iTunes, an 18-year-old desktop application, will likely be retired at WWDC.
According to Bloomberg, iTunes will be retired at WWDC 2019. The consolidated application will be broken up into three Mac apps: Music, TV, and Podcasts. While this is new for desktop owners, its something iPhone and iPad users acclimated to with the 2015 release of Apple Music.
The delegation of tasks to three new applications may seem a cumbersome step forward, but it will likely resolve the main complaint of iTunes users: bloated software. Hopefully the new division of labor will yield quick and efficient runtimes from each application. We anticipate that Music will manage iOS devices in lieu of iTunes and anticipate an official statement from WWDC.
Apple’s pivotal media app was first announced by Steve Jobs in 2011 as a jukebox application with a simple user interface. It ushered in the era of digital and mobile media by making it accessible to all consumers, regardless of technical experience. If not for iTunes, the smorgasbord of streaming services at our disposal may not exist, or at least not how we recognize them.
WWDC 2019 begins Monday at 10 a.m. PST, and Android Authority will keep you informed regarding the event.