Harry Styles performing live
(Picture: Apple Music/Supplied)People who own iPhones but not a Mac computer will soon be able to access popular Apple services much more easily. Microsoft has quietly revealed that Apple TV Plus and Apple Music will get their own Windows 11 apps in the near future, and the iCloud app is being updated to play nicely with Windows’ Photos software.
This is a big deal for iPhone owners who prefer Windows because while all of Apple’s services work seamlessly on macOS, for the most part, they can only be accessed on through a web browser on a Windows-based computer.
That will all change, starting this year, Microsoft says, beginning with the integration of iCloud and the Photos app in November. “It’s seamless, just install the iCloud for Windows app from the Microsoft Store and choose to sync your iCloud Photos,” Panos Panay, Microsoft’s Chief Product Officer, wrote in a blog post predominantly about its new Surface devices.
Given iCloud was one of the few Apple services already available on Windows, this is a relatively minor update, but the other announcements aren’t. Both Apple Music and Apple TV Plus will arrive as Windows apps next year, saving subscribers from having to access their shows and tunes via a web browser, or through third-party apps like Cider.
Microsoft’s other big platform — the Xbox — is also getting a boost. While Apple TV Plus was already available, Apple Music has just arrived and is free to download right now.
Of course, Apple isn’t just doing this out of the goodness of its heart. All the services are subscription-based, and for Windows users, an Apple One subscription — which bundles Music, TV Plus, Arcade and iCloud into a single monthly £14.95-per-month payment — suddenly looks like a far more appealing proposition.
The missing piece is Apple Arcade, with the all-you-can-play games service conspicuous by its absence on both PC and Xbox. That would obviously present a bigger technical challenge than incorporating streaming tech that already runs in a browser, but it probably also suits Microsoft not to include another gaming platform when it would rather everyone signed up to Game Pass Ultimate instead.
