If you’re an Apple user who also owns a Chromebook, you might have found that accessing iTunes isn’t as straightforward as it is on a Mac or Windows device. iTunes is a popular platform for managing music, podcasts, and other media, but it’s not natively supported on Chrome OS.
However, with a few workaround steps, you can still get iTunes up and running on your Chromebook. In this guide, we will discuss how to install iTunes on a Chromebook, along with how to install and use Apple Music on a Chromebook.
How to Install iTunes on a Chromebook
We are going to install the Windows version of iTunes on a Chromebook. There are two versions of iTunes: 64-bit and 32-bit. However, not all versions of iTunes work on ChromeOS. We installed the 32-bit version of iTunes (v12.10.11) on our Chromebook, and it worked properly.
However, you cannot directly download and install it on your Chromebook. To do this, you need to set up the environment to run iTunes on a Chromebook.
1. Enable Linux on Your Chromebook
We’re going to use the Linux Development Environment for Chromebook to install iTunes, so first, we need to set up Linux on your Chromebook. To do that, follow these steps to enable Linux on your Chromebook.
1. Open Settings on your Chromebook. Click on the App Launcher icon, and then click on the Settings icon to open it.
2. In the settings window, click on the About ChromeOS tab on the left side of your screen.
3. After that, look for the Developers section. You will find an option to enable the Linux Development Environment on your Chromebook. Click on the Set up button and follow the on-screen instructions to enable Linux on your Chromebook.
2. Install Wine on Linux
Since iTunes is not officially available on Chrome OS, we need a compatibility layer to run it. Wine is one tool that allows you to run Windows applications on a Chromebook.
Here’s how you can install Wine using the Linux terminal:
1. Click on the App Launcher icon.
2. Look for the Linux Apps folder and open it.
3. Click on the Terminal option, and then click on the Penguin option to open the terminal interface.
4. Now, you need to update the Linux container by running the following commands, one by one.
sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade
5. After that, you are ready to install Wine on your Chromebook. To do this, run the following command and wait for the installation to complete.
sudo apt-get install wine
6. Then, execute the following commands one at a time to enable support for 32-bit applications.
sudo dpkg --add-architecture i386
sudo apt update
sudo apt-get install wine32
Note
If you get the prompt ‘Do you want to continue?’ type the Y key and press Enter to continue.
3. Download and Install iTunes
Now, you are ready to download and install the 32-bit version of iTunes on your Chromebook. Just follow these steps:
1. Open the Chrome browser on your Chromebook.
2. Visit the official iTunes download page on Apple’s website and download the installer file.
3. After that, move the iTunesSetup.exe file to the Linux Files folder. This will grant it access to the Linux development environment.
4. After that, launch Terminal and run the following command to install iTunes on your Chromebook.
WINEARCH=win32 WINEPREFIX=/home/username/.wine32/ wine iTunesSetup.exe
Note
Make sure to replace the username with your own Linux development environment username. After that, execute the command.
5. Now, you will get the Welcome to iTunes window. Here, click Next to continue with the installation.
6. Click the Install button and wait for the installation process to complete.
7. Once you see that iTunes has been successfully installed on your computer, click the Finish button to exit the installer.
8. After that, restart your Chromebook to apply the changes.
9. Click on the App Launcher, select the Linux Apps folder, and click on iTunes to open and use it.
iTunes is running successfully on your Chromebook, but the app may not be very reliable since it’s an outdated version. Additionally, it might not work on all the latest Chromebooks.
If you are concerned about privacy and security, you might consider installing the PWA (Progressive Web App) version of the application.
How to Install iTunes PWA on a Chromebook
If you’re only looking to play and listen to Apple Music using iTunes, you can install the PWA version of the Apple Music website. This will provide you with the latest security updates and features.
Here’s how you can do so:
1. Open the Chrome browser and visit the Music page on the Apple website.
2. Click on the three vertical dots in the upper-right corner of the window, then navigate to the Save and Share option and select the Create Shortcut option.
3. Name the shortcut iTunes, check the box for Open as Window, and click the Create button. This will install the PWA for iTunes.
4. A shortcut will now appear on your Chromebook’s desktop, giving you easy access to listen to music from iTunes.
How to Pin iTunes Shortcut to Chromebook Shelft
To easily and quickly access iTunes on your Chromebook, you can pin it to the Chromebook Shelf. When you pin the iTunes shortcut to the shelf, it will stay there even after you close it, making it easy to access later.
Here are the steps you can follow to iTunes:
1. Click on the App Launcher icon and open the iTunes app from the app drawer.
2. Once the app is open, you will see an iTunes icon on the Chromebook shelf. Right-click on it and select the Pin option from the context menu that appears. It will now be added to the shelf.
3. If you want to unpin an app, right-click on the icon on the shelf again and select Unpin.
Conclusion
That’s it. These are the working solutions for downloading and installing iTunes on a Chromebook. However, we prefer using the PWA version, which is more reliable and optimized to run on any Chromebook without issues.
