Download iTunes 11 and Review: newer is better

Significantly better integration with iCloud and a radical simplification of a new interface ? this is what Apple pledged its number eleven media application version encompassing cataloguing, playback and syncing would feature. While initially announcing late October as a going-public date with the highly expected ?iTunes rewrite,?Apple did not meet its initial deadline, and the update was at last released in late November, after a one month delay.

Despite the additional one month period that Apple engineers had at their disposal to improve and polish the application, iTunes 11 did not turn out to be the exact overhaul we might have expected it to be. ?There are indeed a series of interface changes bringing extra points to the new product, however we do overall witness the same combination of features: media storing, video and music playback, media storing and PDF or ePub books and also apps for iOS devices. What is even more discouraging is that a few greatly reliable on features have been left out and that the app is no stranger to some puzzling bugs (that one would have thought that one extra month should have taken out of the equation).

Before we provide you the download link for iTunes 11, we took the liberty to review it and show you what is new.

Bringing the good news first

It is a certainty that iTunes had become a bit unmanageable for many users since it was launched and this was a fact for Apple as well. Initially starting as a reconstruction of Mac OS 8’s famous MP3 jukebox, iTunes has gradually won its place as the de-facto standard of all media apps to aspire to. Not only does it encompass sorting, importing and playing back music features, but iTunes now also handles features such as movies, TV shows and any other video files you have in mind. Organizing and syncing iOS apps for iphones, iPods and also iPads, it has?stretched?its features to also organizing and syncing e-books in PDF formats, iBooks and ePub (though does not provide users with the option to read). Another great feature iTunes has in store for users is that it can sync iTunes purchases made via iCloud. Also, access to the iTunes store is granted to users in order to buy music, apps, books and what not. iTunes can nowadays be used to stream media over AirPlay to other Apple TVs, Macs and also AirPort Express base stations, raising its utility level to a maximum in the industry.

Apple took it seriously and focused to rebuild the interface in a more simple user-friendly manner, highlighting that the face-lifted iTunes would be a whole lot more approachable. iTunes presents a more visual approach in content display, starting with showing your music as a collection of album covers and applications under a series of icons, up to encompassing movies under a collection of preview frames and books as a series of covers. This was certainly something Apple had in mind for newcomers (and not only), as the visual organization brings a plus to the product. You can however also make use of a more traditional approach when it comes to list views – they can be accessed with only a click away and still offer a huge range of metadata presented under sortable columns.

The typical so well known extended toolbar is to be found exactly at the top of the main window. ?A change is also to be observed here – the design has been amended and refined. While many might have objections to its change of look, there are also many who favor the change and catalogue it as a clear improvement. We stick to the latter line of thought. Starting from the left – you can immediately notice that pause/play, forward and back controls are now large and also under clickable shapes (hence closer to the likeliness of similar controls on iOS) – they are no longer to be found under individual buttons, as before. The central track info window along with a volume slider, an AirPlay button and the search box at the far right lay at the right.

A series of visual changes were brought to the track info window, however none applicable to its initial rounded rectangular shape. One of the changes witnessing a major instant impact is that we can now find the track info window to include an icon that is very similar to a bulleted list that allows access to the “Up Next” feature. By clicking on it – the user is given a visual pop-over view of the list of upcoming songs, therefore allowing him to either rearrange or even insert songs into the current playlist. Although it does not actually convey the same range of features’ functionality as the now-absent iTunes DJ, it is believed that Up Next is actually supposed to replace it.

Once you scroll over the track info window, a new arrow icon pops up next to the title of a song. It is only by clicking on the arrow that you can access the contextual menu for the track that is playing at that time. There are a number of options to do here: ?you can either rate the respective track, or set it to the “play next” option, or even add it to Up Next (but this might be redundant for the currently playing track). The track can also be used for a new genius playlist as another option, and you can even get related Genius recommendations if necessary. Adding the song to any playlist is another feature you might want to make use of. The song can therefore be traced in the iTunes Store or you can use it to have iTunes directly?go to the track, artist or album added in your library (we must bring into your attention that these before mentioned contextual options are available for any song that has been selected in iTunes)

Seemingly intended to replace the initial sidebar of iTunes, we can find a navbar below the main toolbar. Apple has designed a drop-down menu present on the left with the function of letting you make the switch between Books, Music, Movies, TV Shows and also Tones (iPhone ringtones, to be more precise). It is now when the fun starts, as a great series of options for viewing the selected media type can be accessed straight in the middle of this bar. Let’s take music as an example: if active, you can use it to choose to visualize your music as a list of songs, a grid of music videos or playlists, a grid of albums, or even a very graphical display of artists and genres. Once selected, a sidebar is then opened containing your playlists to the left side, a list of songs to the right, and, moreover, the common list of streaming radios. Provided that the feature is enabled, you could also visualize your iTunes Match tracks.

