iTunes

898 'iTunes' stories September 2010 - July 2013

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Shazam iOS apps updated w/ multi-track purchases, recommendations & more

Jordan Kahn Jul 29 2013 - 8:09 am PT

Music recognition and discovery app Shazam updated its iOS apps today with a couple interesting features, including new “multi-track purchases” allowing users to purchase multiple songs at once through iTunes.

Multi-track purchase: When you’ve tagged a bunch of songs, now it’s easy to go back and buy them in one go. Go to My Tags (or Favorites on iPad), tap “Select & Buy”, pick the songs you want, then tap “Buy” to purchase in iTunes.

Also included in the update its recommendations based on what others users have purchased, music previews for trending songs in the Pulse charts, and improved Voiceover support and sharing.

What’s New in Version 6.2.0

○ Multi-track purchase: When you’ve tagged a bunch of songs, now it’s easy to go back and buy them in one go. Go to My Tags (or Favorites on iPad), tap “Select & Buy”, pick the songs you want, then tap “Buy” to purchase in iTunes.

○ Recommendations: Discover more music based on similar tracks other Shazamers have bought. Shazam any track or find old ones in My Tags, then tap “”Recommendations””.

○ Music Previews: Added loads more previews for tracks you Shazam and trending music in the Pulse charts.

○ Accessibility: Improved Voiceover on iPhone.

○ Sharing is caring: Made it easier to tweet and share on Facebook, or to e-mail music and TV results.

Apple’s Developer Center is back after over a week offline

Zach Kahn Jul 26 2013 - 2:48 pm PT

After being offline for more than a week, Apple’s Developer Center is back. Access to the portal was removed by Apple after it was discovered that a breach into the system granted individuals access to the names, mailing addresses, and email addresses of registered developers. Apple confirmed that sensitive personal data such as credit card information and developer passwords were encrypted and secure.

The Developer Center looks the same as it was prior to its removal, but we assume Apple has followed through with its promise to overhaul the entire system by updating its server software and rebuilding its databases from scratch so as to prevent another intrusion.

While most of the main developer services have returned, Apple is still in the process of restoring the entire portal to normal. Some areas of the site such as the forums, pre-release documentation, and development videos, are still offline as per Apple’s System Status page.

Apple has also emailed developers with this new information:

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Apple continues website redesign, flattens support pages

Jordan Kahn Jul 15 2013 - 6:11 am PT

As noted by several 9to5 readers, Apple has just recently updated its Support pages through Apple.com to better reflect the redesign the rest of the site has been receiving in recent months. Today’s update provides a new design for the majority of support pages available through Apple.com/support, including: Videos, Manuals, Tech Specs, and Downloads.

Apple used to present these pages using a design that was a few generations behind the rest of the site and displayed links in a search result style list. Today’s update brings a flat grid style layout that allows users to select or search for a product in order to find related manuals, videos, tech specs, etc, but also displays search results by product in the grid layout.

Apple.com’s search result pages also get a cleaner look today to match the recent Apple online store design (pictured below).
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Customers reporting volume fluctuations when playing videos on latest MacBook Air

Ben Lovejoy Jul 10 2013 - 4:31 am PT

Customers on the Apple Support Communities forum are reporting fluctuating audio volumes when playing videos on the new mid-2013 13-inch MacBook Air in a thread which has attracted 83 replies.

The problem seems to be a system issue rather than app-related, being reported in iTunes, QuickTime, VLC, Hulu, Vevo and when watching web videos in both Safari and Chrome – but doesn’t seem to affect all videos. It has also been reported that the issue persists when running Mavericks …

Several customers report that Apple is keen to get hold of affected machines so that it can identify the cause.

tbrumleve wrote: After being contacted by an AppleCare rep today, they do not yet have a fix. They are very interested in getting a hold of the affected hardware, and are willing to send a replacement immediately. However, they cannot guarantee it won’t have the same problem.

