WHen macOS Catalina comes out this fall, iTunes will be replaces with Music, Podcasts and TV apps. This leaves many people wondering what will happen to their iTunes puchases, media and how they will sync their iOS devices. The transition should be seemless for all, with many just experiencing the equivalent to an app name change from iTunes to Music. Syncing will move to the Finder. Changes to some aspects, like ringtone syncing, is unclear.
You can also watch this video at YouTube.
Watch more videos about related subjects: Catalina (5 videos), iTunes (73 videos).
You can also watch this video at YouTube.
Watch more videos about related subjects: Catalina (5 videos), iTunes (73 videos).
Video Transcript
Hi, this is Gary with MacMost.com. A lot of people are worried about what's going to happen when iTunes goes away. Let me explain.
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When MacOS Catalina comes out it's not going to have iTunes anymore. So what will it have and what will happen to all your stuff. Right. You've got music. You've got stuff you've bought. You've got movies. Well, it's pretty simple. What's going to happen is instead of the iTunes app we're going to have three separate apps. Music, Podcasts, and TV. These will take over most of the functionality of the old iTunes app.
Now if you just use iTunes for music, like the music from CD's, purchased from iTunes, bought from other sources and imported in, then you can think of it just like this. That the app is simply changing its name from iTunes to Music. You'll find all the functionality you need in the new Music app. All the purchases that you've made before and all of the music content that you've got is going to go automatically into the Music app. So when you upgrade to Catalina and you run Music all your stuff will just be there. It's actually not going to go anywhere. It will still be stored in the same library, in the same place on your Mac. It will just be a new app that accesses that library. Yes, your playlists will be there too. It should be a pretty seamless transition.
So what about moving forward. Will you be able to do the same thing with the Music app, ripping songs, importing ones from other sources, and there will be the ability to purchase new ones. As a matter of fact you'll be able to purchase them from the iTunes Store. That's right.The name iTunes isn't completely going away. There will be an iTunes Music Store inside of the Music app.
So what about your podcasts? Some of us use iTunes just for podcasts or a combination of music and podcasts. All the podcast stuff is going to go to the podcast app. You've had the podcast app on iOS for awhile as well. The screens look very similar. You'll be able to follow your podcasts and everything that you've got going on now on your subscriptions will just carry over in the new app.
Now not a lot of people are talking about what's going to go on with the new TV app. It's going to take over the TV and movie sections of iTunes. So anything that you've purchased, anything that you've may have rented. That's going to appear in the TV app. But the TV app is also going to look a lot like the TV app on Apple TV and iOS. Which is great because it means all the new stuff Apple's doing for TV we're going to get on the Mac as well.
Another aspect of iTunes is audiobooks. But there's already a Books app and the Books app is simply going to continue to take over the audiobooks functions. So anything you've purchased in the past and future purchases you'll make you'll use simply with the Books app. So the Books app will do both eBooks and audio books.
So the transition should be really seamless. When you upgrade to Catalina it should all happen automatically. As a matter of fact there's not really anything to happen. Your libraries and everything will stay in place. It's just the new apps will access things instead of iTunes. Now a lot of people have been asking me should I be backing up my iTunes stuff. The answer is, of course, yes. You should always backup everything. You should of course have regular backups and before updating your operating system you're going to make sure your backups are intact. Maybe make an extra one anyway. There's no reason to think going from one app, iTunes, to three apps, Music, Podcasts, TV, is going to make any real difference with the actual data on your drive.
So a big problem is that a lot of people are saying iTunes is dead. But it's really just this app named iTunes on the Mac. The iTunes Store certainly is still going to be there, even called that. So, of course, that means your gift cards that say iTunes on them are still going to be perfectly valid for purchases. You already can use those iTunes' cards for things like purchasing apps and things that aren't called iTunes.
