# iTunes 7



## Mikuro (Sep 12, 2006)

It's out, and the interface looks different. Let the whining..._commence!_ 

Actually, so far I kind of like it, even though it looks less Mac-like than it used to.

iTunes 6 looked a little rough with its then-new "dark unified" window appearance. iTunes 7, unfortunately, looks even more rough. The controls seem too dark for the window, and the outlines are bold and sharp, which is very unusual in OS X. The controls look especially odd when the window is inactive.

I have no doubt this will be refined, though. After all, all of Apple's current interfaces looked like crap in their first iteration, but they all look pretty good now. But still, this seems like a step back in some ways, since the controls looked better against the background in iTunes 6 than they do in 7. It's a little confusing.

But again, it'll be refined. I'm really more pleased with this than I have been with any significant interface change in recent memory. 

Another big (well, "big" appearance-wise) change is the appearance of the list at the left. The selection now has Aqua-ish highlighting, like the Tiger menu bar. Looks good. The same style is used in Party Shuffle to mark the active track, but I think their choice of color there is too dark, personally.



The biggest _functional_ difference I've noticed is GAPLESS PLAYBACK! Finally! I haven't actually tested it yet, since it's still analyzing all my files. I don't see an option for this, so I guess it's simply on all the time. Good.

So, what are your thoughts?


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## nixgeek (Sep 12, 2006)

WHile the gapless playback is a great thing, the interface looks like it needs more work now than ever.  The scrollbars and the highlighting aren't consistent with the rest of the Finder (all gray as opposed to Aqua if your interface is using the Aqua color).  I like the organization of the categories, but some sort of thin separater bar would have been nicer than a space.  The space works with the OS X menus, but not when it's all gray.

I just recently updated and launched it, but I haven't used it extensively so that's all I have on the subject. 

Oh, and the button that was at the top right is now at the bottom bar.  Almost missed that one.


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## Qion (Sep 12, 2006)

This looks like hell. The icon is disgusting in my dock and the interface reminds me of RealPlayer and something from Bill's closet shot together out of opposing cannons. The scroll bars are gaudy. The buttons are at the most un-aqua I've ever seen them. There are no seperators between catagories, nor are they collapsable. The blue gradients look like... Aero! 

What was Apple thinking?

EDIT: Where the FAWK is my fracking equalizer?!


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## fryke (Sep 12, 2006)

Yeah, they sure know how to move icons around and hide features in menus.


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## Qion (Sep 12, 2006)

Serioulsy, I can't find it.


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## minckster (Sep 12, 2006)

Qion said:


> The icon is disgusting in my dock ... EDIT: Where the FAWK is my fracking equalizer?!


How is the dock icon different other than changing the "music-note" from green to blue? I'm not challenging you; apparently I don't remember what my screen looked like five minutes ago.

There's an equalizer under View | Show Equalizer.


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## minckster (Sep 12, 2006)

Under the menu item "Advanced" I have "Deauthorize Audible Account..." Does everyone have this? I don't remember opening an Audible account. I hope it doesn't charge a gazillion dollars monthly!


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## fryke (Sep 12, 2006)

I have that menu item, and I remember having an Audible account, although I haven't used it in years.  The equalizer was quite easy to find, wasn't it. Although I agree they should've kept the icon for it.


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## Qion (Sep 12, 2006)

minckster said:


> How is the dock icon different other than changing the "music-note" from green to blue? I'm not challenging you; apparently I don't remember what my screen looked like five minutes ago.
> 
> There's an equalizer under View | Show Equalizer.



The icon looks much different to me. Much different. 

I found the equalizer, but it just seems so MS'ish to hide it like that.


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## brdaykin (Sep 12, 2006)

When I click on View > Show EQ, nothing happens.  Is anyone else having this issue?

BRD


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## Mikuro (Sep 12, 2006)

The icon is a bit different, actually. It's sharper now and has more of a rainbow-glare effect. I don't have a full-size shot on hand, but I can use some screenshots to show my dock before and after. See attachment.

I'll say this much: it doesn't look nice in my Dock between QuickTime Player and BBEdit; too much blue!


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## Captain Code (Sep 12, 2006)

They changed the rainbow pattern on the CD for the iTunes 7 icon so it gives a different effect in the Dock.


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## minckster (Sep 12, 2006)

Oh great! Now look what you've done! I can't see my dock anymore without thinking - hey that bright iTunes icon sure is annoying? Thanks guys!  

