Open Radar

 
Summary:
I, and many others, have reported this - seemingly - simple bug in iTunes' Applescript support before. Seeing as it remains unfixed with this update again, I'd like to file it again - as a reminder that this issue continues to exist and have a negative impact on the user experience of many of iTunes' most loyal fans and users.

The "song repeat" and "shuffle" properties of the playlist object are defunct. iTunes always returns "off" for song repeat and "false" for shuffle, irrespective of what the user set in the user interface. Setting the properties results in an error.

Steps to Reproduce:
1. Open iTunes
2. Play any song
3. Turn on shuffle
4. Select "one track" for "Repeat" in the Playback menu
5. Enter this AppleScript in Script Editor and run it:
tell application "iTunes"
	{song repeat, shuffle} of current playlist
end tell

6. Enter this AppleScript in Script Editor and run it:
tell application "iTunes"
	set song repeat of current playlist to off
end tell

7. Enter this AppleScript in Script Editor and run it:
tell application "iTunes"
	set shuffle of current playlist to false
end tell

Expected Results:
In reaction to executing the scripts of steps 5-7:
Result for 5: { one, true }
Result for 6: song repeat is turned off
Result for 7: shuffle is turned off

Actual Results:
In reaction to executing the scripts of steps 5-7:
Result for 5: { off, false }
Result for 6: song repeat is not turned off, error -10006 is returned, indicating the value can't be changed
Result for 7: shuffle is not turned off, error -10006 is returned, indicating the value can't be changed

Notes:
This issue has been around for several major iTunes versions and has had a major impact on how third party remote control software can provide access to features like shuffle and song repeat.

The only - fragile - workaround we found is to use UI scripting, which comes at a huge performance penalty and requires the user to allow accessibility access in the Privacy settings first.

I hope that, in filing this radar, Apple will address this issue, so we can return to offering an excellent user experience. The current, UI scripting based user experience is below your and our standards and makes both iTunes and our software look unstable and bad.

I will happily provide any additional info if you need any.