But wait! iTunes does more than just play music, podcasts, and video. It can also do things like sync your iOS devices. Now a lot of us have moved on to syncing completely with iCloud. It's by far a better way to do things. It all happens automatically and wirelessly and you don't have to connect your device and manually sync. But if you still want to use that old method you can. That will be moving to the Finder. Here you see what it looks like. Basically the screens look identical to how they looked in iTunes but now you simply find it by selecting your device in the left sidebar in the Finder when you have it connected. Then you can sync all the various categories just as before. It looks like we have complete syncing functionality carrying over into Catalina. It's just going to be in the Finder instead of iTunes.
So what about ringtones. Well I don't quite have an answer for this yet because it's not clear how this is going to work. With Mojave we already lost the ability to sync ringtones. Which simply means select from a list which ringtones we want and sync every time we connect. But you could add ringtones from your Mac to your iPhone very easily. I expect that to continue in Catalina. It's just a little unclear how that's going to work step by step. There are other ways to add ringtones to your iPhone as well. So we'll just have to wait and see how this is going to work out.
Now there is still one place where you'll still be able to find an iTunes app. That will be on Windows. The iTunes app on windows allows users to manage their iOS devices using a windows machine and for the time being Apple's going to keep that app alive.
So what do you need to do? Well, right now you don't need to do anything. Catalina is in early testing for developers only. It will be in public beta in July. I don't expect it to be released until September at the earliest. So if there's anything that you need to do before you update we'll know before then. But most likely there's nothing you need to do at all. Run the update and everything will happen automatically. You'll see your music in the Music app, your podcasts in the Podcast app, and your TV and video content in the TV app.
Hi Gary,
Great video, as always. I use iTunes Match because it suits me and is cheaper than Apple Music. I can download all of my ripped and purchased music, and stream any of my ripped and purchased music. Do you know if iTunes Match will be supported in the future?
Thanks.
Ian: Apple hasn't mentioned iTunes Match, but the information on it remains unchanged at the Apple site and so I see no reason why it would be going away.
If you have an ‘old’ iMac will you be able to upgrade to Catalena to use the new Apps?
Thanks.
Gary, Thanks for the reply. Hope you’re right 👍
Stephan: Depends how old. See https://macmost.com/what-do-you-need-to-run-catalina-ios-13-watchos-6-and-tvos-13.html
I’m sick of these largely pointless updates. Having ultimately decided to instal High Sierra, that’s it for me.
Is Internet Radio being preserved in this transition?
Felipe: They may seem "pointless" to you, but each new version of macOS brings lots of new features that are very useful to others -- and maybe you too if you take a look. Plus, they are free updates provided by Apple, so I'm not sure why the animosity.
I pay an annual fee to Apple for ITunes Match. Will they still have ITunes Match?
Peter: I see no reason why it would be going away.
Kigara: I doubt it. I haven't heard that it is in the new Music app. But all iTunes did is to give you a list and a way to stream the standard format. The Internet radio stations are independent of that. So you can still go to their websites or stream their streams via other apps, including web browsers in most cases.
I have a lot of notes and other written material on the CMD-I boxes for my songs. I also have a lot of playlists, some of them long. Is there a danger of losing data and longer playlists during the transition from ITunes to Music?
iTunes was confusing. This makes a lot more sense to me.
Finally, a coherent explanation of what's going on with iTunes. You always come up with great explanations, Gary...thank you so much.
Steve: All of that shouldn't go anywhere. Your library is the same, just the app you are using to view it is new.
This up date makes so much more sense. My wife and I chose to buy movies from iTunes over other competing movie stores. We figured apple would be around longer and as changes came whatever we have already purchased would continue to be available. It is a gamble paying for access to a movie since I really don’t own a copy just the right to view the movie. Thank you for explaining this I like the tv app on iPad Pro now can’t wait for this update
Why do I have to pay????
Boney: What do you mean? Pay for what?
So, I don't think that any of my Mac's are going to be upgradeable to Catalina, what happens to the existing iTunes from legacy OS's? Will they continue to function as is?
Scott: Yes, they will continue to work as-is for a long while. One day I'm sure the iTunes Store will stop working in them, but as Apple is still supporting very old versions of iTunes right now in that respect, I think that is a decade off.
