In iOS 6, iTunes Match Actually Supports Both Streaming and Downloading of Music

NewImage
Last year, there was some controversy over whether or not Apple's iTunes Match service supported streaming of music or just downloading files. As it stands, iTunes Match appears to play songs as they download, which is an issue of semantics -- but all that will change in iOS 6.

As noted by Apple 'n' Apps, in the iOS 6 beta, iTunes Match has become a full-on streaming service. Songs can be downloaded or streamed, with streaming being the default playback option:

iTunes Match has become a streaming service in the beta. We confirmed it, by playing a few songs, then turning off iTunes Match, and seeing that the music folder then had no music. In iOS 5, the few tracks you listened to are stored. The various playlists, artists, and songs also drop the cloud icon next to them, and those are reserved for the album view, and a little bit off to the side.


iTunes Match costs $24.99 per year, matching songs in your iTunes library to those in the iTunes Music Store.

Popular Stories

iphone air thickness

Apple Said to Cut iPhone Air Production Amid Underwhelming Sales

Friday October 17, 2025 8:29 am PDT by
Apple plans to cut production of the iPhone Air amid underwhelming sales performance, Japan's Mizuho Securities believes (via The Elec). The Japanese investment banking and securities firm claims that the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are seeing higher sales than their predecessors during the same period last year, while the standard iPhone 17 is a major success, performing...
iOS 26 Feature

iOS 26.1 to iOS 26.4 Will Add These New Features to Your iPhone

Saturday October 18, 2025 11:00 am PDT by
iOS 26 was released last month, but the software train never stops, and iOS 26.1 beta testing is already underway. So far, iOS 26.1 makes both Apple Intelligence and Live Translation on compatible AirPods available in additional languages, and it includes some other minor changes across the Apple Music, Calendar, Photos, Clock, and Safari apps. More features and changes will follow in future ...
iOS 26

iOS 26.0.2 Update for iPhones Coming Soon

Friday October 17, 2025 7:35 am PDT by
Apple's software engineers continue to internally test iOS 26.0.2, according to MacRumors logs, which have been a reliable indicator of upcoming iOS versions. iOS 26.0.2 will be a minor update that addresses bugs and/or security vulnerabilities, but we do not know any specific details yet. The update will likely be released by the end of next week. Last month, Apple released iOS 26.0.1,...
HomePod mini and Apple TV

Apple's Next Rumored Products: New HomePod Mini, Apple TV, and More

Thursday October 16, 2025 9:13 am PDT by
Apple on Wednesday updated the 14-inch MacBook Pro, iPad Pro, and Vision Pro with its next-generation M5 chip, but previous rumors have indicated that the company still plans to announce at least a few additional products before the end of the year. The following Apple products have at one point been rumored to be updated in 2025, although it is unclear if the timeframe for any of them has...
14 inch MacBook Pro Keyboard

New 14-Inch MacBook Pro Has Two Key Upgrades Beyond the M5 Chip

Thursday October 16, 2025 8:31 am PDT by
Apple on Wednesday updated the 14-inch MacBook Pro base model with an M5 chip, and there are two key storage-related upgrades beyond that chip bump. First, Apple says the new 14-inch MacBook Pro offers up to 2× faster SSD performance than the equivalent previous-generation model, so read and write speeds should get a significant boost. Apple says it is using "the latest storage technology," ...
m4 macbook air blue

M5 MacBook Air Coming Spring 2026 With M5 Mac Studio and Mac Mini in Development

Thursday October 16, 2025 3:57 pm PDT by
Apple plans to launch MacBook Air models equipped with the new M5 chip in spring 2026, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Apple is also working on M5 Pro and M5 Max MacBook Pro models that will come early in the year. Neither the MacBook Pro models nor the MacBook Air models are expected to get design changes, with Apple focusing on simple chip upgrades. In the case of the MacBook Pro, a m...
Apple iPad Pro hero M5

New iPad Pro Has Six Key Upgrades Beyond M5 Chip

Saturday October 18, 2025 10:57 am PDT by
While the new iPad Pro's headline feature is the M5 chip, the device has some other changes, including N1 and C1X chips, faster storage speeds, and more. With the M5 chip, the new iPad Pro has up to a 20% faster CPU and up to a 40% faster GPU compared to the previous model with the M4 chip, according to Geekbench 6 results. Keep in mind that 256GB and 512GB configurations have a 9-core CPU,...
14 inch MacBook Pro Keyboard

M5 Chip Achieves Impressive Feat in 14-Inch MacBook Pro Speed Test

Friday October 17, 2025 7:10 am PDT by
The first alleged benchmark result for the M5 chip in the new 14-inch MacBook Pro has surfaced, allowing for some performance comparisons. Based on a single unconfirmed result uploaded to the Geekbench 6 database today, the M5 chip has pulled off an impressive feat. Specifically, the chip achieved a score of 4,263 for single-core CPU performance, which is the highest single-core score that...
iPhone Siri Glow

Some Apple Employees Have 'Concerns' About iOS 26.4's Revamped Siri

Sunday October 19, 2025 7:39 am PDT by
iOS 26.4 is expected to introduce a revamped version of Siri powered by Apple Intelligence, but not everyone is satisfied with how well it works. In his Power On newsletter today, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said some of Apple's software engineers have "concerns" about the overhauled Siri's performance. However, he did not provide any specific details about the shortcomings. iOS 26.4 will...

Top Rated Comments

bozz2006 Avatar
174 months ago
AWESOME! Then I'll finally sign up for Match. Don't have room on my iphone to store much music, but if I can stream it... :D:D
Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)
chriscrk Avatar
174 months ago
Yes! I can't wait for iOS 6 to come out. I'm so excited :D
Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Icaras Avatar
174 months ago
Nice. Glad to hear this news. Local storage just became a little bit more obsolete.

Just too bad we don't live in a world of unlimited data anymore. :(
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
MacJones Avatar
174 months ago
There is no reason you should have any lower than an iPhone 4 once the new iPhone comes out. You will be able to sell your iPhone 4 for the cost of a new one under contract on ebay or craigslist. Stop complaining about missing features, you are not supposed to have a phone for longer than 2 years.

Some people haven't had their iPhone 4 for 2 years. You can still buy an 8GB iPhone 4 from a lot of carriers.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
egeek84 Avatar
174 months ago
But it's not Spotify. You can't search for an artist you don't have and stream can you?

No, it's not Spotify but for 25 bucks a year (unlike Spotifys 10 bucks a month or whatever,) this is a great deal for people who want to access their huge iTunes Music Collections anywhere they are wheres theres wifi without having to deal with syncing and taking up space on their iOS devices. Count me in, i'm sold!
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
larrylaffer Avatar
174 months ago
Too little too late. 25 bucks to stream music I already own and already have on my computer anyway. Get real.

The iTunes music store is toast. Why pay to buy compressed music when I can get all the music I want for £5 or £10 a month with Spotify. I'd rather discover music on Spotify and then if I really like the album I'll go buy the CD and rip into my computer in glorious lossless sound.

Unless iTunes adopts a Spotify like subscription service or starts selling lossless music it's dead.

>complain about compressed audio source
>uses spotify

cool story bro.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)