This is the second issue to reportedly affect the new MacBook Air, after widespread reports of wifi problems. In that case, Apple issued an update to the wifi software. However, 83 posts in a thread live for several weeks suggests that while the audio issue is affecting a significant minority of machines, it is likely less prevalent that the wifi issue.

Thanks, Aikiharvey.

Apple launches 2013 Back to School promo: $100 App Store card with Macs, $50 card with iPhone/iPad

Mark Gurman Jul 2 2013 - 2:14 am PT

As we reported would occur, Apple has just launched its annual Back to School promotion for students. The program launched in January for students in Australia, and today, the new program was opened up for students in the United States and several other nations across the world.

Like we reported, the program offers students a $100 Mac App Store/iTunes Store/iBookstore gift card with purchase of a new Mac computer. $50 gift cards of the same kind are offered for iPad and iPhone (for the first time) purchases…

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Apple’s iTunes Radio label royalities revealed, plans to add talk radio for sports, weather

Jordan Kahn Jun 27 2013 - 6:12 am PT

Leading up to the unveiling of Apple’s new iTunes Radio service earlier this month at WWDC, we reported on some small details regarding deals Apple had reached with the major labels necessary to get bring its Pandora competitor to market. Earlier reports claimed that Apple was paying Warner around 10% of ad revenue— that’s around twice as much as Pandora reportedly pays. Today, The Wall Street Journal provides us with some in-depth info on what Apple is paying labels and publishers after taking a look at the terms of the deal.

Apple will in fact be paying well over the 0.12 cents per listen Pandora offers the labels, as well as a percentage of ad revenue, and the payout will also increase during the service’s second year:

During iTunes Radio’s first year, Apple will pay a label 0.13 cents each time a song is played, as well as 15% of net advertising revenue, proportionate to a given label’s share of the music played on iTunes. In the second year, that bumps up to 0.14 cents per listen, plus 19% of ad revenue.

However, there are some exceptions. The report notes that Apple won’t have to pay royalties for songs that users already have in their iTunes library. That will apparently extend to “songs that might be on an album that a listener owns just part of.” Interestingly, Apple also won’t pay for songs skipped before the 20 second mark and those included in special promotions, but it can only skip paying royalties on two songs per hour for each iTunes Radio user:
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iTunes U iOS app updated with pull-to-refresh, improved language support

Mark Gurman Jun 25 2013 - 10:21 am PT

Apple has updated its iTunes U app for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch with the ability to check for course updates via a pull-to-refresh animation. In line with this tweak, Apple says that today’s update resolves an issue with updating course information. Importantly, today’s update also brings improved language support for Arabic, French, German, Greek, Italian, Russian, and Spanish. The update is free on the iTunes App Store.

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Apple notifies iTunes users of $100M in-app purchase settlement details, $5 credit to those inappropriately charged under $30

Scott Buscemi Jun 23 2013 - 6:41 pm PT

Parents of kids who racked up hundreds of even thousands of dollars in in-app purchases can now begin to seek compensation for their bills.

The “Apple In-App Purchase Litigation Administrator” just sent out an email with information regarding the settlement and deadlines for submitting payment requests.

In short, those with charges under $30 will receive a $5 iTunes gift card. Cash refunds will be distributed to those with bills exceeding that amount.

Here’s the email in its entirety:

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Solid Mac Bundle including Corel Painter, iTunes TuneUp, DiskDrill, Mac Scan, NetSpot Pro, more: $30

9to5 Staff Jun 17 2013 - 9:00 pm PT

From 9to5Toys.com:

StackSocial has a pretty impressive bundle hitting this evening for just $29.99. In it you get 9 solid apps including:
Painter Lite: Ease Into the World of Digital Art
TuneUp: Organize Your iTunes Music Collection in Just a Few Clicks
Disk Drill Pro: Protect and Recover Data Like a Pro
MoneyWiz: Personal Finance For Your Mac
Voila: The Best All-in-One Mac Screencapture Tool
DVDRemaster 8: The Ultimate DVD Re-Encoding Solution
DesktopShelves: Fight Clutter on Your Desktop by Organizing Files on Shelves
MacScan: MacScan is the premier Macintosh security program
NetSpot Pro: The Only App for Wireless Site Survey, Wi-Fi Analysis, & Troubleshooting on Mac OS X

StackSocial also has Dragon Dictate for half off at $99 for both PC and Mac.

