It’s been six months since Apple unveiled iTunes 12, the latest version of its multimedia mega-app. Updates since then have been few and far between, but today Apple released the first big one: iTunes 12.1, which introduced a swank new media control widget for Notification Center.
As you might expect, the Notification Center widget allows you to fully control iTunes without switching directly to the app. It includes the usual back, forward, pause and play buttons, as well as a time scrubber, the name of the artist and the title of the track. And if you’re playing iTunes Radio? You can favorite songs and purchase the currently playing song with a single click.
In look and execution, it’s a lot like the media controls on the iOS Lock Screen. Revolutionary? No. But anything that stops you from having to look at the bloated and confusing iTunes app is probably a net win.
The iTunes 12.1 update is available for both Windows and Mac, although obviously you only get the Notification Center widget on Mac. Other additions include syncing speed improvements for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. You can update your software to the latest version through the Updates tab on the Mac App Store.
John Brownlee is a writer for Fast Company, and a contributing writer here at CoM. He has also written for Wired, Playboy, Boing Boing, Popular Mechanics, VentureBeat, and Gizmodo. He lives in Boston with his wife and two parakeets. You can follow him here on Twitter.
12 responses to “iTunes 12.1 gives Mac users a sexy new Notification Center widget”
You can’t use the widget without opening iTunes…kind of a bummer.
Well, it controls iTunes, so of course the iTunes app has to be running.
Not necessarily, the developers can enable it to read iTunes files/logs/database…etc. Then use quicktime to decode the audiophiles and play it.
As a remote, it is a fail. It can’t even open iTunes and play a song when the play button is pressed, and the only thing it added that was useful is a slider. The “widget” is a joke.
Do you mean the MiniPlayer? That needs iTunes to be open as well. Not saying this is the best, they definitely could improve upon it a lot. (like include the ability to rate music & maybe optional cover art)
Like the minelayer, but does not require iTunes to be open. It can operate independently, but is linked to iTunes.
Long time iTunes user here. Letting my iTunes Match subscription runout this year. It was nice but I use Spotify so much now iTunes has really taken a back seat. Beats Music is just awful. I hope we see an overhaul this year because I really like having all my media in one place.
Here’s some of the things I want in iTunes.
1. A better interfaces that’s easier to read. The top bar is too small and hard to read on a 27inch screen and it lacks colorful icons, etc.
2. Automatic Audio/MIDI switching. I collect 24 Bit sound files and in order to play them, I have to use a 3rd party player app that automatically switches bit/sample rates.
3. DSD, DXD, Flac support. They need to realize that people are actually collecting these file formats and Apple needs to support them. PERIOD.
4. Maybe license IsoTrope software.
5. They might want to investigate Meridian MQA technology to see if that’s something they want to support.
6. They need to fix the ability to add artwork to files. there are some files that I have that simply can’t have the artwork added and the file types are just AIFF files.
7. The iOS version just sucks. It needs to be a lot better.
They need to get rid of the group that’s already been developing iTunes and start fresh. Sorry guys, I just aren’t digging the iTunes app.
I subscribed to Match this year, to standardise my music and improve the quality. I hope they open Match up to Film. iTunes is heading in the right direction. My problem is with iOS. Why can’t my iOS play lists be saved in iCloud and synced to iTunes?
I think you might need to talk to Apple about your issue so they can help you deal with iTunes on your OS X computer and your iDevices. iTunes Match doesn’t necessarily improve the sound quality of your music unless you have a crappy version that’s worse than AAC.
Is there a setting somewhere to enable the controls in Not.Center? I just get what song is playing and no controls. Help. Thanks.
Having the same issue here. Just the song. iTunes is open but all I see is the current song, no controls.
Found it. I had to go into “Today” in the Notification Panel and added it at the bottom. It’s there now, not in the Notifications Tab but in the Today Tab.