Apple kill off Ping, Facebook integration with iTunes to replace it
Apple are to drop support for their Ping social network with the forthcoming iTunes update. Ping breathes its last from September 30.
Launched in 2010, Ping added social elements to iTunes, letting users publish playlists and check out what friends and notable musicians were listening to. However, it was a clunky system that was difficult to find pals with, and a fairly transparent attempt for Apple to wrangle even more money from your pockets through iTunes downloads.
With the rise of music app sharing through Facebook, including SoundCloud and Spotify, Ping was dead in the water from the start.
“We tried Ping, and I think the customer voted and said, ‘This isn’t something that I want to put a lot of energy into,'” Tim Cook admitted back in June.
Facebook integration with iTunes replaces Ping in the new version of the media app, launching in October, adding “Like” and “Share” buttons to the usual iTunes set-up.
For the few people using Ping playlists, they’ll be able to convert them to Apple’s publishable playlist format, iMixes.
