Latest iOS 7 Beta Includes Ability To Stream Videos That Aren't Stored On Your Device
June 24, 2013
In the second iOS 7 beta, users are now able to stream purchased content from the native Videos app.
When you access the app in iOS 7, you’re presented with items categorized by Movies, TV Shows, and Music Videos. When you click on an item, you see its title and icon, plus a Play button. The page also includes the year in which the item was released and its rating, when applicable.
Under Movies are two tabs, Details and Related. Under the first tab is a plot summary, run time, and genre. Under Related is a listing of like items, and links to the iTunes Store.
Under TV Shows, in addition to the Details and Related pages, is an Episode tab. At least in this beta, the only episodes listed here are those already purchased. For addition items, you must click on “Get More Episodes …” and buy them in iTunes.
The actual Play button is missing under TV Shows. Streaming, however, is still possible by clicking on the actual episode that you'd like to watch.
Finally, under Music Videos, you’ll see a Details and Related tab. The first shows length, release date, and file size.
The ability to stream content works on both the iPhone/iPod touch and iPad. However, at least for now, the item icons aren’t working on Apple’s tablet devices.
Keep in mind that this feature may not make it to the public version of iOS 7. In addition, if it does arrive, it could be limited to iTunes Match customers only. For now, it appears to be available for anyone using the iOS 7 Beta 2, not just iTunes Match customers.
As usual, we'll keep you updated.
We’ll continue posting information about the second iOS 7 beta as it becomes available. To access this, be sure to visit our iOS 7 page and refresh often.
The second iOS 7 beta was released earlier today, June 24. It is the first beta version that offers support for the iPad and iPad mini.