Prior to OSX, did Mac used to have more visual consistency across apps? Mail, Safari, iTunes, etc. vary quite a bit. The thing that strikes me in iTunes is the scroll bars. What was wrong with Safari's blue ones?


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## Captain Code (Sep 12, 2006)

If they didn't have such obvious lines between the different colours I think it'd be much better.* It's almost Windows-esque.


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## Qion (Sep 12, 2006)

Captain Code said:


> If they didn't have such obvious lines between the different colours I think it'd be much better.* It's almost Windows-esque.



Yea, I agree. The green-blue scroll bars just don't match anything, especially the metalic colours. I want some more consistency... I've already changed my iTunes icon back to the old green and less rainbow'd flavour.


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## Thank The Cheese (Sep 12, 2006)

I agree with the consistency issue. Seems as though they are cowering to the Windows users by de-mac-ifying it. The tabbed embedded interface for iPod preferences reminds me of Win Media Player. 

The Cover Flow view is interesting. The fact that they have given it the same name as the original creator did makes me wonder if they payed him for the rights, rather than just doing their own version and screwing him over, which is good to see. 

(btw, the original creator's site doesn't seem to be working at the moment...hmmmm)


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## Captain Code (Sep 12, 2006)

Apparently they bought the idea from the guy that wrote it.


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## scruffy (Sep 12, 2006)

Well, nearly every iTunes or iPod update so far has involved a reduction in our capabilities (grumble DRM grumble user-hostile mumble grumble).

I'd wait a while to see what Apple's taking away from us this time


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## symphonix (Sep 13, 2006)

I'll be backing up my library files and iTunes 6 before this update - there's too many things that are making me hesitant. Thats pretty unusual as I normally just trust Apple 100% on updates. 

I really want to test it and see if Uno will apply the unified theme on the new version, and I'll put in the old iTunes icon as well. If Uno fails to patch iTunes neatly, then I'll be holding off for a while.


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## fryke (Sep 13, 2006)

Captain Code said:


> If they didn't have such obvious lines between the different colours I think it'd be much better.* It's almost Windows-esque.



Aaah... Where's the explanation for the "*"? I'm neurotic, I know, but I always look entire pages through for explanations where there's an asterisk*!!

*Asterisks point to a small print explanation, usually. If there's an asterisk in text and _no_ explanation at the bottom, I feel missing-linked...


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## MorganNiemand (Sep 13, 2006)

iTunes 7 crashed on my Windows comp. and feels pretty sluggish.  All of my tag data was changed back from what I had it in iTunes 6 and I now have duplicates of almost  every song, including those bought from the iTunes store.  I'm not sure if this is an isolated thing or if this is widespread, but it's worth noting.    I'm sure it'll be worked out, but right now it feels a bit like a beta.  Also, I kinda like the blue music note instead of the green.


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## Captain Code (Sep 13, 2006)

fryke said:


> Aaah... Where's the explanation for the "*"? I'm neurotic, I know, but I always look entire pages through for explanations where there's an asterisk*!!
> 
> *Asterisks point to a small print explanation, usually. If there's an asterisk in text and _no_ explanation at the bottom, I feel missing-linked...



LOL, actually it seems to be a bug in Safari 3.0 when I put 2 spaces after a period it puts an asterisk in place of one of them. I'm going back to Tiger full time now so I shouldn't have any more asterisks


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## Mikuro (Sep 13, 2006)

It seems like as iTunes is extended to manage all media instead of just music, it's going the same way QuickTime Player went 5-8 years ago (I forget exactly). Back when QuickTime 4 came out, Apple created brushed metal, which was completely non-standard and unprecedented. The entire QuickTime Player interface was a hacky and out of place.

That was in OS 8, though. In OS X, non-standard interfaces are not only precedented, they're pretty much the norm. See Dashboard. And iTunes 5-6.

Again, it looks like Apple wants to make their multimedia center look like a _physical_ multimedia center instead of a regular program. Brushed metal doesn't cut it anymore, since they've bastardized it to the degree where it's used for web browsers, calculators, and just about everything under the sun. The non-standard interface has become standard, so they're making a NEW non-standard interface.

And the new non-standard interface will probably become standard in time, too.

