Amazon adds iOS support to Cloud Player in mobile Safari

By Adam Rosenberg May 8, 2011

Back at the end of March, Amazon got the jump on the competition when it launched the Cloud Drive remote data storage service and associated music-streaming Cloud Player. Apple and Google are both working on similar offerings, but Amazon got there first. The launch wasn’t perfect, with Sony making a stink over Amazon not securing the necessary music-streaming licenses and no support for iOS, but the second of those issues at least has now been addressed.

Amazon went in and added iOS support to Cloud Player without telling anyone. There’s no app for that, it only works in mobile Safari, but your music library is at least accessible now from your iPhone and iPad. You can bet that the company is working on a multi-platform app solution too; it’s just good sense.

Cloud Player is confirmed to work on the latest Apple devices, as well as the iPhone 3GS and original iPad, Engadget reports following hands-on testing. The interface mirrors the one you’d see in a proper computer browser and the service works smoothly, provided of course that you have an Internet connection. The player also apparently integrates with the iOS multitasking features, allowing you to play/pause and shuffle through songs while inside a different app. The only downside that Engadget notes is the absence of drag-and-drop playlist editing. Still, iOS support is an important step for Amazon to take if it hopes to keep the new Cloud Player users coming.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Previously, Adam worked in the games press as a freelance writer and critic for a range of outlets, including Digital Trends…

Mobile

How to find your lost phone (tips for iPhone and Android)

The Motorola Edge Plus 2023 lying next to the Galaxy S23 Ultra and iPhone 14 Pro.

Not knowing how to find your smartphone can cause a real panic when the need arises. It likely has way too much information about you, has access to your bank details and stock portfolio, and can grant access into pretty much any personal sphere of your life. Plus, you're likely addicted to your smartphone in ways that no device has ever addicted humankind before. In short, if you've lost your phone, you may start to panic.

Mobile

Here’s how Apple could change your iPhone forever

An iPhone 15 Pro Max laying on its back, showing its home screen.

Over the past few months, Apple has released a steady stream of research papers detailing its work with generative AI. So far, Apple has been tight-lipped about what exactly is cooking in its research labs, while rumors circulate that Apple is in talks with Google to license its Gemini AI for iPhones.

But there have been a couple of teasers of what we can expect. In February, an Apple research paper detailed an open-source model called MLLM-Guided Image Editing (MGIE) that is capable of media editing using natural language instructions from users. Now, another research paper on Ferret UI has sent the AI community into a frenzy.

Mobile

There’s a big problem with the iPhone’s Photos app

The Apple iPhone 15 Plus's gallery app.

While my primary device these days continues to be my iPhone 15 Pro, I’ve dabbled with plenty of Android phones since I’ve been here at Digital Trends. One of my favorite brands of phone has been the Google Pixel because of its strong suite of photo-editing tools and good camera hardware.

Google first added the Magic Eraser capability with the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro, which is a tool I love using. Then, with the Pixel 8 series, Google added the Magic Editor, which uses generative AI to make edits that wouldn’t be possible otherwise. There are also tools like Photo Unblur, which is great for old photographs and enhancing images that were captured with low-quality sensors.