Microsoft wants an iTunes Windows 8 app but Apple isn't liking the idea

It will come as no surprise that Microsoft wants Apple to create a Windows 8 app of iTunes, the popular media player that also helps consumers manage iOS hardware and more. A desktop version of iTunes is available and works well in desktop mode on a Windows 8 machine, but what if you're running Windows RT or would like to enjoy a native experience?

So what's preventing an iTunes being listed on the Windows Store? Apple, according to CNN Money. Tami Reller, chief financial officer of Microsoft's Windows division, had the following to comment on the situation:

"You shouldn't expect an iTunes app on Windows 8 any time soon. ITunes is in high demand. The welcome mat has been laid out. It's not for lack of trying."

The Verge has added that iTunes is one of the most searched for apps on the Windows 8 Store, leading Microsoft to actively attempt to secure a native app for its consumer base. So what would a Windows 8 app bring to the platform? A native experience for a start, along with the ability to run on hardware powered by Windows RT.

A touch-friendly experience for those with such an interface would put Apple's media player on the same level as Microsoft's own Xbox Music. The desktop mode is useful, especially if you have a mouse (or similar pointer device) at hand, but it can prove trick to use iTunes with the finger.

So why isn't Apple in a hurry to get an app developed for Microsoft's new desktop UI? It could well be Windows 8 is a competitor to its own OSX and the company already has a desktop version available. It's hard to say when Apple will look to introduce a native app for windows 8, but is the desktop version enough? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

Source: CNN Money, via: iMore, The Verge

Rich Edmonds

Rich Edmonds is Senior Editor of PC hardware at Windows Central, covering everything related to PC components and NAS. He's been involved in technology for more than a decade and knows a thing or two about the magic inside a PC chassis. You can follow him over on Twitter at @RichEdmonds.

177 Comments

Isn't it also the case that MS gets a percentage of every item sold through the marketplace or within the apps themselves? And that is the reason for Apple to deny an RT iTunes app?
Whatever the reason, microsoft will eventually get what it wants from apple. It always does.
They probably would waive that fee.
Especially if it's a way to beat Google.
Only if Apple waives it for their Office bundles they want to sell on the iOS stores.
As far as I recall, Microsoft doesn't charge for in-app purchases.
They don't, they only charge for in-app purchases if you use their platform for doing it!
Exactly! This is not Apple, they don't force you to use their payment solution. If you want to, you can release an app for free in the store and then use your own charging system to activate that app.
Not according to this.... https://developer.apple.com/in-app-purchase/
im pretty sure he was talking about Microsoft's store. Not apple's.
Or did I read that backwards... I think I did. lol
Maybe I could have been more clear, I don't know. :)
Microsoft doesn't take a cut for in all sales. It is different from app sale.
Meh I did use iTunes but Zune desktop client is so much better! ITunes is pretty restricting.
Yeah, if you use iTunes you're doing something wrong.
That's a strange statement. What else would I use to manage my iPod Classic.
The garbage can is where your iPod belongs.
The iPod was a fairly decent mp3 player though.
Nope! As much as I'm a Windows fanboy. The iPod Classic was indeed revolutionary, still have the 6th with me today.
Agreed. I have a ton of music and my 160GB ipod classic is the only option unless I severely restrict myself. But it sucks that I can't sync it with my surface rt.
Replace the crappy apple firmware with Rockbox firmware. I now have respect for my iPod classic after making the switch. ITunes is probably the worst program for doing anything but ripping cds. The rockbox firmware for 160gb classic is still beta, but it works on MY iPod ok. It got to the point where iTunes had me hating my iPod. So I took the risk and followed the steps on the rockbox site.
Songbird
MediaMonkey
Spotify
This is just me looking for 2 minutes on Wikipedia.
Of course you can't use Windows Media Player with RT but if you are using Windows 8 there is no need to use XBM just use Windows Media Player to do all your syncing.
Even Windows media player is more versatile than iTunes. Microsoft should just rebrand Zune into Xbox Music/Video but with all of the features of Zune desktop but in app form.
Luckily, I don't use iTunes, but I believe it would most certainly help a lot of people if Apple did allow a native application.
How about they worry about the Xbox Music and Video disaster first?
That would seem like getting their priorities straight.
+1000!!
Yep, it's incredible how badly MS have killed the music experience due to their internal politics. Forget iTunes, Zune was much better, and they have blown it. Fix this please, ASAP!
i agree, MS FIX XBox Music first Pleasssseeeee.
I agree! We need videos on this platform and they're worried about getting iTunes?! Come on MS!
How dare you. This is WPCentral and you must say no wrong about Microsoft. I questioned one of the writer's choice of words when he referred to Windows Phone's music experience as "superb," and all hell broke loose here. Microsoft can do no wrong. Tread carefully, sir.
Explosive, there are PLENTY of people on WPCentral that are not blind to MS failures. As with all sites, there are always those that will defend them blindly. Just try posting something negative about Apple or Android on any of their fan sites.
The Xbox music app is HORRIBLE. It seems with each nee iteration of their main music player, Microsoft makes is more and more restricting. Not to mention that the Xbox music app is horribly laggy on my RT device.
THIS.

