Apple releases iTunes 8.1

Posted:
in iPod + iTunes + AppleTV edited January 2014
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.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 47
    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.
  • Reply 2 of 47
    kasperkasper Posts: 941member, administrator
    TestTestTestTestTestTestTestTestTestTestTestTestTe st
  • Reply 3 of 47
    zandroszandros Posts: 537member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by ipodrulz View Post


    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?
  • Reply 4 of 47
    probablyprobably Posts: 139member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Zandros View Post


    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.
  • Reply 5 of 47
    jeffdmjeffdm Posts: 12,953member
    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. The only thing I can think of is that it's now a pre-made setting that's in the drop-down list instead of something that you manually enter as a custom setting.



    Quote:

    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.



    Quote:

    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.
  • Reply 6 of 47
    wobegonwobegon Posts: 764member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by probably View Post


    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
  • Reply 7 of 47
    zandroszandros Posts: 537member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by probably View Post


    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.
  • Reply 8 of 47
    pg4gpg4g Posts: 383member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Zandros View Post


    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.
  • Reply 9 of 47
    Well, I wonder if Apple has changed its (i)tune on using Front Row as a front end to send iTunes Audio over wireless networks to Airport Express remote speakers? This is such a glaring and unfortunate oversight... or is it a strategic marketing decision so they can sell more appleTVs? we're only talking audio here. How cool would it be to use Front row to browse music and deliver and control that music to your Airport Express? Seems like a no brainer. But up to know this hasn't worked...



    any words?
  • Reply 10 of 47
    poochpooch Posts: 768member
    i just did the upgrade via software update.



    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?
  • Reply 11 of 47
    pg4gpg4g Posts: 383member
    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."
  • Reply 12 of 47
    solipsismsolipsism Posts: 25,726member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by JeffDM View Post


    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.
  • Reply 13 of 47
    solipsismsolipsism Posts: 25,726member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by PG4G View Post


    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.
  • Reply 14 of 47
    After updating to iTunes 8.1 and updating the Remote App to 1.2 I can no longer get my iTunes to see my iPhone 3G. It syncs just fine and mounts in the device list like normal but when trying to connect to my iTunes Library through the remote app when it presents the 4 digit pass code, thats as far as it goes. iTunes never gives me a place to enter that pass code.
  • Reply 15 of 47
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by solipsism View Post


    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
  • Reply 16 of 47
    solipsismsolipsism Posts: 25,726member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by mikesilv View Post


    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.
  • Reply 17 of 47
    nvidia2008nvidia2008 Posts: 9,262member
    Obligatory... But is it snappier???
  • Reply 18 of 47
    nvidia2008nvidia2008 Posts: 9,262member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by PG4G View Post


    It also seems with 8.1 that font rendering and choices are far better on the store. It looks great.



    Interesting. Downloading now.
  • Reply 19 of 47
    nvidia2008nvidia2008 Posts: 9,262member
    What is iTunes DJ and friends requesting songs? How does this work?
  • Reply 20 of 47
    solipsismsolipsism Posts: 25,726member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by nvidia2008 View Post


    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.
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