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iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store for iPhone

Our weeks of obsessively checking for iPhone updates were rewarded today with software version 1.1.1. There are several changes, like a new Calculator icon (it now matches that of the iPod touch) and additional text message alert sounds.

The big news for iPhone users, however (those that survived the update, that is), is the iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store. Here are my impressions after spending a few minutes with it.

Look and Feel

Upon first launch, you're brought to the main screen. I had an excellent Wi-Fi connection and the store came up very quickly. Across the top are three buttons: "New Releases," "What's Hot" and "Genres." Below that are two banner ads and a scroll-able list of top releases. Flipping through the list was snappy, though it did take a second or two to draw album art towards the bottom of the list.

At the very bottom of the screen are four icons: "Featured," "Top Tens," "Search" and "Downloads."

It feels much snappier than I expected. The album art is nice and big and everything is quite legible.

Purchasing Music

I touched The Shepard's Dog by Iron & Wine (I intended to buy it anyway) and got a listing of the album's tracks. Tapping any title launches its 30 second preview almost immediately, just as tapping the price tag reveals the "Buy now" button.

I bought the album, and was prompted for my iTunes Store password. The selected music seems to "jump" down into the "Downloads" icon, and a small, red indicator slowly flashes red, indicating the number of tracks remaining.

Again I was amazed at how quickly it downloaded: 3MB and 4MB songs were taking 3 and 4 seconds.

Once the download was complete, a button for the newly-created "Purchased" playlist appeared in the upper right hand corner. Clicking it quit iTunes and launched the iPod software, where my music was ready to play. The whole process was fast and dead simple. Apple obviously contemplated (and nailed) every last detail.

Synchronizing with iTunes

Again, this was laughably easy. With my iPhone connected to my Mac, I launched iTunes and started a sync. iTunes saw and imported the new music. It also created a new, "Purchased on Dave's iPhone" playlist.

Other Features

  • Live search: iTunes begins searching as soon as you start typing, which is pretty cool.
  • Top Tens: Quickly jump to the top ten songs across genres, or view the store's over all top ten downloads.
  • Download Extras: If an album contains extras, like a digital booklet or a video, it's described beneath the list of album tracks.
This is a very nice piece of software: Speedy, simple and similar enough to the "full"version of the iTunes Store that there's no learning curve at all. Feel free to share your own experiences in the comments.

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Our weeks of obsessively checking for iPhone updates were rewarded today with software version 1.1.1. There are several changes, like a new...
 

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kingotho

While I won't say that losing the hacked apps was worth having this update (I'm convinced the only reason they did it was so the Wi-Fi Store icon points down into the iPod icon), it is cool having the entire iTunes Store library right in your pocket. Other than that, I wish I was playing MegaMan II right now.

September 28 2007 at 2:19 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Roger Rees

Any way to change the order it presents the ton tens? It's a pain to have to scroll to the bottom to get more top tens and then have to scroll again to select the genre I want.

September 28 2007 at 10:50 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
level76

The thing I don't like is if I buy an album it places the songs in the purchased folder rather than in its own play list. Am I missing a feature here?

September 28 2007 at 10:49 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Garrett

@ #27 - I did that and it still wont let me do it. It's really weird, I'm hardly new to using the regular itunes store. Maybe apple just doesn't want me to give them any more money.

September 28 2007 at 9:38 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Pedro

@32, I'm in total agreement. Apple seems to think that Wifi is everywhere and that we all have paid accounts at our local Starbucks in case we have a burning desire to step in and download a track. Even just the ability to search would be fantastic.
It's the times you are at a restaurant and someone mentions a song you should really check out that you would MOST want the music store.

September 28 2007 at 9:27 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
h8rain

Even if it was slow to download on EDGE (how big are YouTube videos?), I still want the option. I was most excited about being able to search for music anywhere. At the very least give us the ability to browse, preview, and shop. Then when you sync at home it downloads. I think that is a fair compromise.

I am disappointed, but this is v1.0 of the mobile store, so maybe they change their minds.

September 28 2007 at 9:20 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
MikeD

ahhhh - thanks, Chris - that makes it seem a little less nefarious

September 28 2007 at 8:23 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Chris Newton

@29, I believe this is tied to your iTunes acct preferences, whether you'd like to see the +tracks or the regular. If you set your account to the non+ tracks, you'll probably see .99 price.

Also, I bought a + album tonight on the wifi store for $9.99. I don't know if it's a bug or what, but I was expecting the $12.99 price.

September 28 2007 at 8:20 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
MikeD

I bought a track just to see how it works. The one I bought happened to be one of the tracks that is available as iTunes plus. I can't see where there's an option, through the WiFi store, to buy "plus" tracks at .99, rather than $1.29 Anyone else think this is just a little greedy?

September 28 2007 at 7:56 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Buck

The only thing I don't like is how the extra button makes the home screen lopsided (well, that and no podcasts). Until Apple comes out with three more apps, I wish I had the option to remove another icon that I don't use much and substitute the download app.

September 28 2007 at 3:01 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
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