One of my iPhone using friends got his phone lost/stolen last week so I lent him my old Lumia 900 and he really likes it! He even likes Zune desktop and was asking about how much the new ones cost but the problem is music management is such a mess right now that I honestly can't recommend him move yet. :/

I've downloaded a few songs specifically to my phone but am using my old Omnia7 as my music player now as I can still use Zune to manage my collection and sync to my phone with no fuss.

The Windows 8 team is getting a lot of grief for "stubbonly" getting rid of the start button but I think the Windows Phone team did a lot more damage by changing things that weren't ready to be changed. I don't mind change at all and was really excited for the Xbox Music switchover but it clearly was about a year away from being truly useful for anything beyond playing music (though initially it wasn't all that good at doing that either...)

As for iTunes, right now it's a better system than what Microsoft offers for Windows Phone. My friends with iPhones can manage and play their music and videos, sync them to their phone, and even backup and restore their phones all within one desktop program. I can't do any of that with one program with Windows Phone 8. Heck, I can't even backup and restore my phone AT ALL.

Sorry, that descended in to a rant I wasn't planning on but suffice to say there are much bigger hurdles to jump than get iTunes onboard right now.
+1 Million.... If Microsoft wants me to use iTunes, I might as well buy a macbook and an iphone!

What the heck do they do overthere??? Somebody needs fired over at Microsoft. Why would you want to create compition against your own product?
Agreed! Bring Zune to RT! ITunes is horrible just for music management alone.
Keep making you voices heard with all the 1000s of other people voting to bring back Zune on uservoice:
https://windowsphone.uservoice.com/forums/101801-feature-suggestions/sug... I have also started a WPC thread asking for WPC to bring more attention to the XBM issues. As I don't think MS is taking it very seriously:
http://forums.windowscentral.com/groove-music/217754-xbox-music-enough-e...
Maybe Apple is still mad they never got a Zune client.
They should be, downloadable subscription music lightyears before Spotify or Rdio and a discount when you buy 12 months, it is still better than those two today IMO.
It is better, just a shame they never advertised it properly as such otherwise it could have taken off a heck of a lot more than it did. Fingers crossed they get the Xbox Music re-launch right over summer.
Zune client. LOL
After reading this, I had a sudden, inexplicable urge to replace our iPads with the closest RT devices I could find.
...
I better get off the internet.
No, you better get off the iPads. Follow your gut feeling! :)
Well the only thing I use my iPad for is banking really....lol
Take those iPads to your closest e-waste center.
We have 8 iPads laying around or at employee's houses for their kids ... 4 first gens, 4 iPad 2's. They were going to revolutionize how we demo our product and how our customers were going to use it. I think we used each one for 1 show. Took our first Windows 8 tablet to a show last week ... actually, a Sony all-in-one. Worked so good we are purchasing a 2nd one before our show in June, and looking into having a customer kiosk built for it.
Just fix Xbox Music on the WP8, Microsoft. I really like the service, unlike some comments I read here - most likely from people who probably just browse the tops - its portfolio is very rich, I mean, I'm able to find some very obscure artists!, but why can't I populate my cloud based collection from my Lumia ?!
Heres the thing, I think people are ok with the SERVICE, but the UI and features are a slap in the face compared to managing a full client like Zune was, especially when it comes to media management like we did with WP7.
YUP!
Even Zune's passport service was superior over Xbox music which included 10 free songs a month and you can also sync videos that are DRM. Don't get me started about podcasts also.
Apple is lame. Great products but the user support is not friendly! Yet people flock to them like lemmings running over a cliff. Crazy.
That is exactly the reason I will not own an apple product or use any of their apps. I can't stand arrogance.
