iTunes rumored to be retired at this years WWDC
Earlier this year, Apple announced that they would bring the new TV App, that was introduced on iOS devices in 2017, then redesigned earlier this year, to the Mac. Meaning that movies and visual media would be leaving iTunes, and housed in a new, separate TV app.
Rumors then suggested that Apple would release a new Music app, using its ‘Marzipan’ project, which involves moving iOS apps onto the macOS. This was strengthened with the leaking of supposed screenshots of both the new TV App and Music apps.
However, this week, a report from Bloomberg which gave a breakdown of what’s expected from WWDC this year, suggested that Apple was finally ready to break up iTunes and retire the ageing app with a trio of brand new apps that will come preloaded on the upcoming macOS 10.15 (Yet Unnamed).
It has been rumoured for many years that Apple will remove iTunes, after more and more time passes since its last refresh. The app has been said to have become bloated and confusing to use, and doesn’t fit the ecosystem that Apple has been building over the last few years on iOS, putting more emphasis on the Music, Podcasts, and TV apps being separate services that Apple offers.
iTunes was released 18 years ago, with a big unveil by the late Steve Jobs, that heralded a new era of music. It effectively killed the CD, and won the fight against music piracy from platforms such as Napster. It also ushered a new way to consume music, with users being able to purchase as many single songs as they wished, without needing to buy full albums. It changed the way the music industry ran and how it worked forever. Now, in the world of streaming, and Apple focusing its attention on its new services such as Apple Music, iTunes has become more and more outdated in comparison to these new ways of consuming music.
We shall see next week at the WWDC keynote whether these rumours are true, but it will be interesting to see how Apple deals with this major shift if it does indeed retire the legacy app.