When Apple released iTunes 12 alongside OS X Yosemite, the update was
a major breakthrough with changes to functionality that users had been
accustomed to for many years. While many of those changes were for the
better, they can take some getting used to. Here, we take a close look
at everything new in iTunes 12 and answer users' most-asked questions.How to access Music, TV shows, apps, and more without the sidebar
From the very first version of iTunes there was always a sidebar allowing users to jump directly to the iTunes Store, Library, Playlists, etc. But in iTunes 11 Apple hid the sidebar in favor of a new jump bar system, and in iTunes 12, the sidebar was removed completely.
You navigate around iTunes by clicking one of the items in the top jump bar (located below the now playing / control bar). To the left of the jump bar, you'll see icons for "Music," "Movies," "TV Shows," and a more button that opens a popover revealing "Podcasts," "iTunes U," "Audiobooks," "Apps," "Tones," and "Internet Radio."
By clicking the "Edit" button at the bottom of the list, you can set the items that you want to appear in this area of the jump bar. Moving on to the middle of the jump bar, you'll notice the context buttons. These buttons will change based on which media you're currently browsing. For instance, if Music is selected, then options for "My Music," "Playlists," "Match," "Radio," and "iTunes Store" are presented in this middle area of the bar.
This jump bar serves as the main navigational aid while using iTunes, and replaces the older sidebar.
How to access the iTunes Music Store
In previous versions of iTunes, there was a special button that could be clicked to navigate the iTunes Store. With iTunes 12, the store is a more integrated experience.
Whenever you click on one of the media buttons in the jump bar (Music, Movies, TV Shows, etc.), the middle contextual buttons will change and one the options will be "iTunes Store."
Clicking on the iTunes Store button loads the iTunes Store for the media type that was selected in the jump bar. Once the store has been loaded for a particular media type, you can click another media type in the jump bar to load the store for that media (Music, Movies, TV Shows, Podcasts, etc.).
Where's the Internet Radio stations?
In Previous versions of iTunes, clicking on "Radio" in the sidebar loaded the Internet Radio directory where you could peruse various Internet radio stations. But in iTunes 12, "Radio" now means "iTunes Radio" instead.
To get to the plain old Internet radio stations, you'll need to select "Internet Radio" from the media options in left of the jump bar. If you do not see Internet Radio, it can be enabled by ensuring that iTunes > Preferences > Parental has the option for "Disable Internet Radio" unchecked.
Where are my devices?
Whenever you connect a device to iTunes (or have iTunes Wi-Fi syncing enabled), it will appear in one of two places: You can access the device currently connected via the File > Devices menu; or, for the standard iTunes device-configuration panel, select a device from the jump bar.
Devices appear in the jump bar to the right of the media option icons. When multiple devices are connected, selecting the icon will show a list of the ones you can choose from. When only one device is connected, clicking on the its icon jumps directly into the configuration panel.
Inside of the device configuration panel, things have largely remained the same, except top items move to a sidebar (for items like Summary Apps, Music, etc.). The settings panel is divided into two groups in the sidebar: Settings and On My Device. Settings lets you configure items pertaining to particular media while the icons in the On My Device section let you see the items currently synced to your device.
Using the "Up Next" feature to make an on-the-fly playlist
iTunes 12 includes a feature called "Up Next" to create an instant playlist, and interject songs into that playlist at any time. Begin by playing a song, then locate another track you'd like to play after the current song has finished. Drag and drop the new song onto the "Now Playing" area in the iTunes control bar. You can continue doing this, and the songs will stack up to create an instant playlist that isn't saved.
Click the small list icon in the right side of the Now Playing bar to see the Up Next playlist that was created. You can delete the list by clicking the Clear button at the top.
Using the MiniPlayer and search
iTunes 12 features a new and redesigned MiniPlayer. Users can get to the new MiniPlayer by selecting Window > MiniPlayer.
In
this new view, album artwork takes center stage, letting you see a
large version of the image for the currently playing song. When you
mouse over the MiniPlayer window, the controls fade into focus, letting
you pause, play, adjust volume, and change the song.The MiniPlayer is more useful than ever before. You can easily get more details about the currently playing song by clicking on the More button at the top of the screen to get the contextual menu for the song.
If you want to change songs, there is no need to switch back to the standard view. Instead, search for a song, artist, or album right from the search button in the MiniPlayer. Double-click on any song or album you wish to play without leaving the smaller player controller.
Keyboard shortcuts to get around iTunes
Navigating around the new version of iTunes is a little easier with the jump bar, but Apple added some new keyboard shortcuts to make jumping to the various media types much easier. You can cycle through the various media types (Music, Movies, TV Shows, etc.) by holding the Command key and pressing the numbers 1-9 on your keyboard.Here's an iTunes shortcuts cheat sheet:
- Command + 1 : Music
- Command + 2 : Movies
- Command + 3 : TV Shows
- Command + 4 : Podcasts
- Command + 5 : iTunes U
- Command + 6 : Audiobooks
- Command + 7 : Apps
- Command + 8 : Tones
- Command + 9 : Internet Radio