Amen to that! That's one of the big things that rubs me wrong with Apple. That and the suicide nets. I like their products, but they tend to be overpriced and under Apple's iron grip for repairs. I like being able to take care of things on my own without needing an appointment with a "genius".
I don't personally use iTunes any more, and I can see why MS would want to encourage versions of it that work within the new start screen environment, but I really think Microsoft should be spending more time and effort on making their OWN music offering better, rather than asking other competitors to join in. XBox Music is awful. Let's fix that first, lads, eh?!
Right, because there are only 3 people working at MS. No way can they do more than 1 thing at a time.
Feels like that sometimes!
That was hilarious, Josh.
They certainly have money and developer resources. But they also want cohesion across their offerings (and to be fair, that is what we want from them.) So they need engineers and product developers working closely with each other to make sure things work well between platforms and systems. If you focus too many resources on a specific target market (PC iTune users considering an RT tablet, converting Apple iTunes users) you may give up some of the resources and product planning that is necessary for ensuring the core product is solid. And in this case, there are some core elements that are lacking. Maybe there's a lot of "cohesion" because everything is getting "xbox" branded and a modern interface, but the usability is suffering.
Exactly... why on Earth do people think the same people at MS communicating with Apple are the same people developing Xbox music? Such a silly concept!
It's things like this that make me think that sooner or later MS needs to flex it's muscle a bit. If Apple or Google take the stand that they won't release native versions of their software for Win 8 then why shouldn't MS cripple or withhold Exchange and Office on non-native OS's. Yes, it is the end users who suffer, but all is not fair in business. Taking the high road is not always the most sensible path.
Have you used Office 2013 on Mac? It's basically Office 2011 with a new name. Having to use it on Mac is punishing enough ;-)
That's going to change after windows 8.1. All the 365 products will be the same across the board come 2014
Google taking that route with WP lost me as a customer of most of their services, I know with all the threads and posts on how to switch off google apps/mail/etc, I wasn't alone there.
Plus, those products make you money, MS wants people to use them, they want to sell more licenses. Taking that away, especially with Office being one of their more profitable software packages iirc, does nothing but hurt everyone and drive them into the arms of the native apps for their ecosystems.
Yeah I, too, am trying to reduce my Google usage. Unfortunately I was not able to switch my email (custom domain name) to Outlook.com because I've been relied very heavily on the catch-all email address over the past 10(?) years and cannot find any solid way to do that if I move my custom domain email hosting. But I copied my contacts over, and will probably move my calendar over before too much longer, once I'm comfortable saying goodbye to Facebook events.
.
(I know FB events are supported, but I haven't gotten far enough along to see if "private" events show up correctly. I have a workaround in place for Google calendar where I use a middle man, my own server, to grab FB events and rewrite the full calendar to flip Private events to Public. Technically if someone knows my middle man server URL, complete with private FB id and key, they could able to see some event details, but the same is true for anyone with someone's private FB calendar URL. Anyway, if I can point Outlook.com to that private custom URL, I could make the switch.)
Why not just make Xbox music work properly rather than go begging to apple?!!
Obviously you did not read nor do you understand everything iTunes does.
I want both.
Make it work like Zune desktop and windows users will forget iTunes.
Didn't you people read the article. It is the most searched for app in the store. Microsoft is trying to make consumers happy. Alot of iPhone users have windows machine. IPhone is not synonymous with osx
