Expert’s Rating
Pros
Cons
Our Verdict
Last September , Apple debuted iTunes 8 , which brought some major new characteristic ( Genius playlists , a new visualizer ) , a turn of subtlety for browsing and wangle your media ( Grid view , better podcast control ) , and Modern iTunes depot offering ( HD television set show , a unexampled computer memory design ) . Only a year subsequently , we ’re already at iTunes 9 . ( sure-enough man voice : Why , I remember whenJeff Robbinwas still forge on Conflict Catcher . ) But if you ’re wonder if the 9 just means “ another year gone by , ” rest assured that the latest loop of the party ’s do - everything media program offers a number of significant improvements , let in several that have been on want lists for class .
At the same time , its growing importance in the Apple ecosystem means iTunes is a far cry from the relatively svelte and spry program that debuted back in 2001 . The program now handles music , movies , TV show , music video , podcasts , audiobooks , iPhone app , iPod games , ringtones , and net radio . It supports purchasing , renting , and spell . It manages iPods , iPhones , and the Apple TV . It coordinates the syncing of contacts , calendars , bookmarks , notes , mail account , and even photo . And it wangle wireless cyclosis to remote AirPort and Apple TV units . Whew ! The outcome is an coating that offers many features but can be less - than - obvious to use — not to mention a curriculum that can at times get bogged down under the weight of its media burden .
Interface, Take 9
During Apple ’s music result , the troupe said that many of the interface changes in iTunes 9 — besides the unexampled “ shinier ” chrome finishing , I usurp — were designed to make the computer program easier to use and to make it promiscuous to figure out how to get your media . For good example , if you do n’t have a eccentric of media — say , medicine — iTunes no longer expose an empty list . or else , you see a screen that explains how togetmusic — download it from the iTunes Store or spell it from your compact disc — along with links to the Store and to tutorial videos . ( There ’s no mention of Amazon MP3 , eMusic , or other serve , of course of action . )
Assuming you ’ve already got content in your iTunes Library , you ’ll see a progress dialog on the initial launch of iTunes 9 as the course of study revise your iTunes library . ( The new version may also upgrade your Genius information ; more on that below . ) Then you’re able to dig into the new media - browsing features . For example , the Column internet browser sight now get you prefer between have the internet browser on top ( the pre-9 approach , with the cartroad list below the web internet browser ) or on the left wing ( with the track inclination to the right ) . The new on - the - leave setting gives you a narrower track list that evidence fewer columns , but if you have a magnanimous iTunes program library , it permit you view more particular in each column as you crop — a welcome improvement . you’re able to also choosewhichcolumns to browse by : any one , two , or three of genres , artists , album , composers , or groupings .
There are also pocket-size user interface change that will trigger up some users . For good example , the green “ resize ” button in the upper left corner of the iTunes window no longer toggles between Mini Player and stock mode ; it now zooms the windowpane larger or pocket-sized , just as it does in other programs . ( you could still activiate Mini Player mode by Option - clicking on the green button , pressing a keyboard crosscut , or select a menu control . ) And in Grid position , the heading — which lets you switch the grid groupings ( by artist , album , literary genre , or composer ) and set the album - cover size — is disabled by nonremittal ; you must enable it in the View menu .
The new column-on-left browser mode
Finally , it ’s worth note that because it now does so many things , iTunes ’s port is becoming more complex . For example , there are nowsixsections — Library , Store , Devices , Shared , Genius , and Playlist — in the sidebar , each of which curb its own sub - point , and each ofthosedisplaysitscontent in the independent part of the window . While Apple has indeed made progress in simplifying some scene ’s of iTunes ’s surgical operation , it ’s no longer the drained - simple broadcast the troupe once touted it to be .
The new column - on - left web browser app mode
There’s an app for that (and it’s called iTunes)
For frequent customers of the iPhone App Store , one of the most frequent requests was for a good way to manage iPhone apps — both in iTunes and on your earpiece . iTunes 9 make heavy , openhanded footstep here .
For starting motor , when you select the Applications detail in the iTunes sidebar , you could now consider your purchased iPhone apps in list , grid or Cover Flow modality . The icon - spare list view is peculiarly welcome for those of us who ’ve downloaded far too many apps , and it lets you view — and sort by — columns for artist ( developer ) , date added or modified , literary genre , kind , purchase or release date , size , and class . One utilitarian feature that ’s not useable : a fashion to see which apps are presently installed on your iPhone or iPod touch , and perhaps even rearrange your apps and screens , when the gadget is n’t tie .
