Now available for Mac OS X and Microsoft Windows

Jul 1, 2015 20:45 GMT  ·  By

Immediately after having announced the release of the iOS 8.4 and Mac OS X 10.10.4 Yosemite operating systems, Apple published details about the second point release of the iTunes 12 audio player and organizer software for OS X and Windows OSes.

The main and most promoted feature of the new iTunes 12.2 update is the addition of the Apple Music audio streaming service and the Beats 1 radio, features that have also been implemented in the iOS 8.4 operating system for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch devices.

However, iTunes 12.2 brings more features than the ones promoted by all news websites in the last 24 hours or so. First of all, you should know that the icon of the application has been redesigned to look like the icon of the revamped Music app introduced in iOS 8.4, so don't be alarmed if you don't see the reddish iTunes icon.

Moreover, due to the implementation of the brand-new Apple Music and Beats 1 streaming services, the navigation bar has been redesigned, extended with links to the "For You," "New," "Radio," and "Connect" sections of the aforementioned services, in addition to the "My Music," "Playlists," and "iTunes Stores" ones.

Apple Music integration in the search function

iTunes 12.2 also brings integration of the Apple Music audio streaming service in the built-in search function of the application so that you can search its huge database of music. As expected, the Beats 1 radio streaming service replaced iTunes Radio in the new iTunes 12.2 release.

Last but not least, there's an implementation of the "iCloud Music Library" option in the "General" section of the Preferences, so you can sync offline downloads from Apple Music across all of your devices. A new "Loves" rating option has been implemented as well, along with some minor modifications to the "Store" section of the Preferences.

Download iTunes 12.2 for Mac OS X and Microsoft Windows right now from Softpedia. Of course, all Mac OS X 10.10.4 Yosemite users will be able to update to the new iTunes version directly from the Mac App Store application.