Itunes

iTunes is a media player, library, and mobile device management application developed by Apple Inc. It was first released in 2001 for Mac computers and later ported to Windows. The software organized digital music and video files, played media, browsed and purchased content from the iTunes Store, and synchronized media with Apple’s portable devices.

Key features of iTunes included a comprehensive media library, playlist creation, CD ripping, and the ability to sync music, videos, and other content with iPods, and later iPhones and iPads. The iTunes Store, launched in 2003, provided an online storefront for purchasing and downloading music, movies, and TV shows. Purchases were tied to a user account and managed within iTunes, and the store helped popularize digital music distribution.

Over its lifetime, iTunes expanded to support podcasts, audiovisual content, and other media management tasks, functioning as a central hub for many users’ digital libraries. In 2019, Apple restructured its macOS applications: with the release of macOS Catalina, iTunes on Mac was split into separate apps—Music, TV, and Podcasts—while device management shifted to Finder. The Windows version of iTunes remained as a standalone application for syncing with Apple devices.

iTunes’s legacy lies in shaping the early consumer experience of digital music, media purchases, and device synchronization, providing an integrated, one-stop solution that influenced subsequent streaming and content-management approaches within Apple’s ecosystem.