Apple to discontinue iBooks Author in July, plans the same for iTunes U in 2021

Apple is discontinuing its iBooks Author platform in July and plans to do the same for iTunes U in 2021, the company said Wednesday.

In an email to publishers seen by AppleInsider, Apple said that it will no longer update the iBooks Author platform. As part of its switch to publishing with Pages, Apple also said that it will pull the app from the Mac App Store on July 1.

Apple notes that users with the iBooks Author app will be able to use it on macOS 10.15 and earlier, suggesting it may not be available in a future macOS version. Books previously published using the iBooks Author app will remain available.

A separate support document published today notes that a book import feature that will allow authors to port their projects from iBooks Author to Pages is on the horizon.

The iBooks Author platform, which allowed Mac users to create books for various e-reading applications, was first introduced in 2012.

Apple also said that it would discontinue iTunes U, its aging education-aimed ecosystem, toward the end of 2021.

The iTunes U platform will be available for the 2020 to 2021 school year, but will stop being supported in 2021.

In a support document also published Wednesday, the company touted new apps like Classroom, Schoolwork and the Apple School Manager tool as apt alternatives for teachers and students.

iTunes U was first introduced in 2007 as a way for educators to provide university materials through the broader iTunes platform. That included audio, media and class handouts. Apple began phasing out iTunes U in 2017 and transitioned the feature to the Podcasts app.

28 Comments

ralphie 128 comments · 5 Years

About 4 years ago

Ah yes, another failed Apple service. Apple cannot do services. I don't know why they just can't accept that fact. Apple TV+ shuttered in 3.. 2..1.

DAalseth 3013 comments · 6 Years

I played with it a few times and somehow never kept going. I always fell back to Pages or something like that.

ralphie said:

Ah yes, another failed Apple service. Apple cannot do services. I don't know why they just can't accept that fact. Apple TV+ shuttered in 3.. 2..1.

Would not surprise me. The proof will be how many people renew once the free year is up. I know we won’t be.

Xed 2855 comments · 4 Years

ralphie said:

Ah yes, another failed Apple service. Apple cannot do services. I don't know why they just can't accept that fact. Apple TV+ shuttered in 3.. 2..1.

iCloud is huge array of successful services. iTunes Store and App Store are huge successes. Apple Music is absolutely a success iMessage is an amazing chat service. News is incredible useful and used by everyone I know with iPhones or iPads. Then you have FaceTime, Find My, Apple Cash, Photos, Maps, etc, which are all excellent.

https://www.apple.com/support/systemstatus/

Tell me again how Apple cannot do services and how every single of those services should be shuttered because a couple weren't useful to you? Why is Apple held to some impossible standard where even one less than stellar release means the whole category needs to be shuttered?

SpamSandwich 32917 comments · 19 Years

ralphie said:

Ah yes, another failed Apple service. Apple cannot do services. I don't know why they just can't accept that fact. Apple TV+ shuttered in 3.. 2..1.

Let me change that slightly: “Apple cannot do niche services.”

They’ve had a long history of abandoning things which don’t interest them (aka “generate revenue”). In fact, why should they? They’re not a charity.

Fatman 513 comments · 8 Years

The article title should more accurately say Apple is transitioning these products to Pages and Apple Classrooms, respectively. So it’s not a fail - but a change.