iOS 8.4 Removes Home Sharing for Music

[QuiteSure]

Agree entirely. I think the problem is that Apple keeps trying different things hoping to see what'll catch on (or more recently, earn recurring subscription income).

Every time their "latest-and-greatest-idea" doesn't pan out, they try something new, but remnants of the old remain in place to support customers who, literally, bought into the idea. Home sharing, by comparison, was a freebie, so they're probably hoping they can just bury it quietly?

In this case, Apple is playing catchup to Spotify and other streaming services, after suffering from Steve Jobs' legacy "People want to own their music". (Jobs also insisted that people wanted smaller phones) So Apple had to launch a streaming service, because streaming has proven to be so popular.

I still believe based on the release notes that both home sharing and genius playlists will come back. Remember, Apple really alienated its pro user community when it released FCPX. Now, 3 years later, most of the features that were originally left out have come back.

 

[Lounge Deluxe]

All my iOS devices at home weren't able to fully load the iTunes music Library present on the iTunes Server at home (a 2012 Mac Mini) so Apple already sucks to me a long time in this regard.

Loading always stops half way to never continue again.

 

[kultschar]

Home Sharing is intact on my home network and all devices, as before. I have not enabled the  music trial.
Therefore, it is not 8.4 which removes home sharing,but signing up that does it.

Sorry thats wrong!! Home Sharing for music is gone on iOS devices (and no I have not signed up to Apple Music). Its still there for Video so don't believe its a "issue" that will be fixed.

Like many Im living in a remote location with limited Internet usage - streaming is no good at all! I also know people who work out at sea etc and use Home Sharing to access music from their cabins etc Im sure there are many other examples of this.

This really is a stupid move and lets face it is their so you click that Apple Music trial / subscription.

 

[kultschar]

I don't buy the "issue" thing. It works for videos.

Call me cynical but its funny how its broken on the very release that Apple Music is launched

 

[Arran]

You missed one! ...Do you remember, there was already music sharing via iTunes before Home Sharing came out?

You're right. Another way to share. I'd completely forgotten about that one. Even used it myself.

 

[Arran]

...and lets face it is their so you click that Apple Music trial / subscription.

It sort-of smells like it doesn't it?

I think what disappoints me the most is that this manipulation is becoming so overt. So lazy, mainstream and un-creative. So un-Apple.

In the past, Apple would skillfully persuade us into buying by having the best product offering and doing the right thing by customers.

Nowadays, with these painfully obvious "manipulations", Apple's starting to resemble its sad competitors of the past. I hate to say it, but Apple's starting to make Microsoft look good!

 

[rfrmac]

Just a day after the release of iOS 8.4, which includes Apple's brand new music service Apple Music, many users on both the MacRumors forums and Apple Support communities are finding that the update removes Home Sharing for music on iOS devices. This breaks the ability for users to share their iTunes Library over Wi-Fi from their mobile devices.

Apple yesterday updated a Home Sharing support document to note that Home Sharing on iOS devices is only limited to video. Thus far, Home Sharing for music still appears to be available for both Mac and Apple TV. Additionally, while the Music page in iOS' Settings once listed a Home Sharing option prior to iOS 8.4, the option is no longer there in the new Apple Music settings page in iOS 8.4.

As pointed out by AppleInsider, the release notes for iOS 8.4 beta 4 mentioned that Home Sharing and Genius Mixes were "not currently available", offering the possibility that the feature could return in future versions of iOS.

While the possibility of Home Sharing for music returning on iOS devices is there, it's unclear whether Apple would return the option for non-subscribers of Apple Music. The music service includes the ability to sign up for a $14.99-a-month family plan, which allows access for up to 6 people.

Article Link: iOS 8.4 Removes Home Sharing for Music

Just a day after the release of iOS 8.4, which includes Apple's brand new music service Apple Music, many users on both the MacRumors forums and Apple Support communities are finding that the update removes Home Sharing for music on iOS devices. This breaks the ability for users to share their iTunes Library over Wi-Fi from their mobile devices.

Apple yesterday updated a Home Sharing support document to note that Home Sharing on iOS devices is only limited to video. Thus far, Home Sharing for music still appears to be available for both Mac and Apple TV. Additionally, while the Music page in iOS' Settings once listed a Home Sharing option prior to iOS 8.4, the option is no longer there in the new Apple Music settings page in iOS 8.4.

As pointed out by AppleInsider, the release notes for iOS 8.4 beta 4 mentioned that Home Sharing and Genius Mixes were "not currently available", offering the possibility that the feature could return in future versions of iOS.

While the possibility of Home Sharing for music returning on iOS devices is there, it's unclear whether Apple would return the option for non-subscribers of Apple Music. The music service includes the ability to sign up for a $14.99-a-month family plan, which allows access for up to 6 people.

Article Link: iOS 8.4 Removes Home Sharing for Music

 

[Benjamin Frost]

That won't do you any good with headphones or a dock to play from your library locally. In other words, Remote requires an Airplay capable device to send the output to (i.e. I cannot send output from iTunes to an iPod Touch or iPhone, only things like Airplay speakers, receivers, Apple TVs and Airport Express units).



