Multiple pieces of evidence are pointing to a breakup of Apple iTunes into individual applications, and we should have confirmation of this during Apple’s 2019 Worldwide Developers Conference scheduled later today in San Jose.
We recently saw screenshots from a leaked update of macOS 10.15 that shows new TV and Music apps, and other sources indicate a separation Book and Podcast apps.
A Reddit post reported Apple had completely wiped all its content from the iTunes Facebook page as well as their Instagram page (both destinations show zero posts). The iTunes Twitter URL, however, is still intact with 1.5M followers and 5,525 tweets.
Other media outlets are calling it the “Death of iTunes,” and one commenter called the move a “sunsetting” of iTunes. But this new arrangement really feels more like the breakup of a product that just got too big to manage. It seems the Music app will still be driven by iTunes on the backend, so, iTunes may technically not be going away.
Apple iTunes is the platform that changed the way we listen to, find, and purchase digital music. First appearing in 2001, iTunes was used to manage the software and media on devices that are now common household names like iPod, iPhone and iPod touch.
iTunes never really evolved over the years and began to feel clunky compared to other media software like Spotify, Pandora, and even Apple’s own TV application that already signaled a split from iTunes.
And, it did feel a bit much to have Apple Music, Movies, TV Shows, Podcasts and AudioBooks all mixed together in one seemingly overwhelmed application that relied on a simple drop-down menu to switch from one type of media to another (as seen in the screenshot above from a MacBook). iTunes, at times, seemed like it was bursting at the seams.
But with a separation of apps, the different types of media may be easier to navigate on touch devices. On PCs, however, it will be interesting to see how the iTunes application will be affected, if it can be improved, or whether or not will split into different apps as expected on iOS devices.
We’ll find out more about what Apple has in store for iTunes soon, and will update this article accordingly. Other announcements should be coming about a possible new Mac Pro, external display, iOS 13 Dark Mode, iPad upgrades, Safari and Apple Mail updates, and more.
