While there are ~200 new features in iOS 6, (full list can be found at iMore) one feature that didn’t get any public exposure during the WWDC keynote and is a huge step forward in our mind — legitimate music streaming in iTunes Match.

When iOS 5 launched last year, Apple launched iTunes Match along with it — a $25/year service that makes putting your music in the cloud and then accessing it abroad super easy. Well, the act of re-downloading your music is easy. Though, considering how difficult Apple used to be with this, any ability to bulk re-download previously purchased music is a major victory in and of itself. But as awesome as iTunes Match has been in our lives, it’s not perfect.

For example, iTunes Match lacked legitimate streaming. When clicking on a song located on iCloud via iTunes Match, it would start playing right away, however, you would also have be forced to download said song, too.

In iOS 6, Apple is finally bringing legitimate music streaming to iTunes/Match/iCloud. Now, tapping on a song in iCloud will begin playing it instantly, and a separate tap/action is needed to actually download it.

It may seem small, but considering Apple’s biggest competitors already offer the ability to stream their libraries, we think it’s a big step forward. Not to mention, Apple hasn’t upgraded local storage options in iPod/iPad/iPhone devices in a couple years. We don’t know about you, but our music library isn’t getting any smaller. Streaming of iTunes Match/iCloud music will allow us to take more/all of our music with us and not have to worry so much about local storage anymore.

If you haven’t checked out the full 200-count new feature list over at

• Share on Twitter
• Share on Facebook
• Share via E-Mail
• Save to Del.icio.us