Why Apple Should Completely Overhaul iTunes

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Hardly anyone would dispute the fact that iTunes is Apple's most confusing and overloaded app. For many years, the media combine has been rearranged up and down, either gaining new functions or losing them. You can't darn Frankenstein's monster endlessly, and someday Apple will still have to remake iTunes from scratch. It seems that this moment is already close, and here's why.

It is believed that iTunes would benefit from dividing it into several parts, each of which would be responsible for its own set of tasks. And you'd be right if you say that Apple has already implemented this - in iOS. At first glance, this seems logical and correct, but in fact, such a decision will only complicate the entire ecosystem.

We share

Now iTunes serves to play media files (including music, radio, movies, audiobooks), sync with iOS devices, make purchases from Apple digital stores and download content from iTunes U. seven new apps:

• Music - for managing your library, using Apple Music, and listening to Beats 1;
• "Video" - which will collect films, clips and series;
• iTunes Store - for purchasing music and movies;
• App Store - for purchasing iOS applications and games;
• iTunes U - for viewing educational content (most likely combined with a store);
• Podcasts - for downloading and listening to podcasts.

Reducing

This model is justified on iOS, where we have to work in a very limited screen space. In OS X, this doesn't make sense at all, since the Mac application interface allows you to conveniently perform many related tasks. But there is another problem - some content can be attributed to several applications at once. What about clips, for example? After all, now they belong to both "Video" and "Music".

The conclusion suggests itself that applications that perform similar tasks need to be combined. Based on this, our list is reduced to four items and contains the following appendices:

• "Media" is an application for music, radio, clips, podcasts and films;
• utility for synchronizing media content on iOS devices;
• iTunes Store for purchasing music and videos (and possibly podcasts);
• App Store for purchasing iOS applications.

Reducing further

Since the iOS Device Sync Manager is the only app for transferring apps to iPhone and iPad, it can be merged with the App Store. Minus one more item on our list, in total we get three applications:

• "Media" is an application for music, radio, clips, podcasts and films;
• utility for managing iOS devices and downloading mobile applications;
• iTunes Store to buy music and movies.

AND…

Now comes the fun part. All three things are not separate applications, but one. And we call it iTunes. Like it or hate it, the one-app approach for all needs works.

The idea of having separate apps for different tasks is tempting, but trust me, it's a very bad idea. Seven, four or even three applications will take up space in the dock, consume resources and crash much more often than one. You will quickly become confused and tired of having to deal with all of them.

I'm not saying iTunes is good as it stands. Not at all. For 15 years, Apple has heaped up in it such that for further development it is necessary to completely abandon previous developments and create it from scratch. But I also want the new iTunes to be one, cohesive application. If you take the current functionality of iTunes and just break it down into three separate pieces, the app just becomes three times as awkward.

Apple please drop an atomic bomb on iTunes, but for heaven's sake, don't complicate things when you create a replacement. ?