Switch off the iTunes 8 genre browser
Another September, another iTunes release. This doesn't really feel like one that entirely requires a major version, but with the last release already up to point seven, I suppose it's not a big shock.
The preferences window has seen a bit of an overhaul, which is probably a good thing, as it was getting horribly unwieldy. (I'm hoping that Sven-S. Porst will provide his usual exhaustive review in a day or three.) However, it's also lost one of my pet choices, namely the ability to switch off the genre browser. (That's the thing that comes up when you hit Command B. Once upon a time, it even had a button in the toolbar, but that's years ago now.)
Thankfully, there's still a hidden preference. Just open a new Terminal window and type the following:
defaults write com.apple.itunes show-genre-when-browsing -bool FALSE
Lo and behold, your browser window is usefully wide again, and those nonsense genres are banished from your sight.
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Comments
I had no idea people used that
oh well
Tackling a few of the points in the comments. Andy wrote "No reason why you shouldn't be able to turn it off." Well, you can, just via a hidden preference rather than the UI. Given how bloated the iTunes 7 preferences were, I can forgive Apple, although obviously it would be much nicer if there was documentation that told you why a preference had gone missing, and how to replicate it via the defaults system. (Bare Bones are great at this- just look at the BBEdit 9 release notes.)
cozen answered his own question, but to be clear: this post is about the Genre column in the three-pane browser in list view, not the column in the main list, which is indeed accessible via Command J and which makes it easy to toggle the visibility of various fields.
jdmuys: no, I don't think there are any hidden preferences for browsing by composer. Personally I've not got much classical music, but I can see why those who do find iTunes such an annoying tool for organising it. Sorry not to be able to be more help.
steve: mjs gave a good answer to your question, which I'd agree with. I'd also note that while artist and album information are (almost always) things that everyone can agree on, genres are much more subjective, which makes them - for me, anyway - far less useful.
zgib: the instructions in the main post are for Mac OS X only. For Windows XP (and probably Vista), you need to back up, then edit, the iTunesPrefs.xml file in C:\Documents and Settings\USERNAME\Application Data\Apple Computer\iTunes with an application like Notepad++ and add the following two lines:
<key>show-genre-when-browsing</key>
<data>False</data>
There's a more detailed howto on editing hidden preferences on Windows in this iPhone Alley post. Good luck.
I took your windows instructions, and I did it again but this time used show-store-arrow-links instead of the genre one. Also, it took me a few tries to get it, as iTunes kept deleting the lines I added when I launched the app. So persist, guys, if this is happening to you. Read what Paul Mison said above.
thanks for the info.
Thanks.
naddy465: a bit of searching turned up this post about iTunes 8 which includes information - for Windows - on how to add images for new genres. If you're willing to copy your replacement images in after every iTunes upgrade, I imagine that would work. The equivalent path on the Mac is /Applications/iTunes.app/Contents/Resources/ and they should be 256 pixel square JPG files.
paulix, BJ: Go to the Utilities folder inside the Applications folder, and open the Terminal.app program there. It will launch with a big empty window with a prompt at the top left corner. You should be able to paste the command and restart iTunes to have the required effect. Alternatively, there's a preference pane called Secrets that allows you to edit the defaults for many apps without fiddling around with the Terminal at all.