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by vvvvvvvvvvvvv
896 days ago
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Why do want to continue using iTunes? (also off-topic) I inquire because I would actually like to do the same – newer versions of the Music app are a usability and visual downgrade. Album view, for example, only shows six fixed-dimension covers, no matter how wide your screen is. Clicking on an album takes you to another screen – annoying! I just want to see the tracklist. I have a 2018 Macbook that's still running Mojave because I vastly prefer the UI overall. I pray for a UI refresh/patch every WWDC but Apple doesn't really seem to be taking it seriously. Sonoma is an improvement, but there are still so many inconsistent or unpolished areas of the post-Catalina interface style. The cyan-blue folders are still awful; filename selection highlights in Finder aren't centered; the taskbars have become comically large. Small details, but embarrassing for a company of such design pedigree. |
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But the other apps simply aren't as full-featured as iTunes; they align more with Apple's interests as an appliance maker and content vendor (original iTunes preceded the iTunes Store by several years). TV.app preserves some power-user features, like Smart Playlists, while stripping out basics like "Show In Finder". But the one that really grinds my gears is the way audiobooks have been shoe-horned into Books.app, with any semblance of user sovereignty removed.
Example: few years ago, I was planning a road trip, and wanted to quickly filter down a shortlist of audiobooks: "Unread, Genre: Science Fiction, Length < 12 hrs". Not only does the UI offer no affordances for that: it doesn't even display audiobook length, let alone allow sorting by it! I had to dig to find where the files are stored (in `~/Library/Containers`, with gibberish file names), then write a Bash script to `ffprobe` the files and parse the results. When audiobooks were managed by iTunes, this would have been trivial.