iTuner is a free program for Microsoft Windows computer systems that integrates seamlessly with Apple’s iTunes software.
The standard iTunes Mini Player offers basic playback controls in a small window which is handy for computer users who do not have the screen estate to display the iTunes window all the time. It obviously does not offer all the features on the other hand that iTunes offers.
Enter iTuner, an advanced third party alternative to iTunes’ Mini Player.
The program is available for the Microsoft Windows operating system and requires iTunes to be running in the background to function properly on the system.
It will automatically pick up the songs that are played in iTunes and provides you with the usual playback controls but also advanced features that you may find useful. These controls include rating songs, toggling shuffle and displaying lyrics that are pulled from the Internet.
Those features alone would probably convince only a few computer users to give the application a try, but iTuner has more to offer than just that, including global keyboard shortcuts, automated library maintenance and optimization, synchronization of playlists with USB mp3 players, playlist export, conversion of iTunes tracks into other supported music formats, copying of tracks to other locations, import of media files into the iTunes library or notification popups that show information about the track that has just been loaded.
The iTuner application offers many interesting features that are either not provided by iTunes natively, or only accessible through several clicks in the iTunes software.
The program uses lots of computer resources while running (120 Megabytes on our Windows 7 test system) on the downside, so keep that in mind. Windows users who want to test the program can download it from its Codeplex website.
Update: The program is updated regularly by its author to make sure it stay compatible with recent versions of iTunes and the developer is currently working on version 2.0 of the program. The latest version that is currently available, iTuner 1.8.x ships with a 64-bit installer, options to click on artists to open their websites and integration of V2 of the MusicBrainz XML Web service.
Update 2: iTuner – The itunes Companion has last been updated in 2014. It appears dead from the looks of it, and may stop working when Apple releases a new version of iTunes that changes things around.