iTunes Expected to Be Retired After Over 18 Years

[Shirasaki]

There are other good quality media management applications for those who refuse to move with the times. The vast majority of people have no interested in "owning music" anymore, even so-called ownership is wrapped in onerous conditions.

Vast majorly. Good. Vast majority don’t even care the music they are listening from either Apple music or Spotify or YouTube or radio, some of which are free anyway.

I appreciate your consistent downplay of local music management and music ownership thing but just like vinyl, they may eventually go niche, but will not go away entirely. Also, there is that niche but extremely high profit high end music playback system and equipment industry which will not be bothered too much by streaming services for quite a while.

 

[actcyclist]

Given the history of Apple upgrades causing problems with people’s music libraries, such as mucking up track names and album art in iTunes and Music, this is going to be interesting.......

I am definitely not upgrading till all of you beta test it for me.. good luck!

 

[LizKat]

I guess I must be one of the 3 or 4 people who like this idea. Other than a very few podcasts and a TON of music, I have no other content from the Apple ecosystem...and meanwhile, iTunes over time has become bloated as hell. As such, I'm looking forward to (seeing if) the new Music app (solves or contributes to the bloat).

LOL we should all look forward to it I guess, since the time for feedback to Apple regarding how to fix or replace iTunes is hardly the weekend before release of whatever they've meanwhile decided to roll out....

I confess to having liked all the in-app options aka "bloat"... I do like that i can still play audiobooks from iTunes playlists in an old iPod touch upstairs in a 30-pin speakerdock... and on my newer devices, I truly loathe having audiobooks mixed in with eyeball-books in the Books app, not least because while you can select a provided category called "audiobooks" from within the iOS Books app, you can't select a nonexistent default category "not-audiobooks" when you just don't want to see any audiobooks while you're browsing in your own library. You could make your own collection or possibly script one but to me that would be an exasperating reminder of the fact that audiobooks don't sit next to print books in my local real library...

Curious about what Monday will reveal about the new Music app and audiobooks: iTunes itself still lets you play audiobooks as tracks or in playlists, but the iOS story is different: if you manually "sync" your music files to mobiles from iTunes, for awhile you could still drag a playlist that had audiobooks in it over to the mobile, but the files dragged with the list wouldn't show up playable in iOS Music; they'd end up visible only in the Books app. Now I think with some i-gear and iOS 12 you just get an error message trying to drag audiobook tracks to the mobiles from iTunes, in which case Apple has already further severed audiobooks from music on the iOS side even while some relationships can still exist on the iTunes side. It does not bode well for the new desktop Music app's regard of audibooks, probably.

The way things are going now with the impending demise of iTunes (ok so I haven't seen that new desktop version of "Music" app yet) , it's almost enough to make me explore the Audible app I downloaded years ago and have dutifully upgraded but never even launched. Although all the audiobooks I've shelled out for are from Audible, I've always managed them and played them via iTunes, and so was used to dragging them to my mobile gear from iTunes, the same way I manually manage my music between my laptop and the mobiles.

I may sever that unnecessary connection between Books and audiobooks that Apple has created by just backing the audiobook files up, deleting them from Books library and then putting them somewhere for the Audible app to present to me for listening. But I'd still prefer the "bloat" of audiobooks being playable inside what will be the Music app on the desktop or laptop. Audiobooks are not like regular books, they are more like podcasts and music, so between Books app and Music, their natural home seems Music, at least to me.

 

[mikethemartian]

I’ll probably switch back to vinyl before switching to streaming.

 

[Plutonius]

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

It sounds that way.

 

[Brien]

At some point yes. And voila, no music left to listen to.
Also don’t forget they takes down music in a regular basis too, including big artists.
And enjoy paying 5+ subscription services just to watch your favourite show or listen to your favourite music.

High Sierra till dead. No more upgrades.
If Apple has left us behind, so shall we.

My worry is Apple drops syncing support. If I can’t sync iOS 13 devices to El Cap, I’m going to be SOL.

