I’m sure you guys know what a Chromebook is, and that’s a lot. lots popular. While most American classrooms are filled with Chromebooks, it’s equally true that many users prefer the iPhone as their primary device. And ultimately this leads to incompatibility between the two different ecosystems created by Google and Apple. Yes, I’m talking about running iTunes on Chromebook and how you can run it. In this article, I bring you a detailed guide on how to install iTunes on Chromebook. We will also discuss the performance of iTunes on Chromebooks so you know what to expect from the app.
Install iTunes on Chromebook in 2022
Here, we’ve explained how to get iTunes to work extensively on your Chromebook. To give you an overview, we use the popular Wine app to run some of the best Windows 10 apps on Linux systems. In tandem, we will install the Windows version of iTunes on our Chromebook via the Linux container. Now having said all that, let’s move on to the steps without further delay.
Run iTunes on Chromebook
1. First of all, you need to enable Linux on Chromebook and then install Wine on your Chromebook. We have written detailed guides separately, so follow the articles linked above and you will be ready for the next step.
2. Now, let’s go ahead and download iTunes for Chromebook. keep in mind 64 bit version app not working properly On the Chromebook and displays a black window. I tested both the latest 64-bit and 32-bit builds of iTunes (7 Dec 2020) but the black screen issue is still there. So, you need to download this special 32-bit version of iTunes from here. The build is 12.9.3 as of August 2019.
3. Next, rename the file more easily Like “itunes.exe” and move it to the Linux partition.
4. Now, open the Linux Terminal and run the following command. update linux to the latest build.
sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get upgrade -y
4. After doing that, open Terminal and run the following command to change Wine architecture to 32-bit. make sure you change yourusername on behalf of real user It is assigned to your Chromebook. Search the previous section to find the username. @penguin in the Linux Terminal. This is your username. Meanwhile, if a Wine window pops up, click the “OK” button.
WINEARCH=win32 WINEPREFIX=/home/yourusername/.wine32 winecfg
5. Next, run the following command Install the 32-bit version of iTunes on Chromebook. Again, be sure to change your username. An installation window will open instantly. Click “Next” and continue with the installation.
WINEARCH=win32 WINEPREFIX=/home/yourusername/.wine32/ wine itunes.exe
6. After installation, click “Finish” and voila, there you go. iTunes works successfully on Chromebook.
Create Shortcut for iTunes on Chromebook
You have successfully installed iTunes on Chromebook and also a shortcut has been created in the App Drawer inside the Linux folder. However, when you click, shortcut won’t open iTunes due to an incorrect file path. Follow the steps below to resolve this issue.
1. Open the Local Files app and go to the Linux section. Here, click on the 3-dot menu and Enable “Show Hidden Files”.
2. Now navigate to the following path: .local -> share -> apps -> wine -> Program Files -> iTunes. Here you will find the iTunes.desktop file, which is the shortcut we need to edit. So, right-click on it and choose “Open With”. Here, select the Text app to open the file. If you don’t have the text app, install it from: here.
3. After doing this copy the following path and paste right after Exec= . Keep in mind, change yourusername to the main thing.
env WINEPREFIX="/home/yourusername/.wine32" wine "/home/yourusername/.wine32/drive_c/Program Files/iTunes/iTunes.exe"
4. Now save the file and close the Text application. Finally, open iTunes from the App Drawer and it should start perfectly this time. You can also pin iTunes to Chrome Shelf.
My Experience with iTunes on Chromebook
I managed to install and run iTunes on the Chromebook, but the question is, does it work fine? We’ve used some of the best Chromebooks on the market, and in our tests, iTunes didn’t perform well, despite running on the mighty (i5, 8th Gen) Chromebook. Pretty much expected since you’re running iTunes in a Windows container, which in turn is running inside a Linux container.
Well, performance is significantly affected. Also, despite Linux gaining USB support on Chrome OS, iTunes was unable to detect the iPhone and sync the library. In part, this is because Apple does not officially support Linux connectivity for iDevices. However, if you’re interested, you can check out our guide to using iPhones with Linux.
Having said all that, the most disappointing part is, iTunes crashes every time you try to sign in to your account. Therefore, you cannot access your media library locally or via the cloud. All in all, iTunes on Chromebook is not a good experience and you should look for other apps like iTunes instead.
Take a look at iTunes for Chromebook
So you can get iTunes on your Chromebook. Although the installation process is not that simple, you can definitely try it on your device. After installing Wine, the process becomes a breeze. Other than that, on the performance front, iTunes didn’t work well, but give it a shot and see how well it runs on your Chromebook.
Anyway, that’s it for us. If you encounter a problem during its operation, comment and let us know the problem. We’ll definitely take a look. And when we find a suitable build of iTunes that works successfully on Chromebooks, we’ll definitely let you know. In the meantime, you can check out some of the best Chrome OS tips and tricks for getting the most out of your Chromebook.
