What's worse? iTunes or Music app

[hawkeye_a]

I used to think iTunes and the iPod app (predecessor to the Music app) were simple, easy-to-use and powerful. They felt 'organic' and fit in with my music listening habits. They enabled me to get the most out of my library. The user interfaces were intuitive and consistent.

I upgraded to the iPhone6S over two years ago, only to discover that iTunes and the new Music app were totally different. Fair enough, i thought i'd give Apple the benefit of the doubt (assuming I'd eventually get used to the new interfaces), but after over two years, I find myself still frustrated with the Music app (for example... how intuitive was it to find the 'repeat' button?). I used to lug around my iPhone3GS with considerably less storage, as an iPod because I preferred the iPod app on there.

iTunes has become a jumbled mess as well. I suspect that Apple Music, and the streaming stuff Apple is trying to do has also added an unnecessary layer of complexity.

It's hard to image that Apple managed to mess up these applications(which they had done right in the past) to the point where I find myself looking for a secondary music-only device.

Since I do most of my listening on-the-go and have to interact(begrudgingly) with it daily, my vote goes to the Music app as being the worse of the two.

/end rant

 

[sunapple]

But once you figure out the Music app, it’s fine. The repeat button requires a little swipe, not too bad. Not like iTunes on the Mac for example that’s just a mess of too much functions in one app.

I use Apple Music (streaming) so I never use the iTunes Store on the iPhone.

 

[mobilehaathi]

Music app, but I hate both.

 

[IronWaffle]

I used to think iTunes and the iPod app (predecessor to the Music app) were simple, easy-to-use and powerful. They felt 'organic' and fit in with my music listening habits. They enabled me to get to get the most out of my library. The user interfaces were intuitive and consistent.

I upgraded to the iPhone6S over two years ago, only to discover that iTunes and the new Music app were totally different. Fair enough, i thought giving Apple the benefit of the doubt (and assuming that , I thought I'd eventually get used to the new interfaces), but after over two years, I find myself still frustrated with the Music app (for example... how intuitive was it to find the 'repeat' button?). I used to lug around my iPhone3GS with considerably less storage, as an iPod because I preferred the iPod app on there.

iTunes has become a jumbled mess as well. I suspect that Apple Music, and the streaming stuff Apple is trying to do has also added an unnecessary layer of complexity to these applications.

It's hard to image that Apple managed to mess up these applications(which they had done right in the past) to the point where I find myself looking for a secondary music-only device.

Since I do most of my listening on-the-go and have to interact(begrudgingly) with it daily, my vote goes to the Music app as being the worse of the two.

/end rant

I abandoned the native music app when buying an iOS 8 device. I recommend buying the Cesium app. It’s worth the few bucks. In short, it is designed with folks who miss the pre-iOS 7 era. It’s not quite the same but it’s close enough and adds some options that weren’t possible back then.

I also recommend Marvis, but a little hesitantly. It hasn’t been updated in ages and it takes lots of customization in its vast settings to make it more iOS 6-like, its wide array of options are a joy once you tune it how you want. If you have the patience.

My only deep gripe with these third party apps is out of their hands: Apple cripples their handling of playlists.

 

[mobilehaathi]

I abandoned the native music app when buying an iOS 8 device. I recommend buying the Cesium app. It’s worth the few bucks. In short, it is designed with folks who miss the pre-iOS 7 era. It’s not quite the same but it’s close enough and adds some options that weren’t possible back then.

I also recommend Marvis, but a little hesitantly. It hasn’t been updated in ages and it takes lots of customization in its vast settings to make it more iOS 6-like, its wide array of options are a joy once you tune it how you want. If you have the patience.

My only deep gripe with these third party apps is out of their hands: Apple cripples their handling of playlists.

I might just have to check these out. Thanks for the recommendation.

Do you know of anything that can function as an iTunes replacement? At least as far as having similar music management functionality. I maintain a rather large library.

 

[D.T.]

I might just have to check these out. Thanks for the recommendation.

Do you know of anything that can function as an iTunes replacement? At least as far as having similar music management functionality. I maintain a rather large library.

This is a good starting point:

https://www.howtogeek.com/280304/the-best-itunes-alternatives-for-macos

I've used Clementine and Nightingale, they both support dozens of formats, auto-sync, plugins - the experience is kind of subjective, you'll want to probably just download them (or any of the other options) and give them a few days trial run. I believe most are free as well.

 

[Juicy Box]

I used to think iTunes and the iPod app (predecessor to the Music app) were simple, easy-to-use and powerful.

The user interfaces were intuitive and consistent.

but after over two years, I find myself still frustrated with the Music app (for example... how intuitive was it to find the 'repeat' button?)