 

[Plutonius]

Many many people don’t use Apple Music or the related services.

I wonder if Apple will be killing off music in the iTunes store and will only be supporting subscriptions through Apple Music ?

 

[tonyr6]

Many times I cancelled Apple Music because of the POS iTunes slow bloated crap. Only after signing up again after the inferior albums and sound quality of other streaming services I beard iTunes. Killing iTunes will be an blessing, good riddance. I hope they also announce a real "official" web player at WWDC too.

 

[Galley]

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.

My 7,500 ripped CDs would disagree.

 

[zorinlynx]

My 7,500 ripped CDs would disagree.

These people are frustrating, aren't they?

Right now we have the best of both worlds. We can use Apple Music, AND we can have our own well-managed music collections.

If they don't keep a local library, that's fine. Why do they want to take that feature away from those of us who do?

People need to realize not everyone uses devices the same way.
[doublepost=1559338474][/doublepost]

Match is a service that people pay for. Apple isn't just going to drop any services revenue.

Also, lol @ syncing. I haven't "synced" anything with iTunes in probably 6 or 7 years...just like everyone else, because there is no reason to. Syncing is definitely getting deprioritized as it rightly should be. I don't think it will be removed altogether, but simplified and made less prominent.

Syncing is still important for people who have lousy Internet access.

I know someone who has satellite internet with a 20GB monthly quota. He syncs everything and doesn't use iCloud because it would rip through that quota in no time flat. Not only that but the connectivity is slow, so iCloud would take forever.

These are features that aren't used by many people anymore, but the people who do still use them find them VERY important and critical to their enjoyment of Apple products. You're free not to use local syncing if you don't want to, but don't push to take the feature away from those who still need it.

 

[Denny23]

Well hold on for a second. I LOVE iTunes. I've used it since it first came out for Windows with version 4, I was 13 Y/O at the time. I started organising all the MP3's I had collected in a 'jukebox' for the first time. This marked the birth of my music library. I was really thorough and became increasingly OCD with the metadata. I've kept at it. I used it extensively with my iPod mini, and dear God how I loved that apparatus. It was my companion like nothing else, except of course for my GF at the time. She also had an iPod and we used to swap them around from time to time, that was a lot of fun . Anyway, we broke up after a couple of years. iTunes too entered some rough waters. Times weren't so simple anymore, apparently. Seemed to mirror my puberty. Cover flow was epic, but only there to be enjoyed for a few short years. I figured as my library was steadily growing (about 30 GB at the time?) that it wasn't really going to be cutting it for much longer anyway. There were design overhauls, many of them a bit unnecessary and some were quite terrible, and it became more buggy. Especially things like artwork and other metadata would get f*cked over with no warnings, randomly. I got my first iPhone, the 4, when it first came out. Couldn't fit my library onto it, but I'd select my favourite albums and playlist, just like I had done with my iPod. Along came iTunes Match (which is probably the most insane subscription out there that anyone can get), which made managing my library even more fun, because I could instantly upgrade all my collected mp3-files to DRM-free files in decent quality. DRM-free, so I could actually use those files to burn CD's for the car stereo, drag them onto cheap MP3-players for adventurous trips, use them in movie projects I'm doing (and I could literally go on for HOURS). But the first years with iTunes Match were horribly, the random f*cks became much worse and it almost drove me insane. But I love my music so I kept at it. It became better! The bugs seemed to fade after a few years. It's still MY library. It's one of the most precious possessions I have. It's highly personal, it's expansive, it carries so many memories. Also, iCloud music library. Another great feature, with so many bugs at first. Apple Music came along. I was SO happy that it could all be integrated in the current system I had - keeping the physical files on a SSD on my MacBook, and on a BACKUP DRIVE, as well as in the cloud ánd on my (256 GB) iPhone. Just how I like it. Even if I'm hiking in the most far away backcountry or in the mountains above reception area, or abroad or just on airplane mode, I have acces to my music library. ALWAYS. And I get the benefits of discovering new music with Apple Music, and even merge the DRM-protected Apple Music files with the DRM-free iTunes Match files I have/ keep adding.

