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iTunes Expected to Be Retired After Over 18 Years

CyberPanda

Banned
While it was initially reported that iTunes would live on in macOS 10.15, it now looks like the app will be retired, over 18 years after it was introduced by the late Steve Jobs at Macworld on January 9, 2001.

Apple will be replacing iTunes with standalone Music, TV, and Podcasts apps in the next major version of macOS, expected to be unveiled at WWDC 2019 next week, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman:
End of iTunes

iTunes has been the way Apple users listen to music, watch movies and TV shows, hear podcasts, and manage their devices for almost two decades. This year, Apple is finally ready to move into a new era. The company is launching a trio of new apps for the Mac – Music, TV, and Podcasts – to replace iTunes. That matches Apple's media app strategy on iPhones and iPads. Without iTunes, customers can manage their Apple gadgets through the Music app.
This information lines up with a recent report from 9to5Mac's Guilherme Rambo, who claimed that iTunes will be renamed to "Music" on the Mac. In other words, iTunes is going away and will be replaced by the new Music app, which is expected to become the new utility for syncing and managing Apple devices.

Steve Jobs quote from Apple's press release about iTunes in 2001:
Apple has done what Apple does best — make complex applications easy, and make them even more powerful in the process. iTunes is miles ahead of every other jukebox application, and we hope its dramatically simpler user interface will bring even more people into the digital music revolution.
Here's what iTunes looked like in 2001:

itunes_2001.jpg


iTunes has attracted its fair share of criticism over the years for being bloated software, so its split into dedicated Music, TV, and Podcasts apps will be much welcomed. Earlier this week, leaked screenshots provided us with our first glimpse at what the Music and TV apps should look like on macOS 10.15.

Apple is widely expected to announce iOS 13, macOS 10.15, watchOS 6, and tvOS 13 at its WWDC 2019 opening keynote on Monday at 10 a.m. Pacific Time. MacRumors will have live coverage of the event on our website and through MacRumorsLive on Twitter, so be sure to follow along for the latest updates.

 

Kadayi

Banned
Fuck the Macs, what about the PC client? I don't use it often, but I do have a fair few bought albums on Itunes back in the day.
 

RPS37

Member
I just want to know about back ping up my phone. It used to be, within iTunes, I could basically clone my phone when I upgraded.
 

JimiNutz

Banned
I only used it once and hated it so much that if actually put me off ever buying an Apple product. Maybe a bit dramatic on my part but the software was that shit.
 

iconmaster

Banned
I expect at this point they’ll be Marzipan apps and thus not much of an improvement.

Apple’s software priorities have shifted away from making great apps.
 
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#Phonepunk#

Banned
iTunes one of my least favorite music players ever. i hate the Apple approach to data. yes it's nice that you don't get as many viruses but at every point in the process it is clear that Apple is in control. you are not. try saving your songs from a phone to a desktop. or transferring from an old phone to a new phone.

i've had to resort to third party apps just so i can copy files off my phone. good riddance.
 

Nymphae

Banned
iTunes one of my least favorite music players ever. i hate the Apple approach to data. yes it's nice that you don't get as many viruses but at every point in the process it is clear that Apple is in control. you are not.

I have used an Ipod Classic and iTunes since about 2007, and have never any issues, because I bought albums elsewhere and simply used iTunes to organize them. Apple was never in control of my music or what I was doing.

This move pisses me off though because I really enjoy using the Internet Radio section of iTunes, it's one of the best repositories of radio streams broken up by genre I've ever found, and it works very well. I really hope this carries over into the new app.
 
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Grinchy

Banned
I only used it once and hated it so much that if actually put me off ever buying an Apple product. Maybe a bit dramatic on my part but the software was that shit.
It seriously made me switch back to Android. I used it way more than once, though. I dreaded every time I wanted to add music or change up my playlists.

