Filed under: Fun, Windows, Macintosh, Apple, Freeware, Social Software, iPhone, Windows x64
iTunes 9: The Download Squad Review
by Nik Fletcher Sep 9th 2009 at 7:15PM
Hot on the heels of today's iTunes 9 announcement, I've been busy at Download Squad's international outpost to take a look at some of the newer features in this update to one of the most well-known apps around.
It maybe be at version 9 - and Apple's hype machine is running at full-pelt - but is it any good? Join me as I run through an evening with the latest version of iTunes.
Gallery: iTunes 9 Tour
User Interface
Apple's design decisions often make their first (or only) appearances in iTunes - and there's certainly some interesting choices in iTunes 9. The main window has a new gradient - slightly lighter than before - that also makes the window look a little unusual when inactive. There's also some new Play / Skip / Rewind buttons that protrude from the UI chrome a little more than before - as well as a heavily emphasised Search box.
Apple's design decisions often make their first (or only) appearances in iTunes - and there's certainly some interesting choices in iTunes 9. The main window has a new gradient - slightly lighter than before - that also makes the window look a little unusual when inactive. There's also some new Play / Skip / Rewind buttons that protrude from the UI chrome a little more than before - as well as a heavily emphasised Search box.
The iTunes status area has also seen change, with a heavier glossy overlay and all-new spinning and progress bars. Right now, I've had a few knee-jerk 'Eww' reactions to these changes - however I'll hold off on rational judgement until I've used iTunes for a week or so. If you're intimately familiar with iTunes (it's open for a fair 12-14 hours a day here) the changes are jarring, but the casual user may not notice the more subtle changes such as all-new icons for many of the sidebar items. The Playlist, Smart Playlist and Application icons (to name a few) are all-new in this release - along with all-new rating stars, and whatever your opinions may be about the new UI, the small touches to update it are a welcome refresh.
In the past, Apple's UI folks chose a darker tone for the UI elements, but in iTunes 9 that's all been eschewed in favour of a lighter tone for many of the views. The change to lighter colours in the UI (if you'll excuse this slight detour into the far-from-mainstream) make it certainly less intimidating, however it doesn't sit well with the iTunes Store's redesign to my eyes.
Perhaps one of my favourite changes is the inclusion of file downloads in the iTunes status area - handy for keeping an eye on large downloads like movies (and iPhone software updates).
The iTunes Store
As well as iTunes 9 itself, Apple also rolled out a massive update - and entire re-design - of the iTunes Store. Again, it's something that regular users will find a little un-nerving. However, the all-new look and feel is a massive improvement over the previous design that has seen only moderate changes since the store's launch.
Alongside a tonne of slick visuals, there's also a fair number of new features. iTunes has become far more sociable, with more prominent links to share items with friends, copy the item's iTunes address - as well as two all-new options to share an iTunes product on Facebook or Twitter. The Facebook and Twitter integration is rudimentary, however it's a big step for Apple to continue to embrace external services (like it did in iPhoto '09) instead of sticking to just its own MobileMe service.
Until today, only the App Store has required the use of 1-Click purchasing. However today's update to the store has removed entirely the option to use a Shopping Cart for iTunes purchases - meaning you can only use 1-Click purchasing throughout the iTunes Store. However, as the folks at TUAW point out, the all-new Wish List feature is certainly a way for you to build up a list of items you'd like to purchase.
There's also new Ringtone capabilities for iPhone customers, with "20,000 precut ringtones available" for US$1.29/£0.99. Truth be told, 20,000 ringtones isn't all that respectable - especially when previous versions of iTunes would allow you to choose a section from songs from within your library (when the feature actually worked that is). Expect this achilles heel of the iTunes Store to be used in anti-iPhone flamewars for the forseeable future...
More Content Options
Whilst technically part of the iTunes Store, there's now two new options for purchasing content. There's the iTunes LP - a new music album format that includes artwork, digital booklets and other related content, as well as iTunes Extras - extra content that sits alongside movies, in much the same way that DVDs bundle bonus material.
More Genius
iTunes' Genius has a new addition to the family - Genius Mixes. In short, it's a 4 x 3 grid of playlists that iTunes thinks you'll like. It generates 9 different playlists ready for you to listen to, and it's actually pretty good. The exact results vary depending on your library of course, but if you're looking for something slightly spontaneous to listen to, this is the thing for you.
Device Sync
iTunes' device syncing has always been 'OK', but for some time now users have been wanting a little more and this release adds a bucketload of new options. Each individual tab for the device (be it Music, Movies, Applications etc) has now far more ways to manage exactly what you put onto the device. Music sees the ability to add more than just playlists (you can now add music by album, artist or genre) and there's an interesting new option to "Automatically fill free space with songs" - I seem to have a gigabyte or so permanently free on my iPhone, and this is a great way to add more music to your device (presumably using Genius to make it relevant) and ensure there's fresh tunes available on the go. Photos are finally easier to add to a device, with Faces and Places from iPhoto (along with clear icons about Aperture projects and albums) to reduce the guesswork involved in getting your holiday photos onto a device.
If you're an iPhone or iPod touch owner, there's also a brand-new way to manage your applications on the device. The Applications tab has been reworked to show you how much each application will take up - as well as a way to visually re-order your homescreens from within iTunes itself. There's still no way to remove applications you don't us (in my case, Stocks) from the device, but the new options are a great improvement to manage your applications' positions from the desktop app.
It's also worth noting that the cat-and-mouse game between Apple and Palm continues with this update - the Palm Pre no-longer syncs with iTunes 9, though knowing Palm there's likely an update around the corner.
