For close to two decades, many people have relied on iTunes to get their music. But on June 3, Apple announced at its Worldwide Developers Conference that it would phase out the longstanding music platform.
That’s right — Apple users should get ready to say goodbye to iTunes for good.
As part of the rollout of their new operating system, macOS Catalina, three new apps from the company are poised to replace iTunes: Music, TV and Podcasts.
Worried about the disappearance of your carefully curated library? Well, it turns out, you don’t need to be.
An Apple spokesperson told CNN that previous purchases and libraries will be maintained on the new apps on Mac computers. Though the company won’t get rid of any files you already have, it may reorganize where the files live.
Users will also continue to have the ability to purchase and download songs through the iTunes Music store within the Music app, as well as buy movies and TV shows within the Apple TV app.
And iTunes gift cards will remain active.
For people who used iTunes to sync up their devices, that option will still be available. Apple has revealed that a tool will now be located via the sidebar in Finder on their Macs.
The move comes at a time when subscription services are increasingly the preferred way for people to access entertainment content.
“Apple had to put the pieces in place to make it all happen,” Ramon Llamas of IDC Research told CNN. “If you look at consumer behavior in which users are willing to pay a regular fee for unlimited content — and that’s what they can get from other services such as Spotify, Pandora and Netflix — Apple is smartly aligning itself against those competitors with its own approach.”
Apple Music will offer more than 50 million songs, playlists and music videos.
In addition to Apple TV channels, the Apple TV app has more than 100,000 iTunes movies and TV shows available to buy or rent. Coming this fall, the company’s video subscription service, Apple TV+, will be available in the Apple TV app.
Meanwhile, the Podcasts app has more than 700,000 shows and gives users the ability to be notified when new episodes are available.
In addition to the new entertainment apps, macOS Catalina will include Sidecar, which lets users use their iPad as an extended display for their Mac.
The company is also rolling out new accessibility features, security measures and tools to give users greater insight about how they spend their time on their devices.
Catalina will be available in fall 2019 as a free software update for Macs from mid-2012 or later.
Customers with Macs that predate MacOS Catalina will still have access to iTunes, but it won’t be available once you make an upgrade to a newer product.
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