Apples iTunes 4.0 software with the iTunes Music Store was released on 2003 and it makes you wonder what is next for the worlds best digital jukebox. Apple released iTunes 4.5 late spring of 2004 and added a better iTunes store, Party Shuffle, Apple Lossless audio codec, and a few minor upgrades. iTunes 4.7 ads support for Apples new iPods U2, photo and shuffle. I find it amazing that almost two years have gone by and we are running iTunes 4.7.1. It seems we would be at five by now and why didnt Apple release iTunes 05 at the Macworld conference? Some can argue it is a free application due to the iTunes Music Stores income which fuels iTunes development so Apple is welcome to update the jukebox anytime they want.
It makes you wonder what will Apple add to the next iTunes. ITunes has so much to offer but yet so much is still missing that users have been requesting for years and the look and feel of iTunes needs a major overhaul. The quote, if it aint broke, dont fix it, may work in this situation but with every iApp receiving overhauls in the past two years, Apple needs something innovative that will make the jukebox even more appealing. There is a fine line between an overhaul and feature addition since changing the software is risky because with so many users of iTunes, Apple poses a risk of outcry against the change, which could result in fewer sales on the iTunes Music Store. Of course, since users all have their songs in AAC codec, use an iPod and there is no other music store for the Mac that works with iPod so we are all screwed especially if Apple makes the application a pay one.
So lets say that Apple does change iTunes. What are some outdated things that need work? For one, the interface is overrun with buttons features we dont need. I would like to see the playlist area hideaway similar to how the Browse button works; there only when you need it. I know a few users that dont use playlists. I never used them until I got an iPod and on my computer, I put it on shuffle and hit play and dont use the playlists. Apple could also make the buttons for Shuffle, Repeat, Add Playlist and Show / Hide artwork button a drop down menu or dashboard accessible widget to select. I like in iTunes 4.7 the addition of an iPod menu for additional features instead of the old menu. Users of QuickTime Pro know about the Brightness, Contrast, Sharpness controls by hitting command + K. Apple could add that to iTunes for the Equalizer. A pop up semi-transparent menu that looks like the current equalizer would save screen space and make users feel like they are using the same application instead of a foreign separate window. If they dont use equalizer, a user wont even know it is there.
More on the visual interface, iTunes could be skinned. We know Apple wont do that but it would be nice to have a skinnable look. I honestly get tired or Brushed metal day after day but Apple has its ways. The icons for playlists, buttons and such need a drastic overhaul including Apples iTunes icon. We have had the same green icon since version 3. Versions 1 and 2 were pink and purple icons and we went green in 2003 and never looked back. These are small pet peeves but a change is due. The way songs are presented as text is boring and although I cant come up with a new way to do it, I would like to see a change in song lists. Perhaps adding different colors for higher rated songs, or those with high play counts.
On the backend, iTunes has the same sound processing plugins it had since version 2. Sound Enhancer, Sound Check, Crossfade and Equalizer. Perhaps adding a Logic pro inspired feature with plugins that make your sound wet, dry, large / small room and so on. Many people are plugging their Macs to stereos and home entertainment centers via cable or Airport Express w/ AirTunes. It would be used by a small group but would make some users happy. Sound Enhancer needs an update as well. I use a third party plugin for iTunes called Volume Logic. It makes any song sound wonderful and you can set it like an equalizer for different genres of music. Once you have the plugin enabled, it is difficult to go back to basic Equalizer and Sound Enhancer.
The way we organize music is more and more difficult every time I get a new CD. I have almost six thousand songs in my iTunes library and finding one to listen to is difficult so I just hit the Random button or organize the library by Date Added and listen to my latest songs because I have songs in my library I am tired of and tend to skip more than I listen to. Apple should add a hierarchical view in the Playlists area that enables Playlist grouping. You can create a group called, Favorites and put your top 25 songs, favorite love songs, dance, hip hop and movie soundtrack theme songs. The list is yours to make but grouping them together would be great for users with tons of playlists. I was connected to someones library via Airport and saw they had hundreds of playlists for only ten thousand songs. I was amazed how they even navigate those playlists.
Also, you can organize songs one way. You can sort them by name, artist, genre, album, year, type and more. What if I want to hear all songs by Michael Jackson organized by year. I would have to create a playlist with all Michael Jackson songs and then sort by year. I could save time by having two sort bars at the top of the screen. The top bar would be general organization. The second would look the same but would organize those songs. You could organize all songs by Genre then all genres organized by Artist. All Oldies songs would be in order and each artist would be in order in that genre or year, album, whatever. I proposed this idea in an old article but is a feature I would really like to have. I also think you should be able to save a search in iTunes to a playlist. I feel this will be added with Tigers spotlight technology and is only a matter of time since Tigers Finder can already do this.
Another feature of iTunes that has not seen an update since version 2 is the Visual Effects mode. I remember reading significant improvements to visual effects in the Read Me of iTunes 2.0.1 but that is the last time it has received updates. There are many downloads to add to this feature but they are all crappy so some new ones would be great for the next version of the jukebox. Apple can do so much with the next iTunes. They will not implement all of these ideas but I can bet some will be added either for usefulness or just wow factor. We should expect it side by side with the 5th generation iPod sometime between now and May.