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Software developer finds evidence of impending iTunes break-up

A new report from renowned software developer Steve Troughton-Smith claims that Apple is getting ready to break up iTunes into standalone services, at least on desktops. Troughton-Smith said that he discovered evidence that Apple will soon split iTunes into dedicated Video, Music and Podcasts apps. Books might also get a significant redesign.

Writing on Twitter, he said: “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.”

Troughton-Smith expects these four to be part of a coming generation of Marzipan apps for macOS.

This makes a lot of sense. Apple recently announced its own Netflix alternative called TV+, which will serve as a platform for original series and movies. Here, the firm will offer its own exclusive, advertising-free content, as well as approved third-party content. The TV+ service will come with a monthly subscription.

To make sure that it’s a success, Apple has reportedly entered into deals with smart TV manufacturers such as Samsung, Sony, Vizio and LG. TV+ will also be available on Amazon’s Fire TV Stick devices.

Apart from that, the company has, of course, recently announced its own paid news service called Apple News+, which provides subscribers access to more than 300 carefully chosen magazines and newspapers. The list of magazines includes Time, Vogue, Essence and many more.

Discussing his discovery, Troughton-Smith said that it does mean the long-awaited, much-talked-about break-up of iTunes. He added that Apple was expected to confirm reports about the break-up and also the introduction of the various individual services at the 2019 Worldwide Developers Conference at the beginning of June.

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About the author

Chris

I've been a passionate evangelist for Apple and the Macintosh throughout my working life, my first love was a Quadra 605 working with a small creative agency in the south of Norfolk UK in the mid 1990's, I later progressed to other roles in other Macintosh dominated industries, first as a Senior graphic designer at a small printing company and then a production manager at Guardian Media Group. As the publishing and printing sector wained I moved into Internet Marketing and in 2006 co-founded blurtit.com which grew to become one the top 200 visited sites in the US (according to Quantcast), at its peak receiving over 15 million visits per month. For the last ten years I have worked as an Affiliate and Consultant to many different business and start ups, my key skill set being online marketing, on page monetisation, landing page optimisation and traffic generation, if you would like to hire me or discuss your current project please reach out to me here.

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