'Dramatically simpler' iTunes features new interface, tighter iCloud integration

Posted:
in iPod + iTunes + AppleTV edited January 2014
A radically redesigned version of iTunes for Mac and PC was unveiled by Apple on Wednesday, aiming to simplify use of the desktop software and add new features like a redesigned mini player.

Apple senior vice president Eddy Cue said the new iTunes interface is "dramatically simpler" than its predecessor. The new, cleaner grid-driven interface is a major change from previous versions. It will debut in late October.

A new "In the Store" button allows users to quickly access the iTunes Store and buy more content. And Apple also said that managing playlists has been made simpler.

A new "Coming Next" button has been added that allows users to change the order of upcoming tracks. Users can also click a "Play Next" button that will add a track next in the existing queue.

Searching has been revised to show results inline, and a new min-player has also been introduced with tiny album art, basic controls, and built-in search capabilities.

Enhanced iCloud integration syncs positions of videos across devices. In one example, users can pick up where they left off on a movie across devices via wireless iCloud syncing. Apple dubbed this feature "Cloud Position."
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 34


    Looks like someone has been looking at Google Play Music a little too much.    ....and neither hold a candle to the Zune desktop software.    

  • Reply 2 of 34
    No pictures? Come on AI. Even the-site-we-are-not-allowed-to-link-to had pictures of it.
  • Reply 3 of 34


    Completely axes anyone not on the latest past two Mac hardware revisions. I can sync on my old POS Windows box, but not on a system that doesn't support at least OS X 10.6.8.


     


    Stupid move.

     

  • Reply 4 of 34

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by mdriftmeyer View Post


    Completely axes anyone not on the latest past two Mac hardware revisions. I can sync on my old POS Windows box, but not on a system that doesn't support at least OS X 10.6.8.


     


    Stupid move.

     



    No kidding. Sadly I'm about to give in to Mountain Lion...I want the cloud. Snow Leopard is possibly the best OS ever, but it keeps being left out now too much :/

  • Reply 5 of 34
    slurpyslurpy Posts: 5,382member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by mdriftmeyer View Post


    Completely axes anyone not on the latest past two Mac hardware revisions. I can sync on my old POS Windows box, but not on a system that doesn't support at least OS X 10.6.8.


     


    Stupid move.

     



     


    No, not a stupid move. Creating optimized software isn't conducive to supporting operating systems that are several years old. Why aren't you on 10.6? Is your hardware that ancient, that it can't support it? And if not, why would you expect software to be released next month to run well on it? Seriously, you don't really have room to bitch and whine if you want to keep ancient hardware/software yet expect all the new shit to run on it. 


     


    Also, this update looks great, and its pretty huge since this is the 1st major redesign of iTunes since it came out more than 10 years ago. 

  • Reply 6 of 34

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Slurpy View Post


     


    No, not a stupid move. Creating optimized software isn't conducive to supporting operating systems that are several years old. Why aren't you on 10.6? Is your hardware that ancient, that it can't support it? And if not, why would you expect software to be released next month to run well on it? Seriously, you don't really have room to bitch and whine if you want to keep ancient hardware/software yet expect all the new shit to run on it. 


     


    Also, this update looks great, and its pretty huge since this is the 1st major redesign of iTunes since it came out more than 10 years ago. 



     


    You're talking to a NeXT/Apple alumnus whose been working with ObjC/Cocoa for over 20 years. It's a stupid move and I'll tell you why: They didn't release any new Mac hardware today to coincide with the new embedded space. There will be a lag of existing customers upgrading because anyone with two brain cells will wait for the next revision of Mac hardware before buying this new phone.


     


    Stupid move.

  • Reply 7 of 34

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by mdriftmeyer View Post


    Completely axes anyone not on the latest past two Mac hardware revisions. I can sync on my old POS Windows box, but not on a system that doesn't support at least OS X 10.6.8.


     


    Stupid move.

     



    Um, OS X 10.6.8 runs on all Intel equipment released from January 2006 until July 2011 when Lion was released.  So, 6-7 year old Macs running Snow Leopard will be able to run iTunes.  The only people being left out or G4/G5 owners still holding on to equipment than may be 7-10 years old when the new iTunes is released.