If you are wondering how you can access the iTunes Store, do note that the button for accessing it is to be found on the right of the navbar. It is also here where the buttons for accessing any connected iOS or iPod devices are. This is a clear proof of the newly user-friendly approach of ?iTunes 11 – you can now so easily select a device and be granted simple options for configuring and syncing either an iPod or an iOS!

The newly improved updated store can be loaded by simply clicking onto the iTunes button store – and it is pretty much similar to what we witnessed with the iOS 6 update on iOS. At its top there is a set of 3D-rendered “cards” located at the top that automatically rotate, thus in such manner displaying the featured content. There are different types of headings available (for instance “New” and “What is hot”) to encompass the sideways scrolling list of: movie, album or application icons. Among its functions, the tab bar also allows the user to narrow the Store’s wares into categories as Movies, Apps, TV Shows and not only, and you can ?also find a multitude of lists of the highest top sellers in various categories.

A novelty brought to the table is that that there is a new option to scan an iTunes Gift card by using your Mac’s FaceTime camera – and most likely, any type of suitable camera – with just one touch away. This makes up for the ?slight inconvenience caused by the long strings of numbers and letters composing the codes iTunes Gift cards – you must be thorough in introducing them correctly. Another advantage indicated by one of the developers contracted by Apple for contributing to the development of this ?new feature is that it is of great help for users with disabilities who might, under different circumstances, find it almost impossible to redeem the gift cards if no assistance or help was provided.

Whereas we can definitely state that the design has been met before, Cesar Torres, the Ars Social Editor claims that this new layout approach can encompass more titles than it ever has in the past and that it impacts at a higher level and a better usage of space.

As there can be users who would rather prefer using the initial sidebar – Apple has made it very simple for you to bring it back – it is only a click in the View menu away. Another feature to rejoice on is that the old color of the icons in the sidebar has been brought back as well (tip for the users who disliked the iTunes 10’s monochrome icons).

Another feature you can restore is the details and information that used to appear in the bottom status bar of itunes. I must bring into your attention however that the joy here can not be 100% celebrated – once with the?realigning?of ?most of the controls that used to be found here (and we must emphasize AirPlay), the status bar has a rather rudimentary function.

A new Album view – this is what must also be mentioned when it comes to iTunes 11. You can now be relieved that all your albums can be managed and arranged in a scrollable grid. Not only can you sort them by artist, but also by release year or other types of criteria. To be more specific, if you click an album, you are instantly provided with a more general and detailed overview of the tracks contained in the album (they all roll down). ?This interesting detail is highlighted in iTunes by a default “themes” feature using the same colors from the cover of the album for both background and texts, which makes it a pretty nice feature to have. You can check to see if there are any other songs of the artist or of the album available by using the “in The Store” button.

If we are still talking about changes, one of the big ones is the new “mini player” window. Apple is no longer making use of the standard “zoom” feature window to both control and activate the mini player. What is new here is that this has been replaced by a newly added particular control which can be found exactly to the left of the standard full-screen control (on the main toolbar).

The list of changes does not stop here. What is also very exciting is an improvement in the design of the mini player, which now adds functionality in comparison to its older version. If you are to activate and use different options on the currently playing track, then you can do this via the same “action” pop-up menu. The artist and the currently playing song are displayed solely by hovering over an album icon, and more control can be exercised by users when they are outside of the main iTunes window by being able to access AirPlay, Up Next and also directly search for options straight from the mini player. What a great feature!

If iTunes runs as a full-screen app, then you can unfortunately not switch on the mini player mode. I will give you a tip however to work around this. What you can do is to switch iTunes out of the full-screen mode, then enable iTunes to pop up in all spaces, while you open a mini player window in parallel. What then remains to be done ?is to switch the full-size window to full-screen. There is however a downside here as well – that iTunes will then show up on each and every single Space when the full-screen mode is not on, and you can not avoid this. Apple could have made it easier for users and just automatically set the full-screen mode to switch off when users want to change to the mini player.

