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How to access iTunes library on iPad/iPhone from remote server?

N

NJRonbo

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Jan 10, 2007
3,235
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I have an iPhone and iPad.

Both with iTunes....obviously.

I have about 160GB of music stored on a home media server. It is backed up from an iTunes library, so it has the necessary structure to preserve iTunes playlists and specific categories that I have made.

It's too much music to store on the iPhone or iPad, but I would like to bring iTunes (or music app) up on either device and be able to stream the music off of that server.

How do I point my iOS app to that server?

Is there a software program that will connect the two?

It's important that all my playlists come up as they would if I launched iTunes on my computer.

Can this be done?

Thank you in advance!
 
Sure...

My bad on this. I thought you meant locally.

iTunes Match is your best bet.
 
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I believe you can do it if you leave iTunes running on your home machine. See the part of this article about home sharing, ssh and connecting to your server.

http://www.maclife.com/article/howtos/how_set_itunes_home_server

I have never done this myself because my DSL connection back here in the woods is really slow. :confused:

I'm sure there are other ways using apps. For example, I know that my Time Capsule supports "back to my mac" and that should allow access to my media files.
 
If you want to use Apple's own Music app on your iPhone or iPad, you'll need to have a Mac or PC running iTunes acting as a server on your network. I believe the music files don't actually need to be stored on the Mac/PC. iTunes on your Mac/PC could be pointing to a folder on a NAS or external drive. Alternatively, just use iTunes match as others have suggested.

If you don't mind using a 3rd party iOS music app, there are other ways that don't involve leaving a Mac/PC running or using iTunes match. If you want to explore this, what server do you have?
 
I have an external hard drive plugged into my Airport Extreme and I'm able to access files on that hard drive from my iPhone via FileExplorer (3rd party app).
 
NJRonbo said:
I have an iPhone and iPad.

Both with iTunes....obviously.

I have about 160GB of music stored on a home media server. It is backed up from an iTunes library, so it has the necessary structure to preserve iTunes playlists and specific categories that I have made.

It's too much music to store on the iPhone or iPad, but I would like to bring iTunes (or music app) up on either device and be able to stream the music off of that server.

How do I point my iOS app to that server?

Is there a software program that will connect the two?

It's important that all my playlists come up as they would if I launched iTunes on my computer.

Can this be done?

Thank you in advance!
Click to expand...

If you meant OUTSIDE your home network....

$25 a year, iTunes Match will do all that. Any updates you make on 1 device/computer is reflected on all the others. So for example I can spend time listening to my big library at work on my office computer and add ratings or tags to certain songs. It then propagates those songs into the playlists at home and on my iPhone and when I plug in an iPod at home they get the newly added songs.

I was trying to be crafty about it before, but then I said screw it, for $25 the integration Match offers is WELL worth it.
 
No -- and I apologize for not being more specific -- within my home network.

I just want to have my iPhone or iPad point to my home media server drive and play music off of that instead of having to store the music on the iOS device.
 
I currently testing and reviewing a Seagate Home Media Server for my website

http://www.seagate.com/products/network-attached-storage/home-network/personal-cloud/

So, I am storing my music files there and want to play my iTunes off of it.

I can do it on my computer, easily, because it is hooked to my home network, shows up as a device on my desktop, and I can point to it when launching iTunes.

Just can't seem to do it on a mobile app.
 
I have a few thoughts but will post later in day - a bit busy at the moment
 
NJRonbo said:
I currently testing and reviewing a Seagate Home Media Server for my website

http://www.seagate.com/products/network-attached-storage/home-network/personal-cloud/

So, I am storing my music files there and want to play my iTunes off of it.

I can do it on my computer, easily, because it is hooked to my home network, shows up as a device on my desktop, and I can point to it when launching iTunes.

Just can't seem to do it on a mobile app.
Click to expand...

You souldn't be expecting to see your Seagate server-based media in Apple's own iOS Music & Video apps (even if you can see them in iTunes on your Mac/PC). I think this is a general issue with NAS-based servers. I have a Synology NAS which has so-called iTunes server functionality built in. I can see my NAS-based media in iTunes on Mac/PC but not in iOS Music or Video (and not on Apple TV for that matter).

If you really want to use Apple's iOS Music/Video apps one option you have is to keep a Mac or PC switched on and running iTunes with Home Sharing switched on. iTunes will act as a server that iOS Music and Video can connect to. Another option is to use iTunes Match for a relatively inexpensive fee.

If you don't want to keep a Mac/PC running, and don't want to use iTunes Match, it looks to me like your best option will be to use Seagate's own Seagate Media app to directly access the media on the Seagate server when using your iOS device: http://www.seagate.com/gb/en/services-software/apps/seagate-media-app/

If for some reason you don't want to do that, another option would be to switch on DLNA/UPnP functionality on your server.
http://www.seagate.com/gb/en/manual...os/shares-access-transfer-files/media-server/

You would then need to find an iOS app that can act as a DLNA/UPnP client.
These exist, but I don't use them myself so don't have a specific recommendation.
Here's a starting point: http://appadvice.com/appguides/show/dlna-streaming
 
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Ozaz,

Very much appreciate you taking the time to pen this response.

Will look this over carefully. May have additional questions at some point.

Thank You
 
Dave,

Appreciate this. It COULD be the answer I am looking for.

The problem is, I don't want to spend $6 on an app that may not work.

There is no free trial.

Not sure if this would work with a Seagate remote server. I know that I simply cannot point my backed up iTunes library on that server to iTunes without it crashing. So, not confident this would work either.

It's a gamble I have to think about taking.
 
Plex is a good one.

So easy to use. You can get an old Mac Mini or something and have it act as a server...I use my home Mac Pro.

The web player is free, iphone app is $5, so worth it. I don't even store anything on my iPhone anymore even though I have a 64GB iPhone 6. I either use spotify or my own collection and soundcloud and I'm pretty happy.
 
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SDAVE said:
Plex is a good one.

So easy to use. You can get an old Mac Mini or something and have it act as a server...I use my home Mac Pro.

The web player is free, iphone app is $5, so worth it. I don't even store anything on my iPhone anymore even though I have a 64GB iPhone 6. I either use spotify or my own collection and soundcloud and I'm pretty happy.
Click to expand...
Don't you need to be on a local server to use it without paying a fee?
 
Uofmtiger said:
Don't you need to be on a local server to use it without paying a fee?
Click to expand...

Nope. You access your library through plex.tv web app or iOS app. You must have the Plex OSX software running all the time and open up a port - it's pretty straight forward. You can also share your movie library from iTunes and stream anywhere in the world.

It's all free. Give it a shot. You don't have to purchase the iOS app, try it through a web browser first.
 
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