But the improvements that generated oohs and aahs from the assembled medium at Apple ’s metier event are the young tools for oversee what gets synced to your iPhone or iPod touch and how those apps are form on the machine . choose your iPhone or iPod on the left wing , and then select the Applications tab to the right : the chief area of the iTunes window now prove two columns . The first is a listing of all the applications you ’ve downloaded from the App Store ; each app ’s entry in the inclination shows its icon , name , category ( Games , Entertainment , Productivity , and so on ) , and size . As in iTunes 8 , you check the loge next to an app to install it on your iPhone , or uncheck the corner to remove it , at the next sync .
iTunes 9’s new iPhone-app management screen
iTunes 9 ’s new iPhone - app direction screen
Even better , you could separate the inclination by name , category , or date downloaded . ( This last option replaces the family exhibit with the engagement , and it ’s the escort the particular translation on your Mac was downloaded , not the date you earlier purchased the app . ) you could also search the leaning . These improvements make it dramatically easier to crop with the apps you ’ve download , although if you have many apps , the list can be slow to scroll thanks to the app icons .
The 2nd newspaper column , though , is perhaps the most - welcome improvement in iTunes 9 — at least for iPhone and iPod touch sensation owners . It shows each of your iPhone ’s existent covert and lets you rearrange apps via retarding force and drop . To move an app within a cover , just tap its icon and sweep it to a new office ; other app ikon will move out of the way to make way . To move an app to a different screen , drag the picture to that screen on the right ( the listing scroll mechanically to show additional screen , although it would be nice if you could resize this area on larger screens to minimize scrolling ) .
iTunes 9’s new nested-conditional Smart Playlists
you may even overtop - tap multiple icons to move several apps at once , and you may rearrange total screens by dragging a CRT screen up or down in the list . Heavy users of the App Store , rejoice !
Syncing and media: under new management
It is n’t just iPhone apps that get amend management tools . iTunes 9 also meliorate the options for choosing which media are synced to your iPhones and iPods . For example , the Music tab now lease you pick out to sync any combination of playlists ( Genius mixes and playlists included ) , artist , and genre . So , for example , you’re able to easily simulate just your favorite three playlists , along with everything by your preferent ring , and all trail class as Alternative ; there ’s even a search study for the Artists leaning to make it light to bump finical artist .
Similarly , for movie and TV shows , you could choose to sync lately added ( watched or unwatched ) items along with specific favorites , as well as movies and shows from select playlists . And for exposure , you’re able to now select any combination of specific albums , case , and faces ( the latter being mass distinguish using iPhoto ’s Faces feature article ) . Once you ’ve made all your sync choices , the Music tab put up an choice to mechanically fill any rest destitute space with music .
alas , the Apple TV does n’t get quite as many new syncing options . You do get the new exposure - sync option , along with new choices to sync play list containing picture and TV display , but the option for synchronize medicine and podcasts rest unaltered .
You can have iTunes automatically copy iTunes-purchased content between your Macs.
iTunes 9 also includes two new options for managing your medium on your Mac . The first is an option , for user of quondam edition of iTunes , to reorganize your iTunes media in the Finder . select File - > Library - > Organize Library , and then break the Upgrade To iTunes Media Organization option , and iTunes will rearrange your iTunes Music booklet into a Modern iTunes folder with subfolders for Movies , Music , Podcasts , and so on . ( This is now the default organization scheme for people commence off with iTunes 9 or creating a new depository library under iTunes 9 . ) Although the feature article mostly works as claim , one of my colleagues found that it did leave a few artist - specific folders at the rootage of the new brochure .
The main benefit of this fresh organization is that it establish it easier to feel , using the Finder , particular types of media ; the iTunes-8 - and - earlier approach had folders for non - music media , but they were buried among disjoined folders for each music creative person . However , if you ’re considering using this feature , there ’s one potential caveat : many backup public utility company — including OS X ’s own Time Machine — will consider the touched files to benewfiles and back them up again , a lengthy and distance - consuming procedure for those with large media subroutine library .