These being said, Apple has accomplished their mission in creating a simpler and cleaner design. There is a certain subtlety in its shadows, colors and gradients – and the overall update of the interface seems less complicated and more clear even with the cautious help of the usage of white space. This impression is additionally given by the different lists and organizational interface elements.

The main UI font on iOS – Helvetica – has now replaced the default Lucida Grande UI from OS. This change greatly contributes to a higher aesthetic level, however this is not something everybody agreed on. John Gruber stated for instance that it indeed looks great when on a Retina display Mac. While it also looks good on non-Retina displays, Lucida Grande might have stepped it up a?notch?there with its screen-optimization on this type of displays. If you take a good look at it, you will surely get the idea that the general design does indeed lean towards Retina displays, something that is easily reflected in the characteristically small cover art icons usually seen on displays of this manner.

Additionally – in a nutshell – performance is now higher (at least when it comes to OS X). You can smoothly and fast scroll long lists of albums and applications now, even though we all know that speediness with sizable libraries has never been a specific advantage of iTunes.

The less fun part

In their attempt to bring a simplified note to iTunes Apple has managed to leave out a few features and overall functionality (with no clear understanding as to why). Once considered to be one of the top features iTunes 7 in year 2006, the new album view seems now to be designed and meant to replace the initial Cover Flow view from top to bottom. One of the great features of Cover Flow was that it had a great visual impact and was, moreover, also great due to its special usefulness functionality. This has not however stopped a few users and also Ars staffers to criticize when the feature went MIA in iTunes 11.

The option to show album cover icons in list view must also be mentioned as another visual feature no longer available in iTunes 11. It is true that if you check it by artist or even genre, you can still access a simulated version of this type of list style, however not possible to see it in what is the standard library type of view. This seems to be something users mentioned as lacking, however the reasons behind this slip are not exactly sure, as it was anyhow an optional view ever since the beginning.

One of the most obvious features that has been cut out was indicated (and is perhaps most missed) by the users of the former iTunes DJ feature. iTunes has poor functionality in its While Up Next feature – which appears to be designed as a replacement for iTunes DJ (however does not meet the same great functions as the iTunes DJ). One of the main features that comes to mind when mentioning this is that you can now no longer stick to higher rated songs. This has been portrayed by Dan Goodin, Ars Senior Security Editor, as one of the disadvantages of iTunes 11 – features that have simply disappeared in an instant. For instance, iOS device users benefited before of a feature that allowed them to highly rank the songs that they liked, hence they could have been played either sooner or more frequently. This unfortunately has been one of the cut offs.

The before-mentioned pop up track has now undertaken the small button designed to “go to song” (that initially appeared in the track window). This can also be considered as another disadvantage, as it it is now less simple (and more niggling) to scroll down the menu than to simply click the?”go to song” button. Moreover, no matter what type of mode you have selected for accessing your library or playlists, the Cmd-L shortcut (attributed to “Go to Current song”) always opens in the album view now.

The possibility of opening playlists in separate windows? This is no longer an option. This has been replaced by a newly brought in dedicated view to bring editing to an already existing playlist, which might not be such a bad idea at all. What happens is that it opens the playlist to the right side, giving you the option to drill down the view; ?you can find songs and albums to add to the left. Although many users would rather have multiple various windows open when searching for songs and only then dragging them to one single particular playlist, you can now simply click on and drag on any track – and you will automatically see a list of playlists appearing to the right for you to drag the song into.

One of the most important?miss-outs of the newly improved iTunes 11 is that it now lacks any option to use the iTunes library for directly sharing your song choices. It is true that they have taken out the lacking and poorly executed Ping social media, however this still is a pretty big cutout, especially when thinking that Facebook and Twitter are now an integrated part of the OS X. You can therefore not share any songs you are listening to via Facebook or Twitter, but you can still give a “like” or share albums from the iTunes Store. To go even deeper, you can see your list via last.fm, but you can not have this shared (neither automatically, nor manually) directly within iTunes, no matter how of an obvious and functional feature this might have been.