I stopped updating the iOS at Sierra on my 12-year-old iMac which works perfectly fine as it is. I have iCloud installed on my devices but have been advised by Apple to use itunes for syncing through for iOS updates. So now I’m a little confuse because I can’t use the new iOS. Can I still use the old iTunes to update a new iOS?
Also I have many vacation video slide shows that go back a number of years what will happen to them if I don’t go to Catalina?
Martin: Are you asking about syncing your newer iPhone to your Mac which is running an older version of macOS? If so, nothing should change. You would still sync via iTunes since your Mac won't be using any of these new features. I assume at some point your Mac will be so old it won't be able to communicate with the latest iOS devices, but probably not yet.
I don't understand your last question. If you are not updating to Catalina, then why would there be a change on your Mac?
Thanks Gary, when I read these questions and answers above; I already have my answers. As long my Mac operating system is usable (even though mine won't be able to upgradeable to Catalina, ), I will be able to use the already existing iTunes. That makes it reasonable. Once again thanks.
Lali
I live where it is only possible to get slow internet at my home. This means upgrading my iMac would require physically moving it to location with faster internet connectivity. Much easier for my iOS devices. I can upgrade to the newer iOS as soon as it becomes available. However, I assume that my iMac, with High Sierra, would not be able to sync with iOS devices once they are upgraded.
Mike: I don't think that will be the case. Has it been the case for you in the past?
I didn’t want to stray from your topic which was geared toward Catelena and changes to how iTunes works. Namely, my older iMac OS and newer iOS iPad software (iOS 13). Had no issues in the past, but that was before changes to iTunes. I’ll still upgrade to the latest OS I can whenever possible.
In the early years of iTunes, it was easy to use and understand. Now i find in difficult to use and I am not looking forward to changes. I wish Apple would stop making changes and think about simplification.
I have a couple of iPods I use to listen to audio books. Will I be able to down load and change what I have on them? Thanks for your help.
Helen: You should be able to, yes.
Itasara: That's exactly what this is. Simplification. They are addressing exactly your concerns with this change.
So just to be clear, am I understanding you correctly that we can still import ripped music into the new Music app AFTER we’ve transferred our library, or will we only be able to get new Music from iTunes/Apple Music going forward? I ask because the Music app in iOS doesn’t allow this. I like a lot of obscure music that isn’t always available in the store.
Cameron: A few people are asking that and I'm not sure why. Apple was the company that pretty much legitimized that in 2001 with iTunes: "Rip. Mix. Burn." Remember? The Music app on iOS doesn't have it because there is no way to connect a CD player to an iPhone or iPad, so how would you use it? But, of course, on the Mac in the Music app in Catalina there is the same "rip" ability as there has always been.
You answered: "Felipe: They may seem “pointless” to you, but each new version of macOS brings lots of new features that are very useful to others.... Plus, they are free updates provided by Apple, so I’m not sure why the animosity. "
I will tell you why I am sick of them. Every time I update my whole system goes wonkers and have to spend hours learning how to do things I was doing for years.The update may be free but my apps ARE NOT. Ive lost access to so many I've lost count..
I have multiple iTunes libraries. They all just have playlists consisting of music or language instruction downloaded from CDs. Will I still be able to maintain separate libraries or will all of them be combined in Music? Thanks. I maintain separate libraries so that my Spanish or German or Italian instruction playlists don't bloat my music playlists.
Lisa: I don't see updating to Catalina somehow merging your libraries -- it wouldn't know what to merge. So that won't happen. But as to how to switch between multiple iTunes libraries, we'll have to wait and see how that is going to work in the Music app.
iTunes match does not work anymore with Catalina/Music... Any hints to get it work again?
Dirk: It should. Perhaps logging in and out again. I have iTunes Match but it is difficult to tell if it is working because I also have Apple Music. Perhaps contact Apple? Though you may not be able to get help because it is a beta.