jeremyrandall /

I really like Front Row on the Mac, though I was fond of the older version and have had to adapt to using the newer version. The older version basically turned a Mac into a giant iPod, with huge fonts that were easy to read across the room. It was also basically an add-on to iTunes, which meant music playing in iTunes would keep playing when Front Row was started and music playing in Front Row would keep playing in iTunes when Front Row was exited.

The current Front Row interface has much smaller fonts (harder to read across a room) and there are lots of “busy” effects including sounds, screen flashes and moving album art; the flashing, in particular, is quite unpleasant. It’s a standalone application now, so music already playing in iTunes stops when Front Row is started and music playing in Front Row stops when it is exited.

So what to do to make Front Row more usable and enjoyable?

The first option is to adjust the Front Row sound effects setting. This turns off the extra sound effects and flashing which, to me, makes the current version of Front Row actually usable and enjoyable (ignoring the standalone aspect, anyway).

The second, more drastic option, is to revert back to the older version of Front Row.

Adjust the Front Row sound effects setting

If you like the current version of Front Row, but find the effects a bit too “busy,” like I do, changing one setting helps a lot. Turning off “Front Row sound effects” quiets things down and has the added bonus of turning off all the crazy flashing (clearly the flashing is the part I really don’t like here!). To turn off the sound effects (and flashing):

• Open System Preferences.
• Click on “Sound.”
• Click on “Sound Effects.”
• Uncheck “Play Front Row sound effects.”

Ahhh, so much better.

I haven’t found a way to turn off the “zooming album art” yet, but if I do I’ll post it here as well.

Revert back to the older version of Front Row

Reverting to the older version of Front Row brings back the “giant iPod” interface with larger fonts and media playing via iTunes. I would caution that the older version of Front Row is bound to become less and less compatible with other Apple applications over time, so consider that before proceeding.

To revert to the older version of Front Row:

• Download Front Row 1.3.x from Apple. Go to http://support.apple.com/downloads/, search for “Front Row” and download the 1.3 variant posted (1.3.1 as of this writing).
• Open the .dmg file you downloaded. The actual application is inside the .pkg file. Right-click on the .pkg file and choose “Show Package Contents.” A folder called “Contents” will be extracted. In that folder, right-click on Archive.pax.gz and choose “Open With… Archive Utility.” A folder called “Archive” will be extracted. Navigate into Archive/System/Library/CoreServices and you’ll find Front Row.app.
• Backup the version of Front Row already installed on your Mac. On your Macintosh HD, go to /System/Library/CoreServices/ and rename “Front Row.app” to “Front Row.app-backup” (or something similar).
• Copy Front Row.app from step 2 to /System/Library/CoreServices/ (you’ll need to be using an Admin account and enter your password).

That should do it. Open Front Row or click the Menu button on your remote and the wonderful old Front Row will be back! The Apple Software Updates may overwrite this and reinstall the new version of Front Row; if so, just go through this process again.