Expert’s Rating
Pros
Cons
Our Verdict
Apple has on the face of it added “ update iTunes ” to its yearlySeptember media eventto - do list . Along with a novel iPod nano and iPod shuffle , arevamped iPod touch , and a freshen Apple TV , Apple delivered the third iTunes version update in as many years , iTunes 10 .
Now , I do n’t think you could be blamed for put on that iTunes 10 is a major update — after all , 10 is a large number , and it brand iTunes ’s debut in the double digit . But Apple seems to have used some restraint this clock time around , introducing only one major new feature and noticeably improving performance , but still lathering its typical and haphazard coat of interface changes .
Ping me
Ping is Apple’s new, optional social network for music, allowing friends to follow each other’s purchases and get news from favorite artists.
The one major new feature film in iTunes 10 isPing , whichMacworldhas already spent a minute of meter with , so I do n’t want to rewrite too much of our entry . In a nutshell , Ping is a new , optional societal web for medicine that Apple built into iTunes 10 . Friends can keep up , view , and comment on each others ’s new purchases and song they “ like , ” and quell on top of coming concerts . Artists can make their own store Page , interact with fan , and post photos and videos .
Ping is Apple ’s new , optional social meshwork for euphony , admit friend to follow each other ’s purchase and get newsworthiness from favorite artists .
Ping is Apple ’s first stab at re-introduce some of the social elements that have been lose in the evolution from traditional configuration of distribution to digital media . We do n’t hunt down to the local medicine shop anymore to argue with our friends and the know - it - all - clerk over which record album scar our favorite band ’s drop from goodwill . We click to download medicine and , at best , mail our favorite unexampled song or record album to Facebook or Twitter .
iTunes 10 now displays player controls when you mouse over the album artwork popup.
But now , instead of clicking to share our favorite new album on Facebook or Twitter , we can … click to share it onApple’ssocial connection instead of someone else ’s . Within 48 hours of releasing it , Apple boasted that over one million users have signed up for Ping . Beyond that inevitable spindle of other adopter , though , we ’ll have to look and see if Apple ’s first maraud into take a shit the iTunes Store more societal will resonate with a meaningful portion of exploiter .
In the context of Apple ’s efforts on the Web , Ping is a decent 1.0 . It does what it read on the tin , and it ’s fun to see what my friends are buy and allow other friends from across the land pass over into the conversation . But Apple ’s not a social networking company , and it arguably is n’t very just at the WWW ( Exhibits A and B : iWeb and MobileMe ’s rocky birth ) . Stepping out of Apple ’s house of cards , Ping leave alone alotto be desire .
Perhaps most significantly , Ping isonlyfor music powerful now . You ca n’t see when your friends buy a movie , let a television set show , or fling on a caboodle of new iPhone games . You ca n’t chatter with protagonist on an iTunes Store Ping pageboy about what befall in last night’sMad Men , and App Store developers still ca n’t answer or pop the question customer support to the practical tsunami of misguided or incendiary reviews of their apps .
iTunes 10’s new interface features repositioned window control buttons, gray icons, and a new way to display album artwork.
In light of all the buzz around the App Store , telecasting mental object , and social - everything flop now , Ping is the most prepubertal product to add up out of Apple since the original Apple TV . Of of course , Apple is an reiterative troupe , and societal networking has proved to be a democratic way to push traffic and sales . you may count that Apple will go forth a stead flow of updates to Ping and , hopefully , spread it to the other types of medium that the iTunes Store sell .
Other new features
iTunes 10 now displays player control when you mouse over the record album artwork popup . Ping gets the lion ’s share of attention in iTunes 10 justly now , but there are some other interesting new features . Though pitched mostly for succeeding owners of the new Apple TV , TV show rental can be see in iTunes 10 or on an iPhone or iPod bear on runningiOS 4.1 , which is due out this week . AirPlayis also an interesting new feature that will let iTunes pour euphony and video to new AirPlay - enabled speakers , receivers , and iPod accessories . It ’s an development ofAirTunes , which antecedently provide iTunes to pour music to speaker that were hooked up to an Apple telly or an AirPort Express . Now , Apple licensed this streaming technical school in its new form to third - company manufactures , but we ’ll have to await a little while for them to get AirPlay - enabled equipment on storehouse shelf .
If you click the record album artwork patch in the lower - left to open order artwork in its own windowpane , it now let in role player control when you mouse over it . This is a gently useful feature that many third - party iTunes utilities highlight , so Apple ’s adoption of it is both a approving for user and a whammy for some utilities that may have to strike out a antecedently notable feature film .
iTunes 10 ’s new interface have repositioned window control buttons , gray picture , and a new way to exhibit album artwork .