The music app. Let's hope this'll be another form of that level of integration. Don't take away iTunes Match, and please don't take away the option to manage and sync a physical music library, EVER..
My library is about 155 GB right now. It still fits in my pocket. And even though electric cars are cool, that doesn't mean I don't prefer to ride a bicycle. Streaming has a place now and in the future, but so does possessing music. It's only data. I can afford the storage. It doesn't add mass. But I sleep a lot better with my library here with me.

Thanks for all these years of letting me build my music library Apple, now please let me keep it.

 

[logicstudiouser]

I was surprised to see the Genius feature in the Music app screenshot. I used to love the feature until it stopped working with new music after Apple Music was released in 2015. No matter how many times I have manually updated, the playlists and mixes have not changed in almost 4 years. If they are keeping it on the Mac, hopefully they update the database and bring the feature back on iOS.

 

[tito2020]

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

Apple is incorporating all to Apple store like google has

 

[Ray Brady]

Try finding “internet radio” or podcasts. There are a lot of things that are confusing on iTunes.

I have no knowledge of Internet Radio, but podcasts work exactly the same as everything else on iTunes. Just like Music, Movies, TV, or Audiobooks, if you're looking for a Podcast, just go to the Store and search.

It seems like a fairly straightforward system to me. Library shows what I own, and the Store shows me what I can obtain. If I plug in a device, I can see what content is on it as well. What's confusing about that?

 

[EM2013]

How are you going to backup your devices if you don’t want to use iCloud?

 

[Lozza013]

If iTunes is headed for the scrap heap, so be it. I ask how am I going to sync my devices to my laptop though for backup purposes?

 

[Glockworkorange]

I have no knowledge of Internet Radio, but podcasts work exactly the same as everything else on iTunes. Just like Music, Movies, TV, or Audiobooks, if you're looking for a Podcast, just go to the Store and search.

It seems like a fairly straightforward system to me. Library shows what I own, and the Store shows me what I can obtain. If I plug in a device, I can see what content is on it as well. What's confusing about that?

There's a drop down in the top left for internet radio, your podcast library, etc.

To the drop down on, you have to access it with a right click. It used to be there by default, but now you have to figure out how to turn it on first.

There are a lot of little things like this.

 

[CPngN]

1 "word": iSync

 

[circatee]

About time! I hated shuffling, in iTunes...!

 

[unfunfionn]

I don't disagree with this, but it feels like the opposite of what they're doing with the TV app on the Apple TV.

 

[maverick28]

One things worries me: if Apple ceases iTunes development then how many updates we'll get before that day? I'm talking about Sierra, High Sierra and Mojave users. I noticed that Mojave got updates recently climbing up to 12.9 but not High Sierra (for which iTunes is 12.8) which is odd since it used to be the case when Apple issued the same updates for several supported versions of OS X in unison.

 

[pmore]