Apple adds around a million new store accounts (most with credit cards) every two days

Jordan Kahn Jun 13 2013 - 9:25 am PT

Asymco’s Horace Dediu points out with the graph above that Apple has been adding about a million new store accounts every couple of days. The numbers seem to be based on Tim Cook’s announcement at WWDC that Apple now has 575,000,000 million store accounts (which we assume includes all App Store, iTunes, and Apple Online Store accounts). That means most of them have credit cards on file and as Cook noted, that’s “more accounts with credit cards than any other store on the internet.”

Apple releases iAd Workbench, shifting iAd’s focus towards app developers rather than large brands

Benjamin Mayo Jun 12 2013 - 6:31 am PT

With the latest changes to iTunes Connect, Apple has clearly changed its approach to mobile advertising. For the last three years, Apple has targeted large brands with minimum buy-ins ranging in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. However, uptake of iAd does not seem to have been at the level Apple expected, which has had a negative impact on developers, who have commonly observed low fill rates for their ads.

In mid 2010, Apple allowed app developers to participate in the advertising side of iAd program, by showing banner ads that link directly to their apps. With newly announced changes to iAd, which have been discussed in-depth at WWDC, Apple has furthered this push.

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Hands-on with iTunes Radio, Apple’s streaming music service [Video]

Michael Steeber Jun 10 2013 - 7:22 pm PT

Apple has been long rumored to be launching a music streaming service, set up to compete with Pandora, and today, they delivered. iTunes Radio, as it’s been dubbed, lives inside of the iOS 7 Music app, as an extension of the app’s functionality.

The video above gives a full walkthrough of iTunes Radio running in iOS 7, and what you can expect when the operating system is released to the public later this year.

Apple unveils much rumored iTunes Radio service at WWDC 2013

Jordan Kahn Jun 10 2013 - 11:58 am PT

There were no shortage of details regarding Apple’s much rumored radio service leading up to today’s keynote address. The rumors said Apple was planning on introducing a free, ad-supported radio service, similar to Pandora, that would be highly integrated with a tweaked model for its iAd business. Apple has now officially unveiled the service dubbed ‘iTunes Radio’ and provided some details on exactly how it will work during its keynote presentation this morning at Moscone West in San Francisco.

The new iTunes Radio app is built in to the iOS radio app, and works on the Mac and Apple TV as well. As rumored, iTunes Radio will be free, supported by ads. In a twist, however, iTunes Radio will be completely free (free of ads) if you’re a subscriber to iTunes Match:

The Music app has a beautiful new design and includes the new iTunes Radio, a free Internet radio service featuring over 200 stations and an incredible catalog of music from the iTunes Store®, combined with features only iTunes can deliver. iTunes Radio is the best way to discover new music. When you tune into iTunes Radio on your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Mac®, PC or Apple TV®, you’ll have access to stations inspired by the music you already listen to, Featured Stations curated by Apple and genre-focused stations that are personalized just for you.

As we reported prior to today’s event, the underlining technology is based on Apple’s iTunes Genius feature with iTunes Radio tailoring the experience to your iTunes usage. Apple says there will be Siri integration, and also aims to offer users “access to exclusive “first listen” premieres from top selling artists.”
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Wishlist: 10 things Apple should, but likely won’t, announce at WWDC 2013

Seth Weintraub Jun 9 2013 - 8:18 am PT

We’ve got a pretty good idea of what Apple intends to give us at WWDC. Even the things we’re not so sure about seem on the radar.

