iTunes match TRUE streaming?

From what I've gathered it's an unfortunate no.

 

I don't think so, as iTunes Match functions identically in iOS 6 as it did in iOS 5. While you can always delete the music after you've listened to it, a service such as Spotify might be better for your needs.

 

This. There was an article a month ago or so, that mentioned iOS 6 had true streaming. It DEFINITELY does NOT. Too bad too.. I am a Spotify subscriber, but it would be nice to have the choice.

 

We won't know till Apple release 6.0 in the autumn

 

I'm using ML here. I have itunes match and it streams (not downloaded unless you click on the icloud button to download).

On iphone 4S and iPad 3 using beta 3, you can stream music over wifi and over 3G (my tracks are 256kbps)
The tracks do not get stored on the device UNLESS YOu DOWNLOAD THE TRACKS SPECIFICALLY.

Using 10.6.3 (25) build of iTunes on mountain lion.

 

This isn't true (for the 4S/iPad 3). I thought this also (because the clouds usually indicate what's downloaded), but if you play a song and let it finish (or not) off any album (say an album with 10 songs) then you'll go back and see it gives you the option to download the other "9". It stores the songs locally to save on data (I believe).

 

???

I'm using both iPhone 4S and ipad 3 and both streams music from both devices. I do this while in my car using LTE and 3G from both devices with no songs installed. When the song finishes playing it streams from the next song in my playlist. No songs are stored on my device. There are hiccups occasionally due to my connection but at home using wifi everything works flawlessly.

I don't know if u mean the data is buffered lo cally on the device but I don't have any of the songs installed. I have restream. In iTunes on my laptop you can see it streaming in. There is nothing downloaded unless u specifically ask it to download.

It works for any playlists you set up.

 

Is Genius available?

 

I'm on iOS 6 beta 3, iPhone 3GS and 3rd gen iPad. For all the iOS 6 betas I've found iTunes Match has changed to become more akin to a streaming service. I'm able to view my library with NO songs downloaded to the device, play any song by tapping on it normally (the cloud icon per song is gone, it all looks like it's on the device), and when done the song does NOT download to the device. You are unable to download individual songs, but you are able to download albums or playlists permanently.

As for the streaming itself, it seems to stream at only 256kbps, full quality. However, I've noticed much more issues than for example Spotify, especially on slower connections but even on fast wifi. Songs tend to take longer to start playing, and lag or buffer more often. That said, on a decent connection once you start playing a playlist for example, it works fairly well. It pre buffers the next song, and so can maintain playing reasonably well as long as you don't switch songs abrubtly. This is much improved over iOS 5, where there would be a noticeable pause between songs not on the device.

So it is more like streaming, with the option to download. However, the music app is very buggy ATM on my 3GS in particular, lots of issues. Additionally, there doesn't seem to be a way to delete locally stored music as it is (unlike iOS 5).

So more like streaming, yes. But not really like spotify, not as consistent an experience as is. So far, I like the direction it's heading in, and the quality is always superb.

 

You can only stream from a Mac or Apple TV.

 

It's not true streaming. When you play a song in iOS 6 through iTunes Match. It caches the song and keeps it for local use (when you don't have acces to wi-fi or cellular data). I have done tests on my iPhone 4S and my two iPod touchs. I play the same song. Let it finish and pause at the last second. Then I go to setting and disable show all music. I go back and see the same song. I also put the iPods and my iPhone in Airplane Mode and it's still there and it plays. iTunes Match streams and download which is streaming but the true streaming like Spotify. I think apple removes the cloud sign from individual songs to remove confusion to people.

 

This. Thanks for the clarification!

 

Can someone tell me whats the advantage of streaming over saving it in the device? I am aware that it takes memory space in the phone to be saved but what about data usage (limited for most ppl) and network reception? It has to be something am missing here.....

 

You're not missing something, they are. People just hear that Pandora and Spotify and the new cool services use streaming, and they hear that Apple is "caching" or "temporarily downloading with managed storage" or something and they think Apple isn't doing it the cool way. In reality, there's no practical advantage to "true streaming" and there are several advantages to Apple's method.

I can almost hear the hands slapping the foreheads across the internet every time this topic comes up and someone says "I wish I could switch from Spotify to iTunes but iTunes doesn't stream!"

 

I do not want that, then you will be at the mercy of your data connection?

I go to some areas, especially on a plane where I want to listen to music but have either NO network, or degraded network, this will cause an issue with music.

someone said that Apple was thinking of putting everything in the cloud, which will make your iPhone dumb if it is just an access point to the cloud, bad idea, and hope they never do this.

 

BRussell is absolutely spot on. Why do you want it to re-stream everytime you play a track? Spotify blows chunks because all it does is redownload the same track when you replay it. At least with apple's setup, it makes more sense. I don't want to kill my internet data by redownloading the same song that was already played before - it should've been cached in the first place.

iTunes does STREAM - when it's done streaming, a local copy is saved - so be it. That helps me with my limited data package. The fact I don't have to re-connect online to repeat a song is how it should be done.

On the laptop, using iTunes, the music does in fact ONLY STREAM. It doesn't save anything locally unless you specifically download the track.

 

Yes, it'll cache a song or two for a limited amount of time, Spotify also does this. So if you quit the music app whilst a non local song is playing, turn of data, then come back and continue playing, yes it'll work. But the song is NOT permanently downloaded to the device. If you were to continue streaming other songs, then return to previously played non local song, it will re-stream. You can verify this by looking in Settings->General->About and taking note of the amount of Songs locally stored. This is the number of songs on the actual device, not the total iTunes Match library. In iOS 5, if you were to "stream" or play non local music, you would notice this number increasing. Whereas in iOS 6, as it currently is this number does NOT increase. Once again, songs are by default NOT saved to the device.

Well, one could say that downloaded songs after you stream and saving for later use is an advantage, but it depends on how you use it. In my case, iTunes Match allows me to have my entire iTunes Library available at all times, with a few thousand songs stored locally of my most played music. In iOS 5 as I play music that's not local it will then download to the device, taking up storage. This isn't what I want as I have a limited amount of space, and prefer to keep my most played music, whilst having access to the rest of it for whenever I want to hear something else. For me I prefer the way it's done in iOS 6, as I don't have to delete more obscure tracks that I only listen to once in a while to save storage. That said, as I mentioned earlier streaming itself is a bit lacklustre, not as instantaneous or consistent as Spotify.

Really it depends on the user. I personally think it makes the service far better.

EDIT: Also, remember that you still have the option to download the music if you want (great when setting up a new iOS device or restoring or something, one click and get all the tracks you want in a playlist or something, no sync required.). You can't download on a song-by-song basis though (as the cloud icon by each song is gone), although you could do so by adding the song to a playlist.