William Gallagher
At its Surface event on Wednesday, Microsoft announced that Windows users will be able to install native versions of the apps for both Apple Music and Apple TV, plus Windows 11 will integrate iCloud Photos.
Following the news that Apple Music is now available for Xbox, Microsoft has announced further integration with Windows.
Unveiled at the company's October Surface event, the apps were said to be coming to the Microsoft Store in 2023. Beta releases are reportedly launching on the store soon.
It's a significant step for Apple and particularly so with the Apple TV app. As well as being the way to watch Apple TV+, the app can be a gateway to very many channels and services.
Consequently, it could become a widely-used media player. Up to now, the the only way for PC users to access Apple TV+ was via the website, and that solely played Apple TV+ material.
Apple Music, too, has chiefly been accessible via its official site, although there is an iTunes for Windows.
Windows Photo with iCloud integration (source: Microsoft)Microsoft also announced that the Windows 11 Photo app is to integrate with Apple's iCloud Photo library. It's not clear whether Windows users will therefore be able to take advantage of iCloud Photo Sharing, but they will be able to browse their iPhone photos directly on the PC.
The feature is due in 2023, but a beta process is starting on Wednesday. "We are beginning to roll out an update to the Photos app today (version 2022.31100.9001.0) to Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel with this new integration," wrote Microsoft's Dave Grochocki in a Windows blog post.
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7 Comments
Integration with iCloud Photo library should be very easy. It's simply a web-based photo database. All they need to do is write a little code that opens a user's Photo library under their icloud.com account. Don't see how this is such a big deal. What they're not saying is creating a Windows version of Apple Photos that also stores photos on iCloud.
I'll give this beta a try and see what it really does. I should create a new AppleID for this to make sure Microsoft doesn't screw up my working iCloud Photos.
I need to try this on my MBA since it's running Windows 11.
I’ll wait for the public release. I love to beta test but I’m not testing this one. Lol
... and you heard here first....
in exchange MS will release a full ARM64 Windows that any Mac user can run as a virtual machine on the new Arm based Macs.
This will be announced along with the M3 MacPro :)
All the above is just pure speculation on my part - I have no connection with any rumor generating channel
The key thing about this is that it’ll be the first time lossless tracks will be officially accessible from Windows as they weren’t available in the web player.
The web player hinted at this when you turned on the beta. The link that said iTunes now says Music. Discovered this just after having installed Apple Music for Android on Windows. I never thought to try Apple TV+.
Apple could have just published the Android versions in the Amazon App Store and it would become available on Windows without any further effort.