Results tagged “itunes” from Missing Manuals Blog

Greetings from Macworld!

OK, that's not exactly true. I was keeping the Missing Manuals fort warm in Cambridge, Mass. today while many of you were in the Moscone Center in San Francisco for Macworld. Hopefully those of you who are out there are checking out the many great authors at our O'Reilly booth.

I, of course, wasn't the only one who wasn't at the show. Apple CEO Steve Jobs, just in case you hadn't heard, also passed on the event citing health issues.

So here I sat, watching literally hundreds of tweets fly by during today's keynote address, led by Phil Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of worldwide product marketing.

My intention was to pluck some of the best tweets and do another "missing feature" post. But, quite simply, I couldn't keep up. There were so many people twittering about the keynote that it dominated Twitter's Trending topics list.

At its peak, those topics were

• Macworld
• iWork
• DRM
• iTunes
• DRM-Free
• #macworld
• Apple
• iLife
• MacBook Pro
• MBP

In journalism, they talk about the "Five W's" (Who, What, When, Where and Why) which are the questions you answer to write a story. But this is 140-character Twitter, so I revised the plan and went with just two W's: "Wow" and "Why."

Wow!

Many people who were impressed with features they liked from the keynote included a "wow" in their tweets.

chris24 was impressed with the new 17-inch MacBook Pro.

Many, including jamesbressi, Thracks, sowens, and dlodewyk gave a big "wow" to the news that Garageband is set to include "lessons" from celebrity artists including Sting and Sarah McLachlan.

Twitterers weren't quite as busy saying "wow" to the news about iTunes ditching its digital rights management (DRM) restrictions. That's probably because the complexity of the deal takes a couple minutes to sink in. By the end of March, Apple said there will be three pricing levels (69 cents, 99 cents and $1.29) and users with existing iTunes libraries can pay to upgrade their music to DRM-free versions.

Following the news, thepixelpuncher appeared pleased with his procrastination. "Glad he waited to spend his gift card to the itunes store."

Why

This was far from an earth-shaking keynote address, as there was nothing on the level of an iPhone being introduced, or even updated one for that matter.

A search of the "why" tweets included some interesting feature requests and laments.

aulia asked "Why aren't Apple integrating iWork.com into MobileMe? Where are the promised additional MobileMe modules?"

fafner was one of many who lamented the absence of a Snow Leopard announcement "I just wonder why they didn't introduce Snow Leopard. Basically the only disappointing thing about this Philnote."

sib1013 doesn't necessarily think bigger is better when it comes to Apple's 17-inch MacBook Pro laptop with an extended, non-removable, 8-hour battery. "Why can't I get a 15" version of new MacBook Pro (extended batt, hi-res matte screen, ...)? I don't want a huge freakin' laptop!"

aulia was fairly fixated on Apple's new iWork '09 and announced iWork.com web site. "Why aren't Apple integrating iWork.com into MobileMe? Where are the promised additional MobileMe modules?"

[Speaking of iWork, this is a good time to "re-tweet" ourselves. Many of you have been asking for an iWork book from Missing Manuals for some time, and with the advent of iWork '09, we are happy to say that this is on the way. We can't say when yet, but we will keep you posted.]

PawLuxury doesn't deny that there were letdowns, but thinks some people need to take a deep breath. "Many were looking for iphone 2.3 update...This is why Apple is pulling out... We expect too much...Let them make it right, no rush"

The common theme of the day appeared to be the absence of Jobs. Many, like jamesbressi were defiantly predicting a surprise from Steve. "You will hear "one more thing" and Steve Jobs takes stage :) Out in style. He is a rock star."

No incorrect prediction, however, was more entertaining than that of kenyatta, who was "half expecting Steve Jobs to make a surprise #macworld appearance to announce his full recovery & a new product called iMmortal."

Roundup

ecc1977 #macworld keynote didn't disappoint me as much as others. all the things i use (iLife, iWork, and iTunes) got updated.

drcongo @peterandall no OpenDocument support as far as I can see on the site. That makes them as bad as Microsoft. #apple #iwork #macworld

zackmcdougall GarageBand '09 makes me want to start using it. New Learn to Play feature. Artists like Sara McLaughlin and Sting show you how! #mwsf09

TimRogers @jayen #mwsf09 Apple would make an absolute killing from doing GarageBand on Windows.

