End of iTunes? Apple prepares Music and Podcasts apps for macOS

Evidence that Apple is preparing specific applications for the Apple Music and Podcasts for macOS were revealed yesterday (5/4) by developer Steve Troughton-Smith.

If the rumor is confirmed, it is likely that this is the first step towards the end of the iTunes, the program/dinosaur that centralizes these features on the Mac today.

I am now fairly confident based on evidence I don't wish to make public at this point that Apple is planning new (likely UIKit) Music, Podcasts, perhaps even Books, apps for macOS, to join the new TV app. I expect the four to be the next wave of Marzipan apps. Grain of Salt, etc.

- Steve Troughton-Smith (@stroughtonsmith) April 5th 2019

Troughton-Smith has a long history of leaks about Apple platforms and said on Twitter that he prefers not to disclose how he got the information, but he is confident of its veracity.

The developer also believes that Books, which already has a Mac app, should get an update when these new apps are released.

At the event it hosted last week, Apple confirmed that the TV app – currently only available on iOS e tvOS – will arrive this year on macOS. It wouldn't be surprising, therefore, that the company is also planning to transplant other iOS apps to the platform.

Marzipan

These four apps are likely to be ported by Apple from iOS to macOS using the tool UIKit made available in the update Mojave of the operating system.

This same technique, which was called internally by Apple as “Marzipan“, was used by the company to bring the Stocks, Home, News and Voice Memos apps from the iPad to the Mac.

The idea of ​​creating a single foundation for mobile applications and desktop with that is now being run by Apple was adopted years ago by Microsoft with the Windows 8 and Windows Phone and by Google with Android apps on Chrome OS.

However, so far none of these initiatives can be considered successful, as design elements, user experience, compatibility or performance always end up compromised when touch-adapted interfaces are transplanted to devices manipulated via keyboard and mouse.

iTunes

With specific apps for music, podcasts, books, TV shows and movies, iTunes for Mac becomes almost irrelevant. Without the multimedia functions, the few remaining utilities in the program would be synchronization and backup iPhones and iPads and buying MP3 music.

iTunes should still survive for some time on older versions of macOS, as only devices updated with Mojave (or the next system version, to be revealed in June) are able to run Marzipan apps.

No Windows, iTunes should also continue to be distributed for a long time, as Apple is unlikely to be investing in the development of the Music, TV and Podcasts apps for the Microsoft platform. The company even started to allow the download of the program by Microsoft Store in 2018.