Thank you for pointing this out...and I mean that genuinely
Which is somewhat amazing to me - surely there are more Android tablets in the wild than RT tablets (since RT tablets have only been out less than one year) - is there an iTunes app in the Google Play store?
They need to fix Xbox music in order to make consumers happy. The possibility that the large search for iTunes is due to the fact that windows phone 8 users need to use iTunes to organize their media and use the windows phone connector to sync that media. Yes this is support's suggested solution.
Microsoft could've done the same thing with Zune but they didn't which baffles me.
Most probably this I think. And people use iTunes to buy music. My absolute favorite band releases about 1 new track every 2nd month, and only on iTunes. And I've bought almost all of their albums through iTunes, so its a must have until MS brings Zune back, and gives artists a great deal on selling their music on their platform.
Zune is actually the thing I miss the most with WP7. And its the reason why I think about getting a WP7 device again too.
Everyone keeps complaining about Xbox Music, come on people, give the service a break, it's been only 6-7 months since it was introduced? Besides, that's not the point. Xbox Music will be updated in the following months. crApple has no serious reason to deny Microsoft a Windows 8 app, other than their ignorance.
But it's completely broken the usage of the service. They should have released it when it was ready, not using their entire client base as beta testers!
I personally found it quite satisfying during my free-trial. I don't mind being introduced to new things. It's not like it was good and they broke it.. It's just new. Patience. :)
It's exactly like that because it replaced Zune, which worked and they've replaced it with XBM. It's fine if you use the rental/streaming service, but it's woeful if you have your own pre-existing music collection.
I kind of forgot about Zune, not like it was ever advertised where I live. Guess we can just wait and see. Windows Blue is around the corner too.
Why is XBM awful if you have a existing music collection? I stream my music frm XBM but never really tried syncing my existing music yet. Is it very difficult?
*sigh*
I have 65GB of music, most bought through Zune. They are synced to my phone (most, 62GB worth on SD), but I have 0 playlists because they will not sync (ZPL, WPL, M3U, none of them). That's the problem. Unless you stream, it sucks and who wants stream their own collection? i.e., pay for music you already own because of data charges.
I still don't get the issue here if that's the problem. Why not just make a new playlist? Sure it's a little more irritating than just copying the playlist over, but it's not a hard thing to do on XBM. Also, you're not paying for music you already own, you're paying for the ability to stream it(which they didn't have to give us for free, but I'm glad they did cause now I don't have to ever plug in my phone), and that's more your carriers fault than XBM.
I don't understand why people think the XBM app is difficult or broke. Now if you are having issues with it crashing and stuff then so be it, but I've yet to have that issue. So far I'm liking the app more every day.
Because when it comes to your own collection, XBM thinks its ok to: overwrite your files and tags with DRM infested versions of those files, makes duplicates of tracks, leaves some tracks off if it can't figure out what they are. Randomly forgets that the music is on your device and streams them instead. Gives you DRM errors for content you have legitimate use for...... that's just for starters.... XBM has no wireless sync, and a load of other missing important features that are now gone for no good reason.
I've never had any of these issues. I've had CD's renamed as "Album version" or "unedited" etc. but they never changed my files they were just cosmetic changes to the names. Aside from that, the wireless sync can be an issue if you have a lot of cd's that aren't in the library. But like I said, I've only once had to plug my phone in since buying it, and that was to start the link between my phone and my XBM cause it wouldn't do it itself.

