Microsoft says Apple will launch desktop Apple TV and Apple Music apps for Windows in 2023; Windows 11's Photo app will add iCloud integration
Microsoft today announced that desktop Apple TV and Apple Music apps will be available on Windows PCs next year, downloadable from the Microsoft Store.
Context & Ripple Effects
Apple had already split Music and TV into standalone Mac apps in its macOS media-app overhaul, while Windows access still centered on iTunes through the Microsoft Store. The planned Windows apps extend that unbundling to Apple’s largest desktop rival.
Microsoft is pairing the Store distribution with iCloud support in its Photos app; the subsequent Windows 11 iCloud Photos rollout shows the integration moving from announcement toward a built-in Windows feature.
First-order effects
- Windows users gain separate Apple Music and Apple TV desktop apps through the Microsoft Store, rather than relying on iTunes for Apple media services.
- Microsoft’s Photos app becomes a destination for iCloud libraries, giving iCloud users a native Windows 11 photo workflow.
Second-order effects
- Apple’s Windows presence shifts from a single iTunes client toward service-specific apps, aligning its PC distribution more closely with its standalone Mac media apps.
- The Microsoft Store gains Apple’s two media services as native offerings, while Windows 11’s iCloud integration makes Microsoft’s own Photos app more useful to Apple-device households.
Third-order effects
- If Apple continues separating services from its device software, desktop-platform access becomes less dependent on Apple’s legacy iTunes model and more dependent on each platform’s app store and built-in integrations.
- The arrangement is part of an interoperability shift in which platform owners compete to host rival ecosystems’ services, reducing friction for users who span Windows and Apple devices.
The trend: Consumer platforms are competing for cross-ecosystem users by combining third-party service apps with native operating-system integrations.