You might have read a headline or 30 this week proclaiming the death of iTunes. It certainly seemed like that was the case; during the WWDC19 keynote, Apple VP Craig Federighi skewered the longtime media app for doing too much and announced it was breaking up into separate TV and Music apps. Short of holding an iOS 9-style funeral, Apple eliminated the iTunes app from the Mac and shuffled its functionality to new apps and menus.
- Dec 08, 2020 Starting with the macOS upgrade, which passed yesterday, Apple kicked off the next version of macOS, California-inspired”macOS Catalina” on the upgrades border. In Catalina, there is a variety of new features and improvements that will ship this fall. The largest updates go to iTunes, now three Apple Music apps, Apple Podcasts, and Apple TV.
- MacOS Catalina promises new features and big security improvements, but you may still run into issues. Here's how to fix common problems with MacOS Catalina.
To configure your iPhone or iPad to back up over Wi-Fi, you should run through the following steps: Connect your iPhone or iPad to the computer with a USB and open the iPhone section on iTunes or Finder. Tick Sync with this iPhone over Wi-Fi iTunes' backup options for Wi-Fi backups; Hit Done at the bottom of the window. For the macOS Catalina 10.15.3 and onwards iTunes is no longer present in the system. All iTunes contents are added in Finder itself. So instead, open the Music app and drag-drop IPA as mentioned below.
How does it all work? And is iTunes really dead? Get the answers to those and any other question you may have in this FAQ.
Is iTunes really gone?
Yes, the app named iTunes that we’ve been using on our Mac for nearly two decades is no more. When you upgrade to macOS 10.15 Catalina, you won’t find an iTunes app anywhere.
Where did all my stuff go?
In place of iTunes will be new apps: Music, Podcasts, and TV. If they sound familiar, it’s because you’ve seen them everywhere but your Mac: iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV. Apple is simply bringing those apps to the Mac. Now your entire purchases and ripped music library and playlists will be in Music and your Movies and TV Shows libraries will be in TV. Podcasts will be in Podcasts. And audiobooks will move over to the existing Books app.
Do I need to do anything to transfer my libraries?
You shouldn’t. MacOS Catalina will do all of the heavy lifting to migrate your libraries to the appropriate places.
Will I still be able to rip songs off a CD?
All of the things you did before in iTunes should work just fine in the new Music app, including iTunes Match and purchases, as well as any new or old ripped CDs.
How do I buy new stuff now?
Here’s where it gets a little confusing. While purchases are done in the appropriate app (music in Music, movies and TV shows in TV, and audiobooks in Books), the purchase process is a bit different. The TV app has separate Movies and TV Shows tabs at the top of the screen that will function much like iTunes does now, spotlighting deals and new content, and letting you browse through the entire catalogue. When you want to buy or rent something, click the buy link and it’ll be transferred to your library. The same goes for
Music is a little different. Since Apple offers a streaming service, that takes center stage, with everything else populating a sidebar like the current iTunes app. Inside there you’ll find an old friend: the iTunes Store. Click on it and you’ll be find a store that looks a lot like the current one.
Wait, so iTunes isn’t dead then?
Well, iTunes is, but the iTunes Store isn’t. It’s just returning to what it was before Apple started selling other kinds of media.
What if I’m an Apple Music subscriber?
Apple Music subscribers will find everything in the Music app, of course. They’ll also still see the iTunes Store option in the sidebar, but they can opt to hide it if they’d like.
How do I manage my iTunes account?
Managing your iTunes account works pretty much the same way as it does now. Each of the media apps will have an “Account” menu in the top bar, where you’ll find the usual options: Authorizations, Sign Out, etc. Click on View My Account and you’ll be taken to your usual account page, where you can update your credit card info and address, and see your purchases.
How do I manage my subscriptions?
Subscriptions are currently handled inside your Account page in the Mac App Store, so that shouldn’t change.
Will be iTunes gift cards still work?
Yes! Apple says that iTunes Gift Cards and iTunes credits “will be maintained and can be used with the new apps and the App Store” as before. So it appears that Apple will continue to sell iTunes gift cards for the foreseeable future.
How do I sync my iPhone or iPad to my Mac for backups?
If you use your Mac for iTunes backups, you’ll no longer need to launch an app to when you plug in your iPhone or iPad. Instead, you device will appear in a new sidebar item in Finder windows, which will contain all of your previous backups and sync settings as before. Apple also says it will now be “easier to drag and drop files you want to transfer” since you’ll already be inside the Finder.
What if I don’t (or can’t) update my Mac to Catalina?
Apple is billing the new media apps as a Catalina feature, so presumably older Macs will stick with iTunes for the foreseeable future. It’s possible that Apple sends out a future update to older version of macOS that deprecates iTunes, but that hasn’t been announced.
What happened to iTunes in macOS Catalina? It’s gone. That’s what! One of the main new features of Catalina is that iTunes has been killed off and replaced with three new apps: Music, Podcasts and TV.