All my music, aside from the live stuff that was never officially released(wich I can't fault them for), I can play on or download to my phone right now without plugging it in.
It sounds like you've never used the Zune client at least all of it's features. Try to imagine everything you've argued in favor with Xbox music, every Zune user knows that it did things better and automatically.
This is what Microsoft is depending on when it comes to new windows users, anyone who didn't use Zune would not know how poorly implemented the Xbox music/video/games are.
Music app is terrible. Simple things like creating a playlist is a major chore unless I plug the phone in. There is no reason creating a playlist should be that difficult. You should be able to create a playlist on the phone or the computer.
So you gotta plug in your phone, oh no! You're all making sound like a big chore to plug in your phone. Making a playlist and plugging in your phone to sync it isn't that big of a deal nor is it that hard to do.

Yes, it would be nice if the wirless synce for playlists would work better, but it's not like playlists can't be done.
You have apparently been under a rock while the rest of the world has shifted to "wireless." We now have the cordless phone, bluetooth keyboards and mice , wireless speakers and headsets... Do you still walk to the TV to change the channel? MS is missing the boat by not allowing you to fully enjoy your music collection because you need to connect to a computer.
I'm just not so spoiled that I won't walk up to the tv if that controller is missing. Maybe you missed where I said I've yet to have to plug my phone in since the initial plug in to get my phone and my pc all synced up. I'm all for wireless everything, but I'm not going to cry when I have to plug my phone in once a month(if that) to sync a playlist.
This is simply not true. Making playlists is actually pretty easy. The service is gold. Give it 2 more months and it will be perfect =) Write a review with the stuff you don't like and maybe it will change =)
Making playlists is certainly not easy. I have used multiple operating systems and Windows 8 is by far the most difficult to manage music
Even the rental/streaming service is inferior to what Zune passport offered.
The most frustrating issues are with windows phone 7 users who were lucky enough to have a fully featured software solution that made iTunes look antiquated and bloated. Microsoft decided to take the concept of Zune desktop, separated each function into different apps and threw away every useful feature Zune has and renamed the concept Xbox.
Riopato is spot on. As are all of the 1000s of people voting on uservoice:
https://windowsphone.uservoice.com/forums/101801-feature-suggestions/sug...
And all the people on the (now closed down) 'Master List Of issues' thread:
http://answers.microsoft.com/static/html/error.html?aspxerrorpath=/en-us...
Not forgetting the WPC thread I started!
http://forums.windowscentral.com/groove-music/217754-xbox-music-enough-e...
I have multiple apple devices for wife and kids and mac but use windows phone and have a w8 laptop for myself.
I have no problems launching iTunes from the metro interface. The only thing I hate about iTunes is, movies I buy on iTunes can't be put on my windows phone..
LOL @ keeping the good stuff for yourself.
You can't sync Xbox video movies to windows phone 8 either. Zune allowed you to do this no issue.
I do not miss apple. Use YouTube and save the music you like.
iTunes was one of the main reasons I left Apple and switched to WP. Sync device? - no let me format your device instead without warning - Download Updates? no let me crash your device and get it stuck in an upgrade loop until you format it and have to start again. Already purchased album on a different machine that you no longer have access to - sorry youve got to buy the album again.
And people complain about xbox music...
And still people complain about Xbox music... You do realize that you still had it better with iTunes compared to using Xbox music.
Delay Office 2013/2014 on Mac, say demand on the PC side has been stellar.
+1
Say what you want about RT but I have two users who love their Surface RT tablets and they have iPhone 5's...they would love iTunes...
I don't use iTunes anymore but having it on windows 8 makes sense. People that have windows 8 may still have an iPhone or iPod so this would make their experience easier.
Perhaps a deal...Office for IOS in exchange for iTunes.
If Microsoft had done a better job marketing Windows RT (like giving it a decent name), more people would be using RT-based tablets and there would be a more obvious hole that Apple would want to fill. As it is, are there really enough RT devices in the marketplace for it to be worth Apple's while to make iTunes run in RT? Also, if XBM was a worthy competitor to iTunes, maybe Apple would feel compelled to respond. My two days of trying to use XBM on RT indicate that it is not.
