iTunes Match down as Apple's iCloud issues continue [u]

Posted:
in iPod + iTunes + AppleTV edited January 2014
Only hours after a significant iMessage and FaceTime outage, Apple's iTunes Match was also unavailable Monday morning [update: back online].

Update: iTunes Match was once again available to users as of 11 a.m. Eastern on Monday.

The latest iCloud outage discovered by AppleInsider was still in effect as of around 8 a.m. Eastern. Attempts to play or download iTunes Match content via an iOS device or Mac was not operational.

Despite this issue affecting multiple users, Apple's iCloud website still advertised that all services are functional. It only acknowledged that "some" users were affected by an iMessage and FaceTime outage as of Sunday evening.

But while iMessage and FaceTime are free features for iOS and Mac users, iTunes Match is a paid service that users pay $24.99 per year to use. It allows customers to store their own personal music collection in Apple's iCloud, giving remote access to song files that were not purchased through the iTunes Music Store.

Attempts to play iTunes Match content Monday morning simply resulted in tracks sitting at "0:00" with no error messages.

iCloud


This week's outage was the fourth of its kind in the past three months, including one incident in September and two (1, 2) in October. While FaceTime calls were completely unavailable Sunday, attempts to send iMessages from an iPhone simply reverted to SMS texts to go through.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 29
    These issues may be caused due to the new iTunes about to come out in testing.
  • Reply 2 of 29
    What a joke. Neither of these services are down as beta, and central to my devices and usage. . I've said it before and say it again: apple and google should have found a way to not fight but work together with their respective strengths - apple's record on online stuff says it all.
  • Reply 3 of 29
    Rumor has it that iCloud is implemented in part using Microsoft's Azure. If true, one should not be surprised by iCloud's problems.
  • Reply 4 of 29
    macxpressmacxpress Posts: 5,801member


    It wouldn't be a day without some kind of iCloud service going down. I like Apple and I like iCloud when it works, but this is getting ridiculous! I'm glad its a free service or else I'd be canceling. 

  • Reply 5 of 29


    In fact, I think iMessage and Facetime were not only affected in the US, but also in Switzerland, suggesting it to be a more pan-global dysfunctioning of the two Apple services Apps.

  • Reply 6 of 29
    While reading this article, my iPad started playing music (from iTunes Match) that I has selected for it to play 30 minutes ago. Sadly, when trying to select any other songs to play, it won't play & only the original song I picked will play.
  • Reply 7 of 29
    apple ][apple ][ Posts: 9,233member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by macxpress View Post


    I'm glad its a free service or else I'd be canceling. 



     


    I pay $25 a year for iTunes Match. Not all iCloud services are free.

  • Reply 8 of 29


    Also outage in Belgium.

  • Reply 9 of 29


    My gym experience this morning was painful with none of my music. Glad it wasn't just me. I've had a myriad of issues with iTunes Match. I think after today it's back to local storage on my phone and relegate Match to just the iPad and Apple TV. While today was a complete outage, I'm constantly having issues streaming. And no it's not my phone with ~13M LTE at the same time and everything else working fine. 

  • Reply 10 of 29


    So, you're saying, "based on rumor", iCloud's disastrous performance and reliability issues are "in part" due to Microsoft's fault but "in full" due to Apple's ineptness because it can't even manage to create its own robust cloud infrastructure? I thought Apple is about to make a major headway in corporate world since Windows 8 et al. are sucks. 


    Quote:

    Originally Posted by waldobushman View Post



    Rumor has it that iCloud is implemented in part using Microsoft's Azure. If true, one should not be surprised by iCloud's problems.

  • Reply 11 of 29
    mac_128mac_128 Posts: 3,454member
    My gym experience this morning was painful with none of my music. Glad it wasn't just me. I've had a myriad of issues with iTunes Match. I think after today it's back to local storage on my phone and relegate Match to just the iPad and Apple TV. While today was a complete outage, I'm constantly having issues streaming. And no it's not my phone with ~13M LTE at the same time and everything else working fine. 
    Now you know why the iPod Classic is the 4th most popular iPod sold on Amazon.
  • Reply 12 of 29
    wdowell wrote: »
    I've said it before and say it again: apple and google should have found a way to not fight but work together with their respective strengths - apple's record on online stuff says it all.

    I would have to agree. Apple keeps failing and trying to re-brand to shake the stigma on its hosted offerings. Fundamentally, they don't have the "Internet company" DNA: scale with good cheap commodity components and pick up reliability through your software and graceful failover.

