Display totals at the bottom of the screen in iTunes 11

Article

Display totals at the bottom of the screen in iTunes 11

Ask iLounge offers readers the opportunity to get answers to their iPod-, iPhone-, iPad-, iTunes-, or Apple TV-related questions from a member of the iLounge editorial team. We'll answer several questions here each week, and of course, you can always get help with more immediate concerns from the iLounge Discussion Forums. Submit your questions for consideration using our Ask iLounge Submit Form. We reserve the right to edit questions for grammar, spelling, and length.

View the complete Ask iLounge archives...

Q: I manually manage all of my music, especially as it goes to my iPhone. It used to be that when looking at “Music”—either for stuff in my library on my computer, or the “Music” section of my iPhone—iTunes would tell me the total number of files, total play time, and total size. iTunes 11 doesn’t seem to do this, at least not in the “Songs” view. I noticed that the Playlists, when viewed on my iPhone, also don’t show me the total number of tracks and size or duration. Is there any way to get this functionality back? I like it, in particular for my iPhone.

- Kristin

A: This information is actually still available in iTunes 11, but for whatever reason Apple has decided to hide the status bar by default, even for users upgrading from a previous version.

The good news is that it’s almost trivial to turn back on: Simply go to the View menu and choose Show Status Bar and not only will it return at the bottom of all list views—both on your device and in your library—but will also appear with the same information in most other views as well, updated appropriately for whatever content is currently selected.

If you don’t want the status bar enabled all the time, it can also quickly be toggled on and off using the CMD+/ (Mac) or CTRL+/ (Windows) keyboard shortcuts.

The most asked question at iLounge.com:

How do I copy content from my iPod/iPhone onto my computer?

Converting DVDs, web video, TV shows and more:

The Complete Guide to iPod, Apple TV and iPhone Video Formats

Converting DVDs, web video, TV shows and more:

The Complete Guide to iPod, iPhone and Apple TV Video Conversion (Mac)

Converting DVDs, web video, TV shows and more:

The Complete Guide to iPod, iPhone and Apple TV Video Conversion (Win)

Best Speakers?

Best Headphones?

Best Case?

Best In-Car Solution?

Best Battery Extender?

Find more answers in the latest publications in our Library. Free downloads developed by the editors of iLounge!

Ask iLounge Archives:

5-17-13: Calendar info disappears after iCloud restore

5-16-13: Remove old iCloud backup after restoring to a new iPhone

5-15-13: Setting up a ringtone in iTunes

5-14-13: Using a Wi-Fi hard drive with an iPad

5-13-13: Backing up and restoring an iPod classic

View the complete Ask iLounge archives...

« Gapless Playback in iTunes 11

Joining CD Tracks in iTunes 11 »

Comments

1

I have ITunes 11 on my new PC. I have used the “home Sharing” to play my iTunes music on this new device.
How do I copy the “original iTunes library” including “Counts”, “Playlists” into my new ITunes file on the new PC?
Cheers
P

Posted by PRMAN on January 12, 2013 at 1:26 PM (PST)

2

You wrote: “for whatever reason Apple has decided to hide the status bar”. The reason is Apple does not wish users to have a simple way to check that Apple is accurately saving their files in Match. By not having the total display, users are less likely to note that one or more of their files has gone missing.

I check and log my Match and iTunes total every month. I have yet to find the song count total decrease, but I have found movies and TV shows that have disappeared from my library. I contact Apple about the disappearances, and Apple always has some lame excuse like: ‘that is no longer offered’ or something. Hm, sounds like theft of my files, but no doubt buried somewhere deep in the iTunes Terms of Service is a clause that allows Apple to steal your stuff whenever they want.

Apple does advise users to backup their library, but users should also make a record of the library totals so they know when to restore the backup files.

Posted by Steven McIntire Allen on February 4, 2013 at 6:08 PM (PST)

3

Oh great, I can display total time. However, not in a precise format. I kid you not, 12 minutes 37 seconds becomes 12.4 minutes. This makes the total time feature entirely useless. 6.4 hours is not a measurement I can work with. Apple’s website claims you can click on the time measurement to toggle between rounded and precise measurements. Well, no you can’t. Nice job.

Posted by festernaecus on February 21, 2013 at 12:59 PM (PST)

4

Yup, I went Google searching as to how to get a precise measurement in minutes/seconds, and ended up here. As with festernaecus… Click the bottom bar to switch from the imprecise X.X hours total? Nope, doesn’t do a thing. For goodness sake Apple. Why the stupid 2.4 hours or whatever in the first place? No one, I repeat no one, would want to measure the total time of a group of songs in that manner, so not only is lacking the option to show 2:23:00 or whatever aggravating, but the alternative that someone thought would be nice is useless.

Posted by AJ on March 4, 2013 at 2:26 PM (PST)

5

I’m not sure what festernaecus and AJ are talking about….when I click on the writing in the bottom it switches from the rounded to precise time.

Posted by Jane on March 8, 2013 at 9:11 PM (PST)

6

Jane, this is a mystery to me… Just like the other 2 guys, I tried to click. Then I tried to double-click, Ctrl-click, Alt-click and so on… Nada ! Even tried to do it when no music was running and then when it was playing. No difference. I clearly missed something. Or maybe we all did.
Apart from that, I understand the iTunes match reason given by Steve to explain the hidden-by-default status bar, even though I don’t know whether it is the actual reason. But actual or not, it remains a completely stupid idea to me.

Posted by Yann on March 19, 2013 at 2:46 PM (PST)

7

Thank you so much for the steps to get the status bar on the bottom to see the total size of my library. It was driving me nuts trying to find it.

Now about the precise time vs. rounded time. I did what was said above about clicking on the bottom status bar to see if mine would switch. It did, but I have to click right on the words in order for it to change. If you click on any of the blank space on the status bar, it won’t. Hopefully, this clears things up a little more.

Posted by Shanna L on April 3, 2013 at 10:21 PM (PST)

If you have a comment, news tip, advertising inquiry, or coverage request, a question about iPods/iPhones/iPad or accessories, or if you sell or market iPod/iPhone/iPad products or services, read iLounge's Comments + Questions policies before posting, and fully identify yourself if you do. We will delete comments containing advertising, astroturfing, trolling, personal attacks, offensive language, or other objectionable content, then ban and/or publicly identify violators.

Recent Reviews

New Deals

Shop for Accessories: Cases, speakers, chargers, etc.

iLounge

Article