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Who says streaming and caching are mutually exclusive?

If it starts playing during, not after, the download, it is streaming. It may also cache the download, but that doesn't mean it wasn't streamed. That's like arguing that YouTube doesn't stream if the video ends up in the cache or temp folder.

Comparing YouTube does not make for a valid argument. iTunes Match only streams on an Apple TV or laptop/desktop - not on an iOS device. Period.
 
I'm with the side that says it doesn't fully download before it plays anymore. It used to in the beginning when I first had the service, but not anymore. This really annoyed me when I was stuck in an international flight with no music since I didn't realize all my music had been streaming and not downloading.
 
Comparing YouTube does not make for a valid argument. iTunes Match only streams on an Apple TV or laptop/desktop - not on an iOS device. Period.
You're just wrong.

Streaming: "a method of relaying data (esp. video and audio material) over a computer network as a steady continuous stream, allowing playback to proceed while subsequent data is being received."

This is exactly what iTunes Match does, even on iOS. You can start listening before the download is complete. That's streaming. Whether it caches the file so it doesn't need to be streamed the next time doesn't mean it wasn't streamed the first time. Period.
 
I have a couple questions on Match maybe someone can answer. First is there a way to manage what is on Apple's Cloud, Can what's in Match be edited or deleted. Second, I have an Imac that houses my collection, I used to have all my music in 256k files, I'm converting over to Lossless. I want what I add to that lossless library to sync to ITunes Match but I don't want what is in the cloud to show in my ITunes library is that possible? Also some things are doubling up on the cloud is there a way to reset what is in the cloud and then have it scan your pc again?

Thanks anyone.
 
First: Yes. When you delete a song in iTunes, there is a checkbox for "Delete from Cloud also" or something similar.

Second: I don't know of any way to hide what is in the cloud. That doesn't mean there isn't a way.

I don't know about things doubling up on the cloud. I wasn't paying attention and added a song to my library twice and Match wouldn't upload the duplicate, so doubling up isn't something I've seen.
 
So it sounds like it does stream, but also caches. I believe currently my Google Music streams and doesn't cache at all (to my knowledge anyway?!?)

I was hoping iTunes match would just completely stream (no cache, no download), personally better for my use. As I say although its no problem to go and then delete the cache manually, try telling a teenager about this ;) all you get asked is, "I'm running out of space..."

So it just looks like I'll have to delete all music off her iPhone and join iTunes match and see how it goes... How long streaming does it take (play wise) before the song count goes up in settings then?

Another question on it please...
I understand that if there is a match from my music and in iTunes store it uses that (to stop large uploads), if it can't find a match it then uploads that particular music.

So in prep, I only use my MP3 music on iPhones, iPads, Apple TV, basically all iOS, I have been cleaning up and just getting the naming correct, artwork, lyrics on, as this is enough for what I use, basically the tags that are shown up in iTunes on a Mac

What I'm wondering is if some music is uploaded, will Apple "read" the tags/data on the actual files (concerning with privacy data thats in the news a lot now). What will they know? I don't have anything to hide, but if some tags have Amazon ID, or comments, that are in there, could they read these etc?

thanks
 
So it sounds like it does stream, but also caches. I believe currently my Google Music streams and doesn't cache at all (to my knowledge anyway?!?)

I was hoping iTunes match would just completely stream (no cache, no download), personally better for my use. As I say although its no problem to go and then delete the cache manually, try telling a teenager about this ;) all you get asked is, "I'm running out of space..."

So it just looks like I'll have to delete all music off her iPhone and join iTunes match and see how it goes... How long streaming does it take (play wise) before the song count goes up in settings then?

Another question on it please...
I understand that if there is a match from my music and in iTunes store it uses that (to stop large uploads), if it can't find a match it then uploads that particular music.

So in prep, I only use my MP3 music on iPhones, iPads, Apple TV, basically all iOS, I have been cleaning up and just getting the naming correct, artwork, lyrics on, as this is enough for what I use, basically the tags that are shown up in iTunes on a Mac

What I'm wondering is if some music is uploaded, will Apple "read" the tags/data on the actual files (concerning with privacy data thats in the news a lot now). What will they know? I don't have anything to hide, but if some tags have Amazon ID, or comments, that are in there, could they read these etc?

thanks

It caches your most played songs for quick access. Apple isn't going to persecute you for purchasing a song on Amazon (or illegally downloading it if you did) then uploading it or matching it to the cloud. Carry on.
 
