Wheres the "new" iTunes or is 12.5 really all we're getting?

[Stuey3D]

As a few of you will remember prior to Sierra being announced Eddy Cue gave an interview and talked about a new drastically redesigned iTunes coming with the new software, well I'm not seeing it.

12.5 is hardly a redesign worthy of mentions in an interview and now Sierra is in the latter stages of beta I'd be really surprised if they changed it now.

Question is was Eddy

A: Talking out his arse?
B: There is a secret iTunes 13 thats been internally tested and waiting to be snuck in the GM
C: He really does believe that 12.5 is a worthy redesign and we are stuck with this bloated mess.

Answers/speculation below.
[doublepost=1471299704][/doublepost]From what I can see they said it would launch with 10.11.4 so I guess we are stuck with this bloated horrible mess.

 

[twanj]

pretty disappointing.

I think iTunes needed attention more than iPhoto -> Photos

 

[boston04and07]

Yeah, iTunes needs some serious attention...it's been a mess for a long time. I really wonder what the hold up is.

 

[Nermal]

There have been a few instances in the past where a new "unseen" iTunes has been released alongside a new OS, without appearing in any of the betas. It may happen again.

 

[Ritsuka]

iTunes 12.5 has a lot of small nice UI tweaks.
It still has got too many features, but in the last year it improved a lot.

 

[tulpenhaus]

I'm rather scared of any change Apple makes to its music software nowadays. Look at iOS 10.
I'd prefer them to leave iTunes the way it is.

 

[jeanlain]

As a few of you will remember prior to Sierra being announced Eddy Cue gave an interview and talked about a new drastically redesigned iTunes coming with the new software

Link?
Are you sure he wasn't talking about iOS?

 

[MrNomNoms]

I sometimes wonder whether we'll see the usual iTunes refresh that comes around the time of a new device or iOS 10 then maybe with the introduction of APFS as the default file system that maybe the big iTunes overhaul will be updated to take advantage of the new file system features to keep track of newly added music etc. rather than manually adding them. Oh well, I guess one can always dream.

 

[R2FX]

Link?
Are you sure he wasn't talking about iOS?

Daring Fireball interview with Cue & Federighi back in Feb'2016... disappointing to still see the mess and continuous jihad against Sidebar

 

[DanielDD]

Apple has not updated some of their software for quite a while. I would not be surprised to see iCloud + iWork and iTunes betas announced during the October event

 

[Janichsan]

As a few of you will remember prior to Sierra being announced Eddy Cue gave an interview and talked about a new drastically redesigned iTunes coming with the new software, well I'm not seeing it.

You are actually using it already: the redesign was iTunes 12.4 that was released in May.

 

[Stuey3D]

You are actually using it already: the redesign was iTunes 12.4 that was released in May.

Yeah I realise that now after I found the article, very disappointing though as all 12.4 is just a few minor tweaks to the older bloated mess. Hardly a redesign.

 

[Otaviano]

pretty disappointing.

I think iTunes needed attention more than iPhoto -> Photos

I do not know about that the iPhoto -> Photos transition was necessary and really important for the long term. Much more than iTunes is at this point.


I still think iTunes could quickly drastically improve if they just started plucking out some of the features.

 

[Takuro]

I sometimes wonder whether we'll see the usual iTunes refresh that comes around the time of a new device or iOS 10 then maybe with the introduction of APFS as the default file system that maybe the big iTunes overhaul will be updated to take advantage of the new file system features to keep track of newly added music etc. rather than manually adding them. Oh well, I guess one can always dream.

I had a little bit of trouble reading through that, but what key benefit does APFS offer that would allow iTunes to "keep track of newly added music" versus what we already have? It's not like you can't already do a Spotlight search for .mp3 and .aac files within an HFS+ volume. iTunes also already does a great job of detecting when a file has moved from its original path if it was added to the library.

Do you even want any and all sound files being added to iTunes automatically? Sounds like that could be a disaster.

