Apple Wipes iTunes Pages on Facebook and Instagram, Begins Moving Away From iTunes Links

More evidence has emerged to suggest that Apple is beginning to move away from its iTunes brand after over 18 years of use.

As noted on Reddit, Apple has abruptly removed all social media content from its iTunes page on Facebook, including posts, photos, and videos. This appears to have happened within the past 24 hours, as a cached version of the iTunes page on Facebook still had content available as of May 31.

itunes facebook blank
As far as we can tell, it looks like Apple has migrated its iTunes page to its Apple TV page on Facebook, including not only all of the content but nearly 30 million likes and its original April 29, 2009 creation date.

Apple has also removed all photos and videos from its iTunes profile on Instagram, which points users towards the newer Apple TV page on Instagram, but its Twitter counterpart still has content for now.

itunes instagram blank
The blank pages likely foreshadow bigger moves to come, as Bloomberg's Mark Gurman and 9to5Mac's Guilherme Rambo have both reported that iTunes will be replaced by standalone Music, TV, and Podcasts apps in the next major version of macOS, which Apple is expected to unveil at WWDC 2019 on Monday.

Notably, while the overall iTunes app as we know it is expected to be discontinued, the reports did not suggest that the iTunes storefront for purchasing music, movies, and TV shows is going away any time soon.

iTunes has attracted its fair share of criticism over the years for being bloated software, so its split into three separate apps would be much welcomed. Apple's phasing out of iTunes is likely to be a gradual process, however, so the brand could live on in some capacity for the foreseeable future.

Update: As noted by the Iconfactory's Craig Hockenberry, some itunes.apple.com links for songs and artists now redirect to music.apple.com, serving as yet another example of Apple moving away from its iTunes brand.


In fact, as noted by Kyle Seth Gray, it appears that Apple is in the process of dropping iTunes links for apps, podcasts, TV shows, movies, and books as well. Apple will instead use category-specific links such as apps.apple.com, podcasts.apple.com, tv.apple.com, movies.apple.com, and books.apple.com.


Some of these links are already live, while others work if the URL is manually changed.

Tag: iTunes

Popular Stories

maxresdefault

Five Features Coming to AirPods Pro 3

Friday June 27, 2025 10:52 am PDT by
Apple hasn't updated the AirPods Pro since 2022, and the earbuds are due for a refresh. We're counting on a new model this year, and we've seen several hints of new AirPods tucked away in Apple's code. Rumors suggest that Apple has some exciting new features planned that will make it worthwhile to upgrade to the latest model. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Heal...
iPhone Car Key WWDC 2025

Apple Announces 13 Automakers Planning to Offer iPhone Car Keys

Friday June 27, 2025 11:42 am PDT by
In 2020, Apple added a digital car key feature to its Wallet app, allowing users to lock, unlock, and start a compatible vehicle with an iPhone or Apple Watch. The feature is currently offered by select automakers, including Audi, BMW, Hyundai, Kia, Genesis, Mercedes-Benz, Volvo, and a handful of others, and it is set to expand further. During its WWDC 2025 keynote, Apple said that 13...
anker power bank recall

PSA: Anker Recalls Multiple Power Banks Due to Fire Risk

Friday June 27, 2025 4:16 pm PDT by
Popular accessory maker Anker this month launched two separate recalls for its power banks, some of which may be a fire risk. The first recall affects Anker PowerCore 10000 Power Banks sold between June 1, 2016 and December 31, 2022 in the United States. Anker says that these power banks have a "potential issue" with the battery inside, which can lead to overheating, melting of plastic...
Chase Sapphire Reserve Apple Perk Feature

Chase Sapphire Reserve Card Introduces New Perk for Apple Customers

Wednesday June 25, 2025 2:08 pm PDT by
Chase this week announced a series of new perks for its premium Sapphire Reserve credit card, and one of them is for a pair of Apple services. Specifically, the credit card now offers complimentary annual subscriptions to Apple TV+ and Apple Music, a value of up to $250 per year. If you are already paying for Apple TV+ and/or Apple Music directly through Apple, those subscriptions will...
iPhone 17 Pro Blue Feature Tighter Crop

iPhone 17 Pro Launching in a Few Months With These 12 New Features

Thursday June 26, 2025 2:00 am PDT by
Apple's next-generation iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are around three months away, and there are plenty of rumors about the devices. Apple is expected to launch the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Air, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max in September this year. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models:Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an...
A18 Pro Chip

