iTunes/Apple Music in Windows 11 is a disaster

I have the same issue after getting a new Windows 11 laptop, or a similar one. IT keeps freezing or giving me an error when I try to use apple Music. Or if I start a song on a playlist it will just freeze the whole app.

I have trouble believing this is simply an iTunes problem as my desktop uses Windows 10 and it works just fine, no problems. My previous laptop was also on Windows 10 and had no issues with iTunes.

My Macbook Air obviously doesn't but that makes sense as apple designed the OS and the app and they generally like their things to work. I've never had this issue with any iTunes app on any Windows going back to windows XP until Windows 11.

(Though obviously iTunes was a lot more simple back on Windows XP.) It would at least work playlists correctly. That hasn't really changed.

IT would be great to have some troubleshooting done here.

than why tf release it on microsoft store

Buy a Mac, I did that and now have no issues

The only thing I can think of is try installing the iTunes app Directly from the iTunes download page instead of the Windows Store. I've had issues with the Windows Store version before since they first introduced it back around Windows 8.1 Though not quite in this fashion and it was generally more of a functionality issue rather than the whole app freezing and being useless.

Something about the Version on the Windows Store does not work correctly.

Hello Steven K3,

Thank you for using Microsoft products and posting to the community.

We fully understand the inconvenience the issue has caused and that the current situation can be frustrating. However, I have to say that there is much user feedback in Apple forums and also in Microsoft Store about the poor performance of this application.

When starting or closing iTunes in Win11,… - Apple Community

iTunes Windows 11 opens then freezes with… - Apple Community

iTunes - Microsoft Apps ****

In my further search, I noticed that the application has not been updated for a long time. Here is the download information from Apple's website, from which you can see that the iTunes for Windows application has not been updated for a long time.

https://support.apple.com/downloads/itunes

Disclaimer: Microsoft provides no assurances and/or warranties, implied or otherwise, and is not responsible for the information you receive from the third-party linked sites or any support related to technology. 

But Windows is in a constant state of updating, and if the application is not actively updated for Windows, then there will be some problems in using it. Although Apple says that everything is fine, the above feedback from users suggests that the app has had problems for a long time. The best thing that can be done is for Apple to continue updating the application to be compatible with Windows, so that similar situations could be avoided.

Also, in case you don't have problems using this app on a Mac, it's actually because iTunes for Windows is not the same app as iTunes for Mac. Although they have the same name, their design kernels are different due to the different platforms they are used on. iTunes application is developed by Apple, so it is normal for this application to be adapted to its Mac system. But for iTunes application to be compatible with Windows, it needs to be constantly updated for compatibility. Sometimes Windows updates make changes, and if the application doesn't respond in a timely manner, I'm afraid compatibility issues are very possible.

Hope you are keeping safe and well. Please feel free to post back if you need further assistance. 

Sincerely

Mavis - MSFT | Microsoft Community Support Specialist