Well hold on for a second. I LOVE iTunes. I've used it since it first came out for Windows with version 4, I was 13 Y/O at the time. I started organising all the MP3's I had collected in a 'jukebox' for the first time. This marked the birth of my music library. I was really thorough and became increasingly OCD with the metadata. I've kept at it. I used it extensively with my iPod mini, and dear God how I loved that apparatus. It was my companion like nothing else, except of course for my GF at the time. She also had an iPod and we used to swap them around from time to time, that was a lot of fun . Anyway, we broke up after a couple of years. iTunes too entered some rough waters. Times weren't so simple anymore, apparently. Seemed to mirror my puberty. Cover flow was epic, but only there to be enjoyed for a few short years. I figured as my library was steadily growing (about 30 GB at the time?) that it wasn't really going to be cutting it for much longer anyway. There were design overhauls, many of them a bit unnecessary and some were quite terrible, and it became more buggy. Especially things like artwork and other metadata would get f*cked over with no warnings, randomly. I got my first iPhone, the 4, when it first came out. Couldn't fit my library onto it, but I'd select my favourite albums and playlist, just like I had done with my iPod. Along came iTunes Match (which is probably the most insane subscription out there that anyone can get), which made managing my library even more fun, because I could instantly upgrade all my collected mp3-files to DRM-free files in decent quality. DRM-free, so I could actually use those files to burn CD's for the car stereo, drag them onto cheap MP3-players for adventurous trips, use them in movie projects I'm doing (and I could literally go on for HOURS). But the first years with iTunes Match were horribly, the random f*cks became much worse and it almost drove me insane. But I love my music so I kept at it. It became better! The bugs seemed to fade after a few years. It's still MY library. It's one of the most precious possessions I have. It's highly personal, it's expansive, it carries so many memories. Also, iCloud music library. Another great feature, with so many bugs at first. Apple Music came along. I was SO happy that it could all be integrated in the current system I had - keeping the physical files on a SSD on my MacBook, and on a BACKUP DRIVE, as well as in the cloud ánd on my (256 GB) iPhone. Just how I like it. Even if I'm hiking in the most far away backcountry or in the mountains above reception area, or abroad or just on airplane mode, I have acces to my music library. ALWAYS. And I get the benefits of discovering new music with Apple Music, and even merge the DRM-protected Apple Music files with the DRM-free iTunes Match files I have/ keep adding.

The music app. Let's hope this'll be another form of that level of integration. Don't take away iTunes Match, and please don't take away the option to manage and sync a physical music library, EVER..
My library is about 155 GB right now. It still fits in my pocket. And even though electric cars are cool, that doesn't mean I don't prefer to ride a bicycle. Streaming has a place now and in the future, but so does possessing music. It's only data. I can afford the storage. It doesn't add mass. But I sleep a lot better with my library here with me.

Thanks for all these years of letting me build my music library Apple, now please let me keep it.

Very touching. Sounds like me. But I did cut the bad seeds though. I'm trying Apple Music now but it feels an empty experience for me so far.

 

[LizKat]

I wonder if Apple will be killing off music in the iTunes store and will only be supporting subscriptions through Apple Music ?

LOL then it's simple: they're dead to me!

I only use AM to preview at leisure some usually lengthy works I'm considering buying and want to listen to different versions before I commit the money to CDs. Stuff like operas or a collection of a composer's works of a particular sort, e.g. quartets, symphonies...

Of course I buy music in other genres, but tend to buy downloads from iTunes rather than CD or digital from the artist or some other middleman, because the iTunes app is almost always open and the iTunes Store is one click away.... but I can definitely learn to go to the artist's website or some other middleman that features that artist's work.

So.. if Apple is about to throw in the towel on selling me music then I'll disappear from their ecosystem like a bat leaving hell. That subscription to AM is just a convenience. I can stream previews from an artist's website or from Amazon or from some other middleman used by the artist in question.

About time! I hated shuffling, in iTunes...!

I loved shuffling playlists in iTunes back when it did a visual rearrangement every time you held the option key down while clicking on the shuffle symbol at the bottom left of the main iTunes window when working on a particular playlist. You could repeat that option-click and look at the play order until you saw what you figured would be a good way to hear it, then freeze it with the "copy to play order" command and then port it to your iOS device and play it straight through with shuffle turned off, already pre-shuffled the way you wanted it.

But that disappeared eons ago, maybe back around iTunes 8? Can't remember now but the disappointment has lingered. Some features they did bring back although haven't advertised, like having multiple playlist windows open to edit them simultaneously. I will miss stuff like that which I suspect (but don't know for sure) will not be in the Music app that's forthcoming next week.

 

[tahirih]

I need a movie/tv shows playlist. *fingers crossed*

 

[ambientdaw]

I have a large carefully curated library of playlists of music that I have purchased from various sources. I have volume levels set for each song and use custom EQ on many songs and often set the start and stop time for each song to create a perfect flow in my shuffles. I will be mad as hell if Apple destroys this. This music is a huge part of my daily life.