Apple Releases iTunes 10.5 Beta 6.1 For Developers [Apple iTunes 10.5 Beta 6.1 Now Available For Developers, Brings Support For iTunes Match]

Posted on TFTS by Robert Nelson on Tuesday, 30. August 2011 under: Audio,Visual, Computers & Computing

Some good news this morning for those involved in the Apple Developer program — iTunes version 10.5 beta 6.1 has come available for download and it includes the first support for iTunes Match. Of course, may will remember the details from the original announcement which took place during WWDC 2011.

But that being said, iTunes Match will come as part of the new iCloud suite of services. Though, worth pointing out that while iCloud will be free of charge, iTunes Match will come with a $24.99 annual fee. As to what iTunes Match does, simple, it will match your existing iTunes music library with 256k AAC files that are stored in the cloud for you to access using your iOS devices on the go.

With that, the good news today is only for developers. But hey, the silver lining here means that the rest of us (non-developers) should be able to expect a bug-free iTunes Match and iCloud once it comes available. In terms of the details for developers, the service is available for those running the latest iTunes beta and will allow them to match the full 25,000 song limit.

Though, there is a warning with that — any matched music may disappear any any time during the beta period and it will go away at the end of the beta period. According to the details coming from Apple;

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.

The matched music will be available for beta users on their iPad, iPhone or iPod touch as long as those devices are running a beta version of iOS 5. And lastly, while the service will normally be a paid service, the beta users are being given “an additional 3 months of service with their 12 month subscription” as a thank you.

And lastly, iTunes Match will work for your music library only and will not match items such as your apps, books, movies, TV shows, ringtones or audiobooks.

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