    Just the idea of the Maiden, NC data center is a joke, if they really spent $1B on it. This type of monolithic design is out of favor for a number of very good reasons.
  • Reply 13 of 29


    Originally Posted by aaarrrgggh View Post

    Just the idea of the Maiden, NC data center is a joke, if they really spent $1B on it. This type of monolithic design is out of favor for a number of very good reasons.


     


    Why?

  • Reply 14 of 29
    Its annoying but I have faith hey will fix this.
  • Reply 15 of 29

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Mac_128 View Post





    Now you know why the iPod Classic is the 4th most popular iPod sold on Amazon.


    I don't know, storing music locally as it's been done for the last few years on the iPhone is fine and works no different than an iPod. Naturally Match keeps updating it nice and easy, but for the piece of mind, I'll return to doing it the 'old' way. 

  • Reply 16 of 29
    solipsismxsolipsismx Posts: 19,566member
    wdowell wrote: »
    What a joke. Neither of these services are down as beta, and central to my devices and usage. . I've said it before and say it again: apple and google should have found a way to not fight but work together with their respective strengths - apple's record on online stuff says it all.

    Apple's iTunes Store and App Store seems very stable. That probably has more financial transactions than Amazon does and probably has more profit, even if it doesn't have more revenue.

    It's there iMessages, FaceTime, and iCloud services that seem to have issues. The question is why? They clearly understand rapid growth in a cloud environment so how can they continue to keep messing up on these services? Is it because it's not transactional but relational (just assuming)?

    I said back with MobileMe that they were doing it wrong. I was fine with paying the paltry sum for the service for what it offered but felt they should have had .Mac users test it first, then not allow the free 30-day trial without requiring a CC on file (which they later did) and/or having an invitation setup like Gmail did (they certainly should have done invitation for the iCloud). I think the problem is that Apple is still looking at problems like a small and nimble startup does — and that's fine, in general — but you can't do that for all aspects when your consumer base is so massive. You need to control growth so you can deal with problems on your terms.

    Rumor has it that iCloud is implemented in part using Microsoft's Azure. If true, one should not be surprised by iCloud's problems.

    I don't think we can blame Azure. Apple likely uses many vendors for cloud storage and processing didn't hear anything about Azure being down and Azure being down shouldn't affect all those Apple services.

    My gym experience this morning was painful with none of my music. Glad it wasn't just me. I've had a myriad of issues with iTunes Match. I think after today it's back to local storage on my phone and relegate Match to just the iPad and Apple TV. While today was a complete outage, I'm constantly having issues streaming. And no it's not my phone with ~13M LTE at the same time and everything else working fine. 

    So you're putting some songs on it locally and/or getting Spotify (or some other music service) to use in case that happens again?

    Kudos to you for still working out. If I didn't have music I would likely use that as an excuse to not work out. I have an iPod Shuffle in a waterproof case with waterproof headphones and about one a month the battery finally dies, and I think every time I fail to swim laps that day.

    I exercise because it's good for you but I don't care for the repetitive action of cardiovascular activity so I look for any reason to convince myself I don't have to.
  • Reply 17 of 29

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by SolipsismX View Post



    So you're putting some songs on it locally and/or getting Spotify (or some other music service) to use in case that happens again?

    Kudos to you for still working out. If I didn't have music I would likely use that as an excuse to not work out. I have an iPod Shuffle in a waterproof case with waterproof headphones and about one a month the battery finally dies, and I think every time I fail to swim laps that day.

    I exercise because it's good for you but I don't care for the repetitive action of cardiovascular activity so I look for any reason to convince myself I don't have to.


     


    I meant sync my playlists locally. I only use the free version of Spotify on the desktop. I have all the usual music apps, and substituted Pandora for this morning but still not the same. I'm a bit OCD about gym playlists for some reason, other situations not so much. It's a tough schedule, out the door at 4:15a to squeeze gym time in before the office at 7a. Such is life.

  • Reply 18 of 29
    iMessage is working here in Houston.
  • Reply 19 of 29
    solipsismxsolipsismx Posts: 19,566member
    I meant sync my playlists locally. I only use the free version of Spotify on the desktop. I have all the usual music apps, and substituted Pandora for this morning but still not the same. I'm a bit OCD about gym playlists for some reason, other situations not so much. It's a tough schedule, out the door at 4:15a to squeeze gym time in before the office at 7a. Such is life.

    And I thought I was an early riser at 5:00am and work at 7:30am.
  • Reply 20 of 29
    gatorguygatorguy Posts: 24,176member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by SolipsismX View Post





    And I thought I was an early riser at 5:00am and work at 7:30am.


    We're keeping the same schedule...image I spend the first 30 minutes on "clearing of the spam" on a couple of sites or I'd sleep in till 6:00

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