How to Bring Back iTunes and iPhoto on Modern Macs

There’s no “i” in macOS—at least, not anymore. Apple replaced “iPhoto” with the more generic-sounding “Photos” back in 2015; then, in 2019, they removed iTunes, replacing it with separate apps for music, podcasts, and TV.

Both of these changes were, arguably, improvements, but I can’t fault some Mac users for missing the old applications. And you can get them back, sort of, using an open source project called Retroactive, which officially supports macOS High Sierra through Ventura. You’ll note that Sonoma, the current version of macOS, isn’t on that list, though I was able to get both iTunes and iPhoto working (Aperture, unfortunately, no longer works).

To get started, you need to download the latest version of Aperature. Note that you’ll need to right-click the application and click “Open” in order to launch it. Then you can start using the software.

Get iTunes back in macOS

Click the blue Install button below the iTunes logo, and you’ll be asked which version of iTunes you want. These versions all seem to be working to varying extents but I, personally, had the most luck with 11.4, which also has the benefit of looking really retro. Click the version you want and click Continue.

Retroactive will download your version of iTunes from Apple and then patch it to work on modern operating systems. When you’re done, you can launch the program.

I was able to add and listen to music already on my computer, browse and listen to podcasts, and even browse the store for music, TV shows, and movies. It’s honestly a little astounding that all this decade-old version of a deprecated program is working at all, though I will admit it crashed occasionally. Still, if you want the old iTunes feel, you can get it. This application is still oozing with that 2010s skeuomorphic charm that Apple has since ditched for a flatter, more minimalist design philosophy.

iPhoto

Retroactive can also patch iPhoto, but you need to install the application first. The simplest way to do this is to open the Mac App Store, click your name in the bottom-left corner, and scroll down until you see iPhoto. If that doesn’t work, you could, in theory, grab iPhoto from an older Mac, assuming you have access to one. If not the Internet Archive has a copy of the most recent release. After installing iPhoto, go back to Retroactive, which will patch the applications.

After that, you can use iPhoto just the way you remember. You will need to import your photos—this ancient program can’t grab them from the modern Photos app—but after importing, you can use everything just the way you remember.

You can even use the 2010s filters, which were in fashion at the time.

I was shocked how much faster this runs on my computer than the modern Photos app, and by how much more I liked it. It did crash occasionally, though, and I really can’t recommend it as a way to mange your photos day-to-day. It’s great to have around in case you need to recover an old iPhoto library, though, and it’s fun to play with.