iTunes Radio data usage

[BJB Productions]

I tried searching but surprisingly didn't see this previously posted. I'm simply wondering how much iTunes radio uses over cellular. I'd like to switch from Pandora in order to simplify where all my music is coming from, but I'm worried about using up too much data. I have only a 2gb plan. Anyone aware of how much it uses per song or on average? Pandora is pretty reasonable. (I'm just on a free account)

Thanks!

 

[ds705]

well i used it for maybe an hour and a half in two days and my data went up from 210 mb to 298 mb

 

[BJB Productions]

Okay, thanks. If anyone else notices how much it uses, feel free to let me know. Also, has it proved to beat Pandora when it comes to music selection?

 

[phillytim]

Is there any reason to expect that iTunes Radio would use any more or less than Pandora?

They are both simply streaming music.

 

[gentlefury]

It's pretty low. I use it everytime I'm in the car and my usage hasn't gotten any heavier than usual.

 

[ericg301]

Is there any reason to expect that iTunes Radio would use any more or less than Pandora?

They are both simply streaming music.

I believe Pandora streams at 128Kbps, iTunes radio is 256. So twice as much data for the same song.

 

[phillytim]

Well then, there's your answer. Pandora usage X 2.

I believe Pandora streams at 128Kbps, iTunes radio is 256. So twice as much data for the same song.

 

[gentlefury]

Well then, there's your answer. Pandora usage X 2.

I don't think that's accurate. One thing iTunes Radio does that Pandora does not do...it stores listened to songs in memory for future playback until memory is needed. So if you hear a song twice..the second time is free.

 

[BJB Productions]

Okay, well I'll just watch usage and see what happens. I'm still experimenting with which service provides better music selection that I like.

 

[gentlefury]

Okay, well I'll just watch usage and see what happens. I'm still experimenting with which service provides better music selection that I like.

So far, for me, iTunes Radio has blown away Pandora. I felt like I kept hearing the same 5 songs over and over on Pandora. I listened to iTunes Radio for a few hours the other day and never had a single repeated song. And it has settings for how obscure you want your music to be. By default it is set to hits. So it will play the best known songs for the station. Change it to Variety and you will get Hits plus some B-Sides. Change it to discovery and you will get the more obscure artists and B-sides. I LOVE that ability! That means you can have 2 stations with the same artist and have one be hits and one be discovery depending on your mood. Very cool! And if you already pay for iTunes Match you get commercial free Radio included!

 

[fuxl]

When you go into setting/cellular, down in the bottom it shows usage per application.
Just reset statistics, listen to iTunes radio for an hour and check again.

 

[gentlefury]

When you go into setting/cellular, down in the bottom it shows usage per application.
Just reset statistics, listen to iTunes radio for an hour and check again.

I've used 103MB since Fri when I got my 5S.

 

[BJB Productions]

I've used 103MB since Fri when I got my 5S.

How much listening time?

 

[gentlefury]

How much listening time?

Probably a few hours.

 

[Anonymous Freak]

I've listened for about an hour, (commute to work, and commute home,) and I'm at 129 MB of usage.

 

[LaynieGorilla]

Also, has it proved to beat Pandora when it comes to music selection?

I like Pandora better right now as far as music selection (they also have some stations I like that iTunes doesn't have). I am going to keep trying to tweak iTunes though, so I won't give up on it yet. It just seems that Pandora's choice of artists and music is more similar and satisfactory to my liking.

 

[Armen]

has it proved to beat Pandora when it comes to music selection?

All the songs that are played on iTunes radio are available for purchase from the iTunes store so does iTunes have more songs than Pandora? most likely.