You're just wrong.

Streaming: "a method of relaying data (esp. video and audio material) over a computer network as a steady continuous stream, allowing playback to proceed while subsequent data is being received."

This is exactly what iTunes Match does, even on iOS. You can start listening before the download is complete. That's streaming. Whether it caches the file so it doesn't need to be streamed the next time doesn't mean it wasn't streamed the first time. Period.

Ok. So u think u are correct. Turn off iTunes Match, then turn on. Before you play any track check "settings, general, about" and the song count will be zero. Then play 2,3 or whatever songs, the songs count in settings, general, about will increase and the storage on the device will decrease. It caches the songs on the device and keeps them there until an undisclosed amount of storage is available- then it clears the cache, song count in settings, general, about and the space is increased on the device. It's been the same since Match was released, I tested it on every device I own, other people here agree with me and I am correct. Try it and you will see it is true. End of.
 
I did not renew my iTunes match sub a year ago because of the various bugs (match all but 1 track on an album, matching with edited versions of explicit tracks). Has this been improved at all in the past year?
 
Ok. So u think u are correct. Turn off iTunes Match, then turn on. Before you play any track check "settings, general, about" and the song count will be zero. Then play 2,3 or whatever songs, the songs count in settings, general, about will increase and the storage on the device will decrease. It caches the songs on the device and keeps them there until an undisclosed amount of storage is available- then it clears the cache, song count in settings, general, about and the space is increased on the device. It's been the same since Match was released, I tested it on every device I own, other people here agree with me and I am correct. Try it and you will see it is true. End of.
It caches after the streaming is complete. Why is that so hard for you to understand? That it caches does not mean the delivery wasn't streamed so that it could be played while the download completed.

It was streamed and cached. It's a dessert topping and a floor wax. It's not complicated, once you get past your desire to define it as either/or.

Edit: On an iOS device using iTunes Match, tap the number of a song that isn't cached. Does it start playing before the song is completely downloaded? Yes? That's streaming. Now, tap the icon with the cloud and the down-pointing arrow. Does it start playing the song before it is completely downloaded? No? That's not streaming. Whether iOS caches the output of the download or not doesn't change the download type or mechanism. If you can play the file before it is completely downloaded, it is a streaming download. Now, if you have some different credible definition of streaming, post your source.
 
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I did not renew my iTunes match sub a year ago because of the various bugs (match all but 1 track on an album, matching with edited versions of explicit tracks). Has this been improved at all in the past year?

Think it has been corrected, I have not had any issues with iTunes Match in the past year except the occasional time it's down. Happened like 3 times but I love the service...
 
It caches after the streaming is complete. Why is that so hard for you to understand? That it caches does not mean the delivery wasn't streamed so that it could be played while the download completed.

It was streamed and cached. It's a dessert topping and a floor wax. It's not complicated, once you get past your desire to define it as either/or.

Edit: On an iOS device using iTunes Match, tap the number of a song that isn't cached. Does it start playing before the song is completely downloaded? Yes? That's streaming. Now, tap the icon with the cloud and the down-pointing arrow. Does it start playing the song before it is completely downloaded? No? That's not streaming. Whether iOS caches the output of the download or not doesn't change the download type or mechanism. If you can play the file before it is completely downloaded, it is a streaming download. Now, if you have some different credible definition of streaming, post your source.

Try what I said then get back to me. I know what streaming is, it's up to you to look up the definition yourself. Google Music streams, iTunes Match does not on os devices. Search MacRumors for other threads on this, I have a Friday night to get on with...
 
Try what I said then get back to me. I know what streaming is, it's up to you to look up the definition yourself. Google Music streams, iTunes Match does not on os devices. Search MacRumors for other threads on this, I have a Friday night to get on with...
What you suggested is irrelevant. Whether something is cached after download doesn't change the type of download.

I already posted the definition. I'll post it again for your convenience: "a method of relaying data (esp. video and audio material) over a computer network as a steady continuous stream, allowing playback to proceed while subsequent data is being received." You know, what Match does even on iOS.
 
What you suggested is irrelevant. Whether something is cached after download doesn't change the type of download.

I already posted the definition. I'll post it again for your convenience: "a method of relaying data (esp. video and audio material) over a computer network as a steady continuous stream, allowing playback to proceed while subsequent data is being received." You know, what Match does even on iOS.