And I thought Windows lovers HATE iTunes...
Its not about loving or hating iTunes. If you own an idevice then to make the most of it, updates etc then you need it.
I don't like iTunes, its a pain to use with the 3 devices we have, but its sadly the best way of dealing with the iphones/ipods. Give me Windows Media Player and drag and drop anyday.
I drag and drop with my iPods.
But its not the default way of doing it, with the iphone 4 on and the newer ipods at least so that point is moot as you cant drag and drop in explorer at least without jailbreaking afaik, correct me if I'm wrong. People buy an iphone etc and are told by the phone when it starts that they need itunes so that's what they look for and most will never look for an alternative. I personally use CopyTrans Manager for music transfers but that doesn't help with updates or apps. As much ad i dislike iTunes though, the app store is head and shoulders above the WP experience and i don't mean app content, but that's another issue entirely!
I have a 32GB 5th classic iPod Video and a 1st Gen iPod touch. When connected to iTunes, I click the option to manage my music manually. Its right there in the iTunes interface for anyone to check off. Therefore, it allows me to grab any song and drop it onto my device, no issue.
That's not 'drag and drop' in the typical sense though is it, you are still having to open iTunes to do that. So no you cant drag and drop right out the box and lets no get started on the fun involved in having the audacity to have more than one computer with different libraries. Give me traditional drag and drop as in open explorer and copy from folder to folder any day thanks.
Forget apple concentrate on MS
iTunes on Windows is a horrible experience.
Agreed. Can imagine how crash prone would the app version be.
iTunes Store is brilliant, iTunes the media player is fucking awful.
I would gladly use iTunes over Xbox Music. Xbox Music is terrible...
Install Zune client if you're on an x86 system. It's like iTunes, but it integrates itself with Xbox music and other player apps like Nokia music and media monkey.
People in Poland wantx XBox Music not some pathetic apple stuff. But Microsoft refuses to sell it in Poland.
People in US just hate MS and MS should accept it and concentrate on markets where people loves them.
Hmmm, I'm polish but live in the US... Does that explain why I like MS so much? lol
People in the US love whatever they are told.
Pop culture is ruining my country, and it goes way beyond product selection.
It would be nice to have iTunes on windows rt - only for the sake of a better experience than Xbox music, not to mention the never-failed-me iTunes match.
Who needs iphone?
I use iTunes on my w7laptop. Nd its work fine... But i really love the zune player.. Its far better in looks than itunes. Itunes is better in music management compare to zune...
In order for iTunes to manage music, it need to index and refer to a library file that constantly corrupts. In order for Zune to manage music, all it need is to know what folder you keep your music in and it will update every time you put anything in that folder even if that folder is on a network drive.
iM telling about management. Such as search for a song. Or artist, rate a song. Etc.. Its works better in itunes. But incase of zune to search a song from library u r getting trbl..
That's totally not true and is very telling that you are not familiar with Zune desktop. Searching for media (and I mean all media) is instantaneous even when searching files on my nas which will list based on type of media it is and finding for meta data ie. artist is not an issue for the same reason. Rating songs will actually embed in an mp3 and I always auto sync my music based on rating.
All this and it doesn't have to refer to an index library file that you don't have to rebuild every time you add new songs. I worst part of using iTunes is having duplicates songs because it needs to auto organize everything and having multiples of the same song with a number added to the end of the filename.
Don't make them office or Skype or Xbox smartglass
May I suggest Nokia Music for Windows 8, as an xbox music alternative? ;-) https://www.windowscentral.com/e?link=https2F%2Fclick.linksynergy.co...
This integrates well with Zune desktop. Also Media Monkey works well but not as slick looking as Nokia Music.
er... I kind of don't get it. Remember RT is the equivalent of an iPad or an Android tablet. Does Apple make iTunes for Android tablet? No, so I don't see why there needs to be an RT app. I can understand the need for a sync app, but why would anyone need full-blown iTunes on RT? Who is even asking for this?