This just sounds like Apple in general. Their software used to be a lot more simple, but useful and intuitive to use. I used to really enjoy using Apple products, and especially the Mac OS. Now, it seems like I am constantly having to do a google search every time I want to do something on an Apple device.

It's hard to image that Apple managed to mess up these applications(which they had done right in the past)

For iTunes, I think the beginning of the crappy changes was when Apple removed the ability to have multiple windows open in iTunes at the same time, for example, if you wanted to select and drag a bunch of songs from one playlist to another.

For the music app, I think it was around the time of Apple music IIRC. Actually, if you want to use a separate device for music, the iPod Touch music app used to be so much better than the iPhone version. You could change EQ settings right from the app.

 

[IronWaffle]

I might just have to check these out. Thanks for the recommendation.

Do you know of anything that can function as an iTunes replacement? At least as far as having similar music management functionality. I maintain a rather large library.

On a desktop/laptop? Last year I bought Jriver 23 (24 just came out). I think it’s fantastic,and far more capable than iTunes. Only reason it isn’t my go-to is that it can’t absorb the play counts, playlists, smart playlists, etc. saved in some combination of iTunes’ itl and xml files. I’m aware of no third party options that do. I haven’t even bothered to figure it to what degree it can sync. As such, for me it’s more of a novelty. I’ve got it in my my Mac and Windows laptop. Windows has a slight edge with more features (its been on that platform longer), not he least of which is cool visualizer options. I’ll never understand as it became easier to use large LCD screens why Apple removed cover flow and has made it altogether harder to enjoy cover art on their platform. EDIT TO ADD: It’s also not free. The post above has some good suggestions. I’ve tried a few of those and will try the others!

Side note: I highly endorse Doug’s Apple Scripts. It’s the only thing I’ll miss when my Mac dies (and it is dying). It semi-automatoes many laborious, tedious tagging tasks. They’re a mix of free, free to try and $1-3.

While I’m at it, for podcast fans (I’m nattily audio-centric) “Casts” is incredible (except that you can’t search your own feeds by episode title or description, just series). I’m so happy I could delete Apple’s podcast app. Wish I could delete the music app, too, but it completely cripples third party music apps for us non-streaming folks.

Funny thing is, like the OP, it was Apple that reinvigorated my music habits from 2005-2011 or so. Since iOS 7 everything has been a battle. I could write four pages single-spaced on the problems their software has caused in the years since.

 

[IronWaffle]

This just sounds like Apple in general. Their software used to be a lot more simple, but useful and intuitive to use. I used to really enjoy using Apple products, and especially the Mac OS. Now, it seems like I am constantly having to do a google search every time I want to do something on an Apple device.




For iTunes, I think the beginning of the crappy changes was when Apple removed the ability to have multiple windows open in iTunes at the same time, for example, if you wanted to select and drag a bunch of songs from one playlist to another.

For the music app, I think it was around the time of Apple music IIRC. Actually, if you want to use a separate device for music, the iPod Touch music app used to be so much better than the iPhone version. You could change EQ settings right from the app.

I hated when they removed that! It’s sort of back now. You can right click on a playlist and you’ll get an option to open it in another window. So many features are now hidden Easter eggs that randomly come and go.

I miss being able to sift hi-res/24|bit with its own column.

I REALLY miss being able to use the right click “copy sort field” that made it quick and easy to select a song and have its artist/album/composer sort fields be bulk applied to all related files.

The list goes on. But hey, at least now, Apple has cleaned up the interface by deprecating useful functions in menus that shift between releases, and that they keep pushing their streaming services by crippling their file management capabilities.

 

[Chupa Chupa]

I can't say which is worse but chewing on broken lightbulbs is more enjoyable than using either.

BTW iTunes isn't an Apple creation. Apple bought the company that made it and hired the designers to make it look more Appleish. Since then Apple has lost its way trying to make it "better."

 

[maflynn]

TW iTunes isn't an Apple creation. Apple bought the company that made it and hired the designers to make it look more Appleish.

Except that was 18 years ago and you can't blame the original developers at this point

 

[hawkeye_a]

Except that was 18 years ago and you can't blame the original developers at this point

Not to mention that iTunes was just fine(on a Mac) until fairly recently.

 

[Tech198]

Music app gets the most votes? You gotta be kiddin me.

Its relatively easy in the Music app.. it only handles "music" but iTunes handles everything else. If i had to choose which one is better, i'd always say the "music app" on iOS for sure.

