55 replies to this topic 1 votes

[CSharp.]

You really have to compare it to something like the iPad music app though (which isn't terribly great either, imo), not the Zune app or iTunes on the Desktop.

[boumboqc]

tsupersonic, on 20 November 2012 - 20:26, said:

There's nothing stopping you from using the Zune software for Windows 8. I use it, and it works just fine.

I do too, tried the music app on W8 and it is just not good enough!
I don't know why they killed zune, it's a rellay good software. With a few more codecs this thing could be better than iTunes ( even if it is right now ).

[jakem1]

CSharp., on 21 November 2012 - 14:48, said:

You really have to compare it to something like the iPad music app though (which isn't terribly great either, imo), not the Zune app or iTunes on the Desktop.

Why? Apple's failure to create a compelling music app shouldn't be used as an excuse for Microsoft's poor showing. There are plenty of good music players out there to draw inspiration from and it shouldn't be too hard to apply the UX of the Zune app to a Metro app.

[CSharp.]

jakem1, on 21 November 2012 - 16:57, said:

it shouldn't be too hard to apply the UX of the Zune app to a Metro app.

Yeah, well, seems like reality disagrees with you.

[MorganX]

CSharp., on 21 November 2012 - 14:48, said:

You really have to compare it to something like the iPad music app though (which isn't terribly great either, imo), not the Zune app or iTunes on the Desktop.

Yeah, but, on your portable devices you really only need to sync the music and playlists. iTunes was superb at this. Better IMO than Zune, though Zune was the best MS media manager yet.

It is so much easier to create playlists and sync devices in iTunes, with Zune a decent second. Windows 8 is simply unusable for me. Trying to create playlists from a large library with search the way it is, is just an exercise in frustration and frankly I give up. I'll use the old Zune. Which means I have no need for the Metro Windows Phone sync app unless Zune doesn't work with the Lumia 920 which is still in the box because it's just a chore right now. I'm sticking with my iPhone (someone stole my Samsung Galaxy S3).

The software is so bad I don't even want to bother with the 920 right now, and now I'm hearing W8 and WP8 don't work that well or consistently together?!? What a disappointment. Hopefully this "was" Sinofsky's fault and things will get better but it's a little late.

I have a take a step back, I said all the haters predicting failure for the Windows 8 ecosystem were being ridiculous, while I still doubt that happens, I have to say it is definitely within the realm of possibility.

[jakem1]

CSharp., on 21 November 2012 - 17:53, said:

Yeah, well, seems like reality disagrees with you.

Unfortunately true.

[Auroka]

Xbox music couldn't sort any of my music right so I tried Google music and besides a few low quality album art it got everything right.
The music matching service is also really crappy. When I would match album info every song would match but only half the album would actually sync.

It's a shame, as a long time Zune user I was really looking forward to Xbox music.

[Dashel]

Shane Nokes, on 20 November 2012 - 23:38, said:

Resources are spread out, including cash. I realize you probably know that...but felt the need to mention it since I see that comment a lot.

Which just seems to highlight that MS is trying to do too much at once if these nominal costs are becoming so problematic. As Morgan said, whoever did the Music app should be fired. If you are going to take the risk of a radical change, you simply have to execute which means putting your resources fully behind it.

[Tyler R.]

I concur: the Music app has been a mess since the CP. It's gotten better over time, but it's still cludgie and bug ridden.

[reverseswing]

MorganX, on 20 November 2012 - 22:25, said:

Not sure I'm following you with the references to older OS'. I'm only talking about the Xbox Music App in Windows 8 and Windows 8 RT. Does not find music in Library if it is on removable storage though Desktop environment and apps will through the Library. Also, synced Xbox playlists do not find all local files. But this I believe is because when the cloud service can't find a match, nothing is telling the app to search your music library. This occurs on Surface and Desktop with playlists created on either.

I think there's been a lot of indications on the web when searching for solutions that local file support is a work in progress, which is fine. Only they RTM'd. Given that, they are moving way too slow in getting it implemented. I feel they should be working around the clock at the MS campus to get all basic functionality implemented in all apps released to manufacturing.

When you talk about removable storage, I have 64GB microsdx card in my Surface and I have my entire non-Zune music plus all the Zune music (now converted to XBOX music) loaded there. You just have to make sure the location is added in the Music library and the XBOX music app will pick up all of it. If you enable to download of all music in the settings menu, it will download to that location as well (i have the storage card set as default). Does this help?

[MorganX]

reverseswing, on 21 November 2012 - 19:56, said:

When you talk about removable storage, I have 64GB microsdx card in my Surface and I have my entire non-Zune music plus all the Zune music (now converted to XBOX music) loaded there. You just have to make sure the location is added in the Music library and the XBOX music app will pick up all of it. If you enable to download of all music in the settings menu, it will download to that location as well (i have the storage card set as default). Does this help?

Yeah, I have a 64G SD too. Added to library, doesn't work. Results are erratic across the board. Some people get nothing, I get it if I move from removable (this is on Surface). Desktop picks up all music locations.