 

[jameslmoser]

I'm pretty sure why they haven't been able to completely redo it like the did iPhoto -> Photos is because its also a Windows application. If they wanted to create and maintain two versions of the application (one for macOS and one for Windows), then I'm sure the Mac application would have seen more changes by now.

 

[filipe.esposito]

I see some improvements on iTunes 12.5, but what I really want is iTunes divided and rewritten into Music, Video and Podcast apps, to be like iOS. But they will probably not do anything so soon because of Windows, perhaps.

 

[T'hain Esh Kelch]

Since they've announced a new major iTunes update at the iOS event in fall since iTunes 5, well, I think it is quite expected for the new iTunes to pop up there.

 

[fischersd]

I'm pretty sure why they haven't been able to completely redo it like the did iPhoto -> Photos is because its also a Windows application. If they wanted to create and maintain two versions of the application (one for macOS and one for Windows), then I'm sure the Mac application would have seen more changes by now.

That could be true if they didn't have the vast resource pool that they have (110,000+ employees?) Yep, that doesn't indicate how many developers they have, but something tells me if Apple wanted to make the iTunes experience on MacOS vastly better, they would have made it a priority.

Me, I have my suspicions that the Mac is being pushed out to "hobby" status - but we'll see how much Apple love we get in the fall. And by love I mean actual engineering...not just more eye candy and thinness *sigh* from Ive's crew.

 

[Otaviano]

That could be true if they didn't have the vast resource pool that they have (110,000+ employees?) Yep, that doesn't indicate how many developers they have, but something tells me if Apple wanted to make the iTunes experience on MacOS vastly better, they would have made it a priority.

Me, I have my suspicions that the Mac is being pushed out to "hobby" status - but we'll see how much Apple love we get in the fall. And by love I mean actual engineering...not just more eye candy and thinness *sigh* from Ive's crew.

I think it is a combination of the following:

- Lack of resources. Apple is bigger than ever and is strained trying to deliver multiple new OS every year. That much seems clear.

- The Windows effect. iTunes makes Apple a lot of money and because of that there is this inertia to maintain it and not disrupt it.

- A lack of vision for what comes after iTunes.

I do not prescribe to the Windows theory. I think Apple would not be so foolish as to let the Mac software stagnate because of Windows.

I do not understand what they are waiting for because to me it seems like it is the perfect time to replace iTunes. You could get away with dropping a ton of features. Things like the CD ripping functions. Just pluck them out and let them vanish.

 

[Janichsan]

You could get away with dropping a ton of features. Things like the CD ripping functions.

Hey, I'm still using that.

 

[CapnDavey]

Hey, I'm still using that.

I'm with you on that I was using iTunes when it was called Sound Jam back in the OS9 days no way Ill pay Apple so I can download stuff I already own thats stupid!

 

[inkahauts]

I think someone else had this idea or something similar a while back and I agreed with it mostly...

Just break each Amon thing into its own app

I have a slightly different thought to that as well. Break it out but not quite everything separate...

Give us


iEntertianment

iTimemachine


Entertainment would have all music pod casts and anything video wise like movies and tv series.

Time machine would basically allow you to create backups on your local device as well as in the cloud. Similar to how time machine works for macs now but for any iOS device. It would also allow you to sync contacts and other things of that nature between PC and iOS devices and maybe even between Mac and of desktops.

And keep app stores separate from as it's already separate on the devices themselves. In fact even better merge the Mac and iOS app stores. (Would allow you to use the desktop App Store to reorganize and backup your apps on your iOS devices like iTunes does today. )

 

[blindpcguy]

that'd b great also i think that they should keep iTunes but take some of the other features like radio and things and make a internet media app and keep our purchases separate so i don't got to wade through the subscription stuff especially on the iphone and iPad

 

[mattburley7]

looks like iTunes 12.5 is all we are getting

no redesign was announced today.

 

[T'hain Esh Kelch]

Surprising. I guess we'll see a major update in spring, maybe together with an iPad update.