The Cupertino Connection: iTunes 11 and iCloud

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Cupertino ConnectioniTunes may be one of the best products that Apple ever developed, or at the very least, one of the smartest. Just a few weeks ago Apple released iTunes 11 with a myriad of visual and technical changes and improvements. iTunes will turn 12 years old in January, and in those years Apple has found a way to streamline, connect, condense, and centralize a user’s content and multimedia experience. With that in mind, I think it’s worth looking at a few of the existing features, the new ones in iTunes 11, and the future ones planned for next year to see just how they’ll continue to do that.

First let’s look at how Apple already connects users and their content across multiple devices. One of the earliest features that did this was the “Library Sharing” feature that enables users to share their library across 5 devices connected to the same network using the same Apple ID. This was great because a user could have a whole collection on their desktop computer and access that same collection on their laptop. With this feature, users can also share content with other people on their WiFi network.

A similar feature that’s been out for a few years is AirPlay. AirPlay allows users to stream media from one device across multiple devices on their WiFi network. For example, a user can start listening to an album or playlist in one room and stream it to their home stereo in their living room. Users can even adjust which devices are playing at what time and the volume of those individual devices. Apple TV even lets users stream a movie from their computer on their Apple TV. Of course, all of these devices are controllable with an iPhone, iPod, or iPad.

Finally, with iTunes 11 and the updated iTunes store, all of a user’s downloads are automatically synced to the iCloud and accessible by any other iCloud capable device. This means a song downloaded in the iTunes store on your computer will be available on your iPod or iPhone. A similar service, iTunes Match, was released last year and allows users to pay an annual fee to have any of their music in their library uploaded to the iCloud, whether it was purchased or available in the iTunes store or not. These services could prove to be interesting competitors for Spotify, Rhapsody, Amazon, and other streaming/cloud based music delivery services.

Lastly, Apple recently announced that it will launch its own streaming radio service to compete with Pandora in the first few months of 2013. Like the aforementioned services, it will be available across iPhones, iPods, iPads, Macs, and PC’s as part of iTunes.

With all of these developments that have made Apple products so seamlessly integrated into a person’s life, it seems Tim Cook is moving forward to fulfill Steve Jobs’ goal of having an Apple device in every home. Cloud storage and online streaming is all the rage right now, and Apple’s solutions could prove to be big problems for its competitors. With so many solutions to a user’s content needs, why would they bother going elsewhere?

Kelli Richards
CEO of The All Access Group

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0 thoughts on “The Cupertino Connection: iTunes 11 and iCloud”

  1. The only time that deleting an app will potentially remove it from your other devices is if you delete it from your iTunes library and you are syncing applications from that library to one or more iOS devices. When syncing apps with iTunes, your library is considered authoritative in much the same way as for other types of content; if you remove a music track or movie from your iTunes library, it will also be removed from any other devices that you syncing with that library. Note that this will include applications that you’ve downloaded directly onto your device, but only if you are syncing apps with your iTunes library in general.

  2. The only time that deleting an app will potentially remove it from your other devices is if you delete it from your iTunes library and you are syncing applications from that library to one or more iOS devices. When syncing apps with iTunes, your library is considered authoritative in much the same way as for other types of content; if you remove a music track or movie from your iTunes library, it will also be removed from any other devices that you syncing with that library. Note that this will include applications that you’ve downloaded directly onto your device, but only if you are syncing apps with your iTunes library in general.

  3. If you’re only using one iTunes account across multiple devices, you may notice some strange behavior when you sync your iOS devices: apps seem to disappear and appear at random with each sync. It is likely that each iOS device serves a different purpose, or is even being used by a different person. This leads to each user adding and removing apps that suit their needs and the purpose of the device. What is happening is that apps that were purchased on one device are being lost, while apps purchased on a different devices are being added. This situation is easily remedied by transferring purchases before each sync, and disabling the automatic synchronizing of new apps on each iOS device. The “Automatically Sync New Apps” option in the apps tab of your iOS device info screen in iTunes applies to any app in your iTunes library that has been added to your iTunes library since your last sync. If you are managing several iOS devices from one account, it is a good idea to disable this feature.

