How To Enable Hidden iTunes ”Now Playing” Notification On Mac OS X

Hidden deep in the new Lion OS X, turns out that a new iTunes Dock setting. Once you have activated it, a pop up notification of which iTunes track is currently playing will appear. You may prefer the native one found in Lion rather than programming Growl to show similar notifications.


Those running the latest Lion OS X 10.7 are going to have this feature available. You just need to activate it. After a few simple steps explained below, a window will pop up above the iTunes icon on the Dock each time a new track starts displaying the song title and the artist. The notification window is going to close automatically after a couple of seconds.
STEP 1: Before anything, you’ll need to close iTunes.
STEP 2: Open the Terminal (Applications > Utilities)
STEP 3: Enter the following command:

defaults write com.apple.dock itunes-notifications -bool TRUE;killall Dock

STEP 4: You have the option to customize it by adding the iTunes icon in the pop up along with the track info with the following command:

defaults write com.apple.dock notification-always-show-image -bool TRUE;killall Dock

Now launch iTunes and get ready to try it!
Some of you might find it distracting but for others it may turn out to be pretty cool . Nevertheless here are the steps to deactivate it just in case.
You can disable the “Now Playing” notification in Mac OS X by writing the below commands in the terminal:

defaults delete com.apple.dock itunes-notifications
defaults delete com.apple.dock notification-always-show-image;killall Dock

Keir Thomas came up with this tweak and shared it on Mac OS X hints. He mentioned that it came with bundled options which allowed for the change in width and height of the notification window. Apple may be working on a new notification system which is compatible with OS X applications but may not be ready to make it official.

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Download iTunes 10.5.1 Final With iTunes Match For Windows And Mac OS X

iTunes 10.5.1 final version download available right now for both Windows and Mac OS X users. iTunes 10.5.1 finally brings iTunes match to the public. In case you’re wondering what’s iTunes Match and what does it do, we’ll answer everything.

iTunes match is a new music service integrated with iTunes in the iCloud which let users able to “scan & match” their local music libraries and save their songs on iCloud. iTunes match has an automatic renewal subscription of $24.99 per year which can be canceled anytime from account settings. The subscription can only be done via PC or Mac and can’t be done via iOS devices. The music can be accessed via iOS 5.x on you iPhone, iPad or iPod touch and your PC or Mac OS X running iTunes 10.5.1. iTunes Match can be used on 10 computers and iOS devices including 5 of which can be computers authorized with your Apple ID.

iTunes Match is currently available for U.S users till now but it may be available in other countries soon.

What’s new in iTunes 10.5.1

Introducing iTunes Match. Store your entire music library in iCloud, including music you’ve imported from CDs, and enjoy your collection anywhere, anytime, on your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, computer, or Apple TV.

iTunes 10.5 also included:

• iTunes in the Cloud. iTunes now stores your music and TV purchases in iCloud and makes them available on your devices anywhere, any time, at no additional cost.

• Automatic Downloads. Purchase music from any device or computer and automatically download a copy to your PC and iOS devices.

• Download Previous Purchases. Download your past music, TV, app, and book purchases again, at no additional cost. Previous purchases may be unavailable if they are no longer on the iTunes Store.

• Sync with your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch with iOS 5.

• Wi-Fi Syncing. Automatically sync your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch with iTunes any time they’re both on the same Wi-Fi network.

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Apple Again Erasing Developers’ iTunes Match Libraries Tomorrow — Launch Imminent?

Apple has notified the developers who are testing the prerelease beta of iTunes Match service that the matched libraries will be erased for another time on 12 Nov. The erasing has been planned to prepare for the forthcoming launch of iTunes Match. The service which was scheduled to be launched in October but missed its debut is yet to be confirmed for being made publically available.

Developers have been asked to shut off the iTunes Match on all iOS devices and computers as Apple has announced to delete all current iCloud libraries on 12nd November at 10 AM Pacific Time. The iTunes match can be turned off by choosing ‘Turn Off iTunes Match’ under the ‘Store’ menu in iTunes on PC or a Mac. On iOS devices, open the native “Settings” application, choose “Music” and turn off iTunes Match. The songs on the computer would remain unaffected as mentioned in a note from Apple.

iTunes Match is still advertised under “Coming Soon” . It is expected to support music collections of around 25000 songs from $24.99 per year when it becomes publically available. Personal music libraries will be scanned by the service and matched with tracks sold on the iTunes store.

The subscribers can re-download any of the matched songs on other enabled iDevices. Even if the original files are of lower quality, those downloads will be 256 Kbps ACC files.

(Via AppleInsider)

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