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With macOS Catalina comes a replacement for iTunes. It’s time to say goodbye to your old music, TV, and podcast source. But fear not! Your content is not gone, it has only taken up residence somewhere else on your MacBook. Introducing Music and TV.
Mar 26, 2014 I have a question about iTunes and whether or not it is better to 'manage' your iTunes library on a Mac or Windows. Maybe, the answer is there isn't really a difference. However, I would think that since iTunes is a Apple product and a Mac is an Apple product, maybe Apple favors managing AND using your iTunes library on a Mac versus a PC.
What can I play in Music?
- Mar 02, 2018 There was a time when iTunes on the Mac was the only game in town, and finding a suitable replacement was nearly impossible. Those days are long gone, and in fact, the ten music players represented here are but a sample of the growing number of music players for Mac. Still, what we’ve talked about today are among the best.
- The iTunes replacement apps will not disappoint. About the Book Author Mark L. Chambers is the author of more than 30 computer books, including OS X Mavericks All-in-One For Dummies, Macs For Seniors For Dummies, 4th Edition, and previous editions of MacBook For Dummies.
- Oct 17, 2019 The removal of iTunes is one of the most radical changes in macOS Catalina. Using dedicated apps for music, podcasts, and video makes sense. Removing iOS device management from iTunes is a move that Apple probably should have made years ago. Things make so much more sense now. These aren’t the only features we love about Apple’s latest.
Simply put, Music is a media player on your MacBook that plays audio files (and music videos). The iTunes replacement puts all your music in one easy-to-manage app. These files can be in any of many different formats. Music supports these common audio formats:
- MP3: The small size of MP3 files has made them popular for file trading on the Internet. You can reduce MP3 files to a ridiculously small size (albeit at the expense of audio fidelity), but a typical CD-quality, three-minute pop song in MP3 format has a size of 3–5MB.
- AAC: Advanced Audio Coding is an audio format that’s similar to MP3 but offers offer better recording quality at the same file sizes. However, this format is somewhat less compatible with non-Apple music players and software. (Luckily, you can still burn AAC tracks to an audio CD, just as you can MP3 tracks.) The tracks that you download from the Music Store are in AAC format, and AAC music files are becoming more popular for downloading on the Internet.
- Apple Lossless: Another format direct from Apple, Apple Lossless format (also known as ALAC) provides the best compromise between file size and sound quality. These tracks are encoded without loss of quality, although Apple Lossless tracks are somewhat larger than AAC. This format is generally the favorite of discerning audiophiles.
- AIFF: This standard Mac audio format produces sound of the absolute highest quality. This high quality, however, also means that the files are pretty doggone huge. AIFF recordings typically require about 10MB per minute of audio.
- WAV: Not to be outdone, Microsoft created its own audio file format (WAV) that works much like AIFF. It can reproduce sound at a higher quality than MP3, but the file sizes are very large, similar in size to AIFF files.
- CD audio: Music can play audio CDs. Because you don’t usually store CD audio anywhere but on an audio CD, file size is no big whoop — but again, 10MB of space per minute of music is a good approximation.
- MP2: A close cousin of the far more popular MP3 format, MP2 is the preferred format in radio broadcasting and is a standard audio format for HDV camcorders. It produces file sizes similar to MP3 format.
- Audiobooks: You no longer need cassettes or audio CDs to enjoy your spoken books. Music can play them for you, or you can send them to your iOS device for listening on the go.
- Streaming Internet radio: You can listen to a continuous broadcast of songs from your favorite Internet radio stations, with quality levels ranging from what you’d expect from FM radio to the full quality of an audio CD. You can’t save the streaming songs within Music, but streaming radio is still great fun. Unlike services like Spotify, Pandora, and Apple Music, these streaming radio stations are free and don’t require a subscription!
Watching video with TV
Apple has organized all the video you’ve bought from the iTunes Store into the new TV application; full-length movies and TV shows are easy to browse and enjoy on your MacBook. (Or, with an Apple TV unit connected to your home theater system, you can watch those movies and shows on your MacBook from the comfort of your sofa on the other side of your living room, or even from your bedroom on the other side of your house.
The following image illustrates the TV window, which is quite similar to the Music window. (Why mess with perfection?) You’ll note the strip of source buttons across the TV toolbar, which make it easy to display all of your films and TV shows, as well as top movies or TV shows that you can rent or purchase. (Even content for kids is included!)
