Apple will reportedly make an announcement on the impending closure of iTunes during the upcoming Worldwide Developers Conference 2019 (WWDC 2019) this June. The two-decade-old platform is expected to be replaced with separate platforms with the content it supported. Here's what we know about this decision.
According to Bloomberg, Apple is planning to say farewell to the iTunes platform during the WWDC 2019. After decommissioning the service, Apple is currently preparing new ways to support the content and features it'll leave behind.
Currently, iTunes is a unified platform that supports an official way to watch movies, download music, and listen to podcasts for Apple devices. As Apple transitions further into offering more services, separate apps will handle each of the movies, music, podcasts, and other content that this App is supposed to support. Bloomberg confirmed that three apps for music, TV shows and podcasts would be introduced soon. Meanwhile, the smart device management features would now be found on the Music app.
According to Rolling Stone, iTunes was one of the first apps that were able to discourage users from using Napster when it comes to looking for media files like music. This app, introduced in 2001, was able to provide a legal way for users to buy music digitally and has been a staple for the Apple platform to sell any new digital media services.
As of Tim Cook's leadership of Apple, the company has taken steps to move towards the services industry even more. Most of the announcements that Apple made this 2019 are mostly about Apple's new services. So far, the company is planning to introduce a rival to Netflix's online streaming service, a dedicated Apple Gaming platform, and a magazine and reading material subscription platform. Fans will have to wait for the release dates for these new services though.
For now, we've yet to fully know how Apple will handle its users who've invested a lot to the iTunes platform. The company may have answers ready for its users once it's being talked about the WWDC 2019 main stage.
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