OmegaSpreem Numbers 09 will be more like Excel, less like Lotus Improv. Yaaaay. #Macworld

wpgrant Am I the only one who thinks iWork = Keynote? Numbers and Pages is not for me, good for a home user maybe. #mwsf09

shtikl Guess I am the only one on Twitter who thinks that iPhoto 09 rocks, and Pages w/ iWork.com and EndNote is a gamechanger. #macworld

We're back with some more dips into the Twitterverse. And man, is that space large and growing. It is impossible to find everything people are talking about out there, which is our way of reminding you to follow us on Twitter (@missingmanuals), or comment below to share the Missing Features you'd like to see.

iPhone-related requests continue to dominate

Multi-tasking with Pandora What's better than an iPhone app? Multiple apps running at the same time.

We've been noticing a rise in requests for multi-tasking on the iPhone, with the online radio service Pandora being the common denominator. @pgkiran and @meg624 echo the sentiments of @kessler, who wrote "Really wish Pandora could run in the background on the iPhone. I want to listen to jams and tweet at the same time. Arghh."

Picture this The camera and accompanying software for the iPhone has motiviated some to ask for even more functionality. @samuelcotterall, after using CameraBag wants an iPhone camera that is more than 2 megapixels.
@coolgrljen wants to camera to have zoom.

Meantime, @jasonfried might have stumbled onto a business opportunity. "I wish you could order framed prints from iPhoto. Just a few simple frame options. Simple wood, simple metal. A couple colors. The basics."

Twitteriffic has a lot of fans There's many ways to tweet, but one popular service for iPhone users is Twitterific. While popular, people like @bobreturns (sync Twitterific to an iPhone and a Mac) and @forbetaorworse (make Twitterific "always scrolls to the most recent tweet") have some improvements. @ampersandee, would like Twitterific to help achieve a workaround to the lack of Flash support on iPhones. "Wish there was a *quick* way - in Twitteriffic on the iPhone - to send a tweet for later review on computer (eg. link to flash content)."

We've been busy at Missing Manuals, working on several upgrades. While we're still in the middle of that, we have begun using Twitter. You can follow us at http://twitter.com/missingmanuals, but you should know that we're also following many of you.

Every day, more and more people are posting feature requests for what they'd like to see their products and software contain and do. We've collected some of them and plan to periodically showcase them in this space. If you'd like to make us aware of features you'd like to see, feel free to post in our comments section or tweet @missingmanuals or #mmfeature and we'll be sure to add you to the list of candidates.

I love my iPhone, but ...

People love their iPhones, that much we already knew. But they would love them even more if they had a few enhancements.

Flash - @DogHouse is one of many who asked out loud for iPhone to support Flash, which it currently does not: "Shoot! The debate is starting and I'm not home. Glad I'm recording it. I wish iPhone supported Flash, then I could watch on myspace." Similar requests were made by @wuperruper, @adamengst, @twittem, @DrJohnnySpin and @jessejanderson.

Apps - There are a wide variety of Apps requests as well, including Google Analytics (@joshmishell), green apps (@mylifebynorules) and the ability of the iPhone to "detect how hard you tap, for a velocity-sensitive musical instrument app " (@mike3k).

@dmetzcher hopes the YouTube app can become just "Web video" in order to "support Viddler and others."

Apple's App Store has gained just as much attention as the apps themselves and @ericsuh hopes they loosen up the reigns a bit in the future, saying "I really wish the iPhone App Store had more shareware, especially since the user experience is such an important criterion."

@Javadog, meantime, is looking for a "'serious' iPhone app comparison site. Like, which one of the dozen ambient sound apps is better and why."

Etc. At least two Twitterers (@feliciaday and
@cupcakey88) are waiting to be able to play World of Warcraft in their iPhone, three requested keyboards for it (@lionchild, @kcnickerson, and @cherp) while @tdhurst had might night be available for a couple editions: "I very much wish my iPhone had a breathalyzer."

