iOS 6 Hands-On: iTunes Match Now Streams Music
Now when you tap to play a song, it begins playing, and you still have the option to download it. With iOS 6, you can choose to just listen right now with an online connection, or download for offline listening. iTunes Match has become a streaming service in the beta. We confirmed it, by playing a few songs, then turning off iTunes Match, and seeing that the music folder then had no music. In iOS 5, the few tracks you listened to are stored.