Other perks in iTunes 10 let in a new “ Album List ” view that displays music album artwork more intelligently , and new preferences countenance you to hide some features like the checkboxes next to medium in lean view and the icons next to items in the sidebar . When updating software on an iOS gimmick , most of the raise process is now displayed as an in - seam notification on the gadget ’s summary page — in the past this was a modal progress dialog that prevents you from control iTunes through the entire process . If you choose to fix your twist from a backup , however , the second half of that outgrowth still acquaint modal dialogs , which make me wonder if Apple did n’t get to finish round this peculiar feature update before shipping .
iTunes 10 also received a execution hike that is obtrusive even on my fairly new 27 - inch Core i5 iMac with a subroutine library north of 770 gigabyte . iTunes get down up quicker and the interface finger a bit snappier . I imagine ( or , at least , hope ) these improvements might be even more obtrusive on older machines that can fight under iTunes ’s develop heft .
Apple did remove some features from iTunes 10 revolving around ringtones . First introduced in iTunes 7.4 , ringtones for the iPhone can no longer be purchase from the storage or created from your music ; the pick to display a ringtone column in your subroutine library has been bump off , and the iTunes Store no longer displays a ringtone ikon next to songs . make ringtones with third - party tools still seems to mold .
Some user havereported a problemwith iTunes 10 and music CDs , where CDs are not being recognized by the software . We essay several different candle on several different Macs ply iTunes 10 , and we had no problems with the software read the candela and import tracks .
Tossing interface darts
Another task that I am convinced Apple bumped up on one of its many to - do list in late years is “ meddle with iTunes ’s interface in strange , borderline malicious ways , ” and iTunes 10 is no exception . Once again , various iTunes elements both big and small have been changed ; many for the sake of change , but at the hurt of serviceability .
credibly the two most notable interface modification can be found in iTunes 10 ’s windowpane cake and sidebar . First , the release to close , minimize , and “ best primed ” iTunes ( the red , yellowed , and fleeceable globe , severally , that are horizontally laid out at the top left wing of virtually every window in Mac OS X ) are now listed vertically down the upper left of the window . In a way , this is not a new layout for these buttons — for quite some time , they ’ve reposition vertically when you use iTunes ’s Mini Player . But the Internet initially sound a battle cry of horror upon see this alteration in iTunes 10 , as if a million interface designers cry out and were suddenly silenced .
But I find myself liking this curious modification — it provide Apple to lop off around 20 wasted pixels of space from the top of iTunes and tighten up its toolbar . Now , some of its thin elements , like the volume skidder ( which gained some girth in its own light redesign ) , see buttons , and hunt box seat no longer finger like they ’re swimming in a sea of gray metal . But this new push layout could be a misdemeanor of Apple ’s own interface rule of thumb for third - party , so I desire developers do n’t take it as Apple ’s endorsement of using controlled core while design new interfaces .
Apple ’s second major port change in iTunes 10 is that , for reasons that eluded me through this review process , it decided to breastfeed the colouring material out of iTunes ’s sidebar ikon . Gone are the puritanical , unripe , and imperial colors of ikon like music , movies , iTunes Store , and Smart Playlists — they were wash away by the grey port tide of the iOS lunar month that now revolve around Apple ’s figure world . Even the buttons in the lower toolbar for thing like Modern playlists or hiding the Genius sidebar get the iPad treatment . They shed any kind of standard Mac OS X button bezel or border in favor of bold , primary class . Now , simplified , more easily identifiable toolbar buttons are always a good affair . But in this fount , deprive the color from the ease of iTunes ’s sidebar feel like Apple took the iPadification of its desktop apps too far .
Macworld ’s buying advice
iTunes 10 is a foundational update — less about major features that we can play with right by , and more about beginning construction on significant new avenue for the iTunes Store as an entertainment hub . That ’s not to say some of the fresh feature are n’t welcome or utile . Ping , at its magnetic core , is a great idea that I am eager to see spread to the balance of the store . Other Modern features like a impertinent record album list view and music controls in the album artistic creation popup — all while really boosting performance — are nice to have as well .
Though less ambitious than previous years in terms of rank young features , iTunes 10 is a solid update that will take to get on like a ok wine-coloured to be rightfully value . Once Ping gets a round of golf or two of updates , the Apple TV 2.0 ship , and AirPlay appear in accessory , iTunes 10 may prove to be quite a useful update for those who want to use these features .
[ David Charter is a Macworld associate degree editor . ]
Updated at 2:38pm PT to clarify which ringtone features Apple removed in iTunes 10 .
