Amazon quietly began supporting streaming music from its web-based Cloud Player to iOS devices. The move is significant, as Apple is expected to roll out a service that would do essentially the same thing via a cloud-based version of iTunes.
Amazon has already released a Cloud Player app for Android. This latest iOS compatibility only works through the Mobile Safari browser, which is not as convenient as a streamlined mobile application.
The company has been mum about whether it will offer an iOS version of its app. Given Apple’s plans to move its content business to the cloud, there’s no guarantee the iPhone maker would approve such an app for distribution through the App Store.
Amazon released its cloud storage locker and music player at the end of March. The service allows users to buy and upload music to Amazon’s cloud and then stream that music to any device.
Amazon has been under scrutiny for acquiring a license to stream music from the cloud. Amazon argues that its users are storing music that they own on the cloud and then streaming that music to their own devices, which is not the same as what services like Rhapsody do, offering large catalogs of licensed music for streaming to all of their customers.