The “alert me” button for artists in the iTunes Store that was used for getting e-mail notifications in regard to upcoming albums and not only – has been also cut out. We believe this feature might have been connected to the poorly executed Ping social media service and hence was taken out with it (to be mentioned that you can still manage the alerts on your iTunes account page).

Confounding bugs

It seems clear at this stage that the one extra month for the releasing of iTunes 11 was not quite enough for Apple to fix all the issues of the software. While many users stumble upon the lacking feature of iTunes 11, what seems to be more of a problem is that there are numerous strange bugs, which one would have thought would not be the case.

The AirPlay icon portrays this very accurately – this is one of the first experienced bugs’ experiences: it simply does not appear in the main iTunes window. If you instantly think of quitting and relaunching it, let me tell you that it does not work. What is even more puzzling is that the songs play over the previously configured AirPlay device from iTunes 10.

The AirPlay icon does however appear when you start playing with the mini player window. There is on the other hand a fix of this issue (and a relatively simple one we might add). If you turn AirPlay on, then off and ultimately back once more, you can force the icon to also display in the main iTunes window. We are happy to say though that this is not a very common issue, and it can also be fixed quite easily.

Digging deeper in the confounding bugs, another one on the list is that you can not turn the column browser on or off for playlists. They will show up if the playlists have been configured to use the column browser in iTunes 10 – if this has not been done, then they will not. This is one of the playlist settings that you can not change and the menu option is for some reason grayed out. Worth mentioning that if you are interested in turning the column browser on and off for the main song view, you can indeed still perform this action.

iTunes Store is no stranger to bugs either, many users have reported, and the errors have been connected not only to iTunes 11 itself, but also to the HTML-based code Apple makes use of in order to generate the Store.

Reports from users who usually listen to podcasts or watch TV series shows have been taken that iTunes 11 has reset their “watched” or “listened” status on different?occasions. The errors go to a larger extent when TV shows that have already been watched are marked as “unwatched”, or old podcasts are wrongly marked as “new”. This bug might work in reverse as well, cataloguing new content as old content that had already been played.

Under the umbrella of general bugs we have also registered the following: when in shuffle mode, song lists do not automatically scroll to the currently playing song; there is only one way to access the shared libraries – and this is by enabling the sidebar; if you want to minimize iTunes to the Dock in OS X 10.8, you will not manage to do so by double-clicking the title bar. Many users have reported a series of other bugs we can not ?confirm, including that there are a series of strange bugs in the iTunes Store especially, that the iTunes Library can not be accessed by Plex Media Server, and that despite iTunes 11’s function of being scriptable, there are AppleScripts that do not however work. Bugs connected to the iTunes Match search button have also been reported by users getting unexpected or ambiguous search results.

Success or failure

While iTunes 11 was designed to be at the top of the?pyramid?when it comes to media player devices for all users, criticism from its followers did not fail to come still. This might have been triggered by the vast array of functionality iTunes is meant to provide for users, which might be a bit too much at times, making all features hard to be grasped by the public. The dilemma now revolves around Apple’s strategy for iTunes: would another interface update solve this or would it be easier perhaps if all its functions would be separated and used into different apps (such as iOS). Although we do not have a definite say on this, it is common knowledge that it would be easier to handle separate apps: they have higher chances of being updated and also maintained with less?difficulty than an entire integrated iTunes experience, for which it is necessary to wait for a major update to provide efficient support for new iOS devices or even to the new iTunes/App Store layout available on iOS 6. The debate is still ongoing.

We must also not forget about the 25,000 track limit which is a clear testimony that the strategy to best leverage iCloud and iTunes Match has not been a primary focus for Apple, or at least something to be?thoroughly taken into consideration, as this limitation might be a great inconvenience for music fanatics.? The tracks on iTunes Match are not automatically played by the songs from a playlist missing in a local library, which, once more, could be a problem. It is true that iTunes Match does have its advantages, but these do certainly not amount to what Apple announced it would be – and that is, the Bible of all our media across devices.

To conclude, Apple did deliver in terms of interface update and a higher degree of performance by releasing iTunes 11. Letting this aside, if Apple does indeed want to raise iTunes 11 to a canonical state and redefine the entire concept, the aging architecture it has been constructed on will stand in its way, demanding a major re-write process. We have also witnessed key features being cut off, whose functionality has unfortunately not been fully restored by their current replacements. It would indeed have been recommended that Apple took even more time (than the extra month delay) to “get it right”.