the new PHOTOS

[Rod]

Since I'm a retiree living in paradise on a shoestring I can't afford a dedicated NAS for my music library and with a MBP as primary it's probably not all that practical but, and thanks for making me even think about this TattooedMac, iCloud storage is not all that expensive i.e. AU $5.00/mnth. pity poor New Zealand at $12.00. I suppose its cheap storage really but how can you play music from iCloud storage? Doesn't it take longer to download that play? Am I missing something, isn't this just like streaming?
As for Sly's mention of connecting to Apple TV without iTunes open do you mean for music or movies or both Sly?
PM-R I agree with, "Turn iTunes back into a simpler music app rather than making it into almost its own multifunctional OS!! Please…" and I think it's probably on the way. We need a cross platform media player for portable and desktop devices. All of the account keeping, device authorisation, device syncing, gifting, credit redeeming and mob app management could all be combined into the App Store leaving just media storage, management, playback and syncing to a single app a bit like, dare I say it WMP.

 

[Slydude]

I was thinking in general terms Rod. I haven't matched my music through iTunes match yet though I probably will.

Having iTunes open all the time is really only a minor annoyance but strikes me a s remarkably inefficient. I have the content on a hard drive already and the devices are already on the same network already. Pushing them to the cloud seems redundant if I could simly keep a persistent server going. As it is I avoid using bandwidth unnecessarily. Not a big deal for me since the providers monthly allocation is reasonable. but might be an issue if I started streaming everything from the cloud.

 

[Lifeisabeach]

Why do you all sync to iTunes then?

Even without my 200GB (which I only got for my Photos when Photos came out with 10.10.3) I couldn't remember the last time I synced to iTunes.

I have a Server set up, and with a FTP client on my iPad, I can download things 10x quicker than ever syncing with iTunes. (I suppose I answered my own question. Not everyone has such a set up. I use it to download comics, iBooks, and video's. Oh and the odd 179MB+ PDF)

I only use iTunes now as my Home Sharing and Streaming App. I rarely even look for Apps, movies or books with it anymore.

Is this a serious question? For backups, of course. I have dozens of apps (mostly games) that I'd lose all the data (savegames for ex) from if my iDevice was lost or stolen if not for regular backups via iTunes. If I buy a new iPhone... restore the backup of the old! My wife and I just started syncing our entire Photos libraries to our iPads (we were just keeping a selection of them) via (you guessed it) iTunes. I'm not going to pay to use iCloud when this works just as well. I have backups going automatically to our free Copy.com accounts on top of this. I have no idea why I wouldn't sync my music over iTunes. Or better said... I don't see how doing it over an FTP server would be easier or faster. I'm as baffled over your scenario as you are over ours.

 

[TattooedMac]

I have no idea why I wouldn't sync my music over iTunes. Or better said... I don't see how doing it over an FTP server would be easier or faster. I'm as baffled over your scenario as you are over ours.

I don't sync Music over my Server. I have iTunes Match, so I use that, and IF I want something for going away with, (I don't do playlists, as I'll listen to a Album in full) I'll download it to which ever device, over WiFi Network before I travel. Done and done.

Oh and I don't really do games on my iPhone or iPad. There are a few over the years I have liked, played, and deleted, but unless something sticks out, I would rather read a Magazine or a Book, wheel waiting of the Doctor, so my game 'Backup' isn't a huge deal, and what I do have goes to my iCloud Acct. . . And again, that is even before I just upgraded to the 200GB, so still a backup to my iTunes, isn't needed or wasn't needed in the past . . . I don't see the confusion, its just I do things differently to you, and I was curious as to why you needed to sync to iTunes. Valid question I think.