Retroactive VS Cider

No need to keep Mojave to run iTunes — iTunes can be run on newer macOS, by using Retroactive [1] to patch it.

Regarding running a newer macOS on older hardware, check out OCLP [1] — do make sure you make full backups and have a working recovery plan before trying anything with OCLP though. I know that might sound somewhat obvious to a lot of folk, but you'd be surprised at the amount of folk that jump in and try OCLP on their main system without any backup plan.

Note that are some gotchas re installing OCLP on some older h/w, and it will help to read up on possible issues before wading in. e.g. during installation it might be necessary to use a wired keyboard and mouse, via a USB hub, until the installation is done, you might also need a wired network connection during install, similarly. Depends on h/w (I've not patched MacBooks myself, yet). Once the patcher is done, these should not be needed anymore.

Official support for OCLP is only via Discord — but there is a very active unofficial peer/user support group on FB [3]

HTH!

[1] https://github.com/cormiertyshawn895/Retroactive

[2] https://dortania.github.io/OpenCore-Legacy-Patcher/

[3] https://www.facebook.com/groups/opencoreprojectlegacy

Or use Retroactive.

That said, my 2020 Mac Mini M1 also works great with the USB iPods - I used an app called Retroactive to get iTunes 11.4, which works fabulously to load my iPods. Can't say how well it works with the Firewire iPods, as I don't have all the requisite Thunderbolt adapters to make it work.

There's a project called Retroactive https://github.com/cormiertyshawn895/Retroactive/ that lets you install iTunes 10-12 on Catalina and newer OS. You could do that and still keep your playlists, etc.

you can run Aperture on newer Macs https://github.com/cormiertyshawn895/Retroactive/ just in case you want to check.

I looked into swapping to Apple Music before but couldn't find a way to play lossless music on Linux making swapping pointless. Apparently[0] decryption for lossless isn't supported for 3rd party clients.

Anyone know of a way around this?

[0]: https://github.com/ciderapp/Cider/discussions/889

It's basically a open source frontend for Apple Music that works on Linux and Windows. It's what I use to listen to my Apple Music songs on Linux, and it's amazing.

[1]: https://cider.sh/

Hey, I’ve hade the problem for a long and I thankfully found a amazing 3rd party solution. It’s called Cider and you can find it here. Cider I hope this satisfies you :)

Are there any alternatives to the Music.app for MacOS, similar to Cider for Windows?

I would recommend Cider: https://cider.sh/

If you’re on windows. check this out. It’s a beautiful design and works just as good as you’d expect it to

apple music will do up to 192khz 24bit on iPhone and the interface is pretty nice, you can listen at spotify quality (320kbps?) on pc with Cinder which also has a pretty good interface

I agree. For now, try this: https://cider.sh