The other new metier - management feature — and it ’s a feature that ’s been requested for eld — is a pamphlet , created inside your iTunes Music ( or iTunes Media ) pamphlet , calledAutomatically supply To iTunes . iTunes 9 periodically checks this booklet for new content and adds that contentedness to your iTunes library . If iTunes finds subject it ca n’t care — for model , a good amount of TV download from the Internet — it place those files in a Not add up subfolder ; inside that leaflet , each incompatible Indian file is place in its own subfolder named with the engagement and time iTunes rejected the file . This Add To iTunes folder would seem to be the idealistic location for saving media files you download from the Internet — say , as the terminus for Amazon Downloader , or for podcasts download via an RSS reader — but Apple recommends not place incomplete file in the leaflet , which throttle the feature ’s usefulness fairly .
A Genius Mix’s “cover”
iTunes 9 ’s new nested - conditional Smart Playlists
Finally , if you ’re a fan of Smart Playlists , iTunes 9 finally bringsnestedconditionals . Yes , this means you may create playlists that oppose any or all of several groups of criteria .
Sharing and share alike
One of the most meaning newfangled features — and one that will torment some exploiter with its restriction — is Home Sharing . Similar to iTunes 8 ’s sharing feature , Home Sharing let you mind to medicine shared by other iTunes users on your local web . But it does n’t cease there .
But there are a few bragging changes here . First , you may alsocopyitems from a shared iTunes subroutine library to your own . For example , to copy a medicine running from your mate ’s library , you just drag it from the runway inclination on the right to your own depository library on the left hand ( or take the track and tap the Import clitoris ) ; the track is immediately copied and appears in your library . It really , truly is in your subroutine library : it will be there even when your better half ’s Mac is n’t on and running iTunes , and even when you take your MacBook out from home . This is n’t locoweed and mirror .
secondly , Home Sharing now shares moderately much everything in a library : you could copy music , video , audiobooks , and even iPhone apps — you just dredge and drop . Of of course , if you copy iTunes - buy content , so as to practice that contentedness you must be authorized for it . For example , if your girl ’s depository library is rest home - Sharing linked to yours using your account , you ’ll be able to freely replicate an iPhone app she purchased using her news report ; in order of magnitude to utilize that app , however , your Mac will need to be one of the five authorized to usehercontent . This can get perplexing when you ’ve get multiple people sharing libraries , each of whom purchased contentedness under a different account .
The obvious ingathering of Home Sharing is that it last supply a chemical mechanism for easily copying iTunes contentedness between Macs , but it also furnish a couple feature film that make it well-to-do to keep multiple iTunes libraries in sync . First , if you pick out a shared library and then prefer detail Not In My Library from the Show protrude - up carte , the list of contents will be filtered to show only those items not in your own library . ( Confusingly , if you select the main subroutine library icon for a shared out depository library , only euphony is displayed ; to display apps , motion picture , or other content , you must first extend the library in iTunes ’s origin lean and then select the desired media type . ) you may then re-create only the items your spouse has added to his or her library that you have n’t yet summate to your own .
you may have iTunes mechanically simulate iTunes - purchase content between your Macs .
Even honest , iTunes canautomaticallycheck for unexampled detail in another program library and re-create them to your own . Configuring this characteristic is as simple as clicking on the preferences button while viewing a Home - Shared depository library , select the types of medium you require copied , and tap OK .
iTunes Extras for Wall-E
This sounds like a great feature , and in some ways it is . But as my colleague Peter Cohen explained yesterday , it also has some sizable limitation . The biggest — and it ’s a doozy — is that the robotlike - transfer feature works only with content download from the iTunes Store . ( The school text of the options duologue , Automatically transfer new purchases from … , imply this , but we confirmed the limitation both with Apple and through our own testing . ) So while you canmanuallycopy media pull from your own candle and DVD , euphony purchased from Amazon MP3 and eMusic , and other content you did n’t get from the iTunes Store , that substance wo n’t be imitate mechanically . This auto - transfer limitation would seem to be a nod to music industriousness concerns about plagiarisation , but for many the great unwashed , it cripples the ultimate utility of a very nerveless feature . ( See Peter ’s clause for a number of other issues . )
It ’s also worth nothing that Home Sharing is n’t a fashion to defend a central iTunes library that sync with multiple Macs or user accounts in the same household . Besides the auto - transfer feature being limit to iTunes - purchase media , tracks copied via Home Sharing do n’t maintain metadata such as ratings or playcounts , nor can you transfer or sync playlist . iTunes 10 , anyone ?
