Since April 2018, Apple made iTunes available to Windows 10 users through the Microsoft Store. While the stand-alone download remains available from Apple’s Web site, it is no longer offered by default to Windows 10 users. Instead, visitors are directed to Microsoft Store, which will handle the inst. Apple's iTunes -- and with it, the company's subscription music service -- is heading to Microsoft's Windows Store. Microsoft announced the move Thursday at its Build developer conference in Seattle.
The new iTunes app for Windows 10 is no different than its desktop counterpart. It is made available via Desktop Bridge – a way of packaging desktop apps to make them compatible with Microsoft Store. This seems like an old school effort when Microsoft is busy flooding their Store with modern UWP and Progressive Web Apps. It does all the stuff the same way.
However, what has changed is that the update process will now happen through the Microsoft Store, just like it happens for other apps. Also Read: iTunes hasn’t left behind its laggy nature which has irritated Windows users for a long time. And it makes the user experience even worse with the lack of the kinetic scrolling feature which is now a common sight in every other app. One advantage is that its availability in Microsoft Store makes way for iTunes to run in S Mode (Windows 10 S) which doesn’t support the apps outside of Redmond’s home shop. To run iTunes Store app on your PC, Windows 10 FCU (16299) is the minimum requirement. So, update your Windows 10 PC if you haven’t done it yet. Regarding the older iTunes, Apple doesn’t seem to have pulled the plug on it yet as the software has to cater to the needs of Windows 7 users who don’t have access to the Store.
It might get phased out eventually. ITunes is one among the many apps that Windows users want in the Store.
Other desktop apps include Google Chrome, but it would require big changes to the browser if Google wants it on Microsoft Store.
The Store version of iTunes, which weighs in at a hefty 477MB, is near-identical so the standard Windows client, with the main difference being that it’s packaged using Centennial – a method Microsoft devised to prepare regular Windows applications for distribution and installation through the Microsoft Store. Related: One of the market’s biggest qualms with iTunes for Windows is that it attempts to install iCloud and other Apple software in the background using the Cupertino-based firm’s Apple Installer, but because the Store build of iTunes is Centennial, it uses the Windows Installer – putting an end to the aftermarket bloatware. Another advantage of Centennial applications is that they’re compatible with all builds of Windows, meaning those who own a machine running Windows 10 S – which Microsoft is expected to repackage as in the not-to-distant future – will be able to install iTunes from the Microsoft Store.