Why no Handoff for iTunes

[iCheddar]

I did a search, and it doesn't look like this has been mentioned before.

Why on earth is there no handoff functionality for iTunes? Don't get me wrong, I'm very excited about Yosemite and iOS 8. It feels like we're really on the cusp of having truly seamless transitions between devices.

What I just can't figure out is why there is no handoff between the music app on iOS and iTunes. Of all the things where I would want to seamlessly transition from doing on one device to doing on another, playing my music or podcasts is it. Honestly, I've yet to encounter a situation where I was midway through working on a document in iWork or an email, and felt suddenly compelled to switch devices before I finished what I needed to do.

I do switch devices all the time while I've got music playing. I've got Yosemite, I've got an iOS device, I've got iTunes Match, this should be a feature. Every day when I come back from work, I've been listening to music or a podcast the whole way home, and when I sit down in front of my Mac, I just wanna pause my music on my phone, and click play on my Mac and pick up right where I left off.

Am I crazy, is anyone else pining for this feature?

 

[simon48]

I did a search, and it doesn't look like this has been mentioned before.

Why on earth is there no handoff functionality for iTunes? Don't get me wrong, I'm very excited about Yosemite and iOS 8. It feels like we're really on the cusp of having truly seamless transitions between devices.

What I just can't figure out is why there is no handoff between the music app on iOS and iTunes. Of all the things where I would want to seamlessly transition from doing on one device to doing on another, playing my music or podcasts is it. Honestly, I've yet to encounter a situation where I was midway through working on a document in iWork or an email, and felt suddenly compelled to switch devices before I finished what I needed to do.

I do switch devices all the time while I've got music playing. I've got Yosemite, I've got an iOS device, I've got iTunes Match, this should be a feature. Every day when I come back from work, I've been listening to music or a podcast the whole way home, and when I sit down in front of my Mac, I just wanna pause my music on my phone, and click play on my Mac and pick up right where I left off.

Am I crazy, is anyone else pining for this feature?

That could be cool. I guessing it's because all the features in OS X iTunes are in many different iOS apps (Music, App Store, Podcasts, iTunes Store, iTunes U, Videos). While I believe it's possible with the way Handoff works to make them all connect together I bet it was just too much. Maybe next year.

 

[KUguardgrl13]

I'd love this feature! I'd probably listen to my music a lot more than I do now. Spent over nine years collecting it all in iTunes, and I usually just opt for the radio in my car

 

[simonsi]

But can't you already stream from one iTunes library to other devices?

If you aren't doing this then to pause a movie on your MBP and pick it up on you iPad then you might well have to shift more than a GB of data to the iPad....you aren't going to do that without a big pause anyway.

Less so with music obviously but then iTunes is already consulate at syncing music around different devices.

Compare with the data shifting requirements of a document then it is a very different scale of data-move issue...IMHO

 

[NoBoMac]

But can't you already stream from one iTunes library to other devices?

That's what I'm thinking.

And: don't the Apple audio apps "remember" your last play position (ie. I've listened to first minute of a song/podcast, can pick up from there on other device)? Sure, not always quickest to update between devices, but generally works.

 

[iCheddar]

But can't you already stream from one iTunes library to other devices?

If you aren't doing this then to pause a movie on your MBP and pick it up on you iPad then you might well have to shift more than a GB of data to the iPad....you aren't going to do that without a big pause anyway.

Less so with music obviously but then iTunes is already consulate at syncing music around different devices.

Compare with the data shifting requirements of a document then it is a very different scale of data-move issue...IMHO

It's a bit silly to stream music content from my phone to my Mac when the content is already on the Mac. Also, I imagine that handoff between documents only does a delta transfer of what has been changed since the last time you worked on that document.

Apple has it set up so you can sync places in Podcasts between devices, I don't think it would be that big of a shift to bring similar (and more instant) functionality to music.

 

[kmj2318]

Well Tim did indicate that continuity has a lot more comming. So hopefully we see it. I'd love it for podcasts and for Beats.

 

[simonsi]

It's a bit silly to stream music content from my phone to my Mac when the content is already on the Mac.

Sure it is so why would you want a handoff? Perhaps for a playlist? Guess its just down the list of stuff as there is some functionality already in that space...

 

[SideStepSociety]

It's a bit silly to stream music content from my phone to my Mac when the content is already on the Mac. Also, I imagine that handoff between documents only does a delta transfer of what has been changed since the last time you worked on that document.

Apple has it set up so you can sync places in Podcasts between devices, I don't think it would be that big of a shift to bring similar (and more instant) functionality to music.

I think the idea is when you favourite song comes on just as you're pulling in the driveway and you get a couple seconds into it, you walk into the house and have the option to start playing through your Mac speakers right where you left off.

 

[jsmith189]

That'd actually be dope.

 

[tkermit]

feels like we're really on the cusp of having truly seamless transitions between devices.

there used to be an app that could do this. Would love it if Apple could improve on that concept with Handoff for iTunes.

 

[simonsi]

That'd actually be dope.

Dope???

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...and have the option to start playing through your Mac speakers right where you left off.

I'm sure it will come but its probably on the list lower down due to the time saved, potentially seconds to start the same song vs minutes for a doc between devices maybe????

 

[jsmith189]

Dope???

Yes.

 

[theSeb]

Dope???

Youth parlance made popular by "gangster" rappers.

Word has also been used to describe how good something is.