iPod Why the hate on iTunes?

[BrianBaughn]

iTunes "works" but as has been said before the search feature for Apple Music is pretty bad.

Navigation feels like I'm on an FTP site in a browser with no tabs.

 

[MC6800]

I'm trying to think of how Apple could fix the "bloated app" complaint. It seems the root of the problem is syncing devices-- if iTunes were split up, those apps would all have to load when you plug in a device. A way around that would be to have a separate library manager/syncer app. I'd expect it'd be about the size of iTunes since it would be dealing with all databases, and the other apps would just be front-ends for it. In other words, not much would change.

 

[vault]

The pink microphones are triggering my OCD. The rest of the artist artwork is so tiny I can't recognise bands I know very well. Totally unhelpful.

 

[mk313]

I miss the free radio stations that were formerly in iTunes.

What free radio stations are missing? There's always been the Internet Radio stations linked in, but they are still there. (at least in my iTunes. I'm running version 12.6.0.100)

 

[smorrissey]

Yes i do, that doesn't mean i'm happy with it.

 

[ItWasNotMe]

Example 4.

New version rigorously enforces... When a playlist contains both audio and music video, using shuffle from right-clicking the dock or from the mini-player only the audio tracks are selected for playback.

[Edit] Seems that historically, the skip when shuffle on the track was sometimes set/sometimes not - so if you want music videos to appear in shuffle list make sure that this is blank on the options tab of get info

Example 5.

To install new components for Xcode I have to quit iTunes

 

[LinusR]

Example 1. Album art.
When I play anything I haven't played for a couple of years, the artwork often changes:
1. Randomly (i.e. not always)
2. Sometimes to a completely different, irrelevant album - e.g. The Flock by the Flock becomes Flock of Seagulls by A Flock of Seagulls
3. It does this in a manner where Time Machine thinks the file has changed but, for example, the modification date in Finder is unchanged.

Example 2. Play
Play Next - adds track to top of playlist
Play Later - adds track to top of playlist
And the difference is ...

Example 3. Ratings
Complete confusion through the app between track ratings and album ratings. So, I never set album ratings but when I play a few tracks the unplayed tracks set assigned a rating (grey not blue). Screws up smart playlists

It's interesting to see such experiences, thanks for sharing!
That said, I haven't had a single one of these issues, and I've always used iTunes. Revamping the whole app and redesigning it from ground up sounds like a decent idea (it might get rid of those anomalies, then), but I'm not sure whether we would get a massively cut down version as in Photos, the iWork suite, etc..

EDIT: Typo (where/whether)
EDIT 2: Another typo (sound/ground)

 

[Johnchapin]

It used to work extraordinarily well. Now it's a struggle. I seldom use it anymore.

 

[Solomani]

On the Mac and iOS, I also think iTunes is "fine". Yes, it's got a bit bloated over the years, but it's still quite usable.

But when I use iTunes on Windows (on the PC used by my parents), it truly is a slow lethargic clunky less. IMHO, Apple really does need to give the Windows version a little more TLC.

 

[blackxacto]

The biggest reason I dislike iTunes is the small album artwork.

I grew up with vinyl albums. LPs… huge glossy pieces of cardboard that were often an art in themselves.

Now? A tiny little square that my ageing eyes are not very happy with.

Bring back Coverflow, at least.

Hallelujah! I totally agree. Bring back my CoverFlow. It was beautiful to see my covers flow across my iTunes interface. What idiot killed it?

 

[MC6800]

Hallelujah! I totally agree. Bring back my CoverFlow. It was beautiful to see my covers flow across my iTunes interface. What idiot killed it?

David Gelernter?

His Mirror Worlds LLC was suing Apple for $625 million in damages, even though that was later thrown out.

 

[sofila]

Example 3. Ratings
Complete confusion through the app between track ratings and album ratings. So, I never set album ratings but when I play a few tracks the unplayed tracks set assigned a rating (grey not blue). Screws up smart playlists

This is the thing I hate most. Others...I close my eyes and keep going on . But I find this "feature" a real pain in ....
iTunes was something you wanted to show to your friends, not doing this since a long time

 

[MSalemHawks]

I miss the free radio stations that were formerly in iTunes.

It's still there, called Internet Radio. Go to the Music pull down menu, down to edit and enable Internet Radio.
[doublepost=1495223364][/doublepost]

Same. Sucks that you have to pay now. Sucks even more that the free stations stopped working on the 3rd gen Apple TV.