New MacBook With A18 Pro Chip Spotted in Apple Code

Monday June 30, 2025 8:05 am PDT by
Apple is developing a MacBook with the A18 Pro chip, according to findings in backend code uncovered by MacRumors. Earlier today, Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo reported that Apple is planning to launch a low-cost MacBook powered by an iPhone chip. The machine is expected to feature a 13-inch display, the A18 Pro chip, and color options that include silver, blue, pink, and yellow. MacRumors...
macbook air spacegray purple

Apple Planning to Launch Low-Cost MacBook Powered By iPhone Chip

Monday June 30, 2025 3:20 am PDT by
Apple is planning to launch a low-cost MacBook powered by an iPhone chip, according to Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. In an article published on X, Kuo explained that the device will feature a 13-inch display and the A18 Pro chip, making it the first Mac powered by an iPhone chip. The A18 Pro chip debuted in the iPhone 16 Pro last year. To date, all Apple silicon Macs have contained M-series...
CarPlay Ultra Climate Controls

Here's Which Vehicle Brands Will and Won't Offer Apple's CarPlay Ultra

Friday June 27, 2025 9:52 am PDT by
Apple last month announced the launch of CarPlay Ultra, the long-awaited next-generation version of its CarPlay software system for vehicles. There was news this week about which automakers will and won't offer CarPlay Ultra, and we have provided an updated list below. CarPlay Ultra is currently limited to newer Aston Martin vehicles in the U.S. and Canada. Fortunately, if you cannot...
apple watch ultra 2 new black

Apple Watch Ultra 3 Finally Coming After Two-Year Hiatus

Tuesday June 24, 2025 3:40 am PDT by
Apple will finally deliver the Apple Watch Ultra 3 sometime this year, according to analyst Jeff Pu of GF Securities Hong Kong (via @jukanlosreve). The analyst expects both the Apple Watch Series 11 and Apple Watch Ultra 3 to arrive this year (likely alongside the new iPhone 17 lineup, if previous launches are anything to go by), according to his latest product roadmap shared with...

Top Rated Comments

trusso Avatar
79 months ago
There are many reasons I think sunsetting iTunes is a bad idea, though I acknowledge I may be in the [largish] minority on that. One reason, however, will be the complete crapshoot of online search results for the inevitable problems that require troubleshooting.

Generic names like Music, Photos and TV (etc.) will make it that much harder to find support articles for upcoming software problems. At least with names such as iTunes, GarageBand, or iPhoto, you could clue in on pertinent material much easier.

It's attention to the little details like these that really separates the great from the merely okay.

:confused:
Score: 51 Votes (Like | Disagree)
alexandero Avatar
79 months ago
I really hope they don't get rid of purchasing music. I have no interest in a subscription model – I'm oldschool, I like to "own" selected albums I love.
Score: 47 Votes (Like | Disagree)
StuKatz1 Avatar
79 months ago
I couldn’t imagine a better metaphor than iTunes, to showcase the dramatic rise and fall of a once great company.
iTunes changed the world.
Apple changed the world.

Now they are both sad memes of themselves. The Charlie Sheen and Johnny Depp of tech if you will.
Score: 32 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Traverse Avatar
79 months ago
I just really hope the iTunes replacement is a well-designed and functional app. So many people hate iTunes, but I honestly like it. Other than random sync bugs it's fast on an SSD iMac and organizes/plays all my media without issue. I haven't found any alternative I like better.
Score: 31 Votes (Like | Disagree)
tallPete Avatar
79 months ago
Interesting to do it today. Because iOS, macOS etc are not due out for a few months. So if they are deleting today are we due for an early release of these products? iTunes typically updated out of cycle?
Score: 25 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Kobayagi Avatar
79 months ago
I seriously cannot understand all the complaints about iTunes. Unless I'm really under utilizing it, it works perfect for music, as a matter of fact, it's playing my music right at the moment. The album view is great, my music is sorted by genre and artist too, so I can quickly find the song I'm looking for. Lyrics work great as well. I also do use it to sync music to my iPod(s) and that also works flawlessly, so that's not it either. Maybe you guys are shopping through it and that doesn't work as it should?

If somebody could quickly summarize what they don't like about it, I'd greatly appreciate it. I hope the next app is, well largely the same... because I cannot find anything so wrong about it that it desperately needs a replacement and all the hate it gets. I just hope Apple doesn't dumb it down and messes up our neatly crafted music libraries.

(and yes, I'm running the latest version of iTunes, so it's not some old but great version of it which people can't let go)
Score: 24 Votes (Like | Disagree)