My reaction to iTunes 7 is unusual. My first impression was good, but the more I use it, the less I like it. I really do hate inconsistency. But I guess I've become desensitized to it when it comes to iTunes. I think only iTunes 4 used a completely standard appearance (and even if was slightly different, due to its Carbon nature).



Also, I see iTunes 7 as being a step towards Leopard and Apple's new design philosophy. Apple has been dropping conventional interfaces gradually for years, and Leopard seems to take that one step further with bizarre, high-animation interfaces like Time Machine. iTunes 7 seems to be in line with that philosophy, along with Front Row. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing, really, but I do think there's some level of consistency in the move, and I appreciate that.


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## mindbend (Sep 13, 2006)

I'll chime in just to temper the negative vibe.

I find the icon change irrelevant and minor and have no idea why people are so obsessed with it.

The overall look of iTunes is also only minorly revised and basically looks and works as it always has, which its a good thing.

Cover Flow is wonderful eye candy, nice touch.

It's all good to me, but then I don't use iTunes much (or in any kind of advanced way) so I'm not into the subtleties.


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## g/re/p (Sep 13, 2006)

I have iTunes 7 on my powerbook, but i have not been impressed enough with any itunes upgrades since 4.0.

Still running 4.0 on my powermac, which is my main computer.


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## oceanicitl (Sep 13, 2006)

Qion said:


> EDIT: Where the FAWK is my fracking equalizer?!



Still giggling at this. The spelling is classic! lol


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## Mikuro (Sep 13, 2006)

I just realized that they've over-emphasized the store in the sidebar. It now takes at least 4x more screen real estate than it did in iTunes 6. Before, it had one item, which could be expanded to show more. Now it shows three items, plus a header, which are always visible, plus gaps on the top and bottom to separate it from the other sections. So apparently Apple feels their store should be more prominent than my playlists. Hrm...

Well, there is one way to reclaim the space: I can disable the store entirely, which is exactly what I've now done. I don't like that, because I do normally visit the store every couple weeks, but...I'm not going to have a feature I only use every couple weeks be that prominent.

I think Apple just lost me as an iTunes Store visitor. I'll still peek in now and then, but I'm not going to go in casually anymore.


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## Veljo (Sep 13, 2006)

I cannot believe how they butchered iTunes 6, 7's interface and Dock icon look horrible.


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## symphonix (Sep 13, 2006)

Overall after a day of thorough testing, I'm *very* happy with this iTunes update. I did have to send in one bug report: the browse view doesn't refresh if a search is cleared with the "snapback: view currently playing song in library" button.

There are two things in there that they've added that I am very happy about, and neither of them are widely touted features. The first is that I can *finally* set the "Skip while shuffling" option on multiple tracks in one hit. For those of us whose iTunes contains a hundred or so speeches, radio plays and interviews as well as music, then this is a much-needed addition. The second is "Skip count" and "Last skipped" fields. These don't seem to work flawlessly, but they do help a lot.


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## Pardus (Sep 13, 2006)

Is there a trick to getting the album covers to download? i have turned it on in my preferences but none of my album artwork is being updated. Now some of the music there wasn't purchased from itunes or ripped from the original CD but even those ones arent showing up?

Am i missing something?


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## jacobdol (Sep 16, 2006)

Did anybody try to transfer music between two or more computers using iPod? For some reason I was only able to transfer music purchased from iTunes store and not my other mp3 files.


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## Natobasso (Sep 16, 2006)

Qion said:


> EDIT: Where the FAWK is my fracking equalizer?!



Dude, amen! They changed command + 2 to be a view function and now you have to go to a menu item to change the eq. STUPID CHANGE APPLE! 

Otherwise, the album searching is pretty cool, if only I could load all my album pics instead of just the ones I bought on the iTunes store. Argh.


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## Captain Code (Sep 16, 2006)

jacobdol said:


> Did anybody try to transfer music between two or more computers using iPod? For some reason I was only able to transfer music purchased from iTunes store and not my other mp3 files.



That's how it is supposed to work.


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## Lt Major Burns (Sep 16, 2006)

Pardus said:


> Is there a trick to getting the album covers to download? i have turned it on in my preferences but none of my album artwork is being updated. Now some of the music there wasn't purchased from itunes or ripped from the original CD but even those ones arent showing up?
> 
> Am i missing something?



seconded


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## Captain Code (Sep 16, 2006)

Lt Major Burns said:


> seconded



Select all songs.  Advanced menu> Get Album Artwork.  Doesn't get 100% of mine but it gets a lot.


