Apple Misses iTunes Match Launch Target as iTunes 10.5.1 Developer Beta Expires

Tuesday November 1, 2011 9:29 am PDT by Eric Slivka
At its "Let's Talk iPhone" media event early last month, Apple announced that it would be launching its iTunes Match service in the United States at the "end of October". That launch date was itself apparently a slight delay from Apple's original plans given that support for the feature had been built into developer builds of iTunes 10.5, which was released in mid-October to support iOS 5 and iCloud.


Eddy Cue announces "end of October" launch for iTunes Match (Source: This is my next / The Verge)

But with Apple apparently pushing back the iTunes Match launch slightly, the feature was removed from the public release of iTunes 10.5 and moved to a new iTunes 10.5.1 that was released for developer testing.

Sources have indicated that Apple is close to a launch of iTunes Match, with retail store staff having been briefed on the service in preparation for its debut. But with the calendar now having turned to November, Apple has missed its public launch target for iTunes Match. The company has not yet commented on the status of iTunes Match, leaving some questions about its plans even though a launch still seems near.


iTunes 10.5.1 beta expiration notice (Source: @dmoren)

One group that may have been caught off-guard by the delayed iTunes Match launch is Apple's developers, who have been testing the service for a number of months. Apple has repeatedly wiped users' iTunes Match libraries during the beta testing process, with the most recent wipe occurring last Thursday.

But those developers who have continued testing the service are now discovering that their iTunes 10.5.1 betas have expired, leaving them unable to launch the application as of today with no public launch and no new beta release. Apple routinely advises developers to only install beta builds of its software on machines dedicated to development, but some users undoubtedly have installed iTunes 10.5.1 on their primary machines and may now be experiencing difficulties.

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840quadra
106 months ago

My first thought too... just watch, bit by bit Steve's influence will disappear and we'll be stuck with Microsoft again :(


Do some digging and you will see this isn't the first time Apple has been late on an expected deployment. Many examples of this when Steve was at the helm too.

This is Business as usual for Apple, or really any other tech company. ;)
Rating: 12 Votes
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SockRolid
106 months ago
Better late than crappy

Reminds me of a software scheduling rule:

If you slip your release schedule, people might complain.
If you ship a crappy product "on time," people will hate you.
Rating: 11 Votes
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Tonewheel
106 months ago

It's kind of sad that folks would be so negative about the Apple team for a few hours delay in a new service. No one knows why iTunes Match hadn't been released. I think Apple learned a very hard lesson from MobileMe about releasing crap software. I don't think they are going to let a flagship piece of software like iTunes Match go release with a bunch of problems, you would all complain 2x as much. You aren't giving the people who have run Apple for the last couple of years enough credit. :(


Because most of these commenters are kids.
Rating: 9 Votes
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bushido
106 months ago

I am bummed..I cancelled my Spotify so I could use this service..Oh well have to wait now


what? why? its 2 completely different things. thats like cancelling ur cable provider bc u can download shows on itunes
Rating: 9 Votes
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AtomicEdge
106 months ago

Maybe all hands are on deck to fix the 4s battery issue first.


I expect there is 0 crossover between the people working on iTunes Match and any iOS battery bugs. What, you think there are like 10 guys working for Apple or something?!
Rating: 8 Votes
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rorschach
106 months ago
I wonder if the Chicken Littles here already proclaiming the death of Apple remember when Leopard was delayed like 5 months - and that was a major OS upgrade.

Or Push Notifications on the iPhone, which were delayed almost a year.

Or the white iPhone.

All of that was with Steve at the helm.

Get a grip.
Rating: 7 Votes
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vitzr
106 months ago


Thanks apple for waiting and making sure it's right.

Yes :)

This proves they learned their lesson from Antennagate.
Thanks Apple
Rating: 6 Votes
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pjhamill
106 months ago

Do some digging and you will see this isn't the first time Apple has been late on an expected deployment. Many examples of this when Steve was at the helm too.

This is Business as usual for Apple, or really any other tech company. ;)

Exactly, an example would be the first generation of the iPad. They said 'late March' but it didn't launch until April. This has got nothing to do with the loss of Steve.
Rating: 6 Votes
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jinjo235
106 months ago

My first thought too... just watch, bit by bit Steve's influence will disappear and we'll be stuck with Microsoft again :(


Steve dies and the company starts falling apart.


It's only been November for 12 hours guys. And the "end of October" date was meant to be a rough estimate for developers utilizing and testing iTunes Match and iTunes in the Cloud. I'd much rather them take their time and get it right the first time.

Also, if you think Steve had no influence on this service you are crazy...they have been working on getting iTunes in the cloud for years now and a majority of it has been under Steves wing. Much like MobileMe was. Did the company fall apart after MobileMe was introduced? No. The company took a step back, apologized and fixed it.
Rating: 6 Votes
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mastercheif91
106 months ago

This story has really taken off in the media today, and now there are a few dozen Google hits reporting that Apple has missed the iTunes Match deadline.

I'm as psyched as anyone to see this feature go live, but I really don't think Apple deserves this to have become a negative publicity nightmare... which it now officially is.


Their complete ignorance of the issue caused this. If they put out a press release or even just a statement saying "were having some issues with iTunes match, and its release has been pushed back to November in order to provide our users with the best possible experience", there would have been a little backlash but I think everybody would understand. To set a deadline, miss it, and be completely silent about it is setting yourself up for the rumors to start spreading and negative buzz being created.
Rating: 5 Votes

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