Note that the Movies, TV Shows ,and Kids buttons take you to featured video that you haven’t purchased or rented yet. Some selections are free, but most are pay-to-view. The Library button, however, displays only the video content that you’ve already purchased, so it’s always available on your MacBook.
Watching video in TV couldn’t be simpler. Click the Library button on the TV toolbar and then select either the Movies or TV Shows entry in the Sidebar. (Music videos appear as a Smart Playlist within the Music sidebar.)
From your collection, you can do the following:
- Double-click a video thumbnail. If you interrupted a video by quitting TV, the application continues the video at the point where the application was closed.
- Drag a QuickTime–compatible video clip from the Finder window to the TV window. (These clips typically include video files ending in .mov, .mv4, or .mp4.)
TV plays video in full-screen mode on your MacBook. Move your pointer to display a control strip at the bottom of the screen, sporting the standard slider bar that you can drag to move through the video (as well as a volume control and Fast Forward/Reverse buttons). You can also pause the video by clicking the Pause button.
Icons at the far-right end allow you to jump to specific scenes and select subtitles if desired. To exit the video, press Esc or click the X button in the top-left corner of the screen.
Films may display an Extras button, which you can click to view additional content, such as deleted scenes.
The iTunes replacement apps will not disappoint.
Now there's an app for every media type
With macOS Catalina, your music, videos, podcasts, and audiobooks are organized in to their own dedicated apps — the Apple Music app, Apple TV app, Apple Podcasts app, and Apple Books app. You can also access your iTunes Store purchases in these apps.
If you have a PC, you can continue to use iTunes for Windows to manage your media library, make purchases, and manually sync and manage your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch.
Use Finder to sync and manage your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch
Finder is the new place to back up, update, or restore your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. Just connect your device to your Mac and it appears in the Finder sidebar. And you can easily drag and drop files to your device.
Use Finder to manage your devices.
Upgrade your iTunes library
After you update to macOS Catalina, just open the Apple Music app or Apple TV app to use your iTunes library in the new apps. Have multiple iTunes libraries? Learn how to switch between them in macOS Catalina.
If you open the Apple Podcasts app or Apple Books app first, you won't see any of your media until you open the Apple Music app or Apple TV app.
Here are some things to know
- The Apple Music app and Apple TV app read the contents of your iTunes library — so don't delete your iTunes library.
- If you open the Apple Music app and don't see all of your album artwork, leave the Apple Music app open so your album artwork can finish downloading.
- If you previously used multiple iTunes libraries, your audiobooks are imported in to the Apple Books library and podcasts are imported in to the Apple Podcasts library on your computer.
Where's my media?
Here's where you can find your entire media collection, access your iTunes Store purchases, and synced libraries.
All of your music is now in the Apple Music app
The Apple Music app is where you can find all of your music, including music that you imported in to iTunes, purchased from the iTunes Store, and playlists and smart playlists that you created in iTunes. And if you subscribe to Apple Music, you can stream and download millions of songs, and access your entire music library across all of your devices.
Explore the Apple Music app.
Looking for the iTunes Store?
If you don't see the iTunes Store in the sidebar, here's how to find it:
- Open the Apple Music app.
- In the menu bar, choose Music > Preferences.
- Go to the General tab and select iTunes Store.
- Click OK.
Everything you watch is now in the Apple TV app
The Apple TV app is the new home for all of your movies, TV shows, and home videos — including your purchases from iTunes. Browse movies and TV shows that you can buy, rent movies, and subscribe to just the channels that you want to watch. And soon you can discover new favorites with Apple TV+.
Discover the Apple TV app.
Find podcasts in the Apple Podcasts app
Find all of the shows that you’ve subscribed to or added to iTunes in the Apple Podcasts app. Continue listening to your favorite podcast episodes. And discover new shows that you might like based on the ones that you’re already listening to.
Listen with the Apple Podcasts app.
Listen to audiobooks in the Apple Books app
Find your audiobooks, including the ones that you purchased from iTunes, in the Apple Books app. Discover new books to read in the Book Store. Or buy audiobooks from the new Audiobook Store so you can listen on the go.
Check out the Apple Books app.
Replacement For Itunes On Pc
The Apple Music app, Apple TV app, Apple Podcast app, and Apple Books app aren’t available in all countries and regions. Learn what’s available in your country or region.