Bye-bye iTunes! Apple to kill iTunes forever
Nearly 18 years after 'revolutionizing music' with iTunes, Apple is finally gearing up to retire the media app for good. A report from Bloomberg has revealed that the Cupertino giant will kill off iTunes at the Worldwide Developers Conference starting Monday in California. The move will mark a major shift but, honestly, we all saw it coming. Here's why.
iTunes evolved in the age of MP3s
Apple debuted iTunes at the 2001 Macworld Expo as a solution to download music legally in a world plagued with MP3 piracy. The app expanded with the launch of iPods and iPhones, eventually becoming the one-stop shop for Apple users' multimedia needs - be it movies, music, TV, or podcasts. It even allows device management benefits with options for taking backups, installing OS updates.
However, now the app has become redundant
Despite doing its job perfectly for nearly two decades, iTunes has become redundant - because streaming services are here. From Spotify to Apple Music itself, iOS users have plenty of options to play, sync or download music on the go. And, that's not it; Apple has also launched its own Apple TV and Podcasts apps for content and podcast streaming.
Decentralization of media is the way to go
With this trio of apps, Apple has already decentralized iTunes' media capabilities for iPhones and iPads. And, according to Bloomberg, it will do the same for desktop by launching standalone MacOS versions of Apple Music, TV (which will host the upcoming TV+ streaming service) and Podcasts apps at WWDC. Notably, the screenshots of the upcoming apps leaked just a few days back.
Move to grow services business
The new apps will help Apple establish itself as a company offering wide-ranging entertainment services through different apps - a move that is expected to boost the service side of its business. However, it's worth noting that the device management features of iTunes won't go away; they will just be migrated to the Music app for users.