  • Reply 8 of 34
    Why should I wait for new Mac hardware before buying the new iPhonejQuery181012338247708976269_1347481713269?
  • Reply 9 of 34
    taugust04 wrote: »
    Um, OS X 10.6.8 runs on all Intel equipment released from January 2006 until July 2011 when Lion was released.  So, 6-7 year old Macs running Snow Leopard will be able to run iTunes.  The only people being left out or G4/G5 owners still holding on to equipment than may be 7-10 years old when the new iTunes is released.
    Err exactly. Like he said it supports much older pc's than macs. A 7 year old machine isn't uncommon with people that aren't obsessed with having the latest stuff. My parents have a G5 and no reason to replace it. The issue for them though is they can't connect their iPads to it, they have to use there older windows laptops instead.
  • Reply 10 of 34
    welshdogwelshdog Posts: 1,897member


    So is this change to iTunes mostly cosmetic?  Or have they reworked what's under the hood?

  • Reply 11 of 34
    I cancelled my iTunes match (icloud) because I wasn't allowed to download songs over 100MB on my AT
  • Reply 12 of 34


    Originally Posted by WelshDog View Post

    So is this change to iTunes mostly cosmetic?  Or have they reworked what's under the hood?


     


    Hopefully both. 10.7 still doesn't cache thumbnails right… And iTunes itself uses more RAM than I think it should.

  • Reply 13 of 34
    richlrichl Posts: 2,213member


    Can't wait for this! iTunes has been in need of a refresh for years.

  • Reply 14 of 34
    welshdogwelshdog Posts: 1,897member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Tallest Skil View Post


     


    Hopefully both. 10.7 still doesn't cache thumbnails right… And iTunes itself uses more RAM than I think it should.



    I hope it is too.  I personally don't have many problems with it, but I sure read a lot of complaints on AI and elsewhere.

  • Reply 15 of 34

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by timgriff84 View Post





    Err exactly. Like he said it supports much older pc's than macs. A 7 year old machine isn't uncommon with people that aren't obsessed with having the latest stuff. My parents have a G5 and no reason to replace it. The issue for them though is they can't connect their iPads to it, they have to use there older windows laptops instead.


    What he said was "...latest past two Mac hardware revisions."  That's simply not true, since 10.6.8 goes well past the last two hardware revisions, unless I'm misunderstanding what was stated.


     


    Older PC users benefit from Windows XP OEM licenses being sold on hardware from 2001 until 2009 (after Windows 7 was released), so almost all software still being produced today still requires backwards compatibility with XP, and in turn, older Windows boxes.  PC users also benefit from the fact that there has not been a major platform shift in the entire history of the IBM Compatible PC.  Todays Intel i7 processors have direct lineage back to the 8086 released in the first IBM PC's.  Apple has switched CPU platforms several time during it's history, including the PowerPC to Intel switch that is causing the major compatibility rift we see today.


     


    I would imagine that 7 years for any Mac or PC would be a very useful life and good return on investment, even if you're not interested in always having the latest and greatest, so I really don't fault Apple for supporting back to only 10.6.8 with new software releases.  It will be interesting going forward what the compatibility matrices look like now that Apple is on a yearly OS X update cycle like iOS.

  • Reply 16 of 34


    Nice!  Looking forward to this.

  • Reply 17 of 34


    Originally Posted by WelshDog View Post

    I hope it is too.  I personally don't have many problems with it, but I sure read a lot of complaints on AI and elsewhere.




    I know, neither have I. But apparently it's the "worst application possible" on Windows.

  • Reply 18 of 34
    v5vv5v Posts: 1,357member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Tallest Skil View Post


    [...] apparently it's the "worst application possible" on Windows.



     


    Really?  Until I switched to Mac for my wife's sake roughly five years ago I was using iTunes with XP and never had any trouble.  What are the complaints?  Have issues arisen in the several years since I switched?

  • Reply 19 of 34
    In the meantime I am very hesitant about the outcome when Apples says they made things "dramatically simpler". Simpler is not always better. In Lion and Mountain Lion, making things simpler resulted in the removal of the zoom handles on the edges of the scrollbars, which were widely use for zooming in and out in Logic, Final Cut etc. Sure, the new scrollbars look slick and well designed, but this change alone has slowed down the workflow for a lot of people significantly. Apple has an unfortunate tendency these days of sacrificing important workflow features for an elegant look. This may not be a problem for new users, but is quite unfortunately for long-term Mac users.
  • Reply 20 of 34


    Originally Posted by v5v View Post


    Really?  Until I switched to Mac for my wife's sake roughly five years ago I was using iTunes with XP and never had any trouble.  What are the complaints?  Have issues arisen in the several years since I switched?



     


    I dunno, they whine that it's bloated or slow or whatever—basically the same complaints as in OS X.

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