iOS Devices Get Google Music Web App

Google Music beta (limited invite only beta) has been out for a few months and the service is excellent. The initial process can be very time consuming, depending upon the size of your collection, since it effectively uploads all of your music to the cloud. The Mac application works in the background and will upload any non-DRM tracks that I add to iTunes, so it’s immediately available within Google Music. Once completed, you can access and play your music from any web browser. Android owners have also been able to use the dedicated Google Music app. In my case, a limited storage Nexus One can now access any song from 40GB plus music library. While it would be great to have a dedicated iOS app, Google today introduced a new Music beta web app, accessible directly through Safari. Initial impressions are that it’s quite good and a great first step in lieu of a full blown iOS app.

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In my brief usage, the app works quite well. It’s very basic, with tabs for Artists, Albums, Songs, Playlists and Genres. Google Music supports playlists created within iTunes, for even further convenience. Sliding along the alphabet along the right side of the app allows you to move rather quickly within the app. The search tool also found artists with ease. Scrolling is surprisingly smooth.

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Apple will take the wraps off iCloud in the coming weeks, but it’s quite different from Google Music. iCloud will allow you to download music that might not be on your iPhone, but it won’t let you stream music without first downloading it. With my 32GB iPhone, I will be able to access any song with my 40GB collection with little effort using this new web app. It also frees up valuable space for apps and/or vides. With iCloud, the track must be either on my iPhone or will need to be downloaded from iCloud. Google Music essentially means that an 8GB device is more than adequate given the streaming capabilities. With iCloud, you’re still relying on storage and pesky space limitations of your device.

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In any event, those of you with a Google Music account should be pleased as punch. If you are on the outside looking in, this is one invitation you’ll want to accept, even more so given the new web app. You can href="http://music.google.com/about/">request an invitation by visiting Google Music.

Source: href="http://techcrunch.com/2011/09/08/google-music-beta-ios/">Tech Crunch