Mac Mondays: Apple Front Row 1.0.1 (For EVERY Mac)
Front Row is only available on the new iMac but we have been using a modified version for a week now and this is reminiscent of iTunes version 1 but with Quartz Extreme effects built on top. Front Row is definitely a 1.0.1 release for many reasons. In terms of its usability, eye candy and the fact you can see the screen from across the room is amazing but many things about the new software need to be fixed if this is going to be included in other machines in the future or if it has a chance of competing with Microsoft’s already prevalent Media Center OS. (EDIT: You can always search for where you can acquire Front Row)
Many applications like iMovie allow you to view your iTunes and iPhoto libraries within the application. When you click ‘photos’ in iMovie the pictures load and you can drag and drop with no issues. When you click ‘photos’ in front row, iPhoto launches in the background and as you choose an album to run a slideshow with, iPhoto will be told, via Applescript, to create a new slideshow from this album and Front Row disappears (without you knowing) and plays the slideshow. I know this because if I force quit Front Row, iPhoto is open with a slideshow album and while I am playing that slideshow from within Front Row, I see the star rating and trash can icons that I see in iPhoto while playing a slideshow. The same goes for music. Not only does iTunes launch and play music, but if you have cross fading turned on in iTunes, then Front Row does as well. There is not option in Front Row to turn this off because it is merely displaying the xml output of iTunes (the same output that is used in iChat to display current iTunes song) and display a full resolution version of the album art of that song.
The application weighs less than 5 megabytes because it is an engine to interface with the iApps with some Quartz effects and sound effects. Support for the IR remote is a small bit of code put in there. I would not be surprised if the entire app is one big Apple script with some visual goodness thrown in. I don’t understand why Apple could not make Front Row interface with the iApps without having to launch those apps in the background. Even playing a DVD opens DVD player front within Front Row. This is not a shareware developer creating a full screen GUI for the iApps. Apple owns these applications it is interfacing with so why make it so difficult and processor intensive?
If you have the podcast section of iTunes open and launch front row and decide to play your Ben Folds play list, it will give you a communications error after sitting there for a few minutes. My suggestion is quit iPhoto, iTunes and DVD player, launch Front Row then make it open the apps within because if they are already running, Front Row does not know how to change to the main library and play a song from there. If I choose The Shins by going to Genres, Light Rock, The Shins then select one of their albums, iTunes creates a play list called ‘Front row play list’ which is odd because why can’t it just play the file? The issue started with Apple trying to play items from within iTunes instead of using the API that reads the XML data file that iTunes keeps in your home’s music folder and when you select a song it just finds the song on your hard drive and plays it. Since AAC files keep the ID3 tags for song name and such as well as the album art, you won’t need to use the iTunes music library file for more than just where the song is located on the hard drive. I would rather Apple create a 25 megabyte application that is self-reliant because if you are waiting for other application to load, it makes things slow for you.
After the 1.0.1 update to the Front Row application, you can now successfully play DVDs in Front Row on Macs other than the new iMac. As previously noted, DVD playback in the application is Apple’s DVD Player software playing with the Front Row controls (volume and tracking) overlaid. After 30 minutes of DVD playback, I used the Front Row buttons only to discover the app had taken a backseat and I was now in DVD player and my up and down controls acted as volume and not tracking. My major complaint about the DVD playback is the left and right buttons skipped by chapters instead of tracking in a fast forward or rewind manner as opposed to DVD player, which can fast forward or skip forward a chapter. Other than the fixed playback, the 1.0.1 version fixes load times of the iTunes play lists, video preview in your Video section and overall stability of Front Row.
During Steve’s presentation of this software he already had all of the iApps loaded to their default screen awaiting Front Row. He knew what was up, why didn’t we? Perhaps it was too buggy to rely on the data files of the apps and that will be a feature supplied in iLife ’06. For now, be glad it is only for the iMac because this app is not ready for primetime yet.
Adam Jackson is a freelance writer with over five years experience that focuses Macintosh technology. You can always contact him at support@mypersonalgetaway.com
