> My main gripe is syncing my ipod or phone interrupts music playback
It doesn't though. I just tried. Start playback, plug phone (keeps playing), sync (itunes still playing), disconnect, itunes has never stopped playing.
I've honestly stopped using iTunes for the most part after 10+ years of problems like that. It's weird, but I'll listen to music on my phone while using my computer. I also sync phones/ipods a lot less often since so much has moved to the cloud. It may not interrupt playback, but I swear I still see modal dialogs when syncing.
I still think they should be completely separate applications.
It doesn't though. I just tried. Start playback, plug phone (keeps playing), sync (itunes still playing), disconnect, itunes has never stopped playing.