iTunesLP.net

Official Apple iTunes LP and iTunes Extras Developer documentation

2009-11-25T09:36:00.004+01:00

Apple has delivered as promised. A little while back they promised to open up TuneKit and iTunes LP and iTunes Extras development to indie bands. They have just posted a comprehensive guide online along with downloads, testing information, templates, documentation; basically everything you need to get started.

So where does that leave this website?

Well there are still many things that are not explained in Apple's documentation. For example how can you add extra animations through css, to handle fonts and even how to create real visualizers instead of simple animated backgrounds.

This does mean though, that over the next few week a lot will probably change here. There will be new tutorials about how to use Apple's toolkits, and guides on how to go beyond the tools provided by Apple. I also have some ideas for framework extensions that would be useful.

Another important tool remains the iTunes Emulator. Apple now provides a way to debug inside of iTunes, however there are still a couple of major problems with doing so (having to remove and re-add the .itlp every time you make a change), which make developing and testing in Safari much more convenient. Also I still have some future ideas planned for the emulator which will go beyond the scope of what Apple provides.

Long story short, iTunesLP.net will stay relevant, so stay tuned for many great updates. In the mean time check out Apple's iTunes LP and iTunes Extras developer documentation.

Handling fonts in iTunes LPs

2009-11-24T22:05:00.005+01:00

Finally have gotten around to finishing another iTunes LP tutorial about fonts. About quirks with Windows Cleartype, AppleTV, how Apple deals with these issues themselves and an even better way to get around it. You can also see some of the results of the research for this tutorial on the website. All the headings now have much nicer fonts using the techniques described in the tutorial.

iTunes Emulator Progress

2009-11-14T19:56:00.002+01:00

There have only been a few updates the last few weeks. Mainly related to updates for AppleTV. And this past week has been particularly hectic. A lack of updates doesn't mean that there hasn't been any progress though. People following the Twitter-feed have already seen some mention of a new playback engine for the emulator. I've made a few screenshots of the current progress:

Playback controls when playing music

Playback controls when playing video

In the first screenshot you'll see basic playback controls that I'm implementing right now. These will allow you to more easily test code that listens for track-changes for example, and testing of certain playlist features.

The second I think is perhaps even more interesting since it shows the work that's being done now on a full video engine in the emulator, which will be used to create support for iTunes Extras soon, allowing me to finally finish that tutorial.

New tutorial added: AppleTV 3.0 and remote control navigation

2009-11-08T23:25:00.001+01:00

Added a new tutorial explaining how to create iTunes LPs that correctly sync to the AppleTV, and how to implement navigation using the remote control, and even how to generate that familiar audio-feedback that you're used to from your AppleTV.

AppleTV 3.0.1 Released

2009-11-08T21:27:00.003+01:00

Apple released AppleTV 3.0.1. This small update fixes a bug which caused library content to disappear from the AppleTV at random. It should not have any effect on iTunes LPs functioning correctly. If anyone experiences problems though, please let me know in the comments.

Second AppleTV 3.0 compatible iTunes LP (re)released: Kingdom Crumble

2009-11-05T22:20:00.005+01:00

Justin Bianco's Kingdom Crumble is now also available for re-download. The updated album is now compatible with AppleTV 3.0. It also uses the new navigation stuff which I'm creating a new tutorial for, so if you can't wait, download it and look inside the index.html. Basically navigation on AppleTV is done by simulated keypresses which are linked to the buttons on the remote. There are however some special cases. This weekend all will be revealed in the new tutorial.

I'll also be working on the other LPs, which will hopefully also be ready this weekend. Especially Kieronononon's may take a little while, because it needs a partial rewrite as well due to some bugs that happen with the windows version of iTunes.

New: Badges on the download page

2009-11-04T23:36:00.005+01:00

Since a lot has just changed for iTunes LPs; because of the new iTunes release and AppleTV 3.0 upgrade; there is a bit of inconsistency in compatibility. Most will work fine on iTunes 9.0.2, while a few still have problems. Almost none have AppleTV 3.0 support yet. To take away a bit of the confusion I've added compatibility badges to every download. Now you can immediately see if a download is compatible with your version of iTunes and whether you can use the LP on your AppleTV.

