Apple to kill Ping with next major iTunes release

Posted:
in iPod + iTunes + AppleTV edited January 2014
Apple will reportedly kill off the Ping iTunes service when iOS 6 is launched this fall, euthanizing the social music network that has suffered waning participation since its introduction in 2010.

According to sources close to the matter Apple will finally abandon Ping when the next iteration of iTunes rolls out alongside iOS 6, confirming rumors that the service is not long for this world, reports All Things D.

In his spotlight session at the D10 conference in May, Apple CEO Tim Cook said that the company might kill off Ping but vowed to add more social integration into its products, a promise fulfilled when system-wide Facebook integration for iOS 6 was announced at WWDC on Monday. Facebook inclusion adds to the already-installed Twitter functionality of iOS 5 which allows users a variety of options like tweeting photos and webpages.

While Ping is still active in the recently-released iTunes 10.6.3, which brought iOS 6 beta compatibility to the media management software, sources say that the social network will be redacted in the program's next major release currently scheduled for this fall. Apple will instead move to rely on social network companies like Twitter and Facebook which already have huge installed customer bases.

Ping


Ping first debuted in 2010 when Apple co-founder Steve Jobs unveiled iTunes 10. "It's sort of like Facebook and Twitter meet iTunes," Jobs said of Ping, and went on to say that the network was all about music. At the time critics had mixed feelings about the feature's future prospects.

Initial adoption was promising as over one million users signed up within the first 48 hours, but momentum slowed and it seemed Ping was destined to become yet another Apple side project.

It was later revealed that Apple had contacted Facebook for possible integration with the worldwide social network, but "onerous terms" kept that from becoming a reality. Hopes were rekindled when Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg was invited to by Jobs to discuss Ping over dinner, though the talk apparently bore no fruit.

The music discovery network has since been downgraded with no substantial updates in the pipeline, meaning that the end is likely near.

?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,?? Cook said.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 54


    Thank God!  I hate Ping.  

  • Reply 2 of 54
    scotty321scotty321 Posts: 313member


    I am willing to bet that less than 8 people use Ping.

  • Reply 3 of 54
    dilliodillio Posts: 106member


    To me, Ping was dead the day it was released, and I tried to sign up for it, but it did not work unless I made some info public (in other words, it did not let me make some details private). 

  • Reply 4 of 54
    deanbardeanbar Posts: 113member


    Amen, what a useless program. I hope there will also be a kill switch for Facebook when it arrives on iOS6. Who wants this shi± forced on them.

  • Reply 5 of 54
    tylerk36tylerk36 Posts: 1,037member


    PING.  I tried it and it really didn't make me feel better.  I think its a wasted space on any server.

  • Reply 6 of 54
    flaneurflaneur Posts: 4,526member
    I didn't try Ping and it made me feel better.
  • Reply 7 of 54
    jpellinojpellino Posts: 697member


    Live and learn.  


     


    Ping was mehware - seemed functional enough, but in the end... meh. 

  • Reply 8 of 54
    MacProMacPro Posts: 19,718member
    scotty321 wrote: »
    I am willing to bet that less than 8 people use Ping.

    That many? /smile
  • Reply 9 of 54
    I tried to "Ping" but frankly it only functions if you and your friends--something I define as a person I have or could touch--buys and is interested in new music regularly. There are people "following me" but I haven't a clue why, irks me to contemplate. Nonetheless, it's freed resources that hopefully will address more pressing issues that iTunes users and music buyers have. Really, how many social networks do we need?
  • Reply 10 of 54
    I tried to "Ping" but frankly it only functions if you and your friends--something I define as a person I have or could touch--buys and is interested in new music regularly. There are people "following me" but I haven't a clue why, irks me to contemplate. Nonetheless, it's freed resources that hopefully will address more pressing issues that iTunes users and music buyers have. Really, how many social networks do we need?
  • Reply 11 of 54
    I tried to "Ping" but frankly it only functions if you and your friends--something I define as a person I have or could touch--buys and is interested in new music regularly. There are people "following me" but I haven't a clue why, irks me to contemplate. Nonetheless, it's freed resources that hopefully will address more pressing issues that iTunes users and music buyers have. Really, how many social networks do we need?
  • Reply 12 of 54
    macvictamacvicta Posts: 346member


    Just getting rid of that sh!t alone will make it worth upgrading iTunes.

     

  • Reply 13 of 54
    -cj--cj- Posts: 58member


    This only stings in that the purchase and shuttering of Lala was now for nothing. Rdio and Spotify are improving on the social aspects, but that is something that Lala really got right. Also, maybe I can finally shut up about Lala now. lol :P

     

  • Reply 14 of 54
    damiansdamians Posts: 9member


    I'd like to know when they're going to overhaul iTunes? IT just keeps getting slower and bloated. Apple need to do something about it!

  • Reply 15 of 54
    yensid98yensid98 Posts: 311member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by scotty321 View Post


    I am willing to bet that less than 8 people use Ping.



    Well I have 7 active friends (real live people that I converse with regularly) on Ping.


     


    Quote:

    Originally Posted by damians View Post


    I'd like to know when they're going to overhaul iTunes? IT just keeps getting slower and bloated. Apple need to do something about it!



    Please, iTunes is lean compared to many other apps.  It's got a small footprint and doesn't hog resources.  I think when most people bring this up they mean they want different apps for music, movies, books, PDF's music videos, TV Shows and apps.  That just seems counter intuitive to me.  I'd much prefer one app to rule them all.

  • Reply 16 of 54
    anantksundaramanantksundaram Posts: 20,403member
    What a POS offering from Apple. Ranks right up here with Dotmac, MobileMe, iDisk, etc.

    Apple should be embarrassed.
  • Reply 17 of 54
    rbryanhrbryanh Posts: 263member


    Am I the last person on earth who actually realizes the trivial details of my daily activities are just that?  Incessant socializing is a terminal disease so far as character is concerned.


     


    Egads…  Not even I care about what music I listened to yesterday.  

  • Reply 18 of 54
    galleygalley Posts: 971member
    They should've integrated Last.fm, instead.
  • Reply 19 of 54
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by anantksundaram View Post

    …iDisk… 


     


    Then why's everyone whining about iDisk being taken away? I could have sworn everyone loved it.


     


    Never mind people liking .Mac… 

  • Reply 20 of 54
    blastdoorblastdoor Posts: 3,258member


    Die, die, die.... kill, kill, kill.... 


     


    (just don't ask me to calculate Pi to the last digit...)

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