(NBC/AP) – Apple announced the end of an era Monday at its yearly developers conference.
The longrunning iTunes app will soon be no more.
Apple is replacing iTunes with separate apps for music, podcasts and television. All three new apps will be part of the new Catalina operating system for desktops.
All music originally purchased by users in iTunes will still be available in the new Music app.
Other new features announced at the conference include a new “dark mode” for its new iOS 13 iPhone software. An updated Maps app has a new “Look Around” feature similar to Google’s “Street View.” Apple is improving portrait lighting for its camera software and will use artificial intelligence to improve photo management. It also updated its Health app for the Apple Watch to monitor safe hearing levels, track more activity trends and track women’s menstrual cycles.
The company also unveiled a new Mac Pro computer starting at about $6,000.
On privacy, Apple is offering iPhone users a way to bypass Facebook’s and Google’s sign-in services when using new apps. Apple is introducing a competing sign-in service and promises to be more respectful of privacy. Among other things, Apple will mask your real e-mail address when you sign in and give apps a random string instead.