If you have a Pro tablet, then install the desktop version.

This is just another example really of how confusing it was to have 'Win 8 RT' vs 'Win 8 Pro'
Good point about RT and iTunes made for it since there shouldn't be a need for it. RT does have sync functions though unfortunately it's apps and Xbox music lacks basic functions that even windows media player has. Having the whole OS work more like Zune desktop makes more sense and it doesn't involve Apple to write the code for Microsoft except a small app that allows apple devices to sync.
Dear Microsoft,
Fix Xbox music and video. Then pull all of your apps that are available to apple devices. Done. I fucking hate it when companies receive apps from their competitors but won't give any back.
Just one more reason RT is probably doomed in the future in favor of the full tablet version. Nobody is gonna make apps specific for it with such a small user base. Not saying I wish it wasn't different, but Microsoft really screwed up with it marketing wise.
My guess is that MS will see RT as a dead end and unceremoniously drop it by the holidays. It will be replaced by Bay Trail tablets running full Windows 8.1, and nobody will much care whether an app has a Metro version. Remember, they dropped Kin in 8 weeks. If RT survives at all, it will be in 7" tablets where no one is expecting the tablet to manage other hardware. But the new Atom architecture is supposed to be suitable for that kind of tablet as well.
RT's major downfall will continue as long as Microsoft keep this OS separate from windows phone. Everything that works on windows phone doesn't work the same on RT which makes RT not make any sense even though they are suppose to have the same kernel.
That being said, I continue to use my Surface as a consumption device and I continue to perform certain functions as if it was a windows phone which gets so frustrating. Microsoft needs to allow developers to be able to write for x86 windows and have an easy way to convert it for RT or they need to make RT more like windows phone so they can code for only 2 platforms and not 3.
"and it works well on the desktop". Are you kidding me? iTunes is the worst application ever. It is sluggish, highly unstable, extremely slow and above all very user UNfriendly. It sucks, that's it. I know the relationship between Apple and Microsoft is pretty good, but Apple needs to stay away from Windows applications.
I don't think Apple is up to the development task. ITunes has never been that great on Windows to begin with.
One thing iTunes does on purpose it make everything but purchasing difficult. That level of misdirection takes some effort.
Surface RT + Full iTunes support + device syncing = an embarrassed Apple.
The problem here isn't Apple being evil, or Apple sucking. The problem is that iTunes isn't developed using Windows frameworks or APIs. Apple mantains a single iTunes codebase for Windows and OS X. Apple builds iTunes for OS X by mantaining a private port of their Cocoa Objective C frameworks for Windows. iTunes for Windows isn't actually "for Windows" it is just iTunes compiled using Apple's private version of Cocoa for Windows.
It would be impossible for Apple to take iTunes and "convert" it to a Windows store app. It isn't written in C#, or .NET, or any other Microsoft framework. Apple would have to develop a brand new Windows store iTunes client from the ground-up in Microsoft's Windows Store framework. This is exceptionally unlikely.
Apple's long-term plan here is (most likely) to just allow iTunes to whither. iTunes used to be required to use Apple's devices. Now it is optional. You can buy any iOS device and never use iTunes. Over time iTunes becomes less and less important.
that's an interesting concept. If true, it makes sense that Microsoft is doing the same thing since Zune was already killed off and Xbox music is so poorly implemented that syncing would be a thing of the past.
This is an excellent idea, iTunes is so extraordinarily shitty that it needs to be isolated into metro for the sake of people who happen to own an iPod.
I don't us iTunes, never have and probably never will.
I have. I don't recommend it.
I sure wish Apple would do this. Then people would start flocking to iTunes so that they could actually have and use a decent music player app on Win 8. Then Microsoft would start crapping themselves over it and maybe finally produce a decent music app themselves. It's the only thing that would motivate them to do that, it seems.
Maybe if Microsoft released an Xbox music app for Mac OSX apple would return the favor? (I really wish I could use Xbox music pass on my laptop)
I've heard this is in the works. Can anybody confirm?
Xbox companion went cross platform, matter of time the rest will.
