[Macworld]

Post your comments for Joining CD tracks, quickly adding items to playlists, and iTunes device limits here

[CanAmSteve]

Regarding iTunes ridiculous (esp. in light of the ever-exapnding devices) 5-device limit: one simple improvement would be to allow us to log into our account, show us the list of authorized machines, and allow us to remove one. At present, your only choice is to deauthorize all machines and start over.

That's not very convenient if you happen to be traveling. In my case, I'll have a MacAir, an iPhone and an iPad with me. Back home will be my iMac and a couple of Touches. Then I have a cottage with an old Mini in it - if I forget to "deauthorize" it when I leave, it's "wasting" an authorisation.

No doubt the five machine limit is wired into a lot of Apple's content agreements, so changing it might take some effort. But surely it would be simple to remotely deauthorize a single device?

[John54]

Thanks for highlighting the problem with the 5-device limit. It's a real problem. For one example, I've got video stored on an old Mac to save room on other computers which share music with other family members desk computes and our traveling Mac laptops. I'm always having to deauthorize one to be able to watch a movie on the AppleTV or listen to music while another is tied up on processor intensive work.

I like CanAmSteve's suggestion of making it easier to manage the authorizations. But actually giving us a few more would solve a lot of headaches.

[sukayser]

I can't find a way to halt the video, so I can watch it at leisure (and prevent those near me from being annoyed by the noise. This is poor web management.

[sukayser]

OK--sorry about that message. I was listening to a video on a different tab. I still think that having sound effects start automatically is a bad idea, since many people wanting to read the page are in environments where sound is unwelcome.

[rbutler]

I use Join Tracks quite a bit. So much so that I created a keyboard shortcut for it.
With the 11 update, the shortcut stopped working. It actually shows up next to the command in the drop down but doesn't actually work. I've tried deleting it and starting over (my shortcut was the same as the view options shortcut, but worked when all my tracks were selected). No other combo of keys seems to get this work as a keyboard shortcut.

Any ideas?
Thanks,
Renee

[echosend]

What I really need is a function to join mp3 files. I often buy audio dramas that are separated by chapter and I'd rather link them all together and without the sound interruption that happens when going from one file to another.

[rbutler]

You could try Join Together. That works with Quicktime and creates mp4 files.

Quote

What I really need is a function to join mp3 files. I often buy audio dramas that are separated by chapter and I'd rather link them all together and without the sound interruption that happens when going from one file to another.

[barthyna]

i have a problem with my itunes. i have no library. some how when i downloaded the cd's they were not but into a library. now they are in the songs list. i don't know how to get them into playlists or a library. how do i get songs out of itunes and on to a cd?

[coffeeson]

03/11/2013 07:49 PM PDT

i have a problem with my itunes. i have no library. some how when i downloaded the cd's they were not but into a library. now they are in the songs list. i don't know how to get them into playlists or a library. how do i get songs out of itunes and on to a cd?

I think the first thing you need to do when you have iTunes open is to click on "View" in the desktop menu bar at the top of your screen. Click on "Show Sidebar". Your "Library" should then appear. Click on File at the top of the screen and then click on New and slide cursor onto Playlist. A new unnamed playlist will appear below. Give it a name. Then, drag and drop the songs you want to burn onto a blank CD into this new playlist. Open the new playlist to see if the songs you want are there. Leave the playlist open and insert a blank CD into your machine. Go to File up above and click on "Burn Playlist to Disc". As far as I know, this is the only way there is now to burn a CD so that it plays on any stereo or car system. Good luck.

[martyfixit]

Thanks for the great column. My biggest problem with iTunes 11 is the change in the search feature. It used to be that as I typed in a keyword in the search bar, all of the songs having all or part of my search query in their title, artist, album, etc. would begin to appear in the song list. Now, i get a pop-open window with graphics that take up a large amount of space, and still take me a few hunt and peck keystrokes to find the particular song, artist, etc. that I'm looking for. I don't see any way to eliminate or change the search feature to get back (or even close) to the old system. Am I missing something?