Hide/show the iTunes Store in iTunes

Sep 10, '10 07:30:00AM

Contributed by: philostein

For infrequent users of the iTunes Store, here is an AppleScript to enable and visit the Store within iTunes, then leave and disable it.

First, go into the System Preferences » Universal Access prefpane and check 'Enable access for assistive devices.'

Then you can download this script and save it to ~/Library/Scripts/Applications/iTunes. This will place it in the Script menu when iTunes is active. You may need to create the iTunes subfolder. You can also assign a keyboard shortcut to the script using Spark [crarko adds: link fixed] or some similar program (not Quicksilver, I don't think it remembers persistent values across uses). This would make the command available even if you don't have iTunes currently open.

The script will enable the iTunes Store in the sidebar of iTunes (launching iTunes if necessary) if disabled, and load the Store. On the next use it will leave the Store, disable it and try to put the iTunes windows back the way they were before.

Unfortunately, disabling the Store closes all extra playlist windows -- I've included a warning dialog if this is undesirable. Leave the padlock open in the Parental Control section of iTunes preferences to avoid entering your password every time -- or don't, and have more secure access to the Store.

The script can be run from AppleScript Editor, logging any errors in the process. I tested this with iTunes 10 on 10.6.4. I don't use Ping or Genius among others, so unforeseen errors could arise. I quite like the cosmetic changes in iTunes 10 (my gramophone icon survived). This is my contribution to the minimalism.

[crarko adds: I tested this, and it works as described. The script download is mirrored here.]

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