Roundup

Below are more iPhone requests, as well as hopes for Excel, Facebook, iPhoto, iPod, iTunes, Leopard, Outlook, Photoshop, Typepad, Windows Vista, and Visual Studio:

"i wish there was a google analytics app for iphone." - @joshmishell

"Wish the iPhone map app could sync my custom maps with google" - @marcusramberg

"I detest safari on iPhone/ipod touch's auto-refresh feature. With a passion. Wish I could turn it off." - @sarahintampa

"What is the first thing you say to a friend who just got an iPhone? for me "don't believe the battery meter" Wish it was something different" - @ianfinity

"@fteter iPhone is great just wish I could sync with my work calendar" - @timdexter

"Really wish iPhone would learn words that weren't in it's dictionary. It always thinks words I use are typos and auto corrects them. Rea ..." - @CompanyConvos

"I know this sounds backwards, but I wish there was someway to remotely control my iPhone's iPod via iTunes / my Mac." - @tollie

"I really wish I could easily listen to podcast on my iPhone without using iTunes or another feed reader. Come on Apple, loosen up! Sheesh." - @thepete

"I wish iTunes would show me what percent of my iPhone backup time was for each application. Someone adding an hour to my backup == DELETED!" - @joshlewis

"I wish the iPhone would save my iTunes store password. I hate continuously entering it in." - @kittygutz

"The Great iPhone wish list Having used the iPhone for about a month there’s a few things that I fin.. http://tinyurl.com/3w6637 @vkoser

"I wish I could get a lesser plan on my iPhone. 450 minutes? I used 33 this month, and my bill is coming up next week." - @kniob

"Kinda wish I could use iPhone remote to control the iPod in my glovebox" - @kitchen

"Just did a restore on an iPod shuffle. That took about 2 seconds. Wish an iPhone restore was that fast!" - @jphil301

"Wish there was an on-screen indicator that silent mode was on on my iPhone..missed some called 'cause I had forgotten to turn the ringer on." - @erlingmork

"I wish every app on the iPhone could do wide screen. Seems like safari is the only app" - @brendonvh

"i wish seesmic made a Qik style application on iPhone or something similar, cmon Loic!!!" - @alexiaco

"I wish there a mobile skype that runs on BB or iPhone that only uses your data connection" - @Shadowz

"@fraserspeirs also wish iPhone had programable text shortcuts, on my BlackBerry I coded things like "zzt" to add a "thanks" email signature" - @extraspecial

"I really wish the iPhone had a system-wide snippet insertion method. For example, typing my email address to log into every website sucks." - @fraserspeirs

"@jiparker I wish I could schedule recording stuff on TiVo via my iphone..:)" - @umaparker

"I wish I could delete tweets on the iPhone!" - @bhays81

"I wish I could type in landscape mode on the iPhone." - @freitag

"@indieradiochatt Damn I wish my iPhone had WMA streaming support for one more reason." - @ZicklePop

"Trying to decide if the iPhone is for me, already have an iPod, wish the iTouch had GPS." - @GaffR

Excel

"I wish Excel 2008 would spell check as I typed." - @TwisterMc

Facebook / Social Networking sites

"adding people's photos and additional details to my address book from facebook. i wish there was a contact export feature." - @naterkane

"One of the things I like about LinkedIn is that you can always see what "non-registered users" see. I wish all SM sites had that feature." - @gahlord

iPhoto

"iPhoto ’09 wish list • Perspective correction. </list> @ahruman

"It's my daughter's turn with the sharing bucket, so I'm building a collage for her to share. Wish iPhoto did this or that I knew PS better." - @cozthegrov

"Moving older photos out of iPhoto library onto an external drive to free up laptop drive space. Wish there was a better way." - @RandomDude

iPod

"I wish my iPod touch had copy/paste capabilities :(" - @_Darryl

"I wish ipod had a longer charging cable. Hospital bed isn't close enough to a socket to use while plugged in :(" - @wowpoetry

"i wish the iPod had a delete option for songs and a reverse sync with the album - my collection would've been a lot cleaner that ways." - @prsn

"Since I bought my iPod Touch, I've found myself using my MacBook less. Portable internet is just so cool! Wish it could display Flash, tho." - @grace2design

"I wish iPod touch could use the location feature, or at least let me SET my location. Otherwise it's a nice iTunes remote." - @Yourbrokenoven

"dear apple, next ipod wish - bluetooth, with waterproof around ear headphones." - @samirb

"It sucks being in traffic by yourself. I wish my ipod could talk to me. :(" - @ohhayitssarah