New era of iTunes: why is there no iTunes in macOS Catalina?
iTunes hasn’t been popular for many years. An app that started out as a simple music player that allowed you to rip CDs and play them on your computer or iPod, grew and grew. First came the iTunes Store, which allowed you to buy music and download it to iTunes on your Mac or PC. Then came the ability to play movies and TV programs, as well as podcasts. Eventually iTunes became the catch all for media that you could play on a Mac, PC or iOS devices. Except for photos, of course, those had their own app. iTunes was also used for backing up iOS devices to a Mac or PC, restoring and updating iOS devices, and a number of other tasks. It was bloated, cumbersome, and failed often. No wonder it became so unpopular.
Apple was faced with a choice. It could either re-design and re-build iTunes from the ground up to make it fit for purpose, or it could kill it off. It chose the latter.
What has replaced iTunes in Catalina?
iTunes was so big that it three apps were needed to replace it: music, podcasts, and TV. It’s no surprise Apple chose those three names – the apps mirror their iOS counterparts. So, Music will allow you to play music in your own library (either stored on your Mac or streamed from iCloud Music Library or iTunes Match), as well as stream Apple Music tracks, if you have a subscription. As iTunes does in Mojave, it will sync with iCloud so all the playlists you create or add to your Library on your iPhone or iPad will be available on your Mac and vice versa.
Itunes Catalina Update
Podcasts is the same as the Podcasts app in iOS, allowing you to subscribe and listen to your favourite podcasts. Like Music, it will sync with iCloud, so your subscriptions will be shared with your Mac, along with bookmarks, and the place you last paused in a podcast.
TV also works like the iOS version, showcasing content from television streaming services in your country. It will allow you to watch programs in the app, as well as make recommendations based on your viewing habits. Apple TV will also be the place to access Apple’s new TV+ streaming service when that eventually launches.
Does iTunes still work in older versions of macOS?
Yes. While Apple has removed iTunes in Catalina, it has said nothing about older versions of macOS. That means it’s likely to continue to support iTunes for those using Mojave and earlier versions of the Mac operating system. So, it should continue to update it when it issues updates for those operating systems. Of course, those updates will likely be limited to bug fixes and security patches, and we won’t see any new features in iTunes.
Tip: if you don’t plan to upgrade to Catalina and want to keep using iTunes, it’s a good idea to remove the junk files iTunes creates. These include old backups, broken downloads, archived updates, and many other files that were supposed to be temporary but ended up hanging around on your Mac. I recommend my long time favorite app, CleanMyMac X for this. It’s way quicker and much easier than trying to do it manually and could free up gigabytes of space in almost no time and with only a couple of clicks. Here’s how to do it.
- Install, and launch CleanMyMac X — download a free version here
- Choose Large & Old Files in the sidebar
- Press Scan
- When it’s finished, you can review the files it has found by size or by type, such as music or video.
- When you’re ready, check the box next to files you want to delete and press Remove.
To additionally delete applications’ cache and old system junk associated with iTunes, click on the System Junk tab.
What about the iTunes Store?
The iTunes Store has its' own app on iOS, that allows users to buy individual tracks and albums, as well as rent and buy movies and TV programmes. However, in Catalina you will be able to buy music in the Apple Music app, via a sidebar link called iTunes Store. You will be able to buy or rent all the TVs and movies you currently can on iTunes in the TV app. And audio books will be available for purchase in the Books app.
How will iOS devices sync without iTunes?
In Finder. When you connect an iOS device to your Mac, it will appear in the sidebar in a Finder window, instead of in iTunes. When you click on it, you will see a window that looks very like the sync window in iTunes and will offer the same options for synchronising and backing up content.
The day the DJ music died
The release of macOS Catalina in October 2019 saw many DJ apps crashing. The issues is directly caused by iTunes, or rather the absence of it. Along with iTunes, Apple has removed an important XML file in macOS Catalina. Many DJ apps, like Traktor, were heavily dependent on this file as a way to sync with other music apps. Is your next DJ party at risk?
Don’t worry — iTune’s successor, Music app, includes a workaround for this issue. But still it requires that your DJ software is optimized for Catalina, and that doesn’t happen overnight.
What else will change when iTunes is removed in Catalina?
Can You Run Itunes On Catalina
There are a few other changes that Apple has documented, relating to the removal of iTunes.
- Podcasts you subscribe to in iTunes will move to the new Podcasts app.
- Music playlists you’ve created in iTunes will be available in the Music app.
- Audio books you purchased in iTunes will move to the Books app.
Can You Run Itunes On Catalina
Usually when Apple decides to remove an app as deeply embedded in macOS as iTunes is, it’s controversial. Opinions are often divided and there is at least some criticism. However, it seems that iTunes had become so unpopular that few people will miss it. And with the new Music, TV, and Podcasts app, all the features and content are still available, just organized more logically. Add to that the fact that you can now sync an iPhone, iPad or iPod in the Finder and the loss of iTunes is really no loss at all.