Winamp takes to the Cloud in latest beta
Update: Please note that Winamp software and services will be closed down on December 20, 2013. The cloud service won't be available anymore from that moment forward, while software clients will continue to work.
Winamp Cloud is a new feature of the popular music streaming client Winamp that is currently in beta state. The idea behind it is to provide Winamp users with access to their music regardless of where they are or which device they use. While not compatible with all devices out there, you do get access to the cloud using Winamp Media Player on PC or Macintosh systems, Google Android, and directly in web browsers such as Firefox, Google Chrome or Internet Explorer.
Winamp Cloud is invite only at the time of writing. You can sign up for beta access on the official cloud website. Note though that you need to authenticate using a Facebook account to do so as there is no other option to sign up for beta access.
Once you have gone through the authentication you are added to a waiting list. Winamp announced that it will invite users on the waiting list regularly so that they can start using the service.
The cloud is currently only supported in the latest Winamp Beta which you can download from Winamp Labs. Winamp notes that beta versions are not yet "release ready" and that "crashes are possible".
You can only use the cloud functionality in Winamp if you have received an invitation to participate in the beta of the new service.
You need to sign in to your Cloud Account in the preferences under Media Library > Cloud Library. The library itself becomes then available in Winamp's Library module.
It is not really clear how the feature will work out once it is made available to the public. What is clear is that you can use it to synchronize at least part of your local music collection with the cloud storage, and from there to other devices the account is connected with.
It seems possible to use other storage platforms as well, at least that is suggested by the reset cloud library option in the preferences:
This will reset your Cloud library and all know sources back to that of a fresh install. This will also remove any files which have been uploaded to the Cloud Library or associated with other storage platforms, e.g. Dropbox.
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I suppose they will make it possible to stream the songs in Winamp playlist on your android Winamp? If this is the case i will use it as i already have both apps.
I still don’t know, if “Winamp Cloud development is currently on hold.” or if it is really dead, but it would be a pity. The bookmarked link to Winamp Cloud doesn’t work anymore in Internet Explorer, Firefox & Chrome. Maybe after some further months I will get the final answer. Also if Winamp Cloud is really dead, and I am thinking “yes”, I have so many other music-playlists, which I can access from each computer and each browser. At least the installed Winamps are still working, and I have all the important radio-streams in a very long .m3u-file…