Apple might soon splice Apple Music, Podcasts, and Books from iTunes and offer them as standalone apps. If true, it would mark the first for Apple to do such a thing.
Noted developer Steve Troughton-Smith said on Friday that he was confident Apple is dismantling iTunes to offer those services separately.
Apple Is Breaking iTunes Apart
Troughton-Smith shared his prediction in a series of tweets, which lines up with existing rumors suggesting Apple plans to break up iTunes. Over the years, the music platform has become bloated as it took on a lot of responsibilities, from iPhone and iPod management to podcasts to audiobooks, and more.
Just this March, Apple unveiled its TV+ service, which will be served via a new TV app for Mac. Apple clearly wants to avoid congesting iTunes even further. Standalone Apple Music and Podcasts apps will certainly lighten the load, while a refreshed Books app could add audiobook support.
Unfortunately, Troughton-Smith failed to share the source of his suspicions, but said his claims are based on concrete evidence. To be fair, he's had spot-on leaks many times in the past.
"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. I expect the four to be the next wave of Marzipan apps..."
Project Marzipan
By Marzipan, the developer is referring to Project Marzipan, Apple's rumored internal name for a project that would make it easier for developers to port iOS apps to the macOS platform. Apple hinted about Marzipan a bit during last year's Worldwide Developers Conference when Apple's software engineering SVP Craig Federighi said the Cupertino brand was working to incorporate iOS-only frameworks into macOS.
Standalone Apple Music and Podcast apps, if they're indeed on the cards, will come as no surprise. Apple introduced Home, News, and Voice and standalone apps for macOS Mojave last year, all of them being ports of their iOS counterparts.
