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4 years after that first 'complaint' and I'm in the same position. Having had a keen interest in music for over 50 years and also spent some of that time as a database developer, it appalls me that so many developers simply get this wrong. Apple is to be applauded for making iTunes as flexible as it is. The only way I'm really interested in accessing my music is by Artist/Album and in iTunes I can display the Artist name as it should be (i.e. First Name, Last Name) but sort in lists by Last Name. I can group compilations to keep those myriad Artists out of the main Artists list where they would be inappropriate and I can assign an Album Artist as opposed to a different Artist on each track. All these things are possible and there's little that iTunes lacks in this respect.
But then Apple let us down with e.g. non iOS iPods totally ignoring Album Artist. So despite iTunes ability to get it right, if you want the same library on your iPod you have to munge the data around to get it to display as required and so not take advantage of all that iTunes has to offer.
What's this to do with Remote Buddy?
I have a need to control iTunes on a Mac from an iPhone, by a web browser as in this instance I cannot use Apple's Remote app. RB's Ajax Remote looks ideal. Apparently a nice interface, but imagine my disappointment when I see the Artist list cluttered up with all the compilation Artists which increases the Artists count from about 500 to over 2000. So as an earlier poster pointed out, this makes RB USELESS.
Why can developers of this sort of app that involves music realise that the fundamental access method needs to be a way to drill down by Artist, to their Albums and then to Tracks if desired. I realise there are many others who like to mess with playlists and ratings and telling the world on Twitter and faceBook what they're playing, but that is just trivia once the basics have been nailed down. and in this case it is obvious that IOSPIRIT have simply missed the point.
Here's what is needed, but they failed to deliver:-
- First of all, direct access to modules via URL so the module selection screen can be avoided.
- Sort Artists by Sort Album Artist, Album Artist, Sort Artist, Artist in that order.
- Sort an Artist's Albums by Sort Album then by Album.
I'm sure there's more, but I couldn't be bothered to look further since currently it is so utterly useless. All those tags I list above are available in iTunes and the 'Sort' versions are there for the specific purpose of allowing users to organise their music how they want. Why when developing an app like this would you ignore them. Really it shouldn't be up to us to point this out.
Disappointed.
Last edited: 14.05.2014 13:33:17