Irrelevant? Keep playing your Match songs and your device capacity will decrease, that's not streaming. It's eating up your space, perhaps I'll stick toy thoughts and you to yours. As a comparison Goigle Music does not use your devices space at all, as it is true streaming. Match caching of songs will stay on the device until the capacity is low - u cant say this is streaming! I'm really sick of trying to convince you of this.

Stick to the topic: I know what streaming is! We are discussing what iTunes Match does. (Which is not streaming, on iOS devices)
 
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So confused as to who's right and who's wrong. All I know is that the updated iTunes match plays the music quicker without downloading the songs. Before, when I choose a song to play the cloud icon would disappear. Now, it's still there for me to download if I choose so. And, of course, I cannot access my iTunes Match without any data connection at all - if I haven't downloaded the songs to my phone.

I did notice that that in Settings and Usage, I had about ~500MB for music when I know I hadn't downloaded any songs.
 
It caches the songs without the user specifically telling it to download them. I have 800 songs downloaded to my device in the usage statistics and yet I haven't actually clicked on the iCloud icon to download any of them.

So no iTunes Match doesn't do true streaming like Google Play Music. If you only listen to a song a few times it will probably stream it but if it's a song that you listen to a lot, iTunes Match will automatically download it to your device anyway to provide for quicker access.

I think they updated it to cache songs in order to reduce the amount of data it uses. When I first got iTunes Match last year I noticed that it used a ton of cellular data because it was actually streaming every song.
 
I just tried this it in fact does NOT stream, song count went up by one and available storage went down.

It does stream, but caches the song locally as well. This can be resolved by clearing your cache over time and/or Apple will remove it as well. Also, be sure you're not hitting the download arrow as that will definitely download the song to your phone.

Yes it streams, I did this last night coming home from work. You don't click on the cloud symbol, but the song itself.

Last night I wanted to hear an album that was not on my iPhone. So I went to settings, music, show all songs (so the ones in the cloud show also), went back to my music app, found the album I wanted, and just started playing (streaming) the songs. The songs are not on my iPhone still also.

So confused as to who's right and who's wrong. All I know is that the updated iTunes match plays the music quicker without downloading the songs. Before, when I choose a song to play the cloud icon would disappear. Now, it's still there for me to download if I choose so. And, of course, I cannot access my iTunes Match without any data connection at all - if I haven't downloaded the songs to my phone.

I did notice that that in Settings and Usage, I had about ~500MB for music when I know I hadn't downloaded any songs.

Downloading 500MB or streaming 500MB is still using 500MB of data either way
 
So it seems to me that working different for different people. Could this be by country?

The way I understood full streaming is doesn't download any data onto the device at all, doesn't use any memory on the device. This is not how Google Play Music on my iPhone does. It steams it all (what I'd prefer).

Maybe I'll have to get it soon and try myself.
 
So it seems to me that working different for different people. Could this be by country?

The way I understood full streaming is doesn't download any data onto the device at all, doesn't use any memory on the device. This is not how Google Play Music on my iPhone does. It steams it all (what I'd prefer).

Maybe I'll have to get it soon and try myself.
Streaming only (AppleTV) and streaming and caching (iOS) are both streaming. Your browser almost certainly caches YouTube videos, but no one, so far as I know, claims that that means YouTube doesn't stream.

Steaming is the delivery mechanism. If a device or OS handles the data differently after the streaming is complete, that's an entirely separate issue. iTunes Match uses storage on iOS devices; Google Play, so far as I know, does not. Both, however, can stream.
 
Streaming only (AppleTV) and streaming and caching (iOS) are both streaming. Your browser almost certainly caches YouTube videos, but no one, so far as I know, claims that that means YouTube doesn't stream.



Steaming is the delivery mechanism. If a device or OS handles the data differently after the streaming is complete, that's an entirely separate issue. iTunes Match uses storage on iOS devices; Google Play, so far as I know, does not. Both, however, can stream.

Thanks that's an easy way to describe. YouTube caching though must delete straight away after watching the clip/closing the app on iOS does it? If so that's fine, wish iTunes Match worked that way.

As I say I think (for my needs), the way it works as you describe will be fine, it's just the daughter who will complain that running out of space, yet she'll quote I don't have any on my iPhone! Also the wife only has a 8Gb iPhone 4, so very limited space on their with iOS 7.1 on
 
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