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iTunes Not Coming to Microsoft's Windows Store in 2017
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I don't get the relentless iTunes-hate. It does what it's supposed to and for the most part does it well.
What are the alternatives? Nothing comes close. WMP tried to copy it but was clumsy and slow. (Like much of what MS tries to do - lots of it copying Apple but showing that, time and again, MS just don't get it - like their absurd "only apps from the MS store will install" nonsense). Other than that there's a slew of media players, most of them more or less identical in their functionality. Could Apple split updating/Syncing from iPhone/iPod/iPad media management? Yes, but then you'd be bitching about having to run two programs.
Home Sharing my iTunes library works perfectly, whether I'm sharing from a 2017 machine or from a 2009 machine running Snow Leopard Server. I can just imagine trying to share a library from WMP on XP to a Windows 10 machine.
My only complaint about iTunes is the infuriating "there are purchases on this device you haven't copied to your library. If you restore this device without copying them you will lose them and have to purchase them again. Do you want to copy them to your library now?" - Click on Yes, then go to Restore Device only to see the same message again.
What are the alternatives? Nothing comes close. WMP tried to copy it but was clumsy and slow. (Like much of what MS tries to do - lots of it copying Apple but showing that, time and again, MS just don't get it - like their absurd "only apps from the MS store will install" nonsense). Other than that there's a slew of media players, most of them more or less identical in their functionality. Could Apple split updating/Syncing from iPhone/iPod/iPad media management? Yes, but then you'd be bitching about having to run two programs.
Home Sharing my iTunes library works perfectly, whether I'm sharing from a 2017 machine or from a 2009 machine running Snow Leopard Server. I can just imagine trying to share a library from WMP on XP to a Windows 10 machine.
My only complaint about iTunes is the infuriating "there are purchases on this device you haven't copied to your library. If you restore this device without copying them you will lose them and have to purchase them again. Do you want to copy them to your library now?" - Click on Yes, then go to Restore Device only to see the same message again.
So now Microsoft is changing to a walled garden model
No? There is a walled garden version and that’s called S. They’re letting you upgrade to Pro from that for free.
If iMessage was on Android, probably millions would ditch iOS immediately for Android. Apple knows this.
If Americans ever start switching to an alternative messaging platform, Apple is in serious trouble.
True... but that was 15 years ago.
A LOT has changed since then.
In the old days you were REQUIRED to plug your iPod into your computer (likely a Windows computer) in order to put new songs on it. And iTunes was the method.
But today... the supercomputer-in-your-pocket iPhone can get songs over the air... and doesn't require a computer at all.
And don't forget... iTunes for Win32 is still available.
This article is talking about the Windows Store version of iTunes for Windows 10S
A statistically-zero amount of people are running Windows 10S at the moment. So I can see why Apple isn't in a hurry to put iTunes in the Windows Store.
Not to burst your bubble, but you realize the Windows Store supports repackaged x86 programs now? There’s no guarantee or requirement iTunes becomes an actual rewritten Universal Windows 10 app.
Spotify, for example, is several magnitudes better. It isn't about functionality - iTunes "works" (sort of), but it's slow to start, slow to run, very resource intensive (and battery draining if you're on a laptop), its design is jarring, it presents devices that are plugged in in a confusing and non-intuitive manner, it has hex codes and integers for errors which are unhelpful, it regularly duplicates playlists, it asks me to login with my Apple ID literally 4 times in a row when I start it up, it runs a bunch of Windows Services in the background just to function, and has tons of other more minor bugs.
The biggest problem is that it's just bloated and slow. It regularly takes 30+ seconds to start up on my i7-7700K 64GB RAM M.2 SSD machine, takes a long time to switch tabs and navigate, and consumes a large amount of RAM.
The solution is to just not use it, but I'm invested in Apple Music so I don't have a choice. If you're looking for a better music player and you don't use AM there are tons - MusicBee, foobar2000, and MediaMonkey are probably the most popular. There are even better programs out there than iTunes for managing media on your iDevices, if that's all you're using it for.
iTunes for Windows has been crappy and people have complained about it for literally more than a decade so you'd think they might eventually fix it, but they have not.
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Apple is more "Apple-first"... They, like any other Mac people, serve everything else 2nd..., so Windows gets all the crap.
Yeah, I get it - I would have a Mac desktop if you could play games on the thing. I'm not a fan of Windows anymore, but if Apple used this as an opportunity to rewrite iTunes it would make the experience a lot more bearable.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't there some sort of financial incentive to Apple?... and if so, you'd think that would be reason enough for them to get cracking on that App for the Windows10 Store?
Now with Apple Music there is, before wireless syncing it was completely necessary if anyone wanted to setup or manage media on an iPod or iPhone and they didn't have a mac. In the time between them making iPhones and iPods independent of iTunes and Apple Music coming out there was no financial incentive for them to update iTunes for Windows (aside from people purchasing individual songs and albums, which I don't think was very high for Windows-only users). With AM on the table now they might actually make an effort since they can theoretically get non-Apple users to subscribe, they did release AM on Android, after all.
Spotify is much better for me both in music discovery, playlist management and the app design, so I stopped subscribing to Apple Music and switched to Spotify. One thing I particularly dislike is the deliberate mixing up of the local library and the downloaded music for Apple Music. The general music app UI is very difficult to navigate even for a long time computer user like me.
Spotify isn't especially good in UI design, but at least what is from Spotify stays inside the app and there is clear segregation of the operating system and the Spotify app.
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I agree, but only when all devices are running iTunes. On the other hand, when you're using iOS to access an iTunes library, Home Sharing is utterly broken for any but the tiniest libraries (which Apple apparently uses for testing). This has been the case for years and Apple doesn't appear to care. On my library with ~25k songs, it just sits there trying but never succeeding to fill up the little circular waiting indicator. This used to be a feature I loved, and now it's become completely useless on iOS.
Or to use it on a Mac
Takes literally one second there to start up for me.
iTunes doesn't actually bother me on the Mac. I only wish the organization of it's sections was better. I think a separate video app would be nice. Performance wise I have no issues. But iTunes on Windows isn't a good welcome into the world of Apple software. And you can't just tell consumers to buy a Mac to get a better music experience.
Haha far more choose windows than Mac. I am not talking about corporate purchases either. I see the Jobs reality distortion field still has a grip on you. I use both platforms - willingly - and both are more similar than dissimilar. Pros/Cons with each.
So now Microsoft is changing to a walled garden model
Your understanding of a walled-garden is a bit wrong.
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Don't care...
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Not in the US. Wish it was, though.
True a lot has changed, but the iOS devices are still not 100% computer free, and do require iTunes for certain restore/recovery operations, not to mention loading songs you may have from your own collection.
Not everyone is keen on having everything in the cloud, streaming everything, as unlimited data plans don't exist in places like Canada.
And we are all happy for you too.
Not in the US. I have never installed it and I don't know anyone that uses it. I've actually started shifting to FB Messenger however.
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Its called being fat, dumb, and happy. Companies that are very, very successful often are blinded by their own success. The company is being run by someone that is an expert in bleeding profit out of something... not innovating. This is especially dangerous when its a company that is known for not getting input from customers and rather prescribing what their customers want to them. Look at their new campus... its a symbol of something focused internally. Unless they get some kind of competitive shock, or Tim Cook leaves, I don't see anything changing with their trajectory.