On the heels of releasing the iBooks update, Apple has also pushed out iTunes 10.1.1. There’s nothing too huge about the release, outside of the typical bug fixes and tweaks. Included in the update is a patch that fixes a problem with iTunes unexpectedly quitting while running on a Power PC machine, as well as an issue with syncing your media to your iOS devices.
Genius Mixes
Federico Viticci is also claiming that either the update or a server-side fix may have resolved a problem with the Genius playlists. Previously, Apple had allegedly disabled the Genius playlist option, but the functionality has returned today.
I’ve never actually used a Genius playlist, so I’m not sure why it would have been yanked, and then replaced. There has been some speculation that parts of iTunes are now more Web App than they are desktop application, which would let Apple disable and enable parts of their program when bugs come up.
Earlier this year when the Ping Sidebar was released, Apple disabled the Genius sidebar on the fly, but then later replaced it without forcing people to update iTunes.
We’d suspect that the Genius sidebar’s reemergence has more to do with a silent server-side update than it does iTunes 10.1.1 though, considering Apple’s recent history, and the lack of “Genius” information in Apple’s release notes.