Apple already has a desktop version. I can perfectly understand if they refuse to bother with an App just for RT. Let us not forget Apple, as the article says, is competition. And when you're competition, you don't go around being nice to the opponent. Only Microsoft thinks that's normal.
I really don't like iTunes as an application. Had so much drama with it. Used it for many, many years and I still think the software sucks. Not that Xbox music is any better, but still.
I still use iTunes as its the only program I've found for easily changing the metadata and album art on my music, its frustrating that it can't easily be done within the music app on windows 8
Try a program called "Mp3tag". It's quite good and it's free. ;)
I use media monkey. Blows iTunes away.
Microsoft should create the app, so Apple can copy the design for osx :)
Yes, it would be nice considering the current sync client for Wp8 is complete crud. I'm very disappointed we still haven't seen a superior successor to Zune. Poor show MS.
Man where's iTunes at? It would be a must have app for my windows tablet lol
i wonder if this is so Windows RT users can sync podcasts? (if the Windows Phone app is anything like the desktop companion, it requires iTunes to sync with the Podcasts section of Windows Phone. otherwise, it appears in music.)
More user access more money apple could make. Not sure why they would not want to make one.
Because if you want mobile access to iTunes you have to buy their hardware where they make more money than just content sales.
Since Zune is no more. I do wish I could manage my WP through iTunes with all of the same features and syncing of an iphone/ipod. Would love to be able to actually use all of my digital copies. From itunes, I do miss the ability to mark a song to skip while shuffling. I have kids songs on my WP and they play every so often when I shuffle my music. I dislike playlists but love to shuffle.
Apple and google becoming irogant and only care of our money
iTunes is the worst most bloated piece of garbage. I expect their app version would be as well.
God! iTunes is a horrible program. Left it lng ago and have NO interest in going back. MS should concentrate on making XBox music more functional - like making it a client for Windows Phone like we USED TO HAVE and let iTunes Users suffer from their fruity software.
I agree. I don't have any use for the iTunes any more. MS needs to make Xbox Music, or just completely overhaul it and make it better and more functional...
I wouldn't expect less from apple. Microsoft has implemented a lot of their own apps to iOS. You'd like to think they would reciprocate, yea right.
will wpcentral get on board and write an article about how bad xbox music is now?
I'm waiting for Amazon's cloudplayer, so I can get my autorips on the metro screen. Hopefully WP8 too.
itunes is terrible and Xbox music is a hot, steaming mess. I'd be happy if MS fixed Xbox music but I'm not hopeful given how terrible their efforts have been so far. An odd oversight in an otherwise really good OS for both WP8 and W8 metro.
Yeah Amazon cloud player would be awesome. I want full upload to cloud support also.
iTunes is a disgrace to music apps. It is so slow and has terrible design. Zune was so much better but no one even gave it a chance.
I would rather have an amazon music app. Not only do you get the mp3 version free if you buy the cd through amazon, but the mp3 and albums are cheaper. Free cloud storage, yes please.
Honestly, everytime I hear the name Apple I envision the South Park episode where the people of San Francisco were using wine glasses to smell their own farts. To me, that is a perfect metaphor for Apple the company and many of its users.
They just don't want to see an iPad connected to a surface via USB.
Hey Microsoft! How about making Xbox Music / Video like how Zune use to work instead of getting Apple to make an app. Apple iTunes is a horrible piece of bloat ware compared to the Zune desktop.
Does this mean there are no plans to improve the craptastic apps that are the default media players on your your own platform? Why not just bring Zune back and call it Xbox Media?
Ditto. That is exactly what I was thinking as well. And make the "new" Zune able to manage my WP8 like I was able to with my WP7.
Xtunes?
This is the very reason Microsoft wont make Office for iOS, because its their revenue stream...the dont want people buying iphones and using Office on it....they need to buy WP to get the advantage of Office on the move...
It's time to start looking elsewhere. I am sick of the restrictiveness of iTunes. No portability between platforms. "...Apple's iTunes software quickly entered a downward spiral and just got worse and worse with each subsequent release. As any iTunes user will tell you, they put up with it because they have to.” ~ Paul Thurrott

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