Apple patents offline purchases on iTunes using "credits" per device

 

A patent published today by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office shows how users will be able to make music or video purchases on iTunes while offline from their devices.

On Tuesday, Apple received a patent for an offline purchasing system that will allow users to make purchases on iTunes, such as music, movies, and other media, even without an internet connection. The system will allow users to buy credits through their mobile device or iTunes. (How do you buy credits? It's easy: users can purchase credits using a credit card, bank account, or a service like PayPal, just as they would buy content directly from iTunes.) The next step is to store these credits for later use. These credits will be stored in a prepaid account and can be spent in the iTunes Store when the user is not connected to the internet or Wi-Fi.

Are you currently offline and want to play a song or download a video from iTunes? Since you couldn't make purchases directly without an internet connection, you can now use your prepaid credits to pay for and unlock these items. This way, you can complete the entire transaction without an internet connection.

Reportedly, the technology added to this purchasing system could boost iTunes sales. If so, this improvement would be beneficial for both the company and the user, as the last major change to iTunes came when Apple introduced iTunes Match, an iCloud service that allows users to access their music collection in iCloud, including tracks imported from CDs, for an annual fee.

In addition to all this, we'd like to share a rumor about iTunes, where a computer integration system might soon be added to iCloud, bringing significant improvements to the online shopping service, such as sharing music or gifting it to another user. It's still unknown whether or when Apple plans to release the online authentication functionality, but the device-specific solution could theoretically be implemented with a firmware update.

All that remains for us to say is that iTunes users who are always connected may not see this new system as an improvement or a necessity, but for people who use Wi-Fi or a wireless connection, this system is very useful, since being able to buy a favorite song or video without having to go online will be very helpful.