Still , despite the automobile - transfer limitation , this is a handy new lineament that score it much easy to guarantee all your Macs have all your medium .
More Genius in more places
iTunes 8 debut Genius playlist , which can create a playlist base on a “ seed ” course . To work this magic , iTunes anonymously uploads information about all the music in your depository library and equate that information to other people with interchangeable music subroutine library . When you create a Genius play list , that data is used to opt a list of 25 to 100 songs in your subroutine library that other multitude with similar music predilection also have . In other words , iTunes create a play list it thinks you ’ll like if you care the seed track .
iTunes 9 uses that same data point — data point on over 54billionsongs , according to Apple — to produce Genius Mixes . rather of requiring you to pick a source Song dynasty to make a playlist , the Genius mix feature article goes through your library and select tracks that “ go great together . ”
A Genius Mix ’s “ report ”
Unlike Genius play list , your mastermind mixes are create automatically and contain as many tracks as you have that set the mixing . When you select the Genius Mixes item in the iTunes sidebar , the main area of the iTunes window displays your mix . Each intermixture is displayed as a composite album cover ; creep over a covert to reckon , at the bottom of the windowpane , the name of the admixture and a sampling of creative person it bear ( “ Based on Coldplay , Travis , Keane , & others , ” for example ) . With my depository library of 14,000 or so music raceway , iTunes created the maximum 12 Genius mixture — with smaller libraries , you end up with fewer — with names such as Rock Mix , Electronic Mix , Alternative Mix , and Alternative Mix 2 . tap a mix to being playback .
In my abbreviated examination , the feature was broadly speaking good at grouping like case of track , and made for enjoyable playlists , although the mixes were clearly biased in favor of the types of euphony — rock , papa , hip - hop , classical John Rock , and new undulation — that dominate my music collection . My library contains quite a bit of wind , classical , and folk , yet because these genres are in the minority , iTunes did n’t create a single intermixture for them .
On the other hand , Genius mixture are like a sinister box : there ’s no way to view the caterpillar track in a commixture , to delete the mix , or even to erase a mix you do n’t like .
I also experience one other glitch that was initially a show - stopper . for apply the Genius Mixes feature , iTunes ask to revise your depository library ’s Genius information . This should happen the first time you set in motion iTunes 9 . ( If you cancel this process the first prison term you ran iTunes 9 , just choose Store - > Update Genius . ) But for me , this process never cease — the advance bar at the top of the iTunes window never finished , and the Genius Mixes item never come out in the sidebar . I ’ve seen a serious number of reports from other users around the connection experiencing the same issue .
As today ’s Bugs and Fixes tower explain , the problem looks like cause by particular apple.com entries in your Mac ’s cookies.plist filing cabinet . To ready the problem , I had to quit iTunes , open up the Security silver screen of Safari preferences , select Show Cookies , and blue-pencil all iTunes - related apple.com cookies . After relaunching iTunes , my Genius information was updated comparatively promptly and the Genius Mixes detail appeared soon after .
There ’s also one more position where iTunes 9 ’s Genius feature appear : Once you ’ve upgraded your iPhone or iPod touch to iPhone type O 3.1 , the App Store app display a new Genius CRT screen that recommends Modern apps based on apps already installed on your twist .
The iTunes Store gets a facelift…again
Finally , as with each recent upgrade to iTunes , Apple has redesign the iTunes Store and added some fresh features and buying options . The new design is a bit less littered and offers more options for jump directly to particular capacity . For object lesson , pussyfoot over the Music item in the pilotage bar and a small arrow appears ; press the pointer to view a fare for jump directly to a special medicine department — video , iTunes Essentials , pre - ordering or any music genre . Each division pageboy provides side - scrolling groups of album thumbnail that I found a act gentle to browse than the previous intent .
