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Apple Releases iTunes Update 8.0.1, Stability and Bug Fixes

Apple has released an update for iTunes 8 that is being recommended for all users. The 58.5MB download, available through Software Update is said to fix Genius playlist snycing issues, and various bugs and stability issues.

The update primarily addresses a critical issue where iTunes would delete certain HD episodes leaving only the SD (iPod/iPhone) version in place. Additionally, Genius playlists will now seamlessly play while starting a new list from a different track, and Genius playlist syncing has also been improved. The update is said to fix bugs and increase stability as well.

Previously from a MacBlogz post: Found in an Apple Support discussion thread, some users are reporting that iTunes is deleting their HD shows during the SD download process, leaving them with the lower-quality versions. “Based on the reports, the new version of iTunes seems to be having some difficulty handling HD and SD files with the same name, which leads to the HD version being overwritten once the SD download starts. That’s bad, particularly when you discover the bug after you’ve just downloaded a whole season of something,” Ars Technica explains. And they’re right. If a user pays for an HD download, he/she should receive that high quality content, or else the entire attempt is a bust.

The official update lists the following:
• Seamlessly plays the current song when creating a new Genius playlist.
• Improves syncing spoken menus to iPod nano.
• Addresses an issue of deleting HD TV episodes when downloading.
• Improves checking for updates from the App Store
• Improves accessibility with VoiceOver.
• Addresses problems syncing Genius results to iPod.

Many users are still waiting for an Apple TV update addressing HD content as well. When Apple announced the return of NBC content and introduced HD TV shows to iTunes, they left out the ability to directly download HD TV shows to the Apple TV. Currently, the only way to get HD TV shows onto the device, is to transfer them from your computer via iTunes. Apple is said to be working on an update addressing this issue.