 

[mobilehaathi]

This is a good starting point:

https://www.howtogeek.com/280304/the-best-itunes-alternatives-for-macos

I've used Clementine and Nightingale, they both support dozens of formats, auto-sync, plugins - the experience is kind of subjective, you'll want to probably just download them (or any of the other options) and give them a few days trial run. I believe most are free as well.

On a desktop/laptop? Last year I bought Jriver 23 (24 just came out). I think it’s fantastic,and far more capable than iTunes. Only reason it isn’t my go-to is that it can’t absorb the play counts, playlists, smart playlists, etc. saved in some combination of iTunes’ itl and xml files. I’m aware of no third party options that do. I haven’t even bothered to figure it to what degree it can sync. As such, for me it’s more of a novelty. I’ve got it in my my Mac and Windows laptop. Windows has a slight edge with more features (its been on that platform longer), not he least of which is cool visualizer options. I’ll never understand as it became easier to use large LCD screens why Apple removed cover flow and has made it altogether harder to enjoy cover art on their platform. EDIT TO ADD: It’s also not free. The post above has some good suggestions. I’ve tried a few of those and will try the others!

Side note: I highly endorse Doug’s Apple Scripts. It’s the only thing I’ll miss when my Mac dies (and it is dying). It semi-AI tomatoes many laborious, tedious tagging tasks. They’re a mix of free, free to try and $1-3.

While I’m at it, for podcast fans (I’m nattily audio-centric) “Casts” is incredible (except that you can’t search your own feeds by episode title or description, just series). I’m so happy I could delete Apple’s podcast app. Wish I could delete the music app, too, but it completely cripples third party music apps for us non-streaming folks.

Funny thing is, like the OP, it was Apple that reinvigorated my music habits from 2005-2011 or so. Since iOS 7 everything has been a battle. I could write four pages single-spaced on the problems their software has caused in the years since.

Great, thanks for the advice!

 

[Chupa Chupa]

Except that was 18 years ago and you can't blame the original developers at this point

Oh, I'm not blaming the original devs. Quite the opposite. I'm saying Apple ignored it since it those first iterations. Honestly, I'd run towards an iTunes "classic" over the current version.

 

[maflynn]

Oh, I'm not blaming the original devs. Quite the opposite. I'm saying Apple ignored it since it those first iterations. Honestly, I'd run towards an iTunes "classic" over the current version.

Oh I see, I misunderstood your post - my apologies.

 

[arkitect]

I'd vote for both.
But Music app is worse.

The constant nagging to subscribe to Apple Music when I open it is really getting old.
You'd think Apple would get the message by now. Not interested.

 

[The_Joker13]

Just get Spotify.

 

[Loge]

iTunes has issues but with some configuration can still work largely the way it's always worked (for me that is the column browser and list view). Music app became unusable to me in iOS 10 as it became harder and harder to just work with locally stored music only. I use Cesium now.

 

[OllyW]

BTW iTunes isn't an Apple creation. Apple bought the company that made it and hired the designers to make it look more Appleish. Since then Apple has lost its way trying to make it "better."

The first Windows version of iTunes and the way it worked so seamlessly with the iPod were a big deciding factor towards me buying my first Mac. If it had been dependant on the current version of iTunes I would have never considered moving to Apple.

 

[Arran]

...Funny thing is, like the OP, it was Apple that reinvigorated my music habits from 2005-2011 or so. Since iOS 7 everything has been a battle.

I could say EXACTLY the same thing.

The iPods I bought back in 2004/2005 and the simplicity of iTunes got me listening to and buying music again.

Now there's too much friction and distraction involved.

 

[0388631]

I've been using iTunes since 2004 or 2005. It's changed a lot. Still like it and never had any major issues. That's on Windows. Been using it on Mac since 2008.

 

[Juicy Box]

I've been using iTunes since 2004 or 2005. It's changed a lot. Still like it and never had any major issues. That's on Windows. Been using it on Mac since 2008.

I have used it for a while. I think I used it before using OS X IIRC. It has changed a lot, some changes were for the better, but most of the changes were horrible.

iTunes today reminds me of software that Microsoft would make.

 

[0388631]

I have used it for a while. I think I used it before using OS X IIRC. It has changed a lot, some changes were for the better, but most of the changes were horrible.

iTunes today reminds me of software that Microsoft would make.

I have to refer to Google Images to see what iTunes used to look like. The design progression has changed a lot if you go from A to Z, but there's been a lot of stuff in between. The only real issue I have with iTunes is it always asks me to update even when I click the check asking it not to remind me. Admittedly, I update iTunes once a year or every other year. I'm not keen on bugs.

 

[Jessica Lares]

The Music app. A lot of my albums don't show their title tracks correctly within that specific view and are fine elsewhere on the app/iOS/third-party players/iTunes.