by Jason Snell
iPhone life on Windows might get better
Samuel Axon of Ars Technica reports on an announcement Wednesday that pushes two tech giants a little closer together:
Microsoft and Apple announced a number of 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 within the Windows 11 Photos app.
My understanding is that the current Apple Music experience on Windows—it’s still iTunes!—is terrible. I hope the Music app is an upgrade in that regard, though if it’s just a re-skinned iTunes for Windows that wouldn’t be so great. Adding support for iCloud Photos right within the Windows 11 Photos app is going to be great for users, since their iPhone photos will be available right within their computing platform’s default photos app.
It’s kind of mind-boggling when you think about it, but the relative popularity of the iPhone compared to the mac suggests many, if not most iPhone users don’t use a Mac. A good proportion of those probably have a Windows PC. Apple’s iPhone and services story on Windows has been shaky at best. We’ll have to see whether these new apps are actually any good, but providing better Windows support for iPhone owners is something Apple should absolutely be doing.