How to open a playlist in a new window in iTunes 12.6 on macOS

AppleInsiderAppleInsider
Posted:
in iPod + iTunes + AppleTV
With the release of iTunes 12.6, Apple has restored the ability to open a playlist in a new window on macOS --- here's how to do it.




Somewhere along the line, Apple decided that a single window to rule them all was the way to go in iTunes. While that still remains the fact in Apple Music, for your own local collection and playlist generation, the ability to open a new window is back.

Control-click on a playlist in iTunes 12.5
Control-click on a playlist in iTunes 12.5


How to do it is simple. Either control-click or right-click on the playlist you want to open and select Open in New Window. The playlist you've selected will pop up, ready for manipulation!




We opened 10 windows with playlists without difficulty, and was able to drag tracks at will between the windows. It's not clear why the ability was removed, or why it was reinstated -- but we found the restoration welcome, especially on large screens.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 16
    emoelleremoeller Posts: 555member
    About time.  I complained about this several versions ago when it was removed....
    bb-15
  • Reply 2 of 16
    tapetape Posts: 44member
    oh thank jebus.
  • Reply 3 of 16
    mtbnutmtbnut Posts: 198member
    iTunes is an unmitigated disaster. It's about as intuitive as Microsoft Access. 
    dtb200hagartallest skil
  • Reply 4 of 16
    lmagoolmagoo Posts: 49member
    As much of an Apple fan am I but....I'm sorry iTunes can't hold a candle to Roon...it's not even in the parking lot let alone Ballpark! Roonlabs.com check it out!
  • Reply 5 of 16
    Kenneth1975Kenneth1975 Posts: 1member
    Cool. 👍🏿
  • Reply 6 of 16
    evilutionevilution Posts: 1,398member
    iTunes isn't intuitive and hasn't been for many years. It needs to be rewritten from scratch with the modern day Apple thinking.
    dtb200hagar
  • Reply 7 of 16
    bb-15bb-15 Posts: 283member
    Good news. In the past I almost always used separate windows to move music around in iTunes.
  • Reply 8 of 16
    lkrupplkrupp Posts: 10,557member
    mtbnut said:
    iTunes is an unmitigated disaster. It's about as intuitive as Microsoft Access. 
    Try thinking for yourself instead of parroting tech blogs. iTunes is just fine for most users, millions and millions of users. 
  • Reply 9 of 16
    hagarhagar Posts: 126member
    lkrupp said:
    mtbnut said:
    iTunes is an unmitigated disaster. It's about as intuitive as Microsoft Access. 
    Try thinking for yourself instead of parroting tech blogs. iTunes is just fine for most users, millions and millions of users. 
    Glad you still like it, but I don't know anybody who uses iTunes because he thinks it's a great piece of software. Only because it's needed to sync/configure iPhones. Some friends that tried the Apple Music trial used it but quickly moved away because it was too confusing / crashed at startup / songs were deleted from iCloud / etc. So no... it's not "just fine" for most users. I use it because I have Apple Music, but I'm definitely not a fan of the confusing interface.
    alexmac
  • Reply 10 of 16
    command_fcommand_f Posts: 399member
    I dislike Apple's "one window to rule them all" strategy for a couple of reasons. Several windows (think Inspectors) allow you more efficiently to use display space because you can stack windows but still see the important bits of larger underlying windows, allowing bigger windows (e.g. when displaying text). It also negates the benefits of using more than one physical display because a single window is limited to a single display 😖
  • Reply 11 of 16
    rcfarcfa Posts: 1,124member
    There is some hope that Apple reverses course on its policy of oversimplification and idiot-proofing-to-the-point-of-uselessness.

    Hope to see more of these sort of reversals.

    Maybe Photos will gain an expert mode, that restores missing Aperture functionality?
  • Reply 12 of 16
    john.bjohn.b Posts: 2,740member
    lmagoo said:
    As much of an Apple fan am I but....I'm sorry iTunes can't hold a candle to Roon...it's not even in the parking lot let alone Ballpark! Roonlabs.com check it out!
    Crikey, that's one expensive application!
  • Reply 13 of 16
    bloodshotrollin'redbloodshotrollin'red Posts: 442member
    The revised MiniPlayer window is bloody disgusting. Each time Apple redesign the MiniPlayer it gets worse. The system-wide title bar double clicking removed from iTunes is an omission worthy only of Windows and Linux apps.
  • Reply 14 of 16
    alexmacalexmac Posts: 49member
    ITunes is not a disaster but IMHO is the worst Apple software. It is not coincidence that almost everybody would pick it out as the worst. 
  • Reply 15 of 16
    mfrydmfryd Posts: 190member
    The multiple window feature was likely removed as multiple windows don't really work on the iPad/iPhone.  Apple is primarily a phone company, and the focus of their software development is making software that works well under iOS.


  • Reply 16 of 16
    nickat11nickat11 Posts: 1member
    Is there anyway to revert back to the 'edit in the current itunes' like before? I don't like the new one because when making playlists I have to mess around making windows smaller and its very inconvienient. 
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