"Two things I wish the iPod touch had. 1.) iChat. 2.) A microphone. Skype any one?" - @Xela501

"I wish Loopt worked on my iPod Touch ... :(" - @laughinglizard

"I wish my ipod was synced with my brain and i would play the songs i think of. Get on it steve jobs." - @shannnon

"Wish I could script my iPod to open Wi-Fi, update Mail, Twitter and one web page. All scheduled daily, before I depart for my morning train." - @aidenkenny

iTunes

"really wish iTunes had a folder watch feature" - @shuag

"is impressed with iTunes' new "Genius" feature. Wish it included tracks beyond my library, but helpful in remembering good music I have." - @sethjames

"Really diggin' iTunes' Genius feature, but I really wish I could designate start, ending, and unlimited through- points. THAT would be nice." - @greghuntoon

"I really wish iTunes would add a Pandora client as part of their Radio feature." - @BrentN

Leopard

"in leopard i wish there was a way to hide other app windows for a *space*" - @bryanl

"Man, I really wish Leopard's finder had Drop Stacks like Path Finder." - @epilnivek

"I wish leopard's Quick Look showed all file types correctly. Don't get em wrong, I LOVE quick look, but some files just don't show up right." - @Heartagram

Outlook

"I wish outlook had an obvious "delete calnedar entries earlier than..." feature" - @MrGuilt

Photoshop

"I wish there was a way to transfer Photoshop between OS's. Offer it for download and let owners transfer like they do their licence..." - @chrisgaunt

"Wish Adobe had a small bundle with just Photoshop and Illustrator. I don't need the other crap." - @dustinwilson

"Me "I wish there was a version of Photoshop without all the filters and wizards." Dan "Yeah, like a professional version."@thebigreason

"So the new Photoshop will have a Rotate Canvas feature. I wish the new Illustrator has it as well. If not, I'll to buy a Cintiq." - @BrianDenham

"The one feature I wish Photoshop Elements had is the ability to change the space between characters." - @nestep

Typepad

"@DowntownWoman I wish Typepad had "auto-save" feature. I've had that happen to me too. And I cursed in front of my kids too. ; )" - @ParentopiaDevra

Windows Vista

"Really wish WIndows Vista could REMEMBER my dual screen configuration." - @Finja

Visual Studio

"I wish there was a zoom feature in Visual Studio's designer view. The only way I know how to do it is to lower my resolution. Bad hack." - @wusher

Meet the Genius: Your Personalized Playlist Maker

Geniuses don't just hang out at the Apple Store. With iTunes 8, you get your very own music-mixing expert. Once activated, the new Genius Playlists feature whips up instant song lists in your iTunes library that, well, play nice together. You select a song and the Genius pulls together other tunes that it thinks groove well together.

To use it, click the "Turn On Genius" button on the right side of the iTunes window, or choose Store→Turn On Genius. Be prepared to type in your iTunes account name and password, though, because Apple needs to "gather information" about your iTunes library before making Genius work for you. Once Apple's finished analyzing your collection, click a song title in your library and then click the Genius button down at the bottom of the iTunes window. In a flash, iTunes rounds up at least 25 songs it thinks would sound great with the one you clicked. You can change the number of songs in the playlist and save it for posterity by clicking the buttons at the top of the window. These new playlists now sit alongside all your other lists on the left side of iTunes.

Buy, Buy, Baby!

Having to log into the iTunes Store and get your music collection analyzed makes perfect sense when you see what else the Genius can do. In the Genius Sidebar on the right side of the window, you also get cheerful recommendations of other songs and albums for sale in the iTunes Store that Apple thinks would sound just great on your playlists. If you have an Internet connection, this list changes each time your current song does. Each track has a convenient "Buy" button next to it; if you're prone to impulse shopping but don't want to max out your credit card, close the Genius Sidebar by clicking the small square icon underneath it at the bottom of the iTunes window.

On the Grid

The new Grid view in iTunes 8 turns the main window into a catalog of album covers that you can look at and sort by Album, Artist, Genre, and Composer. Whereas Cover Flow lets you "flip" from one album to the next, Grid view gives you a nice birds-eye view of a much larger assortment of your music. (Activate this view by clicking the box-of-6-squares icon, to the left of the Search box.) Click a cover in a particular view and then click the Play Album (or Artists, Genre, or Composer) icon that appears on the cover. Your music starts up, pronto. And if you find those album covers too large or too small, make them just right by moving the slider at the top of the Grid panel to resize 'em.

