Photo Credit: Apple
Apple Music, Apple TV, and Apple Devices apps have officially launched for Windows, potentially spelling the definitive end of the iTunes app.
Apple has officially launched the Apple Music, Apple Devices, and Apple TV apps on PC after a lengthy preview and testing period, encouraging Windows users away from iTunes. So does this mean the definitive end of iTunes?
PC users with Windows 10 and later can now download the three separate apps to manage their Apple ecosystem on their Windows computers. All three apps must be installed in order to transition away from iTunes on Windows. Once the three apps have been added to a PC, iTunes will only be used to access audiobooks and podcasts, though the iTunes library will not be deleted.
Those on a PC unable to update to Windows 10 can continue to use iTunes — but the transition to the new apps on more modern machines implies that support for the iTunes app will phase out.
The release of the three primary Apple services apps on Windows serve as Apple’s efforts to split iTunes on PC into separate platforms in the way these function on Macs. Microsoft first announced plans for the transition for Apple’s services on Windows in October 2022.
The standalone Apple Devices, Apple Music, and Apple TV apps launched in a “preview” testing capacity in January last year, with Apple making regular updates. The “preview” label is no longer applied to the three apps since their official launch.
The Apple Music app enables PC users to listen to and manage music from their iTunes library and iTunes Store purchases, while the Apple TV app lets users watch and manage their TV shows and movies from iTunes. Both also enable access to Apple’s streaming services, Apple Music and Apple TV+. The Apple Devices app allows Windows users to manage, update, backup, and restore their iPhones and iPads, as well as sync content from their PCs.
