Comments on: Another iTunes release, another widget kit: the iTunes 7 UI dissected.

By: My old blog « Antworks blog

My old blog « Antworks blog — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 02:23:34 +0000

[...] iTunes 7 dissected … [...]

By: Update on the Twitter comments experiment

Update on the Twitter comments experiment — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 19:04:15 +0000

[...] on this site. For comparison, the closest competitor (using conventional blog comments) is my 2006 gripe about the iTunes 7 user interface, with 86 comments. Of those 86, 49 were actual comments (not trackbacks or pingbacks), of which 12 [...]

By: dsandler.org ≡ iTunes UI iterations.

dsandler.org ≡ iTunes UI iterations. — Mon, 09 Jul 2007 21:56:26 +0000

[...] You might recall that, several months ago, I went a little nuts about the iTunes 7 UI. To this day I stand by my complaints, even as I agree with John Gruber that my tone could have benefited from some&helllip;moderation. [...]

By: dsandler

dsandler — Mon, 09 Jul 2007 21:44:03 +0000

NB: Some of these issues have now been fixed in iTunes 7.3.

By: Jonathan Parker

Jonathan Parker — Sat, 17 Feb 2007 10:04:32 +0000

To install or not to install? That is the question….

iTunes has been bugging me for a while now about upgrading to version 7. Finally I came to accept that…

By: Huendli

Huendli — Sat, 21 Oct 2006 22:19:20 +0000

You’re completely right in your criticism on iTunes 7. I first saw it on a friend’s PC and had to ask if this is really the new version, because it appeared like a really old one. Looks like Apple is nervous because of the Vista release and had to change its application design overnight. Bad!

By: Steve Hurley

Steve Hurley — Thu, 19 Oct 2006 11:00:32 +0000

iTunes 7? It’s just ugly, ugly, ugly. I bought my first Mac a year ago today (taraaaaaa) and was, from the first minute impressed by how ‘relaxing’ the overall graphic look was in comparision to the grating, eye-numbing, drug-induced look of Windows and most of it’s applications. But iTunes 7 was obviously made for Windows users to tempt them to come over the fence to Mac…”Hey, look you Windows folks. Even in software interface looks the same”.
Shame, shame, shame!
I think there is a program to overlay the old design on the new upgrade (sic). Anyone know where to find it?

By: Russ

Russ — Thu, 05 Oct 2006 22:58:27 +0000

DSandler – you’re absolutely right about every point including the use of CAPS to highlight – it’s a proven usability error (harder to read and distracting). Might as well make them flash. Also the one big context sensitive Browse / Burn / Import button was probably more useful up top than the view buttons.

By: Jonathan Parker

Jonathan Parker — Tue, 03 Oct 2006 11:44:19 +0000

To install or not to install? That is the question….

iTunes has been bugging me for a while now about upgrading to version 7.Finally I came to accept that……

By: The Dork Report » Blog Archive » The Dork Report for September 13, 2006

Tue, 19 Sep 2006 12:58:03 +0000

[...] Various interface changes, including non-glossy buttons and… heinous scrollbars! WTF? Icky grey-blue blobs that look like nothing else on a Mac anywhere! I’m not sure, but if these same scrollbars appear on the Windows version, then perhaps Apple wanted to make the user experience more uniform, and so they can advertise with images of iTunes that anybody will recognize as theirs. Dsandler.org has a great overview of the graphical user interface design nightmare and links to many others (spotted on Daring Fireball). [...]

By: dsandler

dsandler — Sun, 17 Sep 2006 21:13:34 +0000

A little update:

Poking around iTunes 6 with a resource editor I have found that the fuzzy borders on the top and bottom of the source-list selection rectangle (PICT #300 and #302) are caused by a gray pixel at the top and bottom of the mask (PICT #301 and #303).

For example, here are the image and mask for the “large” selection rectangle. (Note that the second column of pixels is the background pattern for the selection bar when the source list does not have keyboard focus.)

Pict #302:

Pict #303:

I have to assume that this was intentional and not a gaffe. So, the question, then, is: Why intentionally create a fuzzy alpha border around a selection rectangle which is (by its own visual treatment) supposed to look hard and glassy?

By: gsolomon

gsolomon — Sat, 16 Sep 2006 16:41:17 +0000

One thing that’s always annoyed me about the left-hand source list is how it only reacts when you click AND release the mouse, unlike every other button and list. It makes it feel disconnected. I wish they would fix that behaviour.

By: Someone disliked iTunes’ (new) interface enough to… « sometimes

Someone disliked iTunes’ (new) interface enough to… « sometimes — Sat, 16 Sep 2006 16:22:01 +0000

[...] …do up a dissection of it and then graphically laid out his objections in a pdf. [...]

By: iTux’ Weblog » iTunes 7 kritisch unter die Lupe genommen

iTux’ Weblog » iTunes 7 kritisch unter die Lupe genommen — Sat, 16 Sep 2006 14:50:53 +0000

[...] Alle neuen Features wurden von Daniel Sandler unter die Lupe genommen. [...]

By: Jamison

Jamison — Fri, 15 Sep 2006 22:46:17 +0000

I’m not a fan of the blue iTunes icon. There is no shortage of blue icons in my dock and I would expect Apple would want this to stand out that much more against other ones, but there’s something else I’ve noticed after a couple days with it…

The computer-rendered glassy effect on the musical note comes through at larger sizes, but as it scales down in the dock it looks more like a cartoon. I’ve never noticed that kind of thing in any other icons on the dock.

By: dsandler

dsandler — Fri, 15 Sep 2006 18:01:44 +0000

I like sparing use of capitals for design purposes for the same reason as you do, and it seems a bit hypocritical for you to be peeved about this particular point.

Ian: Fair enough, but it’s still the case (no pun intended) that this is highly atypical for Apple typography, which until now has studiously avoided all-caps. (I also think it looks a little weird as realized in iTunes; I think I would have reduced the point size slightly and noodled with the letterspacing.)

By: Oskar Lissheim-Boethius

Oskar Lissheim-Boethius — Fri, 15 Sep 2006 14:24:20 +0000

I agree with most of your points, especially the Vista-looking black select-color in the sidebar and the totally Apple-UI-Guidelines-non-compliant scroll-bars. I actually got a tiny bit angry when I fired up iTunes 7 for the first time. I haven’t got that feeling for an Apple product since… well, since I forgot to unmount a network drive and my PowerBook refused to wake from sleep… (new Finder anyone?)

You can say we complain too much, but this attention to detail is what (usually) separates Apple (and its users) from other companies like Microsoft (and its users).

By: ian

ian — Fri, 15 Sep 2006 07:57:12 +0000

“What’s with all the shouting?” you say?

I think the capitals in the new ITunes interface are used in the same way as the title at the top of this page (“ANOTHER ITUNES RELEASE…”), as well as your subtitled sections (“TAGS”, “69 RESPONSES…”), your website title (“DSANDLER.ORG”), and all the menu subheadings on the left-hand-side (“HIGHLIGHTS”, “BETWEEN…”, “STRONGLY…”). These last ones are in pretty much the same position on screen as the capitalised sections which annoy you in the ITunes interface.

I like sparing use of capitals for design purposes for the same reason as you do, and it seems a bit hypocritical for you to be peeved about this particular point.

By: carter

carter — Fri, 15 Sep 2006 04:02:00 +0000

i hate it. Even the logo sucks!!! Go back to green APPLE!!!

By: colin

colin — Thu, 14 Sep 2006 23:55:18 +0000

I like it… what is it that you ALWAYS have to complain about everythings new?