Company explains removal of Cover Flow

(Updated with info on bugfixes) Apple is planning to restore the ability to check for duplicate files in a minor update for iTunes 11, says AllThingsD's Walt Mossberg. In a review of the app, Mossberg explains that he contacted Apple about some questions and was told about the update, although no release timeline was given. Duplicate checking was an important feature of previous versions of iTunes, especially for people importing music libraries from iPods, iPhones, or other computers.

Mossberg adds that Apple also elaborated on the removal of Cover Flow. The now-missing option allowed people to flick through a carousel-style view of albums, and was a staple of iTunes for years. Apple, however, notes that too few users found the technology useful, and so it decided to strip Cover Flow out.

Cover Flow may also be redundant in light of iTunes' new standard album view, which displays album art in tiles, and expands each item as needed to show tracklists. Similar views are available for artists and genres.

Update: Apple tells Mossberg it is also planning to fix a pair of bugs in the update. The first involves cover art going missing in the Album view. Another more serious one is preventing some Apple TV owners from streaming cloud-stored movies to their TVs.

by MacNN Staff