You don't have to pay, the free radio is still there, called Internet Radio. Go to the Music pull down menu, down to edit and enable Internet Radio.

 

[Jessica Lares]

They're talking about iTunes Radio. You could get that ad-free with iTunes Match or just listen to it with the ads.

 

[UL2RA]

You don't have to pay, the free radio is still there, called Internet Radio. Go to the Music pull down menu, down to edit and enable Internet Radio.

Uh ... no. The only free Radio is Beats 1 (which I hate immensely). iTunes Radio is no longer available.

 

[determined09]

It's still there, called Internet Radio. Go to the Music pull down menu, down to edit and enable Internet Radio.
[doublepost=1495223364][/doublepost]
You don't have to pay, the free radio is still there, called Internet Radio. Go to the Music pull down menu, down to edit and enable Internet Radio.

Thanks

 

[Digger148]

I miss the free radio stations that were formerly in iTunes.

Are you meaning the "Internet Radio" stations? Those still exist. That's my favorite feature of iTunes.

 

[determined09]

Are you meaning the "Internet Radio" stations? Those still exist. That's my favorite feature of iTunes.

Yes but is says something about getting three months of Apple Music. I'm not going to pay for that. But thanks.

 

[TheGenerous]

I hate it and ignore it. I don't consider it intuitive, it's far from being user-friendly.
For music I use a dedicated mp3Player.
I manage my iPhone's (all type of) contents with Anytrans.

I also use a dedicated mp3 player, but while using the Mac I use Swinsian or VLC. (Sony Walkman A25, plays FLAC too, 128+16 GB).

 

[BrianBaughn]

Yes but is says something about getting three months of Apple Music. I'm not going to pay for that. But thanks.

You're looking at this?:

 

[hagar]

I'm all in! Not only with my pre-existing music library and Apple Music, but also to manage all my movies and TV Shows. Every video I have, I tag and import in iTunes with the wonderful tool VideoDrive. It gets metadata and artwork, converts files if necessary and then adds them to iTunes. This way, I can access them from my iPad, laptop and Apple TV.

It's very convenient, but I do wish iTunes was a bit more streamlined and did less. Now it tries to be everything at once. So I'm hoping there will be a complete overhaul in iOS 11 and iTunes 13.

 

[halledise]

I haven't used iTunes for ages.
I used to a few years ago when I was doing a lot of celebrant work (weddings and funerals) as it was simple to organise specific playlists and then burn a cd for the occasion.
all my music for same came free from various sources on the 'net.
I stopped doing that work 4 years ago and thus have no need.
for movies I use MPlayerX.
for music - well I'm not that addicted to radio or massive playlists - these days I turn on a physical radio and listen to Triple J or ABC News Radio or the local ABC. or ClassicFM when I'm in the mood
(in Australia)
I hate adverts and those 4 stations are ad-free

 

[dorsal]

When you shuffle a playlist, it does not display the shuffled order of the songs. It used too. Why would you remove such a capability?

 

[throAU]

I see a lot of people saying that iTunes is a terrible application and needs seriously revamped. I don't really understand why people feel this way. Yes iTunes on Windows is terrible but on the Mac it works pretty well, the interface is easy to use, it sorts and keeps track of music well and has all the features you could need from a music management program. So what are your reasons for disliking it?

we feel this way because it's crap. I'm a massive Apple fanboy and no ashamed of that, except for iTunes.

The UI is confusing, and it's bloated to hell - it's no longer a music player. It's a music/video/podcast store + device manager and sync/backup tool. It needs to be cut up and split into different applications.

It's less terrible on the Mac, but the Windows version is, IMHO, a disaster as far as winning windows users over. The only apple software most Windows users are exposed to is iTunes, and it is solely responsible for a massive amount irrational Apple hatred amongst all of the people I know who claim to hate Apple. Before i switched, iTunes and the Windows version of Quicktime were my only regular exposure to Apple software and both were a disaster. Happily, quicktime for Windows is no more.

That's why i hate iTunes - it's the worst software ever produced by Apple. Nobody uses it by choice that I know (including myself) - it's used only because there's no other option for iDevice management and the Apple music store.

 

[determined09]

You're looking at this?:

View attachment 700725

Thanks! I was able to locate this.