New iTunes Desktop Update Removes Access to iOS Store
The iTunes app was originally designed for music, until Apple piled on a heap of other functionalities on the now-bloated software. Apple has decided to quietly do some streamlining with the new iTunes version 12.7 for Windows and macOS, which does away with the iOS app store in it.
Apple has decided to cut the cruft off iTunes to put it back in its niche as a music app with the release of version 12.7 for PCs and Macs on Tuesday, Sep. 12. Aside from dropping the app syncing feature for mobile devices, the iOS app store within iTunes is now gone.
"If you previously used iTunes to sync apps or ringtones on your iOS device, use the new App Store or Sounds Settings on iOS to redownload them without your Mac," an update prompt advises users about to move on to the new version, as quoted by The Verge.
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Users who have apps and ringtones that "are no longer available for redownload" can still sync them simply by plugging in their iOS devices, even after the update.
Before version 12.7, the bloated all-in-one swiss knife that is the iTunes app has its own repository for apps, TV shows, movies, Internet radio, eBooks, ringtones and a duplicate of the iOS App Store within the app like one of those Russian nesting dolls.
Apple's support page describes the update as a new focus on "music, movies, TV shows, podcasts, and audiobooks." Outside of this set, other types of content are now tucked away in iTunes sections or elsewhere. iTunes U collections are now in the Podcasts section, while Internet Radio is now placed in the music library sidebar.
Users looking for apps can now look them up in the iOS App Store, which will get a new redesign with the coming of iOS 11. Books are now found on a separate iBooks for iOS app for Windows PCs.
Meanwhile, iOS users will have to manage their apps separately on the devices, for now at least, as Engadget notes. Old copies of apps will still hang around even after the update and can be accessed by simply connecting the mobile device via USB.
