True on Apple devices, but then again you're beholden to their walled garden approach so it's not like that's something new. And true on JRiver as well...I've gotten around that by upgrading every few years but for me it's been worth it so far. Only reliable way for me to play WMPro files on a Mac using a music manager app. You can re-download those from the cloud as 256kbps and DRM free. That's been the case for many years now unless they took that away recently?
Btw the Catalina app does work on an iPod Video that needs a restore (ie when the drive is replaced). I coincidentally have one in this state and just attempted this and it worked.
No, you can’t. For a while you could pay for an upgrade but that option has been gone for several years now. I’d they are downloaded they are still 128kpbs DRM files. I’ve been an Apple user since 1984 so I’m stuck in their walled garden. At this point I’m well into my 50s and I’m not leaving.
OK my bad, I was thinking about iTunes Match I believe when I had that for a short time, I was able to take the small amount of purchased files I had pre-DRM free days and then using that paid service was able to re-download all my purchases as 256kbps and DRM free. I remember now what you're talking about...they called it iTunes Plus or something similar.
I have limited sympathy for these headaches. Mac OS has been giving users pop-up warnings about approaching obsolescence when you launch 32-bit apps for ages, and you can't install Catalina without being told which installed apps will not longer function and giving it the green light. But for anyone who relies on a creaky old abandoned or orphaned 32-bit app to do some unique or specialized task, I can imagine it can be pretty painful.
Yes, iTunes Plus. I was pretty excited when I thought I could download them DRM-free but after several attempts I saw I was locked into the files as purchased with no upgrade path once the plus program ended. Not a huge loss, but still...
Well let's break this down, shall we Not necessarily but fine, let's go with that. Let's see now.... - I have a lossless collection - it's well curated - it's hugely populated And I don't have your problems. So nope...don't know what you are talking about on this one. Maybe my music manager is just running off magic. I'll give you Airplay (walled garden and all that) but organization, converting, data, syncing? Yep, all good there with tools like JRiver on the Mac. There are companies already making (we presume) some cash on this. Now for the Apple proprietary stuff where reverse engineering is involved, sure you're probably screwed. But my answer to that is...stop buying those types of products then. I'd love to have a HomePod, as an example, but if it only works on Apple devices then it's not going to work for me. And I'm not going to buy "Apple only" just to enjoy one.
I was surprised that only two apps I used required paid upgrades, even several I haven’t used in over 5 years. Even the shareware audio conversion apps carried over.
I appreciate that. I really do. Right now, I’m in a holding pattern. I’m not upgrading my current computer which is a 2012 iMac. But it has been having some minor issues because of age and a new computer is on the horizon, probably by the end of the year. There’s a part of me that hopes Apple makes some changes in an update that will solve my issue with the new music app. If not, and when I get the new computer, I’ll consider options like this. Nothing is off the table, but I’m hoping I can stick with iTunes. Unlike some, I don’t hate iTunes in general and never felt it needed to be broken into multiple programs. So I was, overall, a happy camper with the status quo. But as I said earlier, our favorite or most-used software rarely stays the same forever, so best to vent a bit, see if you can convince Apple to make a change, and if not... move on and find the best solution based on one’s needs.
I use Roon. But really, I play vinyl more than stream. But iTunes was handy for mp3/aiff and syncing to my phone. JRiver syncs to iPhones? I did not know this.
It doesn't directly support iOS devices, to my knowledge. Will work with MTP devices (like Android) and, in my case, most of the various DAP's I use. I don't have an active iPhone so I'm not affected by it. Also of note, with the iTunes retirement syncing to 3rd party devices via exporting playlists may not work anymore either.
They must be using Siri, which is more like artificial stupidity than artificial intelligence. Yeah, if you have a huge library, abandon iTunes and Apple's crap "Music" app the same way they've abandoned you and run a program written to actually handle a huge music library. MediaMonkey has made iTunes look like a Fisher Price toy for almost 20 years now. Although one issue with MediaMonkey - their synchronization to iPhones and iPods breaks every time Apple issues a new update (not their fault - again, blame Apple). I gave up and just setup a Subsonic server and started my own streaming service, so now I just stream my library from home (helps that I have unlimited data at home and on the go and tons of bandwidth at home - I can easily stream even high res FLAC). The Subsonic player on my iPhone (AVSub) lets me cache stuff for offline use too, which is handy when you're on a plane or whatever.
It’s not like they weren't clear about dropping 32bit support. If you’re going to update critical computers you need to know what you’re doing. Don't blame Apple for this one.
Deal breaker for me as well. Thanks for the info. My late-2012 iMac is probably at its limit anyway running Mojave, as far as performance goes. So I will not be "upgrading."
I wish i saw this thread earlier. I updated my computer to Catalina last night and the artwork is glitching so badly. When a track is playing, the artwork is there in the top "now playing" section, but when scrolling through my library in artist or album view, they are all blank. They eventually appear, but then disappear and then appear again. It's so annoying!! I also really really miss the column browser, I've been using that feature for as long as I can remember. It made it so easy to sort through my large library.
I usually upgrade immediately but have held up this time for now. The 32 bit issue is a bit of a pain, but not unexpected. As most Mac users generally run Parallels or Fusion, the not so simple solution is to create a Mojave (or other flavor) VM for running those apps. I only have a few apps that are 32 bit - mostly prior years Tax software - and I can create the VM and stash it away until needed. It's really no different than the Windows XP VM I have to keep handy for some goofy Windows apps that I have to access from time to time. These are configuration apps for obsolete control systems and will never be updated, but I do have to access them from time to time. I think that a lot of folks forget that when a major OS upgrade is installed, the OS must go back and rebuild everything and things are likely to be sluggish for awhile. I will be upgrading this weekend so we'll see how it goes.
Looks like I will need to build a "situation room" in my basement and move the old iMac down there along with a backup machine (or two). While I am at it, I will stock up on iPhones with headphone jacks, as well. Oh...one more thing...a few Apple TVs with digital audio out, too.
I played around with it a bit more today and imported some music to see how that was handled. I can do everything I could do before, just much less effeciently. Bring back artwork to Songs view, fix the horrible sync process, take Filter back to the way it used to work, and bring back column view and I'll be happy again.
You get ALBUM or ARTIST view. So you either have to sync everything, or trying to choose from a large library will suck big time. You can't choose for example THE KINKS and see which albums you want to sync to your phone. You either have to sync all The Kinks albums, or go thru the entire album list and choose each one, one at a time. Ugh.
just saw this on a tech site thought I'd share: Music Library freezing The iTunes had been the centerpiece of music on macOS. With its removal things quickly went sideways. Since the arrival of the iTunes successor, Music app, many folks noticed their album artworks missing, Music Library freezing etc. The typical case is your Mac says its “updating the Music Library”, spinning endlessly, without any progress. The issue is likely caused by obsolete Mojave caches and the remains your previous iTunes ecosystem. Empty your Music folder And all music-related Library caches. Back up your music and move it out of Music folder Open ~/Library and delete any items titled “Music” or “iTunes” Repeat for ~/Library/Caches Restart your Mac and see if it worked Don’t forget to put your music albums back where they had been before.
Surely you can create a Playlist of the specific albums and tracks you want to sync, and sync that Playlist. I just move things in and out of that playlist to change music on my phone.
