Windows version of iTunes suffers important app management change

The compatibility between Windows devices and Apple iOS devices has never been stellar, but those of us stuck in the situation should know that a very important change is about to take place courtesy of Apple. The company wants to make sure that devices running iOS 11 will be able to communicate with Windows devices in a consistent and stable manner. How it went about doing this may ruffle some feathers, however.

No more app management

With the new update, iTunes for Windows will no longer provide app management capabilities, something which allowed Windows users to easily install and manage iOS apps. With the new change in place, however, that will no longer be possible.

Instead, those that will desire to install a new app, update an existing one or complete any other similar action will be required to consult the App Store app located on their iOS devices. It looks like there’s no more installing apps without pulling out your phone for iOS users that also use a Windows computer.

What’s left for the Windows version of iTunes?

As for the Windows version of iTunes, there are still a lot of features left. While users are no longer able to manage their iOS apps, the move doesn’t render the entire iTunes app useless. It’s still a very competent tool that handles music, movies, audiobooks and even TV shows and podcasts.

The whole changelog

In order to get a better idea of what is available in the new app version, Apple released a list of changes which take place with the installation of update 12.7.

Re-downloading apps

The program will allow users to re-download previously installed apps, although, given the aforementioned Windows implications, it’s quite possible that this only refers to iOS devices.

Podcasts get new neighbors

The podcast section is about to get larger as it will become the place where users can find the iTunes U collections. This change will definitely throw some users for a loop unless they’ve gotten a chance to read the changelog.

Sidebar radio

The music sidebar will now also display Internet Radio stations.  Users can either hide or see items on this sidebar depending on their preferences.

Windows books

Windows users will have to get accustomed to using iBooks in order to view and use their iTunes books, but it shouldn’t be too big of a stretch.

iOS 11 ringtones

Ringtones for iOS 11 will be available for redownloading directly without the need of including iTunes in the mix. This change is available not only for Windows PCs but also for Macs, as users can now easily use their phones directly for this.

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