iTunes has finally been sent to the trash

Remember iTunes? Now you don’t have to, it can’t hurt you anymore (at least after September). Apple is killing it off and debuting several new apps for macOS with the launch of macOS Catalina today.

“macOS Catalina replaces iTunes with three all-new apps that greatly simplify and improve the way Mac users discover and enjoy their favourite music, TV shows, movies and podcasts,” Apple explained on Monday. “For users who sync their media to their devices using a cable, they can quickly and easily do so in the new entertainment apps. And when users connect a device to their Mac, it will immediately show up in the sidebar of Finder, enabling them to back up, update or restore their device.”

The three new apps are Music, TV and Podcasts. These are macOS versions of the apps Apple offers on its iOS and iPadOS powered devices. The Music app is Apple Music, complete with Apple’s curated playlists and local music integration. TV is the former videos app and lets you play any content you’ve purchased from the iTunes store. Last but not least, there’s Podcasts. That’s self-explanatory.

It’s unclear whether Apple is killing iTunes for Windows and whether it plans to launch these three new apps on Microsoft’s operating system as well, else users wh have invested in iTunes content are in for a world of pain.