Microsoft and Apple today announced some deeper integrations of Apple services on both Windows PCs and Xbox game consoles, including music and TV apps for both platforms and the ability to browse your iCloud Photo Library in the Windows 11 Photos. app.
The Apple Music app for Xbox is already available. Existing users can download the app and start listening to their playlists and stations, while new users can sign up for a one-month trial. The UI for Apple Music on Xbox is almost exactly the same as we’ve used on Apple TV hardware before. It doesn’t add any new features that we haven’t seen before, but it’s nice to see the parity between the platforms.
The Music and TV apps for Windows aren’t available yet, but the companies say they’ll both be available next year. It was already possible to access both Apple Music and Apple TV+ via web interfaces on Windows. Furthermore, the iTunes app currently lives on in Windows. (It was previously sunset on the Mac in favor of the Apple Music app.)
Windows iTunes app allows users to listen to songs and watch TV and movies purchased through Apple’s online store. Even though Apple Music is coming to Windows, iTunes will remain available and users can still access podcasts and books there.
While you’ll have to wait until next year to download the Music and TV apps in Windows, iCloud Photo Library integration is now available. You need to download the iCloud Windows app (which is already used to sync various things like browser bookmarks) and choose to sync your iCloud Photo Library. After that, both videos and photos should be available in Windows 11 Photos app.
Apple has greatly expanded the platforms on which the various apps and services are available in recent years. Apple TV apps were already available for the Xbox and PlayStation, for example.
