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You can also right-click on any track within your iTunes library to see options for adding it to the iTunes DJ queue. The additional Party Shuffle settings previously found here have been moved to a separate settings screen that is now accessed by the “Settings” button on the right-hand side. Using the iTunes DJ feature is similar to using Party Shuffle: Drag-and-drop songs into the iTunes DJ list to add them to the DJ queue or go into the iTunes DJ queue and choose a playlist to pull content from using the settings bar at the bottom of the screen. Songs with more votes are pushed up in the queue over songs with fewer votes. Now renamed “iTunes DJ” this feature behaves in much the same way as the original Party Shuffle feature but adds one significant twist: Anybody on your network with an iPhone or iPod touch and Apple’s Remote application can now see information about the current playing queue, request songs, and even vote on upcoming songs in the queue. ITunes 8.1 introduces a new spin on the venerable Party Shuffle feature. AutoFill-Not Just for the Shuffle anymore.If you are coming from iTunes 7.6 or later, iTunes 8.1 does not perform any noticeable library database upgrades or maintenance during initial startup, suggesting that only minor structural changes have been made to the iTunes database.įurther, iTunes does tag the version number within the iTunes database somewhere, so you will not be able to revert to an earlier version of iTunes without restoring your iTunes library database from an earlier pre-upgrade backup Unlike previous iTunes updates, this one is not accompanied by an update to Quicktime, although the Windows installer still includes QuickTime for those users who may be installing iTunes for the first time rather than upgrading.Ī 13MB Front Row update is also available for Mac users to provide improved compatibility with iTunes 8.1. The download itself is approximately 70 MB for Windows users, and 65 MB for Mac users. To update iTunes, either download the new version directly from Apple’s web site at, or choose the “Check for Updates” option in your existing version of iTunes, which will trigger the Apple Software Update application and scan for new Apple software. As usual, we dig in a bit deeper and take a more detailed look at what has and what hasn’t changed in iTunes 8.1.
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