First AppleTV 3.0 compatible iTunes LP (re)released: Rabbit Hole

2009-11-04T23:27:00.002+01:00

It's been a few hectic days. Apple released a new version of iTunes (9.0.2) and an revamped version of it's AppleTV software. To get the current selection of iTunes LPs working with both of them required quite a bit of reverse engineering. The most significant thing they added is support for the AppleTV's remote controls to interact with the LPs. This is basically done by detecting keypresses which are mapped to remote control keys. I've gotten the first iTunes LP converted and working on AppleTV 3.0. You can now download an updated version of the iTunes LP: Rabbit Hole by Tuesday Spoils.

I'm also working on creating a tutorial to show you how you can do this yourself, and am working on updating the iTunes Emulator so you can better test this new platform for iTunes LPs. Tutorials for all this stuff should be up somewhere this weekend. There are a few interesting things about to happen (which I can't say too much about yet) which are taking up more time than I'd hoped. Stay tuned!

Fix iTunes LPs on AppleTV 3.0

2009-11-02T17:36:00.005+01:00

Most of the community created iTunes LPs don't work on AppleTV 3.0. This is related to the problem I detailed earlier with the manifest.xml. To fix getting them into iTunes 9.0.2 I suggested you add an almost empty manifest.xml; however it seems that isn't enought for the AppleTV support to work. User phenom posted a comment with some hints to a possible fix. Now I've been able to get something working consistently (thanks to some help by user rob by adding a requirements XML section to the manifest.xml and updating the version identifiers in that manifest, which would result in something like this:


<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<manifest xmlns="http://apple.com/itunes/media_archive/manifest" version="1.0" media_archive_version="2.0">
    <requirements>
        <supported_platforms>
            <platform name="iTunes" minimum_version="9.0"/>
            <platform name="AppleTV" minimum_version="3.0"/>
        </supported_platforms>
    </requirements>
</manifest>

Note that this will only enable syncing and NOT navigating those LPs on the AppleTV. I'm still working out some things about how to get navigation working properly, but I should have something ready for that soon. I'll update the tutorials soon. And I'll try to get to work with the developers of the iTunes LPs on the website now to get those updated and working as well.

iTunes Emulator Released

2009-11-01T13:14:00.007+01:00

The first version of the iTunes Emulator has been released on github. There are still a few problems with it, but for the most part it should be fully usable for iTunes LPs.

There are a few features missing though which you may or may not run in to:

No video support

No waveform support

No chapter support

No XID support; which means you can't use this emulator to run your purchased LPs in a browser (yet!).

Apart from that most things should work just fine. You can even test against your actual music library by supplying the emulator with the location of your iTunes Music Library export XML file. This file however does not contain XIDs or cnIDs so your purchased iTunes LPs won't quite work yet. And since there is no Video support yet some other things may not function correctly either.

Plans for the (near) future:

Implement missing features

Create support for XIDs by clever use of the manifest.xml and a secondary mapping file.

Implement music playback controls similar to those in iTunes when showing iTunes LPs fullscreen

Document code and iTunes features

So get started by downloading the package. If you find any bugs please just let me know in the comments.

How to fix previously downloaded iTunes LPs for iTunes 9.0.2

2009-11-01T11:30:00.004+01:00

iTunes 9.0.2 changed some things about how iTunes LPs work. Because of this many community created LPs can't be imported into iTunes anymore. If you downloaded an iTunes LP from another website, or one that isn't available on this website anymore (for various reasons), and it has that problem; You can still get them to work by simply adding one missing file to the .itlp. Here's how you do it:

First download this .zip file. It contains a file named manifest.xml which is missing from the iTunes LPs that don't work anymore. All you need to do is copy that manifest.xml into your iTunes LP. To do so open the .itlp folder. If you are on a Windows machine you can just double-click the .itlp folder and copy the manifest.xml into the same location as the iTunesMetadata.plist, index.html and iTunesArtwork files. If you are using a Mac OS X machine right-click or ctrl+click the .itlp file and select Show Package Contents. A new finder window will open containing among other things an iTunesMetadata.plist, index.html and iTunesArtwork file. Copy the manifest.xml into this folder.

When you've added the manifest.xml you can add your iTunes LP to iTunes by dragging it into your music library. iTunes should now recognize and accept the iTunes LP again.

