Marzipan-Flavored iTunes, macOS Future Features – TMO Daily Observations 2019-04-11
Bryan Chaffin and John Martellaro join host Kelly Guimont to discuss the possiblity of Marzipan updates to iTunes, and the future of macOS.
Show Notes
- Intro
- The Breakup of iTunes Looks to Be Upon Us Soon
- iTunes Needs To Break Up… With Itself
- This Concept Video Reimagines the macOS Desktop
- TMO Daily Observations Twitter feed
I’m don’t think John is right but Brian and Kelly are just plane wrong!
Sandboxing is good and correct and Audio Hijack Pro shouldn’t exist as it does. So if that is true and Brian is correct that Audio Hijack is valuable how do we have our cake and eat it too? Core Audio! Apple solved this problem if all programs used Core Audio correctly, you could write Audio Hijack without breaking any rules. I assume the problem is that too many programs don’t properly support Core Audio so that their inputs/outputs can be shared with other applications safely and securely.
If I’m wrong someone tell me but I bet core audio is how much of Audio Hijack is done today and that only the Rogue programs still require them to bend the rules.
I’ve never been a supporter of sandboxing – if that’s the answer, we must have been asking the wrong question.
Applications recording audio without-permission is a serious a security issue.
Audio Hijack should not be lumped in with this issue. The rule must be too broad if it traps Audio Hijack, too.
Really got to stop thinking of Marzipan ‘saving’ Mac applications. It’s a way to get developers who don’t want to develop for Mac to ‘get something, anything across the line’, using the (necessarily) limited iOS code resources they’ve developed. Only have to look at News, Home and Stocks to see, this is not something to be proud of. It’s a way of lobbing a dead dog over the fence into Mac’s backyard and calling it dinner. (beat that one bryan)
There’s nothing in iOS that can benefit iTunes. Music, Podcasts, Books apps are nothing to write home about on iOS and laughable for macOS. As for curating a library of media, iOS has NOTHING to offer, and before you tell me ‘don’t need a library, it’s all streamed’ ask anyone who can’t find that playlist/album, book, movie they had, but isn’t available anymore. Or the live, cover or karaoke version that replaced their favourite track in Music. Day will come you’ll rue the death of iTunes’ library functionality.
What’s wrong with iTunes is not that it needs to be more like iOS, it’s so neglected and gutted one hopes Apple is starting again with well featured media library, because I do- not want to go Plex and I don’t want to leave the Apple ecosystem.
I use homesharing extensively for the discs I’ve backed up in iTunes and it is getting increasingly unreliable for me. This smells of Apple making people beg for something different, but you know we won’t get what we want!
I love iMazing, but it has a long way to go to replace iTunes. I don’t know how it would work without the iTunes library.
Bottom line – I want an Apple media library that works with Apple’s idiosyncrasies and iTunes could be it, if it wasn’t going the way of all Macs – shameless neglect. And iOS has nothing to help me here.
Proper Mac applications are what we need, not brain-dead to begin with apps ported from iOS. And if Apple can’t be bothered developing actual Mac applications, we’re sunk! Get in line behind John Kheit for an alternative desktop environment. As mentioned in the podcast, Photos, iWork etc do not auger well for Mac’s future. Garage Band is the next one I expect to be lobotomised.
Pro-Applications on Mac may survive, but seriously where’s the motivation for Apple to keep going on them? If Adobe hadn’t lost interest in Mac years ago, pro applications wouldn’t even exist (Aperture).
Over the last few years, I have maintained a wish list for both macOS and iOS. Ever year, Apple ticks off some items on the list, while also coming up with features I had never considered.
Below is a summary of my current wish list for macOS:
Items that appear to be coming in macOS 10.15
– [ ] Split out iSync, iTunes Store, TV, and Podcasts from iTunes. Rename iTunes, Music.
– [ ] Move 32-bit support to an optional component (Looks like it will be removed entirely)
– [ ] For You Recommendations for iBooks (Books and Audiobooks)
– [ ] For You Recommendations for Podcasts
– [ ] For You Recommendations for TV (TV and Movies)
Items that have not been rumored to be coming in macOS 10.15
– [ ] Multiple stop directions in Maps
– [ ] Bike directions in Maps
– [ ] Enhanced Reminders App – Hierarchy in Reminders (Parent-Child tasks)
– [ ] Mac App Store / App Store Merged (See purchases in each)
– [ ] For You Recommendations for Mac App Store / App Store
– [ ] Add business card scan and import support to Contacts
– [ ] Add Handoff for FaceTime and Phone
– [ ] Tie together FaceTime, Phone, and Messages with a Conferencing Mode
– [ ] Add Continuity for iBooks, Music, Podcasts, Photos, iMovie, GarageBand, News, Calculator, and Clock
– [ ] Add System-wide Translation across all platforms
– [ ] Platform consistency for Siri Shortcuts/Automatior/Script Editor
– [ ] Multiple timers for Clock
– [ ] E-mail Rules now handled in iCloud
– [ ] iCloud backup option for macOS
– [ ] Dashboard Removed in macOS
– [ ] Control Center on macOS
– [ ] Revamped multi-user on macOS that utilizes modern pause and hibernation features
– [ ] Beefed up iWork Apps with strong AppleScript support
– [ ] Adopt tabs consistently in windowed and full screen mode for apps
– [ ] Remove Photo Booth app, add Camera app
As you can see from the list, my bias goes towards bringing consistency of features across all platforms more than new features. The lack of consistency has frustrated me for quite some time. The possible dissolution of iTunes appears to portend a focus on bringing feature consistency across the platforms. Like in the episode, I hope it means maintaining pro features in macOS and exposing greater capabilities in both macOS and iOS.