Replace the iTunes 10 icon with the older iTunes 9 icon
Sep 2, 2010 - 44 Comments
It seems like it was just moments ago that iTunes 10 became available to download, but already there are some complaints about the new blue button icon. 6ix Passions points out that it looks awkward in their Dock and offers a simple solution; revert back to the old iTunes 9 icon. Here’s how to get the old iTunes icon back:
- Go into your Applications folder, select iTunes.
- Right click on the file and select Show Package Contents.
- Go under the Resources folder and make a copy of iTunes.icns on your desktop (for backup purposes).
- Replace it with the old iTunes.icns file from the previous iTunes version (9 and below).
- Start or restart iTunes.
Now you’ll have the old iTunes 9 style icon back, featuring its music note layered on top of a CD. Perhaps it’s just that people don’t like change, or maybe they’re still attached to their CD’s, who knows.
They should install an option that lets you keep the old icon or pick the new icon or offer a choice of icons, it should be easy to do for the programmers. as for new updates, they add new features I never use, just leave it alone already.
I hate the new icon too, but I get the impression Apple is starting to standardize some of their icons the way iOS icons are all similar in shape (circles for OS X vs. rounded squares for iOS). Which totally sucks, because it limits creativity, and it makes it more difficult to differentiate between different icons.
Also, the iTunes 9 icon is 512×512, while the iTunes 10 icon is 1024×1024. Their DPI are different as well. It probably isn’t a big deal, as other Apple apps, such as Mail, still have 512×512 icons.
P.S.: It would be nice to get all the iTunes 9 document icons as well…
Thanks. Wow, I wanted to change the icon back from the beginning. Thanks again!
[…] initial dislike for the new iTunes icon led me to discovering this tutorial from OSXDaily. It allows you t to have the new iTunes 10 BUT with the old iTunes 9 icon on your desktop. Just […]
Many thanks. I can’t stand the new icon, especially the ring around
Thank you for the fix. The whole look of iTunes 10 is ugly and looks washed out and bland.
I hate when people change things that don’t need changing. It gets old.
Thanks for the quick fixes!
It’s not that some of us don’t like change; rather, the change we got was 80’s retro hipster BS design that sucks.
I’m so sick of the “everything 1981 Atari/Tron” is cool palette. Can’t wait for this fad and the hipster drivel that “road it in” to our lives to go away. ;-)
thank you so much! I hate the new I-tunes icon and I’m so glad to have my old one back! The new one looks like it belongs on a PC and it just isn’t right with my Mac. I agree with the close, min/max buttons being vertical… go back to horizontal Apple! how do I lock it in, though?
@ Janelle & OSXDaily –
This was my exact thought….I’ve been avoiding updating my itunes for this same reason…the blue icon just looks like Windows Media Player….I love the itunes 9 icon, so sleek….
It’s nice to know I’m not alone :)
Thanks!
Done. Worked a treat, but iTunes now asks to OK incoming connections/change firewall settings.
I previously had this message when using my phone as a remote; just unticked the Look for iPod touch/iPhone remotes.
Now it’s back. It’s no biggie, just a wee bit annoying.
thanks, it worked a treat! Never realised I was so obsessive :)
Don’t forget to lock the icon in get info or you’ll have to do this all over again when Apple upgrades the software.
[…] 如果还是执着于就图标，坚决反对花一段时间去适应新图标，或者对旧图标恋恋不舍，觉得这一切来的太突然，还没做好分开的准备，那么可以根据这个教程将iTunes10回滚到旧图标。 […]
[…] Go to Content -> Resources and replace the iTunes.icns with a new one. There’s already some great replacement icons coming out, like this one from Mattias Ekstrom. Of course, you can also just use the old iTunes icon. […]
What an easy way to change the icon back! Thanks a lot!
If you’d like to change your iTunes icon to something other then the old one, I wrote a How To article with a step-by-step video to help you out: http://robisit.com/a3
Wow. Just… wow. People are actually replacing their iTunes icon? I’m glad they got rid of it. I always hated it. I mean, it was one of the most awkward icons in teh history of teh WORLD!!!ONE
A CD with a musical note? It’s almost the most appropriate icon ever. Perhaps you just have bad taste.
[…] article shows how to revert the icon back to it’s version 9. This entry was posted in Uncategorized. […]
Is there a way to do this on a PC?
yeah, there is. Just open the icon properties and set what picture you want to display. You might have to download the thumbnail for the old iTunes and use that. But yeah, you can customize icons a lot.
That doesn’t work for most, because mines not working that way.
Many thanks for this tutorial. I already provided negative feedback at the official itunes feedback page, but I don’t think anyone will care there… The whole update to vers10 is a total flop IMO.
Is anyone going to use this ‘ping’ feature at all?
thanks so much for this! its been on my nerves since i got the update.
frin is right, the new icon stands out far too much. it looked horrible on my dock no matter what i put it next to!
Thanks for this….to get the icon to change in the dock I just dragged the iTunes 10 icon out and then dragged iTunes from the apps folder back into the dock and the new icon took.
I used a replacement icon from here:
http://www.macstories.net/mac/10-beautiful-itunes-10-replacement-icons/
It didn’t change the dock icon?
remove itunes from your dock and then add it back to your dock… then it will change!
[…] Go to Content -> Resources and replace the iTunes.icns with a new one. There’s already some great replacement icons coming out, like this one from Mattias Ekstrom. Of course, you can also just use the old iTunes icon. […]
Haha, seems to have worked, thanks!
Actually it’s neither CD nor the change. The icon is just plain ugly and doesn’t fit along with other Apple icons on the dock.
I myself totally forgot there is even a CD in the icon. The new icon glows out too much.
[…] A big thanks to Paster who provided this tip in the comments on how to change the iTunes 10 icon back to the iTunes 9 icon style. […]
If you want the “traffic lights” buttons to be horizontal again paste this in terminal:
defaults write com.apple.iTunes full-window -1
Hey thanks for the great tip, I was wondering how to do that. I just made a post on it:
https://osxdaily.com/2010/09/02/change-the-itunes-10-closeminimizemaximize-buttons-back-to-horizontal/
My pleasure :-)
…and actually, I like the change in button positions. The new way you can flip back and forth between mini-player and full player without moving your cursor. Very handy sometimes when screen real estate is at a premium.
The thing worse than the icon is the total lack of color in the UI. Are we back in the “platinum” 90s?
The only thing worse than the icon is the way they moved the close/min/max buttons to be vertical! Ahhh! Please find a way to change the buttons back to horizontal.
If you open Terminal you can type in “defaults write com.apple.iTunes full-window -boolean YES” and when you restart iTunes, the buttons will be horizontal again.
Read this. it will fixt it for you. http://dirkmonson.com/blog/55-fix-itunes-10-vertical-stoplight-buttons.html
are you freakin kidding me. ur complaining about the buttons WHATS THE FREAKIN DIFFERENCE
The difference is that OS X is supposed to be all about a cohesive, elegant user experience. How can they have that if they don’t even have a cohesive UI between their own bundled apps?
Some people just need something to complain about… geez!
I think they just wanted to dump the CD. No cloud, though, just blue sky.
Blue? I’d be happy with blue! Mine is this ugly burnt ORANGE, yuck!