Blog added

2009-10-31T16:28:00.002+01:00

Yes! I managed to force blogger into submission, and found a way to integrate it into the existing site. This should make it much easier to keep you guys up to date about any new discoveries I do. The RSS is also updated and linked to the new blog. If something doesn't quite work please try to remove and add your rss subscription again. I switched RSS formats as well, and some clients might have difficulties with that.

iTunes 9.0.2 Community iTunes LP Problems FIXED

2009-10-31T10:03:00.000+01:00

In the just released 9.0.2 update for iTunes some changes have been made to how iTunes LPs are handled. This causes iTunes to refuse to add some community created iTunes LPs. If you are having trouble adding an iTunes LP to your iTunes music library please re-download the LP from our download page, or if you got the iTunes LP elsewhere see our Getting Started tutorial to see how you can create a manifest.xml. This file is probably missing and is now a required part of the iTunes LP format. To fix any problematic file it should probably be enough to add this file.

iTunes 9.0.2 Released: Adds fullscreen iTunes LP and AppleTV 3.0 support

2009-10-30T18:56:00.000+01:00

Apple just released iTunes 9.0.2 and AppleTV 3.0 . The new iTunes release is mainly intended to add support to the new AppleTV 3.0 software, but also sneaks in a new fullscreen iTunes LP feature sorely missed by users with 1280x800 screens in the previous version. Now 13" MacBook (pro) owners can view the full iTunes LP. iTunes LPs are also now viewable from your AppleTV. We will soon be updating the tutorials to add information on how to add AppleTV Remote navigation to your LPs.

New tutorial added: Monitoring tracks and track changes

2009-10-25T02:04:00.000+01:00

Normally you know what the current playing track is, because you've explicitly told iTunes to play that particular track. However when playing a playlist it would be nice to be able to know when a track change has occurred so that you can for example automatically change to the correct page with track info. This tutorial shows you exactly how to do that ...

Exciting things to be revealed soon

2009-10-23T02:01:00.000+02:00

I've changed the frontpage of the website to reflect some changes that are coming soon. The tutorial section will soon be expanded with many new guides showing some new things you can do with the format. Check out the updated webpage and see if you can spot what we're planning.

New iTunes LPs added: Cartel - Tha Throwback ENHANCED

2009-10-23T00:07:00.000+02:00

This re-release of Tha Throwback is the first FREE hip hop album in Apple's new iTunes LP format. Named "Tha Throwback" because it's a throwback to a time when hip hop artists actually cared about lyrical content. It features some of the most promising, upcoming MC's in the game.

New tutorial added: Playing videos

2009-10-21T04:34:00.000+02:00

This tutorial is mainly concerned with video playback, but the same methods can also be used to playback audio within the iTunes interface. This tutorial describes the code required and how to prepare your video assets ...

New iTunes LPs added: Justin Bianco - Kingdom Crumble

2009-10-19T20:32:00.000+02:00

Kingdom crumble, an album of solo piano compositions, is a mix of moods, all with deliberate, carefully spartan emotive melodies. Now released in a special demo version with four free tracks, graciously made available by Justin Bianco for iTunesLP.net

Tutorial added: Visualizers

2009-10-17T02:19:00.000+02:00

Visualizers are one of the big new things in iTunes LPs. Click play album and you are presented with nice bobbing visuals to go along with your music. Unfortunately though they aren't really visualizers at all. However iTunes does expose a waveform property which can be used to create real visualizers and in this tutorial we show you how.

New iTunes LPs added: Tuesday Spoils - Rabbit Hole

2009-10-16T01:23:00.000+02:00

Since their inception in late 2006, Tuesday Spoils have been catching eyes and ears with their unique, vibrant sound and enigmatic live shows. They have recently released their new EP as a free download along with an iTunes LP.

Two new iTunes LPs added

2009-10-14T23:48:00.000+02:00

Two new community created iTunes LPs have been added to the website. You can
now download Kieronononon's EP, Brutal Techno Punk Special and the album Listen by Tryad.

iTunesLP.net interviewed

2009-10-14T06:28:00.000+02:00

iTunesLP.net was interviewed by theDigitalLifestyle.tv.

Tutorial added: Controlling iTunes

2009-10-14T02:46:00.000+02:00

Playing tracks in iTunes is pretty easy. Tracks are exposed as a TrackObject which has a method play which starts playback. How you get access to these track objects however is a bit more difficult.

The window.iTunes object is the interface to communicating with iTunes. It exposes several interesting functions and properties but for this tutorial we will focus on getting access to tracks from the music library and playing them ...

RSS feed added

2009-10-13T10:00:00.000+02:00

You can now keep up to date by watching our RSS feed. Whenever a tutorial or new iTunes LP is posted you can be updated automatically.