In Summary
There's plenty to like about iTunes 9. It's got a number of nice (albeit overdue) touches that significantly improve the media-browsing and syncing of the ordinary person. The new UI elements will take some getting used to - as will navigating the iTunes Store - however these minor quips don't detract from the fact that this is a slick and useful update.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
JR said 8:08PM on 9-09-2009
They also added the rollover previous, play, and forward buttons on rollover when running in Windows 7. ITunes 8 didn't have that. Nothing crazy but worth noting.
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caleb.largo said 8:03PM on 9-09-2009
i think the light UI is to match with the new snow leopard :) seems like a pretty good update, but i would have liked to see some last.fm integration.
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bill cant fart said 9:29PM on 9-09-2009
Except that it doesn't match Snow Leopard. Maybe iTunes will finally match the rest of the OS in 10.8...
Matt said 8:16PM on 9-09-2009
I tried it, but it didn't seem that much of an upgrade. Finding album artwork fails more than it works. Seriously, Can't find "Beatles - Help!" ??
I like the zune interface much better.
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snowy2004 said 12:20AM on 9-10-2009
The "Find Album Art" feature can only get album covers for albums available in the iTunes Store. And since the event has come and passed with no Beatles announcement, don't expect to get Beatles album art.
Rocketboy said 8:17PM on 9-09-2009
I hate to say it, lest I be deemed a fanboy (I really don't care about the thumbs-down I'm sure it will generate), but the Zune software is MUCH nicer looking. It looks less confusing/busy as well.
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kojo87 said 8:47PM on 9-09-2009
i was thinking the same thing. the Zune software is just more fun. usually i like my software fairly utilitarian but when it comes to my music i want style. the artist view thing (or whatever its called) is one of the coolest ideas i've seen. im looking forward to September 15 and the 4.0 upgrade.
Chris said 2:41AM on 9-10-2009
I agree, though I'll give them credit - Apple did finally give back some view customization options. Not only can you get rid of Genres again, you can move the columns from left back to top, show & hide any of them, there's a new album art column. With a little tweaking you can get it looking pretty Zune-like.
I'll probably go back to Zune tomorrow, but with a bonus kick in speed this is the first time in months I've been able to stand using iTunes for more than syncing so that says a lot.
Oh and I didn't think about the 4.0 Zune update, how exciting!!
Jason said 9:02PM on 9-09-2009
I agree, Rocket. When my iPod video 5.5 gen died, I picked up a 8gb Zune. The device is quite good and pretty much what I expected, but I was really surprised by how much I loved the Zune software. Hardware wise I'm happy with either, but iTunes is pretty horrible.
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Jim Lynch said 8:46PM on 9-09-2009
Good review, my own experience has been pretty good so far. I did a review on my blog about it:
iTunes 9 Review
http://jimlynch.com/index.php/2009/09/09/itunes-9-review/
Loving the ability to arrange my iPhone apps in iTunes 9! Finally! :)
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.P@BsLpKn said 8:51PM on 9-09-2009
why white?? try looking at the screen for a long time to that white background.......i like black better....-.- is there a way to turn it black again??
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Brent Schmidt said 9:29PM on 9-09-2009
I really like the new feature seen in Windows 7 for it where if you hover over the iTunes icon, it now shows a Rewind, Pause/Play and Forward option.
http://i28.tinypic.com/hsw4yh.jpg
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weirdjames2 said 5:45AM on 9-10-2009
You do know you can pin programs to the taskbar now right?
Yours is looking kinda bare there..
But yes, that feature is pretty damn sweet, I'm gonna use that a lot :D
cholly said 10:41PM on 9-09-2009
They tried to throw some zune accent in there
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TTrent said 1:06AM on 9-10-2009
Man, I was so excited when you were calling it lighter!! Unfortunately I got the totally wrong impression, it's still a hulking, ram eating, beast of a program. Only in a lighter grey, yawn.
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turu said 4:14AM on 9-10-2009
indeed. indeed.
Level 5 said 6:15AM on 9-10-2009
Meh, iTunes blows again as usual. I love my iPod, and I'm even mulling around getting an iPhone, but this software needs a MASSIVE overhaul. It may run well on Macs, but in Windows, this is one of the worst mainstream programs I've ever ever seen. My suggestions:
1 - GET RID OF THE SKIN. It does absolutely nothing but subliminally advertise for the Mac. Nothing. It takes more RAM and quite frankly clashes with XP, Vista, and 7.
2 - Get rid of unwanted services. Do not run AppleMobileDeviceService unless, GASP, there is connected hardware that REQUIRES it. And when said hardware is not connected, automatically unload this process. It's not needed. Same with iPodService, and iTunesHelper. On my machine, they take an extra 10MB of memory. When Windows 7 and its necessary processes only take about 600-700MB of memory, that's a problem. Even with 4GB in my machine, this makes a difference. These services do not need to run when the hardware is not connected. There's zero need to have 10MB worth of shit running just so iTunes launches when someone hooks an iPod up.
3 - Allow WDM control of the window. Again, iTunes doesn't need a skin, and it would benefit greatly from the window management. Even in 9, shadows clip, scrollbars flake out, etc. Ditch this shit, Safari doesn't have it anymore, why does iTunes?
4 - Relinquish control of the fonts. Why do we keep loading Tahoma, Arial, and System for Vista? What the hell is wrong with Segoe UI? It's actually quite similar to Lucida Grande and Myriad (Pro). I'm not sure what Apple hopes to gain by making the Windows version user a mishmash of fonts when it really only needs ONE, the one that is used in majority by the OS.
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Eduardo Ferraiuolo said 7:03AM on 9-10-2009
Where is the genius mixes option on the iPod Classic?
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Juan said 8:04AM on 9-16-2009
i dont know if anybody notices this...but it wont sync an mp3 file that 320kbps...any reasons why...
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myid38 said 4:12AM on 10-15-2009
Download and watch the new movie 9 http://blog-movie.com/9.html
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