After again wiping iTunes Match libraries today, Apple has seeded developers with the 3rd iTunes 10.5.1 Beta. This update includes a number of important stability and performance improvements for iTunes Match.
Apple wiped iTunes Match libraries stored in iCloud earlier today in order to "prepare for the launch of iTunes Match". The Beta 3 Release Notes warn that Apple may again wipe iTunes match data during their ongoing testing:
iTunes 10.5.1 beta 3 includes a number of important stability and performance improvements for iTunes Match, and is a required update for all subscribers to iTunes Match beta.
Backup regularly and do not delete the music you add to iCloud from your computer. Apple may periodically delete all iCloud libraries during the beta period. This will require you to scan, match, and upload songs again
iTunes Match is Apple's $25/year subscription service that will match your existing iTunes library with 256-Kbps versions in the iCloud. iTunes Match had been scheduled for release in late October, but has been pushed back without any clear launch date available. Apple's wording in the most recent emails suggests an imminent launch.
Sunday November 17, 2024 5:18 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple released the AirTag in April 2021, so it is now three over and a half years old. While the AirTag has not received any hardware updates since then, a new version of the item tracking accessory is rumored to be in development.
Below, we recap rumors about a second-generation AirTag.
Timing
Apple is aiming to release a new AirTag in mid-2025, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman....
Sunday November 17, 2024 3:03 pm PST by Joe Rossignol
While the Logitech MX Master 3 is a terrific mouse for the Mac, reports claiming that Apple CEO Tim Cook prefers that mouse over the Magic Mouse are false.
The Wall Street Journal last month published an interview with Cook, in which he said he uses every Apple product every day. Soon after, The Verge's Wes Davis attempted to replicate using every Apple product in a single day. During that...
Wednesday November 13, 2024 2:09 am PST by Tim Hardwick
Apple is set to release iOS 18.2 next month, bringing the second round of Apple Intelligence features to iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 models. This update brings several major advancements to Apple's AI integration, including completely new image generation tools and a range of Visual Intelligence-based enhancements. There are a handful of new non-AI related feature controls incoming as well....
Saturday November 16, 2024 9:45 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Earlier this month, we reported about some iPhone users temporarily losing all of their notes in the Notes app after accepting Apple's updated iCloud terms and conditions. Apple has now indirectly acknowledged this issue in a new support document that outlines steps to follow if your iCloud notes are not appearing on your iPhone, iPad, or Vision Pro.
Fortunately, the notes can be re-synced...
Sunday November 17, 2024 12:33 pm PST by Joe Rossignol
It appears that Apple is discontinuing the Lightning to 3.5mm headphone jack adapter that it released alongside the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus in 2016.
The adapter was recently listed as "sold out" on Apple's online store in the U.S. and most other countries, according to MacRumors contributor Aaron Perris. The adapter remains available from Apple in only a handful of countries, such as...
I find the idea of having to pay protection money every year to listen to your music a bit silly.
Mischaracterize much? This is a way for you to:
* Get higher quality versions of you current songs.
* Get amnesty for songs you've stolen in the past.
* Easily manage songs across all of your devices, including devices you don't yet own.
Protect your music collection in the event of loss (after beta).
But I suppose some people will always try to put a negative spin on some things, no matter how positive. Bueno. Keep your $25.
Been working with Match for a few weeks and thought I would post a FAQ type response here to what I see people asking over and over again.
1. When you enable Match it goes through a three step process. Analyzing your library, matching songs, uploading non-matched content. It does this for your whole library. You can't choose to exclude songs other than taking them out of your library.
2. If a song is matched, it becomes available to download in 256K AAC. If a song is not matched it is copied in its current format and bit rate up to 320K. If the file is Lossless however, it is converted (presumably by your computer) to a 256k AAC file and then uploaded.
3. Nothing happens to your local music when you run match. If you have a lower quality song that was matched you can remove it from your local library and then replace it with the 256k version. What happens is you delete the song, but the entry in iTunes stays, but a little cloud now shows up in a newly added column that shows you that you have a song that is in the cloud but not in your library. You can click on the cloud and it will download it to your local library, where again it is now permanently yours at the higher bit rate.
4. Match uses your meta-data. If you in an anal-retentive fashion have made lots of custom edits to your files, that is what gets copied to the cloud. Even if you replace your songs with the upgraded versions you keep your previous metal-data.
5. Your limit is 25,000 songs and purchased from iTunes don't count, but matched does. Again if you have personal recordings etc. they won't match (obviously) but will be copied to the cloud in their current format (see above for Lossless exception)
6. Songs below 100k (I couldn't tell if it was below 128K since I don't have any at 100k) are listed as ineligible and nothing happens with them.
7. iTunes runs match on any new material that is added. I.e. when you rip a new album it is matched or copied to the cloud depending on how the match worked. Also, when you change meta-data, it immediately moves that meta-data to the cloud. So, if you correct a name on your iMac, it fixes the name in match. However, if you already had it downloaded on your phone, it would not be changed. But if you delete if from your phone and download it again you would see the new information.
8. iTunes match is not an amnesty program. Because there is no way to prove that matched songs came from a legitimate source, you can't claim you "own" the songs simply because you have a matched version. The RIAA might still prove that your IP address downloaded a file and sue you. Also, since meta-data is preserved if there is a comment like "ripped by mega-thief" it's still going to be there, unless you clean it manually. This does reduce the likelihood that they could prove it was illegally obtained because it had say a specific bit-sum, but it was never a crime to be in possession of files if it couldn't be proven that you up or downloaded it. So, be aware, this does little to protect you from the RIAA.
9. You have reasonable control to get songs off the cloud that you don't want there, but if you keep it in any iTunes library that has match enabled, it will re-upload it when you update the library.
10. I still have a good number of non-obscure albums that end up with 9 out of 10 songs matching. So, when I download to my phone I end up with 9 256K AAC songs and 1 128k MP3. I don't like that.
There are probably more things that people are asking, but hopefully this helps relive some of the FUD about match.
If the content is not in iTunes catalogue then nothing is upgraded you will just upload the 128 file!
Lets say I have a CD ripped to my iTunes library at 128 that is not available in iTunes. I sign up for iTunes Match, that loads those particular songs to the cloud at 256? This is where people seem confused. Some say it will keep the 128 while others say it will "upgraded" to 256.
Problem is if you use iTunes to convert a 128 file to 256, it acchives nothing because the original file is lower quality. The only thing you are doing is lowering the quality a little bit but increasing the size of the file two times.
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Well engage your brain and explain to me how you can take a 128 file and convert it to a 320 file. You already lost the audio quality going from 320 to 128... You can't magically restore that from a 128 file. Only way to do so is to re rip from the disk.
I seriously am questioning the intelligence of some of the forum users. Between this thread and the one regarding iPod replacements I have read some of the most retarded comments and statements of my life!
Yeah i have done this before.. lowered some of my songs from 320 to 128 to save space on my iPod and than later converted them back to 320 and lost quality. hope this iTunes match gets them back to how they where before i converted the quality down.
I think I'll pass on this new offering when it arrives...
I've got more stuff in iTunes than my "free" five gigs will store, and I'm not popping for more. Further, it seems to me that this "feature" is nothing more than a churner of iPhone and iPad data services for which ATT, Verizon and others already make zillions off of. I wonder what Apple's commission is... :rolleyes:
Sounds like you don't know what Itunes match actually is.