But what does Apple need to do long term to tighten up the ecosystem and bring some excitement back into its hardware, software and services? I’ve got a few things…

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9to5Toys Last Call: $71 Kingston 64GB Wi-Drive for iPhone/iPad/iPod, $119 Western Digital 2TB USB 3.0 Portable HD

Jun 6 2013 - 2:56 pm PT

From 9to5Toys.com:

A large majority of the deals we cover each day come from a variety of ‘Daily Deal’ websites or are so popular that they don’t even last 24 hours. We know you can’t be at your computer every second, so we’re going to roundup the best deals each day to make sure you have a fair shot at the deals you want. Be sure to follow 9to5Toys.com so you never miss a deal... Twitter, RSS Feed, Facebook

Today’s Featured deals:

Kingston Wi-Drive adds 64GB of available storage to your iPhone/iPad/iPod $71 Shipped (Reg. $130)

Western Digital My Passport 2 TB USB 3.0 Portable Hard Drive $119 Shipped (Reg. $200)

3-in-1 Universal USB Charging Cable –This universal USB cable is the last charging cable you’ll ever need. It can charge up to 3 devices simultaneously, and is compatible with iPhone 5/4S/4/3GS/3G/3, iPad, iPod, Android, HTC, Samsung and other devices. It’s optimized to avoid tangling, and for $7 + Free Shipping (a big discount from $59) it is the same price as Apple’s single Lightning cable. We reviewed the Cable here for more information.

Other great deals we love:

VIZIO 42″ LCD 1080p Smart TV w/ WiFi, Web Apps (Refurb.) $330 Shipped (Reg. $480 New)
Apple genuine Lightning to USB cable (Bulk packaging) $9 with free shipping (Reg. $19 New)
Amazon launches indie game store, up to 75% off titles such as: Super Meat Boy, Braid & Brutal Legend, more
Powerbank Mobile Charger for USB Powered Devices w/ Bonus 3-in-1 Adapter & Flashlight $23 Shipped
Roku 2 XS (Refurb) 1080p HD w/ Wi-Fi, Angry Birds, Motion Sensor Remote Control, and 6ft HDMI Cable $55 Shipped
Roku 2 XD 1080p Streaming media player (Brand New) $60 Shipped (Reg. $80)
$50 iTunes Gift Card for $40: Save 20% on future purchases of Apps, Music, Movies, more
Gaming Central: Free $50 Amazon credit w/ PlayStation Vita
Hotspot Shield – Simple VPN/proxy solution for OS X, iOS, and Android devices. 50% off a 1 year subscription, now only $15
Staples $10 off $50 in tech accessories: $50 WD Dual-Band N900 Gigabit Wireless router w/ two USB ports, $50 All-in-one WiFi printer, Apple deals: Magic Mouse, Magic Trackpad, Keyboard, more
eBook Freebie: Weber’s Time to Grill: Get In. Get Out. Get Grilling (Reg. $20)
Last day: LG 24″ LED Backlight 1080p Widescreen LCD Monitor $135 Shipped
Amazon knocks $20 off of Kindle HDs for Father’s Day, now start at $179
Logitech Washable Keyboard $15 Shipped
Save 50% on 1Password Mac / iOS Apps, the gold standard in mobile password security
9to5Toys Exclusive: Cash in an extra $10 on Gazelle when you trade-in your used (or broken!) electronics

Adobe discounts Photoshop & Premiere Elements 11 $30 off for Father’s Day (+ Giveaway): Adobe… http://t.co/mp4UZJM1ph

— 9to5Toys (@9to5toys) June 5, 2013

Kubi is a cloud controlled robotic desktop stand for your tablet. It enables you (or whoever is on the other end of a video call) to look around and interact through the tablet. Kubi is capable of a 300° pan and a 90° tilt, and is compatible with any Bluetooth enabled tablet, from iPads to the Microsoft Surface. This product is a game-changing video conference device for anyone who works remotely. This deal expires at midnight, so get it now for $259 + Free Shipping (Marked down from $315).