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## Trip (Sep 16, 2006)

Lt Major Burns said:


> seconded



It actually takes a while to load them. I noticed that a few days ago I set iTunes to download album art for all of my CDs... now, three days later, more than half of my CDs have album art, while others are showing up day by day.

Apple should look into this.


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## JonYuill (Sep 18, 2006)

Hi, this is my first ever posting, so here goes...
I recently upgraded to itunes7. Everything was going well until I tried to put a song I purchased on itunes onto an imovie. I kept getting the 'this machine is unauthorized' message. So I authorised it, even got a successful authorization message, but guess what? It still says my machine isn't authorised. So then I deauthorised all my machines (all two of tem!). Then re-authorized. Same damn message. Can anyone help? Jon.


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## minckster (Sep 18, 2006)

Pardus said:


> Is there a trick to getting the album covers to download? i have turned it on in my preferences but none of my album artwork is being updated. Now some of the music there wasn't purchased from itunes or ripped from the original CD but even those ones arent showing up?


 Getting the album covers seems to be very sensitive to the tags for artist, year, etc. If you can find the album in the iTunes Store, match up the tags and it should go. (Slow process, I know...) Sometimes I had to request the album art multiple times before iTunes actually did so, but eventually I got all of the album art.

I also put the album's iTunes-Store URL in each track's comment field. I don't think that helps find the album art, but it couldn't hurt. You can grab the URL by right clicking on the album cover in the iTunes Store.

http://home.nyc.rr.com/minck/itunes.html


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## JonYuill (Sep 18, 2006)

ITunes 7 seems to be very quick at supplying all the artwork.
Jon


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## minckster (Sep 18, 2006)

JonYuill said:


> Hi, this is my first ever posting, so here goes...
> I recently upgraded to itunes7. Everything was going well until I tried to put a song I purchased on itunes onto an imovie. I kept getting the 'this machine is unauthorized' message. So I authorised it, even got a successful authorization message, but guess what? It still says my machine isn't authorised. So then I deauthorised all my machines (all two of tem!). Then re-authorized. Same damn message. Can anyone help? Jon.


Jon, Welcome! I hope you get a better answer, but if worse comes to worst, you might try software like Audio Hijack (http://www.rogueamoeba.com/audiohijack/).


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## enathan1085 (Sep 21, 2006)

So I know this seems like a minorly small nit, but the large gaps between the sections on the left-hand-side are quite vexing indeed.  The gap below the "Library" tab, above and below the "Shared Music" tab, etc. are just annoying.  Whereas before all my playlists fit on to one screen (by design, not chance) now I have to either resize the window or :: gasp :: scroll down to find various playlists.  Visually it just turns me off as well but thats a silly secondary concern.  I'm also not a fan of the super-dark highlights when you click on anything on the left-hand-side.  Meh, I'll get used to it.



Qion said:


> EDIT: Where the FAWK is my fracking equalizer?!



... totally...


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## FlashMac (Sep 21, 2006)

Captain Code said:


> That's how it is supposed to work.



I knew it was too good to be true, for a minute there I thought a grown-up had given some thought to music listening habits.....


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## Captain Code (Sep 21, 2006)

FlashMac said:


> I knew it was too good to be true, for a minute there I thought a grown-up had given some thought to music listening habits.....



Yeah but people would abuse it of course.  You could take your music over to a friend's iTunes easily if it allowed you to copy everything.  Apple knows you have the rights on the music you "bought" from them and the DRM prevents it from being distributed to more than 5 computers.


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## Invicster (Sep 22, 2006)

I personally love the new cover browser.

I think it's addition is linked closely to the eventual introduction of iTV.

Apple want people to see their Mac as the central 'hub' of their digital life etc. Therefore, with an iTV hooked into their TV set, using the cover browser in iTunes makes it feel almost like you're flicking through your physical DVD / CD collection, rather than just selectiong a title from a text list etc.

Just a thought anyhow! 

I do agree with what others have said about some of the other aspects of the interface though. I wish Apple would bring everything back into line. Hopefully Leapord will bring back at least some degree of standardised, consistant interface accross the whole system (and definitly Apple's own programs!)


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## Lt Major Burns (Sep 29, 2006)

I've just realised.


it looks like linux.

bring back aqua, please.


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