Apple releases iTunes 8.1
As anticipated, Apple on Wednesday evening delivered iTunes 8.1 with performance enhancements, support for CD imports to iTunes Plus, and new Genius features. Separately, the company also updated its Front Row media application.
iTunes 8.1 (65.4 MB) "is now faster and more responsive," Apple says. "You will enjoy noticeable improvements when working with large libraries, browsing the iTunes Store, preparing to sync with iPod or iPhone, and optimizing photos for syncing."
In addition, iTunes 8.1 provides several other improvements and bug fixes, including:
Supports syncing with iPod shuffle (3rd generation). Allows friends to request songs for iTunes DJ. Adds Genius sidebar for your Movies and TV Shows. Improves performance when downloading iTunes Plus songs. Provides AutoFill for manually managed iPods. Allows CDs to be imported at the same sound quality as iTunes Plus. Includes many accessibility improvements. Allows iTunes U and the iTunes Store to be disabled separately using Parental Controls.
iTunes 8.1 also includes a couple of security enhancements.
Front Row Update 2.1.7
Meanwhile, Front Row Update 2.1.7 (13.3 MB) has also been released, promising to deliver improved compatibility with iTunes 8.1.
iTunes 8.1 (65.4 MB) "is now faster and more responsive," Apple says. "You will enjoy noticeable improvements when working with large libraries, browsing the iTunes Store, preparing to sync with iPod or iPhone, and optimizing photos for syncing."
In addition, iTunes 8.1 provides several other improvements and bug fixes, including:
Supports syncing with iPod shuffle (3rd generation). Allows friends to request songs for iTunes DJ. Adds Genius sidebar for your Movies and TV Shows. Improves performance when downloading iTunes Plus songs. Provides AutoFill for manually managed iPods. Allows CDs to be imported at the same sound quality as iTunes Plus. Includes many accessibility improvements. Allows iTunes U and the iTunes Store to be disabled separately using Parental Controls.
iTunes 8.1 also includes a couple of security enhancements.
Front Row Update 2.1.7
Meanwhile, Front Row Update 2.1.7 (13.3 MB) has also been released, promising to deliver improved compatibility with iTunes 8.1.
Comments
The new iTunes DJ feature is awesome! It works so well. Only issue I see with it is not everyone having the latest Remote.app.
Can't they download it OTA while on your wifi?
Can't they download it OTA while on your wifi?
There's something wrong with iTunes authentication at this moment. I can browse the store on phone and mac fine, but can't do anthing specific to my account.
Also, browsing the store IS significantly faster. It's like they upgraded the WebKit build it uses or something.
Downloading isn't the only performance improvement. The new version can load large libraries, browse the iTunes Store, and sync devices "faster than before."
Good.
Manually managed iPods can now use the AutoFill technology previously reserved for the smaller-capacity models of the iPod product family.
I'd say this was overdue.
Also, browsing the store IS significantly faster. It's like they upgraded the WebKit build it uses or something.
That's what I'm guessing.
They also introduced something that now won't work because iTunes URLs seem to be halted (though they were working just minutes ago):
That's what the Customer Reviews section of Yelp's iTunes App Store page looks like when visited from its URL:
http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/M...284910350&mt=8
Again, those links aren't working, at least on my end. As you can see, all reviews are now stamped with a date and version number. In addition, it appears as though you can now simply rate apps, rather than having to write a review for them.
Not major changes, but iPhone devs have been asking for date/version stamps for awhile and the system even allows you to view the most recent version's reviews or all reviews for all versions for all times.
These improvements haven't spread to all apps, nor can they be seen by casually browsing the store. Hopefully this update will be finished by tomorrow. I discovered it before updating to iTunes 8.1 tonight on a different app (Trips - Time Manager, I believe).
EDIT
Ok, found one example of this that can be found by browsing around: Pocket God. It's the top paid app in the App Store. You have to browse to it to see it; scroll down to the bottom of its page.
Oh, and now URLs appear to be working again (including the one for Yelp above). Here's the one for Pocket God:
http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/M...301387274&mt=8
Also, browsing the store IS significantly faster. It's like they upgraded the WebKit build it uses or something.
I don't believe it uses WebKit to render. It's served in some kind of custom XML.
I don't believe it uses WebKit to render. It's served in some kind of custom XML.
It also seems with 8.1 that font rendering and choices are far better on the store. It looks great.
any words?
i had (emphasis on "had") a dozen playlist folders, each of which contained multiple playlists. after the upgrade, all of the playlists that were in the playlist folders have been moved up a level, so now i just have lots and lots of playlists.
it wouldn't be that big of a deal, except that many of the playlists in several of the folders have the same name, so now i have 4 or 5 playlists named "a" (for example) and 4 or 5 playlists named "b" (for example). it's gonna take time i don't have to sort that out. thanks apple.
anyone else have the same issue?
Apple mentioned in private at WWDC that "a lot of it's lines, including iTunes, use WebKit, and couldn't be built without it."
What is special about the iTunes Plus encoding that iTunes couldn't encode before? I thought it was 256kbps encoded constant bit rate, and the program already had that for a long time.
This is really just a marketing point. Before v8.1 iTunes default CD import was to copy at 128KBps AAC. You always could have changed it manually, but now it's the new default.
Zandros,
Apple mentioned in private at WWDC that "a lot of it's lines, including iTunes, use WebKit, and couldn't be built without it."
Zandros is correct, it uses custom XML with WebObjects, not WebKit.
Zandros is correct, it uses custom XML with WebObjects, not WebKit.
No, the iTunes store is RENDERED with WebKit in iTunes. It may well be served at Apple via WebObjects, but it is most definitely not rendered on the client using a server platform.
WebObjects = Server Side
WebKit = Client Side
No, the iTunes store is RENDERED with WebKit in iTunes. It may well be served at Apple via WebObjects, but it is most definitely not rendered on the client using a server platform.
WebObjects = Server Side
WebKit = Client Side
Unfortunately that is not how it appears to works. There is reportedly no HTML on the client side being rendered. It renders specialized XML using QuickTime's core framework. Think of how the default QT interface pops up on Windows with an advert laden with images and links that looks reminiscent of the Apple's iTunes Store.
It also seems with 8.1 that font rendering and choices are far better on the store. It looks great.
Interesting. Downloading now.
What is iTunes DJ and friends requesting songs? How does this work?
It's the old Party Shuffle paired with Genius to make it more intelligent instead of having you setup a playlist ahead of time.