iTunes

Apple announces London iTunes Festival starring Justin Timberlake and others

Cody Lee ∙ May 29, 2013

Apple has tonight announced details for its upcoming iTunes Festival, an annual music festival it's sponsored for the last 5 years. This year's event, like last year's, will be taking place at London's historic Roundhouse venue throughout the month of September.

Head of Internet Software and Services Eddy Cue says that the Festival will be the "best ever," with a star-studded lineup of over 60 acts. Global superstars like Justin Timberlake and Thirty Seconds to Mars are scheduled to perform during the 30-day event...

iTunes 11.0.3 released with revamped MiniPlayer

Jeff Benjamin ∙ May 16, 2013

Apple just dropped a 129 MB iTunes 11.0.3 update and it brings quite a few new features to the iconic app. The big ticket item, if you will, is a new MiniPlayer, which is a bit ironic given the release schedule of the jailbreak version of MiniPlayer for iOS.

iTunes' updated MiniPlayer now features a beautiful new view that shows off album artwork. The new MiniPlayer also includes a handy progress bar this time around to track the song's playhead location.

You'll also find an improved songs view, which allows you to enjoy album artwork in that view. Lastly, you'll notice support for proper multi-disc albums. Check inside for the full change log.

Microsoft can’t convince Apple to update iTunes for Windows 8 Metro devices

Ed Sutherland ∙ Updated February 28, 2017

Remember all the back-and-forth between Apple and Microsoft before tablets? We heard echoes of that earlier this week when the software giant announced Apple's iTunes app won't be available for Windows 8 Metro tablet users any time soon. Although iTunes continues to be available as a Windows 8 Desktop mode app, the lack of a Metro edition leaves owners of Windows tablets in the cold. Even worse is that owners of the Surface RT tablet - which by the way runs only Microsoft apps - will be stuck with just Redmond's Music app...

You can now sign up for Boingo subscriptions with iTunes credentials via Wi-Finder

Cody Lee ∙ May 7, 2013

You wouldn't think that an update to an app that maps out Wi-Fi hotspots would be newsworthy, but this new release from Boingo Wireless could have a significant impact on how travelers access the internet.

The hotspot provider updated its Wi-Finder app today with the ability to sign up for access to its wireless internet in-app. So signing up for a Bingo subscription is now as easy as typing in your iTunes password...

Apple publishes ‘A Decade Of iTunes’ interactive anniversary timeline

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 24, 2013

Hot on the heels of announcing its quarterly earnings yesterday and promising this morning to show off the next major versions of iOS and OS X at WWDC 2013, Apple has posted a new web page in celebration of ten years of the iTunes Store.

What started out twelve years ago as a jukebox application eventually evolved into the Internet's biggest content store responsible for the vast majority of a record $4.1 billion in Apple's first quarter revenue from its software and services division. The interactive web page titled "A Decade Of iTunes" features ten tabs, each corresponding to a particular iTunes milestone...

Surprise, Apple continues to lead the pack in US online movie rentals and purchases

Cody Lee ∙ April 23, 2013

Most folks are in agreement that Apple revolutionized the digital music industry, and the music industry as a whole, when it launched its iTunes store in April of 2003. At the time, there was no other service offering easy access to digital tracks for $0.99.

And I would argue that it did the same thing for digital movies and TV shows when it added them to iTunes in 2005 and 2006. No one came close to what Apple was doing in the space back then. And judging by the latest numbers, that still holds true today...

Apple adds new ‘Later’ download option for iTunes media purchases

Cody Lee ∙ April 22, 2013

Good news iTunes users. It's been discovered today that Apple has added a new download option for folks purchasing a variety of iTunes content including movies, TV shows (episodes, Season Passes, and complete seasons) and boxed music sets.

Now, when purchasing any of the above items using iTunes 11 or a device running iOS 6+, you’re presented with 'Later' and 'Download' buttons. This gives you the option to either download your purchase immediately, or delay it to a later date...

China app store features pirated iOS apps

Ed Sutherland ∙ Updated April 11, 2018

It wasn't long ago that Apple was being labeled a pirate in China. Now comes word of a pirate version of Apple's App Store, selling iOS apps that let iPhone or iPad owners skirt iTunes and install apps, no jailbreak required. However, there's one major catch: the website is available only within China, likely to dissuade Apple lawyers coming down like a ton of bricks.

Ironically, the service is called KuaiYong, which means "use quickly" in Chinese. We're unsure whether this refers to ease of use or "hurry before we are shut down." ...

Tip: turn your coinage into iTunes credits with Coinstar vending machines

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated May 16, 2018

The popular coin-counting service, Coinstar, is great for people who just want to get rid of their spare change in return for a cash back minus a small fee.

The company operates vending machines at supermarkets such as Walmart where people frequent for shopping.

What you may not have known, although Coinstar has been doing this for several years now, is that its machines can take your loose coins and spill out a receipt with an iTunes redemption code that you can use to refill your iTunes balance...

Bump update breaks iTunes sharing at Apple’s (music biz’s?) request

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 24, 2016

If you use Bump, a cross-platform app for sharing photos, contacts, music and more between different devices, you may want to pass on today's update as it's removed the handy ability to share songs from your iTunes library.

"We're sorry, but we are no longer permitted access to iTunes audio files on the device," release notes accompanying the download read. In removing access to iTunes audio files in the file sharing section, Bump didn't just appease to Apple, it's also a little less useful now...

Apple patents offline iTunes purchases

Ed Sutherland ∙ April 9, 2013

Could Apple be preparing a prepaid version of iTunes of sorts, one that could allow users to purchase music and other digital media from the Apple cloud without an Internet connection? Tuesday, the iPhone maker was granted a patent for a system permitting iTunes purchases using offline credits, according to the 2010 filing. At the heart of the system is the ability to buy credits while online. The credits would also get stored locally on your device, not just in your online iTunes account.

Those 'offline' credits can then purchase and enable various media that would first have to be cached automatically on your device, based on top sellers, recommendations, past purchases and other criteria.

In turn, people could make iTunes transactions whenever they happen to be, even when being online is impractical. Reportedly, the proposed technology could also increase iTunes sales by offering restricted usage of the material...

Google: missing iTunes Store search links only technical mistake

Ed Sutherland ∙ Updated April 11, 2018

If you're one of those conspiracy theorists, there's a bit of a tempest in a teapot happening over Google's search results. On the surface, it appears web links to iOS apps hosted on iTunes are being buried under related but not Apple-endorsed web sites. Meanwhile, some iOS apps from Google prominently appear at the top of search results. Is Google, which promotes its Android mobile operating system as an alternative to Apple's iOS, using its mammoth search database as a competitive weapon?

Or are Apple fans seeing phantoms? The Mountain View, California-headquartered Internet giant blames it all on a technical problem...