Kevin Rose gives his familiar WWDC predictions [Video]

9to5 Staff Jun 6 2013 - 8:28 am PT

The Digg founder and current Google Ventures partner has a storied history with Apple rumors. For instance, he predicted the Retina iPad but was just over a year early on that. In that post we noted that Rose’s predictions were a bit shaky:

Rose has been very hit-and-miss over the years in terms of his Apple predictions. Prior to the launch of the first iPhone he incorrectly predicted the device having a physical keyboard and most recently, Rose claimed the new Apple TV would be called the “iTV” and would include an App Store as well as ad supported TV stations. On the other hand, Rose was correct about the Apple TV’s September launch date, iPad remote feature, and $99 price point and was also correct about the fourth-generation iPod nano’s features and even posted a photo of it. Rose was also correct about copy/paste in iOS 3.0 as well as new iTunes features.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=1Nq6_ayB1tc&start=3613]

In this case, Kevin Rose’s source seems to be a big 9to5mac reader. MacBook Airs? Sure, sure. Big changes in iOS 7? Yeah, yeah and yeah. We’ll have the definitive WWDC 2013 roundup later today.

Snapchat releases v5 ‘Banquo’ with updated GUI, new ways to snap and more snappiness™

Seth Weintraub Jun 5 2013 - 4:46 pm PT

Snapchat 5.0 [Free, iTunes] just hit the App Store with some fresh new features and a totally redesigned interface. Version 5, codenamed Banquo, adds snap navigation, doubletap to reply, new ways to add friends, in-app profiles and the ability to send snaps directly from your address book. As with all updates, this one includes the requisite speed enhancements and design improvements…making it, dare we say, snappier™?

Apple adds Passbook support to its iTunes Festival London 2013 iPhone app

Mark Gurman Jun 5 2013 - 11:02 am PT

Apple has added Passbook functionality to its app for the iTunes Festival London 2013 app. Additionally, today’s update brings support for image viewing in an iOS device’s landscape orientation. The app was updated late last month to list the line-up of artists for the September Apple-run music festival. Apple announced this year’s festival last week, noting that artists such as Jack Johnson, Justin Timberlake, and Thirty Seconds to Mars would highlight the events. The app is currently not available in the United States iTunes Store.

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Apple releases iTunes 11.0.4 with fixes for syncing, iTunes Store bugs

Mark Gurman Jun 5 2013 - 10:28 am PT

This morning, Apple has released iTunes 11.0.4 with a focus on bug fixes. Notably, according to the release notes, a bug that would force iTunes to quit when syncing moves between wired and wireless states has been fixed.

Additionally, a bug that forces users to repeatedly sign-in to the iTunes Store has also been squashed. The update is available via the Mac App Store’s Software Update function.

Last month, Apple updated iTunes with a new Mini-Player design and other improved music sorting and playback views. A bug fix release for Aperture for Mac has also been issued.

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9to5Toys Last Call: $50 iTunes Gift Card for $40 (Save 20%), 75% off Rockstar Mac games, more

May 30 2013 - 11:00 am PT

From 9to5Toys.com:

A large majority of the deals we cover each day come from a variety of ‘Daily Deal’ websites or are so popular that they don’t even last 24 hours. We know you can’t be at your computer every second, so we’re going to roundup the best deals each day to make sure you have a fair shot at the deals you want.

Be sure to follow 9to5Toys.com so you never miss a deal... Twitter, RSS Feed, Facebook

Today’s Featured deals:

$50 iTunes Gift Card for $40: Save 20% on future purchases of Apps, Music, Movies, more
75% off Rockstar Mac games: San Andreas: $3.75, Vice City: $2.50, more
Save 50% on 1Password Mac / iOS Apps, the gold standard in mobile password security

Other great deals we love:

ViewSonic 27-Inch 1080p LED Monitor w/ HDMI: $225 shipped (Reg. $250)
Western Digital My Passport Portable USB 3.0 External Hard Drives: 750GB $60, 1.5TB $90 Shipped
Ultra-Slim Magnetic Cover for iPad 2, 3 & 4 (Choice of 5 Colors) $5 + $3 Shipping
3-Pack 4-in-1 Touchscreen Stylus, Ballpoint Pen, Laser Pointer and LED Light $9 Shipped
4-in-1 USB Cable (Lightning, 30-Pin Apple/Samsung and Micro-USB) $4 + $3 Shipping
Apple authentic Lightning to USB cable (Refurbished) $10 Shipped (Reg. $20 New)
9to5Toys Exclusive: Cash in an extra $10 on Gazelle when you trade-in your used (or broken!) electronics

New Adobe Kuler iPhone app allows you to capture color themes anytime using the iPhone camera

Seth Weintraub May 30 2013 - 9:44 am PT

We talked about the free Kuler app and website during our live Adobe MAX 2013 coverage but today the app is officially out for iPhone (and other iOS devices with a camera)…

Adobe announced the app’s availability [iTunes, Free] in a blog post with the palettes created with the iPhone’s camera synching via the Creative Cloud to your Illustrator and Ideas CC applications.

The new Kuler iPhone app allows you to capture inspiring color themes anytime, using the iPhone camera. You can then sync those color themes to the Kuler website, which allows you to create and edit color themes and browse thousands of themes created by other users. All the themes you create with Kuler will be accessible in Adobe Illustrator CC and Ideas.

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Popular ‘Dots’ iPhone game updated with iPad support, new multiplayer mode, more

Jordan Kahn May 30 2013 - 6:58 am PT

The extremely popular ‘Dots: A Game About Connecting’ title for iPhone, which happen to hit around 100 million games played in just a couple weeks after its launch last month, today received an update that brings the title to the larger screen with support for iPad.

Not only is Dots coming to iPad users today, developer Betaworks One is also rolling out a new multiplayer mode that allows users to pass their “iOS device between friends to compete on the same board.”

The iTunes release notes also mention that “Shrinkers now 5 / 500 dots to balance gameplay.” One thing to keep in mind: One commenter warns that on iPad dots are “so tiny now you can barely see the dots never mind connect them.”

A future update to the app will also include a new “Timeless mode.”

The update includes a couple other performance improvements as well:

What’s New in Version 1.7

What’s New
· iPad Support!
· Multiplayer mode! Pass your iOS device between friends to compete on the same board.
· High-contrast color options for color blind players

Heads Up
· Shrinkers now 5 / 500 dots to balance gameplay

Bug Fixes
· No more repeating colors dropping
· Fixes to the high score system
· Ability to disconnect from Twitter/Facebook

Apple announces September iTunes Festival in London starring Justin Timberlake, Thirty Seconds to Mars, others

Mark Gurman May 29 2013 - 9:54 pm PT

Apple has announced that it will hold its annual iTunes Festival in London during the month of September. The event will occur nightly during that month at the Roadhouse in London. Apple says that popular artists Justin Timberlake, Thirty Seconds to Mars, Jack Johnson and Jessie J will headline the event. The event will be streamed nightly to iOS devices, iTunes on computers, and the Apple TV:

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Apple releases iTunes 11.0.3 with new MiniPlayer, an improved Songs View, and multi-disc albums

Jordan Kahn May 16 2013 - 10:24 am PT

Apple just released iTunes 11.0.3 with several new features including enhancements to the MiniPlayer, an improved Songs View, and multi-disc albums.

Apple’s new MiniPlayer, which it first introduced in iTunes 11, today gets a new “beautiful view that showcases your album artwork” as well as a progress bar viewable right from the MiniPlayer. The new view for MiniPlayer can also be expanded to show an entire playlist (as pictured above).

Other improvements to iTunes in version 11.0.3 include the ability to view multi-disc albums as a single album and “performance improvements when searching and sorting large iTunes libraries.”

The update also includes an updated interface for updating iOS apps (below). Thanks Graham!
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