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How iTunes Is Changing on PC

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Re: How iTunes Is Changing on PC

#191

Post by wackget »

I use an old version of iTunes on Windows and haven't found anything better, for the following reasons:

1. It has a taskbar player, which is a tiny strip of media controls which sits in your taskbar. AFAIK the only other player to offer this is Windows Media Player.

2. It has the best-looking (for me) GUI with the column browser etc.

3. You can use parental controls to disable all the crap like the store/videos/radio/etc. to make a very minimalist player.

The only problem I have with it is that older versions don't sync correctly with modern devices (iPod, iPhone, etc.) but there are workarounds for this using a virtual machine: https://www.tersetechtips.com/how-to-keep-using-an-old-versi...

Re: How iTunes Is Changing on PC

#192

Post by bee_rider »

freeplay wrote: post #164
bee_rider wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m dedicated to Linux but I like my iPhone. iPhones are more-or-less standalone devices nowadays. They can backup straight to iCloud. The only thing I’d need to borrow a Mac for, as far as I know, is a factory-reset. I last used iTunes on windows in like 2010 or so, I think. It was pretty awful. Although, it did have a neat feature, you could share your library over the lan, so it was neat to listen to other people’…

If the phone is functional (as in you can access the Settings app), you can factory reset from the phone, as well. You can also remote wipe from Find My if need be.

True! Actually, I have an ancient iPad that I’ve forgotten the pin for. I think I’d need a Mac to reset it. Fortunately the reason I forgot the pin is that I got a laptop and stopped using the iPad as my SSH client as a result, haha, so recovery is not really a pressing issue.

Re: How iTunes Is Changing on PC

#193

Post by sleepybrett »

chrisjj wrote: post #27
Manfred wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What is exactly the problem with individual apps in your opinion? This not a weird jab, I'm actually curious.

What's the problem with using one app for all audio files? I don't see why a user should be forced to use different apps depending on the type of the audio content.

Because there are specialization that are important. Longer form audio generally requires a more robust set of controls for chapters, audio playback speed, timed skips and resume than a bog standard audio player. Not to mention that a podcast player is going to need functionality for finding new podcasts, displaying information both at a podcast level and individual episode level, providing some kind of way to 'subscribe' and thus download said podcast (for offline listening) or stream it on the fly.

General tools are great and I'm never going to argue that there should not be generalized tools (like say a VLC), but specialized tools are also great and should be encouraged where they make sense. To me the differences between listening to music and listening to audiobooks or podcasts are different.

Re: How iTunes Is Changing on PC

#194

Post by CharlesW »

dddddaviddddd wrote: post #172
at_a_remove wrote: post #109

Someone local has some kind of i-device (iPod? iTouch? He doesn't remember) from which he would like to extract copies of the music on it. I'm not even sure what to do. I have heard so many horror stories of iTunes just trashing libraries ... I'm not even sure what I would search for in terms of Windows software or what kind of cable I would need. And Apple's branding is so ... operationally overloaded, overlapping,…

Apple's software won't let you do that, you'll need something third-party. If you're lucky, the device will be old enough to jailbreak to get full access to the file system.

> Apple's software won't let you do that…

I believe that's incorrect: https://support.apple.com/guide/itunes/transfer-files-itns32...

Also see: https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/transfer-music-ipod-computer/

Re: How iTunes Is Changing on PC

#195

Post by abhinavk »

sleepybrett wrote: post #184
refulgentis wrote: post #178

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've never 100% understood it either, the only steelman I've been able to come up with over years is most people are like me and lose or damage the wireless earbuds every 6-12 months. I'm lucky enough to be a yuppie tech nerd with disposable income to treat it as a fact of life. Whereas for them it feels like a forced march to spend $150 every year.

> Whereas for them it feels like a forced march to spend $150 every year. Except that you are not, there exists a 8-10$ dongle from apple for lightning to headphone and, i just had to check, there exists a usb-c to headphone dongle for the same price range if you happen to have the newest gen phone. So instead it's a forced march to buy a new dongle if you happen to lose your cheap wired headphones/earbuds, assuming…

Everything else aside, the DAC in Apple's USB-C/Lightning-to-3.5mm adapter is phenomenal for the price.

Re: How iTunes Is Changing on PC

#196

Post by Auracle »

tfandango wrote: post #79

I hope ability to get photos off iPhones is improved. I can NEVER get it to fully work for more than a few pictures. I know we are supposed to sync them to the cloud now but it's nice to be able to put them on the big drive on the PC sometimes too.

SimpleTransfer works well, though I have mine automatically sync to my Synology NAS using their Photos program.

