With macOS Catalina, iTunes is gone once and for all. Music, videos, and podcasts have new apps, and Finder now handles syncing and device backups. Here’s what you need to know in a post-iTunes world. ITunes isn’t gone completely, however—Apple will still provide the classic iTunes application for Windows PCs.
- Presenting Apple Music on Mac. The new Apple Music app is the ultimate music streaming experience on Mac. 1 Explore a library of 60 million songs, discover new artists and tracks, find the perfect playlist, download and listen offline, or enjoy all the music you’ve collected over the years.
- Apple has begun rolling out macOS 10.15 Catalina, the latest major update to the company’s Mac operating system. Catalina marks the end of iTunes as a fixture on Macs, with the app now broken.
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.
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.
On the release of Mac OS Catalina, Apple has made numerous changes. Some of the changes are excitingly good while some are a little bit challenging.
One biggest change that you will notice will be the iTunes. Apple has removed the app completely from the operating system, as the application was putting way too much load on the system which in result caused slow performance.
In macOS Catalina, there is a dedicated application for each media in your Mac. As, for media files Apple Music, for podcasts Apple podcasts, for books Apple Books and in last Apple TV.
However, still there are many users who love iTunes and want to use it again. Reasons can vary, as some want it cause they want to sync their media to other devices while some like the application.
And these two are the reasons why we are here. We are going to learn about downloading and installing iTunes on your Mac OS Catalina.
Note: remember that Apple has discontinued the application, so no more updates will be given by the officials. Instead of using iTunes we would recommend you to use Apple Music as your media player. On the other hand for downloading and installing iTunes for your Mac OS Catalina, we are going to use a third-party application.
Step 1: Download Retroactive application
Button provided below is the link to download Retroactive application. This application will help you to install iTunes on Catalina. Now, open the zip file and then open the application.
A prompt “Retroactive cannot be opened because it is from an unidentified developer” might appear on your screen. It is just a message about the application, there is nothing to freak out. Just follow the next step.
Overview of Retroactive
Retroactive is a simple and open-source application. The application is used to bring modifications in your macOS. The app is used to bring back those old unsupported applications like iPhoto, iTunes, or Aperture.
Step 2: Warning Window
In the second step a warning windows will appear. Click on the Open button in your window to proceed to next step.
Still, if you are unable to open the file by any chance then you might consider turning off your Gatekeeper application for a while. This can make your application to run on your Mac without any kind of problem.
Step 3: Select iTunes
In this step you will be facing a window where you are asked about the application you want to install. Select iTunes by click on the button below the iTunes icon.
Step 4: What’s your most important iTunes feature?
A new window will appear. Now, click on the Continue button on the right bottom of the windows and proceed to next step.
Step 5: Authentication
Download Itunes For Mac Catalina
The next step that you are going to perform is to insert the user and password of your Mac. This can be performed by clicking on the row given on your screen.
Step 6: Insert user name & password
Right, now you have to insert user name and password.
Step 7: Loading Screen
A loading screen will appear. It might take some time. We recommend you to grab a cup of coffee or have a look on our site. Here you will find many applications or tutorial that might amaze you.
Step 8: Ready to use
As soon as all the process like downloading, extraction, installation and configuration are done, you can then you move to next step. This is the last window, here click on Launch iTunes button and you are ready to use iTunes on you Mac OS Catalina.
Question: Can I use iTunes on Mac OS Catalina?
Yes, of course you can use iTunes application on your Mac OS Catalina. However, the application is not available in the operating system as Apple no longer supports the app in Catalina. To install iTunes on Catalina you need third party applications to run it on your system. The number of applications are there however; we would recommend you Retroactive as the application is simple and straight forward.
Question: iTunes or Apple Music which one is better?
Download Itunes For Mac Os Catalina
We can not just say within a few lines which one is better. As both of the applications are full of features, both of them are well designed and are one of a kind. However, where Apple Music is fast, light weighted and can play numbers of media formats, iTunes can also perform tasks like to play TV series, play music, and more. Still, if you want a straight forward answer from us. Then, we would recommend you to use Apple Music instead of iTunes. As the application is fast and is still supported by the officials.