Summary

  • iTunes had a successful early history but became bloated and slow over time, leading to its upcoming demise.
  • It was introduced in 2001, and by 2005, it had already expanded to support more media types, like video and, eventually, e-books, podcasts, and more.
  • Apple is phasing out iTunes, starting with eliminating TV functionality on certain platforms and creating dedicated apps for movies, TV, and more.

On Jan. 9, 2001, the great iPhone maker debuted what would become arguably the world's most popular digital media app. iTunes has had a long history and has risen and fallen quite a bit during its 23 years of existence. What was once praised for revolutionizing how people consume music has become synonymous with bloatware, and if recent moves are any indication, it's on its way out. So, to celebrate its birthday, we will be taking a look back at iTunes' history, along with its uncertain but inevitable future.

iTunes history

A solid media player that aged like milk

Source: Brett Jordan via Unsplash

iTunes was first released as a media player and a way for Mac users to organize their music libraries. It was overshadowed by the iPod, which used iTunes as its companion app. In 2003, Apple introduced the iTunes Music Store, enabling users to purchase digital albums directly. So, instead of buying CDs (remember those?) and importing the audio tracks to iTunes and then the iPod, users could directly buy their favorite albums or tracks on iTunes and sync them to this little media streaming device. With the added support for Windows machines, iTunes became one of the most convenient ways to buy, store, and organize music for users worldwide. That's not to mention that it was also needed to activate some of the early iPhone and iPad models.

By 2005, Apple's vision for iTunes had expanded. It would soon support video playback, which made sense for music videos but not movies. Over the next few years, Apple would introduce new content types, including podcasts, e-books, App Store listings, iTunes U, Ping, and more. Unfortunately, this only slowed down the software and wrecked its fluid performance, even on Apple's own Macs. As a result, in 2019, Apple killed iTunes on macOS Catalina and provided dedicated apps for music, TV, podcasts, and e-books.

Present and near future

Dead on some platforms, with others to follow

Now that iTunes no longer exists on macOS Sonoma, Apple is working on killing it completely. The latest iOS 17 and tvOS 17 minor version updates at the time of this writing kill TV functionality in their respective iTunes apps and direct users to the dedicated TV app instead, where they can still rent and buy movies and series as they would normally. At this point, iTunes on iPhone is still an audio store for buying music and ringtones, but we can assume that Apple will kill the app completely by the iOS 18 launch. The company could easily add the purchasing feature to the Music app on the iPhone as it did on the Mac.

The company has also similarly provided Windows users with dedicated Music and TV apps to access their libraries and Apple subscription services. Furthermore, it has released a Windows app for Apple device management, which helps with updating, backing up, or restoring your iPhone. This spares users the need to rely on the bloated iTunes app when their iDevices misbehave.

Taking all of these signs into consideration, it has become obvious that iTunes' death is imminent. Apple is actively polishing individual apps across different platforms and completely integrating iTunes' functionalities. It's safe to assume that the 23-year-old app's retirement is a matter of when, not if.

It's time to move on

iTunes has served its purpose

Apple may be on the verge of killing iTunes once and for all, but its legacy will live on. While the software has become unbearably bloated over the past few years, there's no denying that it also passed through a golden age and became the standard by which we think about music management apps. The company addressed users' concerns by moving forward and breaking iTunes into multiple apps that serve unique purposes. So, even after the branding dies, iTunes' core features will be available through well-optimized, fluid apps that don't stir negative emotions.