Using iTunes just got slightly less crappy.
Apple has pushed out iTunes 12.4 to the public bringing some minor design tweaks that makes Apple’s most contorted and bloated app ever a little bit easier to navigate.
Oh, and it might not destroy your music library anymore either.
iTunes 12.4 could include the promised fixes for an issue that caused some users’ music to get deleted. Apple has said that it wasn’t able to recreate the mysterious bug that Snopes declared mostly false, but the company said it would add extra safeguards to prevent your tunes from disappearing.
As for the design changes, Apple has reintroduced the sidebar which can be edited to show your favorite views. It’s much easier now to drag and drop songs over into a playlist. There’s a new media picker that makes it faster to switch between music, movies, TV shows and podcasts. The Menus have been simplified and are now customizable as well.
It’s not the complete overhaul iTunes needs, but it’s a step in the right direction.
You can grab iTunes 12.4 from the Mac App Store software update section, or download it directly from the iTunes page on Apple’s website.
Buster Hein is a freelance writer who lives in Phoenix, Arizona. Twitter: @bst3r.
5 responses to “iTunes 12.4 brings design tweaks to Apple’s most hated app”
“Most Hated App” — Buster, you’re writing like a click bait author and I’m getting very tired of it. I use iTunes every day to listen to my music collection and I have ZERO trouble with it. It’s NOT bloated or confusing or mystifying to me in any way. It doesn’t try to do too much and it’s absolutely NOT a problematic app. What the heck are you talking about?
FINALLY SOMEBODY SAYS IT!! Like who is having trouble??? Ive been using iTunes everyday since middle school, no problems to speak of.
Thanks for the backup Kostner. I keep seeing these articles about how bad iTunes is and how it needs a huge revamp, and I just don’t get it. iTunes is wonderful, and very simple and easy to use. It never feels cumbersome and behaves itself nicely. I’ve seen some authors saying that Apple should split iTunes up into several programs that individually handle videos, music, podcasts and iBooks. What a nightmare of confusion that would be! Right now, iTunes is compact and allows me to do everything related to consumable media. Great job Apple!!! Granted, there appears to be a very small number of people affected by the “music deletion” glitch, however, I’m more inclined to think that this was most likely user error rather than iTunes fault — especially because Apple engineers haven’t been able to duplicate the gitch.
“Mostly” false? In other words, true?
Ironically, I never harboured any negative feelings toward iTunes. That is until this latest release. Why the hell won’t Apple let me decide whether or not to use the sidebar. Give me the damn option to show or hide it! Worst UI change of all is the stupid way I now have to select to view my apps, music, movies, etc.! What the hell was wrong with the individual (customizable) buttons? Now I’m FORCED to go through the stupid pulldown to select where I want to be. WTF Apple? Someone get me Tim Cook’s email!