I liked many other things about the iPhone, but iTunes being the obtuse piece of shit that it is pushed me away. And the second I got my S10+ I was glad I switched. I just like the OS way more, and putting any multimedia I want on it is as simple as moving files onto a USB drive. Even making playlists is 100 times easier.
 

eot

Banned
Fuck that I use it daily. Still works like a charm, has way more space than a phone and doesn't use up my data. Also I can easily pause / play / change song without taking it out of my pocket, without a cable that has controls (I hate those)
 
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Mista

Banned
Fuck iTunes. I never liked this garbage and it pisses me off more when it launches automatically everytime I connect my phone. Like piss off bruv, I’m here to charge my phone while using my laptop. Go away
 
Best thing I ever did was signed up for Spotify. It really suits my needs perfectly. I can use it at home, in the car, etc. Well worth the monthly price. Way better than downloading illegally or paying for music on iTunes.
 
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CyberPanda

Banned
Apple Wipes iTunes Pages on Facebook and Instagram, Begins Moving Away From iTunes Links


More evidence has emerged to suggest that Apple is beginning to move away from its iTunes brand after over 18 years of use.

As noted on Reddit, Apple has abruptly removed all social media content from its iTunes page on Facebook, including posts, photos, and videos. This appears to have happened within the past 24 hours, as a cached version of the iTunes page on Facebook still had content available as of May 31.

itunes-facebook-blank.jpg


As far as we can tell, it looks like Apple has migrated its iTunes page to its Apple TV page on Facebook, including not only all of the content but nearly 30 million likes and its original April 29, 2009 creation date.

Apple has also removed all photos and videos from its iTunes profile on Instagram, which points users towards the newer Apple TV page on Instagram, but its Twitter counterpart still has content for now.

itunes-instagram-blank.jpg


The blank pages likely foreshadow bigger moves to come, as Bloomberg's Mark Gurman and 9to5Mac's Guilherme Rambo have both reported that iTunes will be replaced by standalone Music, TV, and Podcasts apps in the next major version of macOS, which Apple is expected to unveil at WWDC 2019 on Monday.

Notably, while the overall iTunes app as we know it is expected to be discontinued, the reports did not suggest that the iTunes storefront for purchasing music, movies, and TV shows is going away any time soon.

iTunes has attracted its fair share of criticism over the years for being bloated software, so its split into three separate apps would be much welcomed. Apple's phasing out of iTunes is likely to be a gradual process, however, so the brand could live on in some capacity for the foreseeable future.

Update: As noted by the Iconfactory's Craig Hockenberry, some itunes.apple.com links for songs and artists now redirect to music.apple.com, serving as yet another example of Apple moving away from its iTunes brand.
I haven’t seen it reported elsewhere, but as of last weekend all https://t.co/tCyWJ9I1D3 links redirect to https://t.co/c1nzdCWhSp — a likely indicator that the brand is done (the app will be fine for those of us who need it.)
— Craig Hockenberry (@chockenberry) June 2, 2019

In fact, as noted by Kyle Seth Gray, it appears that Apple is in the process of dropping iTunes links for apps, podcasts, TV shows, movies, and books as well. Apple will instead use category-specific links such as apps.apple.com, podcasts.apple.com, tv.apple.com, movies.apple.com, and books.apple.com.

e.g. https://t.co/WmxGgr6Sdm
— Kyle Seth Gray 🔜 @ WWDC and Layers (@kylesethgray) June 2, 2019

Some of these links are already live, while others work if the URL is manually changed.

 

Loki

Count of Concision
I just want to know about back ping up my phone. It used to be, within iTunes, I could basically clone my phone when I upgraded.

Me too. I guess I could use iCloud backup, but I've never looked into it. Hope it's just as good.
 

notkeylime

Spoiler Tag Abuser
I’ll quickly mention that there’s nothing here that says anyone is losing access to content they’ve purchased or subscribed to...just that instead of one app for everything, it’ll be broken out into individual apps.

At the end of the day I think this shift has been a long time coming...iTunes on my PC is pretty rough, and it’s become excessively bloated.

On my Macs it’s always been alright, but still a bit cumbersome to use.

GAF is not safe from users just reading headlines it seems...always read the content peoples!!!

Also, don't be afraid to fight me or argue with my POV. Just because I'm a "red" doesn't mean I'm going to do weird stuff to your account because you don't like my opinion.
 
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demigod

Member
Itunes is a piece of shit software. Putting songs into my iphone is such a pita. I wish it was just "drag and drop".
 
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