iTunes Expected to Be Retired After Over 18 Years

[H3LL5P4WN]

It's finally happening!

View attachment 839838

...that's not a Magic card.

 

[JPSaltzman]

And what happens if you don't upgrade to 10.15? Because of financial constraints (software upgrades that aren't supported beyond 10.13), will iTunes still continue to work for me (I am using 12.6.7 for syncing app purchases, etc.).

I guess the new Apple doesn't need me anymore. Oh, well, it was nice while it lasted.

 

[Canubis]

With great hope comes great fear…

My hope: they will make some super performant apps to organize all the tons of music and videos I have, featuring tons of detail metadata information.

My fear: new apps will basically be good only for browsing their subscription services with some nearly hidden feature to also look at local/owned content… All the stuff people nag about iTunes right now (but often don't even know what they nag about) will not be improved but rather be removed (iOS sync, backups etc. – who really still needs this from Apple's point of view – similar to iTunes's App Store removal…)

 

[Defthand]

The original version was so much more user friendly in terms or organizing and finding music. UEX got worse with each update

As Apple's customer base has grown disproportionately with casual users, Apple has had to dumb down their apps' abilities to accommodate them.

 

[brinary001]

So what app will I use to manage my iPhone and local encrypted backups? Third party? iMazing is pretty good, except costly.

I would imagine they'll provide a separate utility to do this in 10.15. If I were Apple I would literally just port all the code that handles this functionality in iTunes over to a new, standalone macOS app.

 

[Mr Todhunter]

Do whatever you want to it at this point Apple, I'm still using iTunes 8 where everything is quick and the app is still focused on being a kick-butt music player.

I would do the same if iTunes 8 could stream to my Homepod.

 

[bluskiff99]

AS a musician/songwriter I use itunes everyday. I am loading mixes and song ideas into itunes on my phone and desktop.
Also that phone jack thing? I have been at gigs where there is no wifi and no one had a dongle for their iphone. Thank gawd I have my old iphone 6 full of music.

Im in canada where the data rates are insane. Highest in the world if not closet to it. Streaming data to your phone is not an option for many people. I know ten people of the top of my head who dont have data on their phone. KInda makes cloud services usless too.

 

[Lacasse]

Why not create an app called iPhone (or something similar ) and use that to sync with iPhones and other idevices? Music should only deal with music and that makes it an even lighter app

Basically the old ISync app.

 

[MacBH928]

So will I need three different applications to transfer my music, my videos, and my books to my iPhone now??

My guess is that there will be standard Sync App/iOS-device manager

honestly, for years everyone was complaining how iTunes is bloated now Apple is doing what the consumers wanted.

 

[one more]

So what app will I use to manage my iPhone and local encrypted backups? Third party? iMazing is pretty good, except costly.

The new Music app should handle it, apparently.

 

[mikethemartian]

It's pretty much only when there are iOS updates that I plug in my devices

So in other words, everyday.

 

[Boyd01]

My fear: new apps will basically be good only for browsing their subscription services with some nearly hidden feature to also look at local/owned content…

Was surprised to see that my AppleTV3's automatically updated recently to offer the new TV app. That app only allows access to my iTunes purchases. So I was wondering "where's all my stuff"?? Scrolled all the way down to the very bottom of the home screen, and there was the "Computers" app for accessing my shared library.

That speaks volumes all by itself...

 

[AZMecha]

WTF!!!! Batman!!!!

How will I upload all my custom ring & text tones now???????

What about my locally encrypted back-ups?????????

No Say it isn't so!!!!!!!!!

Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!
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What would happen to the purchases you made on iTunes?

Hmm well you better download all your copies and confirm...

 

[JeffPerrin]

Yikes! iTunes has served as my music database for the last 18 years! I hope they don't break that part of it!!

 

[StandingGoose]

About six years ago I had to completely delete my entire iTunes library because every time I got in my car it would just start playing the first alphabetical thing in my library.

Blame that on your car manufacturer, not iTunes. My car does the same thing. Solution: find or make a "silent" song and name it AAAAA or something like that.

 

[kaneda]

It will be a mistake to make three separate apps to replace an app.

 

[BlandUsername]

Nobody needs iTunes anymore.
Apple Music is everything. As long as there's a Mac app that interfaces with Apple Music then everyone will be good.

So, so incorrect. Guess I will be converting all my library to MP3 over the weekend. Streaming music sound sucks compared to being hardwired. I refuse to stream and wait for what I want to listen to, when I want to listen to.

 

[MisterSavage]

From this comment in the 9to5 article, it sounds like you would still be able to backup your iOS devices locally using the Music app.

As long as we can do this and retain our custom playlists I'm good with something new.

 

[Antares]

As long as I can migrate my iTunes library and structure over, I'll be good with this. Otherwise, I'm screwed. I have over a thousand playlists with hundreds of folders and sub-folders to organize my music within iTunes. All of it built up over 18 years.

 

[Icaras]

I love iTunes on my Mac. If they replace it with something else, it better be insanely great.

Yep, the replacement will be called Apple Music, Apple TV, Apple Books, and Apple Podcasts, and yes, it will be insanely great!

 

[Princejb134]

Nobody needs iTunes anymore.
Apple Music is everything. As long as there's a Mac app that interfaces with Apple Music then everyone will be good.

says you. I use itunes and im very against using streaming service. I prefer owning my music

 

[warp9]

So will I need three different applications to transfer my music, my videos, and my books to my iPhone now??

Yes, just like you use three different apps on your iphone to consume them.

 

[dumastudetto]

But what if it is wrong or just unsuitable? Classical music metadata in particular is often totally inconsistent or badly constructed for displaying on a mobile device.

It is what it is.

Only a tiny tiny amount of people are interested in this kind of thing. And in the era of streaming music, editing metadata is over.

 

[Icaras]

Wow, end of an era.

I’d still like to be able to purchase music. Can they at least still call that the iTunes Store?

I think iTunes should be called Apple Music, and that they should rename the subscription based service to Apple Music+ to fall in line with the rest of their subscription services. They could continue the same trend with Apple Books+ in the future too.

 

[dumastudetto]

Perhaps in your world. Statements like "Nobody needs..." lack perspective.
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Preach

Nobody needs is a bit of a sweeping statement I agree, but broadly speaking it is accurate.