Re: How iTunes Is Changing on PC

#197

Post by refulgentis »

philwelch wrote: post #185
refulgentis wrote: post #177

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They mean that 20 years ago I was really into music blogs and videos and tagging and getting videos onto my iPod to the point it's literally what got me into programming: step by step, shitty AppleScript to set up auto convert + add to iTunes flows, compiling C to get the latest HandBrake that could do non-DVDs... Now it's too easy: I have the absolutely fantastic experience of having infinite music in my hand on dem…

Maybe as you matured and developed more responsibilities as life went on, you had less time and energy to invest in music as a serious hobby. This is a normal development.

I checked in with the poster: they got oddly indignant about it and claimed they knew themselves well and they meant their comment. I asked for more concrete proof that their lifestyle hadn't changed significantly and they refused.

Re: How iTunes Is Changing on PC

#198

Post by minimaul »

missjellyfish wrote: post #15

I like how they fail to mention that the Apple Music App on Windows is hot garbage riddled with bugs. A few weeks ago they broke reordering of upcoming songs, the "play next" feature and I don't know what else. I have submitted bug reports with exact steps, reproducible on at least two accounts on five different conmputers. Haven't heared back, doubt I'll ever will. Anyone can recommend a streaming service that isn't…

I can’t do the most basic of tasks on Apple Music on my Windows PC - I literally can’t play music!

I’ve tried:

- redownloading the app

- deleting all local state in the Music folder

- logging out of my account, and logging back in

- deauthorising my PC, then reauthorising it

It just never starts playback, no matter what I do!

Cider works fine. The Music apps on my phone and Mac work fine. Very weird.

edit: plus, they have a lot of problems with music artists getting mixed together - if an artist has a common name, say “Ray”, you’ll see music from other artists with the same name mixed in. Apple’s support totally disclaim responsibility and said I should contact the record label to get them to correct it. This is absolutely ridiculous, and the record label predictably doesn’t care. It ruins recommendations :/

Re: How iTunes Is Changing on PC

#199

Post by sleepybrett »

prmoustache wrote: post #148
gempir wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I hate Spotify Podcasts with a passion. The UI is lackluster, since it's just the same one from the normal Spotify Music experience. Because they bought Joe Rogan they had to add video too and video is horribly implemented. There isn't even an obvious way to turn it off. I consider myself tech-savy but I gave up trying to turn off and just switched to Apple Podcasts. Podcasts and Music are not the same. Please if you…

> Podcasts and Music are not the same. Not a spotify nor Apple Music/Podcast/itunes user here. Aren't both audio stuff where you press play, pause, stop, rewind and fast forward? The only difference I can think of is that you might sometimes want to accelerate playback of podcasts but that doesn't mean it can't exist in the same player.

Podcast apps, good ones, have many features you don't need in a simple app like a winamp or vlc.

1) An online catalog of series that is searchable (probably both by name and topic and participants).

2) That catalog must contain metadata both at a series level and an episode level.

3) That online catalog must also be navigable without search, of course.

4) Ability to subscribe to any given series and for the app to have an option to pre-cache an episode for offline use.

5) Several content controls that aren't really required for music listening but are must haves for podcasts such as timed skips (30s, 60s) and playback speed adjustment (only useful in a music player where you probably want to do beat matching).

I think the biggest differentiator though is the episode/series catalog. It makes podcasts actually discoverable.

Re: How iTunes Is Changing on PC

#200

Post by refulgentis »

crazygringo wrote: post #180
refulgentis wrote: post #177

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They mean that 20 years ago I was really into music blogs and videos and tagging and getting videos onto my iPod to the point it's literally what got me into programming: step by step, shitty AppleScript to set up auto convert + add to iTunes flows, compiling C to get the latest HandBrake that could do non-DVDs... Now it's too easy: I have the absolutely fantastic experience of having infinite music in my hand on dem…

> The foraging made it a hobby and intellectually stimulating Funny, I get a far superior foraging experience exploring radio stations based on obscure artists and other people's playlists. I don't understand how the friction of having to build programming tools made your music experience better. And I truly don't understand how making things easier leads to you losing touch with music. Maybe it's more just a functio…

I checked in with the poster, they got oddly upset, shook their head and started mumbling under the breath: "no, _DVDs_, handbrake. the programming was for iTunes movies". Then they spoke more clearly: "no, my lifestyle hasn't changed, and no I won't prove it, even if I wanted to, I don't understand the idea of strangers telling me my lifestyle changed and that's why I don't read Pitchfork anymore"
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