Six reasons breaking up iTunes into highly focused, lightweight apps totally makes sense

Apple Music all devices teaser 001

Most people will agree that iTunes for Mac and Windows is a hot mess. Indeed, theĀ app has long been ripe for a thorough change from top to bottom and inside out, if not a complete reboot.

The reasoning is simple: after more than fourteen years ofĀ adding one layer of code atop another and cramming every little feature itĀ could possibly think of into iTunes, Apple has made the app bloated and painfully frustratingĀ to use.

At some pointĀ during itsĀ development, iTunesĀ has become inundated with various user interface inconsistencies.Ā TheĀ most recent version with poorly implemented Apple MusicĀ has only made things worse.

Now, some have suggestedĀ that Apple break up thisĀ resource hog of an app into highly focused apps, each dedicated to managing and syncing their own media type. As someone who belongs to that camp, I’ve put together an opinion piece listing six solid arguments why breaking up iTunes into smaller appsĀ might just make sense.

6 arguments for breaking iTunes into separate apps

The basic premise behind the post is that Apple shouldĀ split up iTunes into specialized apps.

We already have one for electronic books, iBooks for Mac, and it comes with an embedded iBooks Store. Who’s to sayĀ there shouldn’t be similar Mac apps for other iTunes sections such asĀ Podcasts, Music, Videos, iTunes U content and so forth? How about a lightweightĀ app focused on browsing, downloading and syncing of mobileĀ applications with iOS devices?

If Apple broke up iTunes into individual apps like it’s done on iOS, both itsĀ engineers and users would be able toĀ reap the following benefits:

1. Simplified development

Instead of managing millions upon millions lines of code, splitting up iTunes intoĀ highly focused apps written from scratch would simplify overall software development and maintenance while help maintain the stability and reliability of these lightweight apps over a long arc of time.

2. Faster feature roll out

Adding a mundane feature to a beast that is iTunes is no trivial task due to code dependencies and bugs that have crept inĀ over the years. Contrast this withĀ adding a feature to a highly specialized app like Videos: not only would feature roll-out be faster with dedicated apps but lead toĀ fewer softwareĀ issuesĀ versus continuing to cram additionalĀ functionality into iTunes.

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3. Better user experience

Would anyone in their right mind say that iBooks for Mac is more complicated to use than iTunes?Ā Of course it’s not!Ā Focused experiences are great for average users. Imagine thereĀ wasĀ a dedicated Podcasts for Mac app.

Wouldn’t people be more likely toĀ use a simplifiedĀ Podcasts appĀ thanĀ the confusing Podcasts interface in iTunes, especially those coming from the world of iOS devices? In thisĀ regard, lightweightĀ apps couldĀ go a long way toward bringing the simplicity of iOS to desktop iTunes.

4. Faster performance

The fact that even on modern hardware iTunes isn’t exactly a speed demonĀ speaks for itself. TheĀ lagginess of iTunes is of particular concern to thoseĀ who have painstakingly amassed hugeĀ libraries over the years withĀ hundreds of movies, thousands of apps and tens of thousands of songs. Splitting iTunes into lightweight apps would solve the lagginess and responsiveness problems thatĀ people have beenĀ complaining about for years now.

5. iTunesĀ library in the Cloud

We already have the iCloud Photo Library and iCloud Music Library.

Isn’t it high time a full cloud-based backup of users’ iTunes libraries gotĀ implemented? And what better way ofĀ achieving this than reimaginingĀ iTunes as separate apps? Cloud libraries wouldĀ ensure we wouldn’t loseĀ theĀ ratings, tags and other metadataĀ shouldĀ the local library fileĀ get corrupt.

More to the point, storing full iTunes libraries into the cloud couldĀ make it easier for other appsĀ to share andĀ update stuff likeĀ yourĀ ratings, custom artworks, song count and so forth. Last but not least, cloud libraries might help solve the age-old problem of accessing your iTunes content storedĀ on a shared volume by multiple Macs at once.

6. Simpler device syncing

This would be the perfect opportunity to rethink the whole iOS device syncing process from scratch.Ā Currently, an iOS device can be synced with only one iTunes library at a time. I don’t know if there’s a justifiable technical reason for this, butĀ iTunes shouldn’t really prompt me to delete existingĀ photos on my iPhone 6 Plus beforeĀ adding a few new ones.

Same goes for music, or movies or TV shows.

iTunes erase and sync prompt Mac screenshot 001

Not only should Apple simplify the iOS deviceĀ syncing process further, but share this code among dedicated iTunes apps so eachĀ couldĀ sync its own content with iOS hardware. And please, let us sync our iPhones, iPod touches and iPadsĀ with multiple iTunes librariesĀ without wiping out what’s already stored on them.

Final thoughts

We want to hear your thoughts on the topic of splitting iTunes up into lightweight apps.

Would dedicated apps improve iTunes’ media experiences and open a world of possibilities, do you think? Die-hards say Apple should just let iTunesĀ chug along and others propose rewriting the app fromĀ the dirt but without breaking it up intoĀ dedicatedĀ apps.

Which camp do you belong to?

Share your observations and analysis with fellow readers down in the comments.