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Apple Expands Browser-Based 'iTunes Preview' Functionality to Include App Store

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Apr 12, 2001
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TechCrunch reports that Apple has expanded its browser-based 'iTunes Preview' functionality to include pages for App Store applications.
To see this for yourself, open any direct link to an iPhone app (example) in your favorite Web browser.

You'll notice that instead of only throwing up a dialog box prompting you to confirm that you wish to launch iTunes on your desktop, you'll see a nice page with the app logo, price, description, screenshots, rating, reviews and more in a new window or tab.

Simultaneously, iTunes will be opened and you'll be directed to the app's detail page in the App Store.
Click to expand...
iTunes Preview was launched last November, offering users the ability to view iTunes Store music content in their browsers without the need for iTunes to be separately installed. The functionality was later updated to allow users to listen to 30-second song samples, although users remain unable to actually purchase content though iTunes Preview.

While Apple's iTunes Store has always been based on the WebKit browser engine, the company has only recently made a significant push into the browser environment itself. With Apple's recent purchase of streaming music service Lala Media and rumors of the Lala team being deployed to develop a cloud-based iTunes, Web browsers appear poised to play an even greater role in the iTunes experience.

Article Link: Apple Expands Browser-Based 'iTunes Preview' Functionality to Include App Store
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2010/02/04/apple-expands-browser-based-itunes-preview-functionality-to-include-app-store/
What a coincidence...

Funny how this capability suddenly appears. I can even tell you why. There are many of us who do not own an iPhone or iPod Touch and, therefore, do not have access to browse the App Store. How can we know what's available for the iPad we're planning to buy? We need to have access to the App Store through a "regular" browser, of course!
 
Excellent and long overdue. This will be of particular value to those of us sitting in corporate offices who are restricted from being able to install iTunes.

Good marketing move too, now that I think about it.
 
It's pretty nice that we can browse the App Store on the web, but why not just include a link to launch iTunes instead of automatically doing it? Why would I visit this website when iTunes is just going to open anyways? Might as well just keep using iTunes...
 
Opening up content delivery and making it more accessible is definitely a good move.
 
rumplestiltskin said:
Funny how this capability suddenly appears. I can even tell you why. There are many of us who do not own an iPhone or iPod Touch and, therefore, do not have access to browse the App Store. How can we know what's available for the iPad we're planning to buy? We need to have access to the App Store through a "regular" browser, of course!
Click to expand...

You don't need an iPhone or iPod touch to look at apps anyway. You can browse the App Store through iTunes of course!
 
LaLa is gaga...

been using LaLa after apple acquisition and I find it to be a pleasant and familiar experience-definately part of the future of personal music management.
 
yet we don't have Genius Sidebar for apps... i would love to have this in iTunes half my apps are from genius on the phone.... it would increase sales ten fold
 
Mastershredder said:
why not just include a link to launch iTunes instead of automatically doing it?
Click to expand...

I agree. It annoys me that I am sent automatically to iTunes.. it disrupts my web browsing since iTunes is set to a specific "space" in my OS.
 
I still cant quite figure this preview thing out. You cant really do anything without it launching iTunes which begs the question why not just launch iTunes anyway?
 
Right now you need to own your own computer with iTunes installed and registered in order to use you iPhone, iPod and iPad. I hope this leads in the end to a system where you don't need to own a computer to use an iPad or iPhone.

All things are done via a webbrowser and if you need to sync content or even restore your iPhone/iPad all you need is any computer with a webbrowser (in an internet cafe or at work or at a friends place).
 
MacRumors said:
While Apple's iTunes Store has always been based on the WebKit browser engine, the company has only recently made a significant push into the browser environment itself.
Click to expand...


The itunes store PRIOR to iTunes 9 did not use webkit . It used a custom xml format to render the store, but was not in fact html nor was it webkit. Webkit was added to the iTunes store only recently in version 9.

If you will remember, the iTunes store was released on April 28th 2003, prior to the 1.0 release of Safari on June 23rd 2003 (which first introduced the webkit engine). Additionally, the windows version of Safari wasn't relased until many years later on June 11, 2007 (which first introduced webkit on windows). As such the iTunes store was built and maintained for many years using an engine that was not webkit.

This has been a common misconception for some time, but a simple google search will verify:
http://weblogs.mozillazine.org/hyatt/archives/2004_06.html#005666
http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=165701712276

I remember looking at this myself with ethereal (traffic sniffer) a few years back to look at how the iTunes store was being drawn.
 
zim said:
I agree. It annoys me that I am sent automatically to iTunes.. it disrupts my web browsing since iTunes is set to a specific "space" in my OS.
Click to expand...

+2

I wish iTunes will only open when I wanted it to.
 
Great, and now all we need is the ability to preview apps, before I buy.
So many apps that I payed for just to find out they were crap.
 
I'm really curious to see what kind of benefit a cloud-based iTunes would have over something like Grooveshark which lets you listen to any song for free in your browser (or in a desktop client if you pay $30/yr). Apple will have to come up with something really amazing to make me switch back to using iTunes.

On the other hand, if you have an iPod you pretty much have to use iTunes so I guess I can see the benefit there.
 
MacBoobsPro said:
I still cant quite figure this preview thing out. You cant really do anything without it launching iTunes which begs the question why not just launch iTunes anyway?
Click to expand...

If you read the desc of the app and you don't want to purchase it, you don't waste the time opening iTunes. Also, you can now view multiple app descriptions at once in browser tabs. If you don't use Safari (say you use FireFox), iTunes isn't automatically opened. This is one of the first concrete reasons I might switch to FF now!
 
AllanMarcus said:
If you read the desc of the app and you don't want to purchase it, you don't waste the time opening iTunes. Also, you can now view multiple app descriptions at once in browser tabs.
Click to expand...

I had the pi^3 page open for 5 seconds and itunes launched anyway. They need to make that an option for sure...but knowing apple it probably won't happen.
 
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