! iTunes Pro would make it work the layout for me (I only really use iPhoto on a regular basis apart from iTunes)
Click to expand...

You keep mentioning this in what seems like every thread in this forum. Okay, we get it.

However, iTunes was actually updated only a few days before iLife 05 was released, so you got an update. Its just not an update with all the stuff you wanted.

There really isn't much they can add to a music player anyway without making it more complex. You're after a different product altogether.
 
Daveway said:
iTunes is WAYYY over due for an update.
Click to expand...

...and still people cannot imagine such features that could justify a new major version ;) i would say itunes has everything any other player has, and more. that said, itunes4 has really been ahead of its time, and we can be sure whenever itunes5 will be released, it will be huge.

gapless playback? better id tags? better playlists? sheesh, none of the features mentioned actually say "major upgrade" to me...

this is the year of "HD" - high resolution audio, anyone?
 
JFreak said:
...
this is the year of "HD" - high resolution audio, anyone?
Click to expand...
And just what would you consider "high resolution audio"? iTunes will already play the full range that human ears can hear. Do you want a higher sampling frequency? This only works if you're coming from an analog source or a digital source that is at that rate. Maybe you just need to use Apple Lossless Encoding for your music?
 
Abstract said:
You keep mentioning this in what seems like every thread in this forum. Okay, we get it.

However, iTunes was actually updated only a few days before iLife 05 was released, so you got an update. Its just not an update with all the stuff you wanted.

There really isn't much they can add to a music player anyway without making it more complex. You're after a different product altogether.
Click to expand...
Gald you notice, it was all for you Adstract!
I just don't see what all the fuss is about, apple do it with Quicktime!?
Update? 4.7 to 4.7.1? what that the update?
iTunes Pro would not be different to iTunes, it would just have more editing features (like built in automated tasks, dragging to a playlist can change id3 tags etc.)
i just think that there are:
1. People who just want a jukebox and don't really care about encoding, music quality, keeping their music organised (a lot of people I know don't even use the smart folders)
2. People who like a little more control, would like more encoders, more options, and more power at their fingertips, and I believe a Pro option would satiffy both.
I definately know i need more insentive to buy iLife!
 
Bear said:
And just what would you consider "high resolution audio"?
Click to expand...

can you rip a dvd-audio disc in itunes? can you play a 24bit audio file in ipod? those are software issues that could easily be done but are currently missing features.

and yes, with HD audio i would mean (at least) 24bit/96kHz audio that i work with in protools.

EDIT: while i'm at it, why not add HDCD support too, as it is just a matter of adding a proper codec... not sure about SACD, but i think that it is also physically readable by a standard dvd drive.
 
Library coding

One thing I'd like to see with iTunes was something that another person came up with - ripping tracks onto your mac at Apple Lossless - but placing the music compressed onto an iPod. Id love to hear my music at my desk at the highest quality available - but dont really need that when cycling or jogging with me iPod Photo.

i hear thats what iTunes does for the Shuffle.


FireArse
 
JFreak said:
can you rip a dvd-audio disc in itunes? can you play a 24bit audio file in ipod? those are software issues that could easily be done but are currently missing features.

and yes, with HD audio i would mean (at least) 24bit/96kHz audio that i work with in protools.

EDIT: while i'm at it, why not add HDCD support too, as it is just a matter of adding a proper codec... not sure about SACD, but i think that it is also physically readable by a standard dvd drive.
Click to expand...


Yes! DVD-a/SACD support would be great and having that on the iPod would make it even better. It would be nice if music would start moving away from the "cold" 16 bit toward full range 24bit audio. Being able to keep those songs on my Mac would probably be enough to convince me to purchase "hi-def" versions of several albums I already own. I have bought a few, but I know I would buy many more if I could download them.
 
Bear said:
And just what would you consider "high resolution audio"?
Click to expand...

That would be standard DVD-Audio resolution, which would be up to 24-bit/192khz stereo and 24-bit/96khz 5.1 surround. If I remember correctly, HE-AAC supports both, so I imagine they'd just add that.

Something that does concern me is the lack of a DVD-Audio software player for the Mac. WinDVD and PowerDVD in the Windows world both play my DVD-A "Downward Spiral" disc, but I could never find any software on the Mac to do it.

If they add HE-AAC to iTunes and DVD-A capability to DVD Player, I'll be one happy camper. :)
 
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