Apple Purging Developers’ iTunes Match Data, iCloud Is Getting Closer

Apple Purging Developers’ iTunes Match Data, iCloud Is Getting Closer:

It’s no secret that the fall season officially arrived on Friday, and that means that Apple is putting the final touches on all the goodness in store for us. While exactly when that will be happening is up for debate, developers have been notified that their iTunes Match cloud data will be purged on Monday to help get the service ready.

MacRumors is reporting that developers were notified over the weekend that their iTunes Match cloud data will be getting purged on Monday, September 26 -- yes, that’s today -- at 9am PST (high noon EST). Developers have been getting a first crack at testing iTunes Match ahead of the iCloud launch this fall, but were warned from the beginning that their libraries would occasionally be purged as part of testing. Today’s data purge is the first such occasion.

“To continue to improve the overall quality and reliability of iTunes Match, it has become necessary to delete all current iCloud libraries,” the email to developers explains. “All iCloud libraries will be deleted on Monday, September 26th at 9AM PDT. To prepare, please turn off iTunes Match on all of your computers and iOS devices. On your computer, choose Store > Turn off iTunes Match. On your iOS device, tap Settings > Music, then turn off iTunes Match.”

Apple has previously warned developers not to delete song files from their iTunes libraries on the computer, making the only inconvenience in the purging process the need to once again scan and match a user’s library and again upload files that weren’t matched. Given early reports that the matching process didn’t work out all that well, in theory developers should have to upload even fewer tracks this time around.

“The songs on your computer should not be affected,” Apple’s email to developers concludes. “As always, please backup regularly and do not delete the music you add to iCloud from your computer.”

Rumors abound that Apple is about to push out a gold master release of iOS 5, which is required to take advantage of iTunes Match and iCloud. October 4 has been pegged as the date when Cupertino will finally unveil the latest iPhone and all the other goodies they’ve been working on all summer, which means we should all be able to get our hands on iCloud soon enough.

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