  4. Before updating, I highly recommend making a NEW BACKUP and EXPORTING this off your device (by email, Dropbox or iCloud). Also if you are running the app on multiple devices, make sure you update them ALL at the same time.Added support for iCloud Syncing as an in-app purchase. Since all iTunes/AppStore purchases are per-user and not per-device, you only need to buy this once for all of your devices. When enabled, changes to your accounts, your main budgets and your transactions are synced between devices, with minimal user intervention (basically 2 taps on the receiving device).Note that iCloud is really only suitable for individual users sharing data between their own devices. I will be adding support for Dropbox Syncing in a future release.Minor improvements to the Accounts screen, to make showing/hiding hidden accounts more explicit. Instead of using the left arrow, I have added a Show/Hide button at the top right of the screen (but only if you actually have hidden accounts). The button to add a new account is always available while editing.The left and right arrows now scroll to the start and end of the accounts list respectively. This is possibly redundant if you only have a couple of accounts, but it keeps all the screens and behaviour consistent.Other minor bug fixes and improvements.Finally if you like my app, please consider leaving a review on iTunes, or updating your previous review to version 3.9. Your feedback is always appreciated!

  5. If you’re only using one iTunes account across multiple devices, you may notice some strange behavior when you sync your iOS devices: apps seem to disappear and appear at random with each sync. It is likely that each iOS device serves a different purpose, or is even being used by a different person. This leads to each user adding and removing apps that suit their needs and the purpose of the device. What is happening is that apps that were purchased on one device are being lost, while apps purchased on a different devices are being added. This situation is easily remedied by transferring purchases before each sync, and disabling the automatic synchronizing of new apps on each iOS device. The “Automatically Sync New Apps” option in the apps tab of your iOS device info screen in iTunes applies to any app in your iTunes library that has been added to your iTunes library since your last sync. If you are managing several iOS devices from one account, it is a good idea to disable this feature.

  6. I have been reading threadsabout managing content across multiple devices, using different IDs, both AppleIDs and Cloud IDs, and there is a LOT of confusion. I’m visual, so I’ve attached the graphic illustrating how I “think” I should proceed. **I have not set up the new iPhone yet.

  7. If you share your computer with other people, you can maintain separate user accounts for each person who uses the computer. This is useful especially if each user has different tastes in music or other media; users can maintain separate, personalized iTunes libraries and can customize their devices’ sync settings accordingly.

  8. The bottom line is that other than a cool new user interface, there’s not much here that would require a user to upgrade, and in fact due to the delays in the release of iTunes 11, even users buying the latest devices can comfortably stay with iTunes 10.7 for the time being. Users cautious of new bugs may want to await a maintenance update prior to taking the plunge. That said, once iTunes 11 receives bug-squashing fixes, there’s every reason to upgrade and little reason to want to go back to earlier versions of the software.

  9. I have been reading threadsabout managing content across multiple devices, using different IDs, both AppleIDs and Cloud IDs, and there is a LOT of confusion. I’m visual, so I’ve attached the graphic illustrating how I “think” I should proceed. **I have not set up the new iPhone yet.

  10. When you connect an iOS device to your computer in order to sync it, the device will appear in the left-hand column in iTunes. Select it and you can then use the tabs that will appear across the top in the iTunes window to customize the content you want on that device. You can choose all of a content type (all movies for instance), particular items, or use particular rules (for example, “3 most recently unwatched movies”) to determine what gets synced. iTunes will remember the settings for each device and use them when they’re connected, even if they belong to users with different Apple IDs who are using the same library. And of course, you can change the settings whenever you select the device in the left-hand column.

  11. Third-party tools like $40 TuneUp can bridge the gap with a feature that finds and deletes duplicates, grabs album art, and fixes metadata. Mac users can also use the $15 Dupin .

  12. Expanding its multimedia capabilities, the iTunes movie library will also allow for greater integration across multiple devices, meaning that users could pick up where they left off on a film or television show they were watching on their home computer with their iPhone or iPad. The iPhone will also be getting a new version of the iTunes store that will allow users to play track previews as they browse for new media and offer “better search results,” Cue was clear to add. In a nice touch to expand beyond in-store sales, iTunes artist pages will also show information about upcoming tour dates and local concerts. This leaves open the possibility of increased Apple store offerings in the future, of course, or partnerships with a ticket service like Ticketmaster or Stubhub. Artists themselves will also be able to share photos and tour information on their dedicated fanpages through the service.

  13. If you’re only using one iTunes account across multiple devices, you may notice some strange behavior when you sync your iOS devices: apps seem to disappear and appear at random with each sync. It is likely that each iOS device serves a different purpose, or is even being used by a different person. This leads to each user adding and removing apps that suit their needs and the purpose of the device. What is happening is that apps that were purchased on one device are being lost, while apps purchased on a different devices are being added. This situation is easily remedied by transferring purchases before each sync, and disabling the automatic synchronizing of new apps on each iOS device. The “Automatically Sync New Apps” option in the apps tab of your iOS device info screen in iTunes applies to any app in your iTunes library that has been added to your iTunes library since your last sync. If you are managing several iOS devices from one account, it is a good idea to disable this feature.

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