Revisit the Visualizer

If you feel like you've seen all the hippie, trippy patterns in the Visualizer already after years of playing iTunes at your desk, check again. The Visualizer option under the View menu now offers an "iTunes Visualizer" submenu with new patterns -- many of which make you feel like you're flying through space while simultaneously burning up the floor at a disco. And if you miss the old laser light show, there's now "Visualizer Classic."

Shake, Rattle, and Rock

Instead of scrolling through menus to mix up your songs with the Shuffle option, just give the new iPod Nano a quick shake to shuffle up your tracks. It's a great way to randomize your music when you don't have time to even look at the iPod's menu. Just keep a tight grip before you shake things up.

Bring Your Game --And Your Movies, Music, and Photos, Too

Thanks to the iTunes App Store and the latest iPod software, the iPod Touch is now a pocket 3-D arcade. The touchscreen and built-in accelerometer let you tap and tilt your way through games so intensely that you may forget that the Touch plays music and movies, too. And you don't need to have headphones plugged in to hear the sound effects -- the new iPod Touch has its own speaker and external volume controls built right in.

The Queen has arrived! The video library of movies and TV shows is growing nicely over in the iTunes Store -- all in good time for summer and the start of vacation and maximum slacking season. I've purchased quite a few things from the Store, including most of this season's Veronica Mars. Even though the prices are reasonable, I've also been spending a lot of time on a site where the movies and music are even cheaper.

They're free, in fact.

The Internet Archive has been around for more than a decade, but since I got my video iPod, I find I've been visiting it way more often than I used to. The site -- a non-profit organization based in San Francisco -- collects all sorts of digitized audio, video and text for scholars, historians or anybody who wants to look. And being digital, you can even download some of the works.

For iPod enthusiasts, the fact that you can get lots of music in MP3 format or video in the MPEG-4 means you can take it with you (if the file has been bestowed with a "Download" link, that is). Granted, much of the content is older and in the public domain, but if you have any interest in film, music, or cultural history, it's easy to blow most of the afternoon roaming the virtual halls of the Internet archive. The usage rights vary and not everything is downloadable, but the site explains what you can do with each work you find.

It started with a little bit of flat-screen TV envy. Every time I visited someone's home and gawked at their shiny new plasma or LCD TV, my living room setup felt a little 20th century: I had a 28-inch, old school TV with a backside as big as a fridge, and a stereo whose most modern feature was its two (count 'em!) cassette tape players. I did have a TiVo, but that only increased my feeling that I should be doing a better job of being a modern electronic citizen. Here's what my setup looked like:

You don't even want to know what was happening behind the console. So began my year-long quest to join the flat screen masses. I coughed up $26 for a one-year online subscription to Consumer Reports, whose overview of HDTV and all the various TV options was pretty useful. I also started visiting tons of TV showrooms in New York City: the Sony home entertainment complex, Samsung's similar version in the Time Warner Center, J&R, and on and on and on.

So, the next version of Mac OS X, (10.5, or Leopard, for those following Apple's Big Cat Scorecard) won't be arriving in June after all, according to a statement Apple released on its Web site yesterday. Because the company had to pull programmers off the OS X team to help muscle the iPhone to its June release date, Leopard won't prowl until October. Oh, well.

While part of me is bummed about not having a shiny new operating system to play around with this summer, that also means I won't have to spend those inevitable hours trying to get all my gadgets, hardware and software to work with it. Operating system upgrades can cause all sorts of upheaval, with hardware drivers and certain programs not working the same way in the new system as they did on the old. Windows Vista early adopters with iPods got to experience this first-hand when a problem between iTunes and Vista reared its ugly head right after Vista's January release. Luckily, most of the major problems were resolved with the release of iTunes 7.1.1, but there are still a few lingering issues; Apple describes them here, Vista adventurers.

So Leopard is put off until fall. While I'm half disappointed and half relieved, I think there's one thing Mac users probably won't have to worry about when they upgrade: since Apple is calling the software shots, iTunes and Leopard (at least) will get along just fine.