Apple just released the latest build of OS X Yosemite, including a brand new iTunes. It’s only a little bit anti-climactic. Version 12.0 does indeed look a lot like Version 11.3, the version that’s probably on your computer. But it’s got some neat little treats nevertheless.
The first thing you’ll notice, of course, is the new icon. Yay for red! Or is it pink?
Otherwise, the new iTunes is super simple, if slightly more economical in terms of real estate. The navigation bar at the top has been cleaned up so that the display in the middle bleeds all the way to the edge, and the gradients match the rest of Yosemite. The left rail (or dropdown that used to be on the left hand side of the menu bar, depending on your view) has been replaced by a line of little icons for music, movies, TV shows, audiobooks, and apps with one of those … dropdown menus for everything else.
Meanwhile, you can no longer toggle between songs, albums, artists, etc. on the top. That is now a dropdown menu on the right hand side. So we lose a dropdown menu to gain a drop down menu. Either way, it looks nicer. Check out the old iTunes:
And behold, the new iTunes:
Here’s another view:
Dramatic difference? No, not really. Incremental update that makes navigating slightly easier without complicating things too much? Sure, why not. Not satisfied with this limited preview? Well, luckily I felt like taking screenshots today.
Check out this awesome checkbox menu that lets you change which of the new icons you want to display:
And this is the new apps screen, which is actually almost identical to the old apps screen:
And this is the new iTunes Store, which is actually almost identical to the old store:
It’s worth pointing out that iTunes is still exploring new ways to make it easier for you to buy things in iTunes. A button next to the song title lets you buy a song that’s playing on iTunes Radio. It used to be a dropdown too, but buttons make buying easier!
And iTunes Radio still exists, as a reminder of what it could’ve been and a disappointment for what it is. (The new La Roux album is pretty good, though.)
There are inevitably other little tweaks hiding in the update. We’ll keep digging, but if you happen to be running the latest version of Yosemite, let us know what you find!