Album Page also get a raw looking at that does aside with a freestanding track - leaning window pane at the bottom , rather placing the track tilt in the body of the page . This new show is more attractive and neutralise less space , but it is n’t without drawbacks : You do n’t see the data track - preview release until you mouse over a track name , and you’re able to no longer use the arrow keys or back / forward-moving buttons to skip through previews of an album ’s tracks . ( And youstillcan’t tap a single push to preview all tracks on an record album , something you ’ve been able-bodied to on many other euphony serve for years . )
Although the novel pattern may make it sluttish to find medium , in the two days since iTunes 9 debuted , navigating the store was at time an exercise in thwarting . Sometimes page did n’t load at all , and when they did , the transition often took a moment or more . For now I ’ll chalk this up to clayey traffic , but I do n’t recall the same issues when iTunes 8 debuted .
Apple has also done away with the shopping cart ; the only way to buy content in iTunes 9 is One - clink purchasing . If you were one of the many people who used the shopping go-cart as a sort of “ indirect request list , ” not to worry — iTunes 9 now includes a consecrated compliments listing feature of speech . tap the arrow next to a Buy push button and select Add To Wish List , and that point is summate to your list for later circumstance or buying . you could access your indirect request lean from the Quick Links division on the iTunes Store home Sir Frederick Handley Page ( where it conveniently notes how many items are on the leaning ) , or at the bottom of any other page in the storage . One limit , however , is that not all items can be added to your compliments list ; for example , I noticed I could n’t add some iTunes pass .
Finally , there are two newfangled types of content you could purchase from the iTunes Store : iTunes LPs and iTunes Extras . iTunes LPs are the music industry ’s latest attempt to get people to purchase album instead of private tracks . Each iTunes LP includes the album ’s full track list , along with full - projection screen extras — design with input signal from the actual artists — such as music video , video consultation , liner notes , discographies , and lyrics . They ’re a fun option for hardcore fans , even though in many ways they remind me of the medicine - focused CD - read-only memory of the ’ 90s ( though with well quality multimedia system ) .
Unfortunately , there are n’t many iTunes LP available properly now — just 11 albums ( five of those pre - decree ) and one “ comic book and single”—and you give a agiotage for them : The iTunes LP translation of Dave Matthews Band ’s latest , Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King , is $ 20 , and The Grateful Dead ’s American Beauty is $ 14 ( compared to $ 10 for the standard version ) . And the tracks themselves are the same 256kbps AAC file you get with the standard versions ; for many music lover , it would be easier to justify the exchange premium if iTunes LP also let in higher - quality files .
iTunes Extras for Wall - E
iTunes Extras are similar to the exceptional feature film — deleted shot , interviews , and the like — you get with many DVDs , and are now included with select ( presently 14 ) movies from the iTunes Store . The absence seizure of these features has kept many movie buffs from purchase picture from the iTunes Store . I buy Wall - E and enjoyed these supernumerary , which play in the iTunes windowpane and include “ resilient ” circuit of located piece and places , storybooks , making - of clip , television inspire by the movie , golem schematics , set fly front - throughs , deleted scenes , and a utile chapter bill of fare . Unlike iTunes LPs , there ’s no bounteous price agiotage here : moving-picture show with iTunes Extras appear to be the same price as the movie alone sell for previously . For example , Wall - E is $ 15 , andThe Bourne Ultimatumis $ 10 . remark that these Extras wo n’t play on your iPod , iPhone , or Apple TV .
There does n’t look to be a fashion to upgrade to the iTunes LP variant of an album or the iTunes Extras adaptation of a motion-picture show if you ’ve purchased the standard version of those albums or flick in the past tense .
Macworld’s buying advice
iTunes 9 is n’t without drawbacks . In addition to the virtuoso - update issue I and some other user have experienced , public presentation is occasionally an consequence . Besides the specific examples I already noted , I bump iTunes 9 would at times stall when checking Home Sharing libraries for raw content , and I experienced several iTunes crash over the past few day of use .
Still , even given those concern , I suspect most users will desire to install iTunes 9 before long — especially since it ’s a devoid download . Besides being a required upgrade if you necessitate to use any of the new lineament of the iTunes Store and your iPhone or iPod touch , the latest variation of iTunes is a suitable upgrade for newfangled user , those with monolithic media libraries , and those who desire to more - easily share their medium between family members . Indeed , Apple ’s goal with iTunes 9 seems to have been to make it wanton for new users to fetch in medium and start enjoying it , while provide some of the most - requested features for subsist user . And in most respects , iTunes 9 succeeds .
