Good news: iTunes is in the Store. Bad news: iTunes is in the Store —

iTunes is finally in the Microsoft Store

Originally, it was promised by the end of 2017.

Screenshot of the Apple iTunes logo.
Enlarge / iTunes listing in the Microsoft Store.

Promised just over a year ago at Microsoft's Build conference in 2017, Apple iTunes is now finally available in the Microsoft Store.

It's a hefty install at some 477MB, and once installed, it's still just iTunes: it can sync and upgrade iPhones and iPads, it can play and manage music, and it can make purchases from the iTunes Store. The Store version of iTunes uses Microsoft's Centennial technology—a way of packaging up regular Windows applications for distribution and installation through the Store—so, for the most part, it's identical to the traditional iTunes application.

However, because this iTunes is a Store app, it's installed and updated not with Apple's installer and updater but with the Windows Store updater. This means that it will never try to install iCloud or other Apple software. It also doesn't install any services in the background: Centennial apps aren't allowed to do that.

As such, if you want to use iTunes (and honestly, it's probably the best way of managing music on your iDevice, even if it isn't absolutely required these days), then this Store version, rather than the traditional application, is the one to go for.

Channel Ars Technica