I've read one theory elsewhere that Apple Music is licensed to play on only one device at a time and that some way, some how having the ability to access your home library with Apple Music on it might offer some way to "home share" that music to multiple devices. I personally don't see how as long as iTunes makes a distinction between your music library and whatever Apple Music streams. I haven't looked at the new iTunes, but if there is no real distinction (e.g. there is no distinction in iTunes between movies stored locally and "iCloud" versions stored on Apple servers, but the difference is that you "OWN" the license/right to watch those movies and songs whereas Apple Music is licensed for only ONE device at a time and the music available to stream can potentially change over time if an artist pulls their music (e.g. Netflix changes their streaming catalogs ALL THE TIME and too bad if you wanted to watch such and such movie when it changes). Even so, all iTunes has to do is flag streaming songs to not "home share" in iTunes and the problem would be solved.

But again, that possible "reason" for dropping home sharing (for now) was speculation on another site (I think it was a MacWorld article). If it is the reason that means the iTunes team screwed it up and the iOS team "fixed" it by wiping out home sharing. That's an absurd "fix". Logically speaking, it makes more sense that Apple wants to "encourage" you to get Apple Music rather than "buy" songs. In fact, I wouldn't be shocked if LONG LONG TERM Apple would prefer to stop selling music altogether and just "rent" it as the profits would never end that way (i.e. you buy only once, but you rent forever). Of course, something like AirFoil could get around this limitation for your home network with no difficulty, making it rather moot. Of course, whether AirFoil will even work in El Captain with the new rootless security remains to be seen. I fully expect things like Xtrafinder to not work period in El Capitain without disabling rootless entirely.

Of course, people should let Apple know how unhappy they are with this change. But we all saw how much good that did with the free trial artist royalty thing. Obviously, someone famous is needed to scold Apple into fixing this situation. Ordinary humans mean nothing to Apple feedback.



I don't even know WTF this means. Home sharing wasn't an "App". It's an OPTION to load your home library on your iOS device. AppleTV isn't affected nor will it be affected since that's its entire job (well they could affect it, but then no one will buy it anymore). Having it on your iPhone/iPod Touch is just a convenient feature to listen to ALL your library at home with headphones or whatever. As someone pointed out above, the REMOTE App allows you to manage your home library to send to any Airplay receiving device. The problem for headphones is that iPhones and iPod Touches aren't Airplay RECEIVERS.

Indeed.

I postulated the same thing recently—that Apple would prefer everyone to rent in perpetuity and not buy anything. It's a future I fear.

 

[manu chao]

That's not true particularly for mixes of various songs.

I meant that Apple Music includes iTunes Match, ie, that like with iTunes Match, any songs not inside their library but in your local library will be uploaded to Apple's servers from which you can then stream it.

 

[manu chao]

Not if you have over 25,000 songs. Which you may well have if you had a large CD collection before iTunes came along.

And that limit is being raised to 100'000 with iOS 9. And I don't know how that limit worked with iTunes Match: did the user have any control which 25'000 songs were uploaded? If yes, not uploading the songs that exist in Apple's own library likely should allow the upload of all other songs in your library.

 

[OllyW]

And I don't know how that limit worked with iTunes Match: did the user have any control which 25'000 songs were uploaded?

If you try to submit a library containing more than 25,000 songs your request is rejected. There is no way to pick which content is added, your library has to be below the limit.

 

[Paradoxally]

The antitrust suit should be filed any minute. In fact Apple has already lost over a similar issue with the early iPod. They cannot limit your access to your own files on the device. This is the kind of thing that makes me not upgrade. Fk Apple Music.

You Americans and your lawsuits....mess.

Apple are not limiting anything. Sync your music if you hate Apple Music. Home Sharing was only for the home anyway, how you gonna listen to your library outside?

 

[LordVic]

You Americans and your lawsuits....mess.

Apple are not limiting anything. Sync your music if you hate Apple Music. Home Sharing was only for the home anyway, how you gonna listen to your library outside?

what do you mean "you americans and your lawsuits"
when it comes to Anti-trust cases, I think the EU pretty much tops that one

in the states, you tend to get more Corporate v Corporate cases. or person to person. But the EU is defintitely king of Governments vs corporations

 

[rudychidiac]

Oh well, it never worked anyway. Even though i have the latest Airport Extreme, it took forever to load my music library on iPhone...

 

[tentales]

Do you have a link to info on the Match changes?

I don't consider a "watermark" to be DRM which in the context of music always meant it was locked to authorized devices. What I don't want is for music I add on one computer to locked to other computers using Match. In other words, I don't want to have to have a "master" iTunes computer that feeds the cloud.

It can be argued that watermarking is a form of DRM, in the sense that the 'R' stands for "Rights" and not "Restriction".
AFAIK, AppleMusic is Restricted DRM, iTunes Match is not.
I'm not aware of any changes to it: https://www.apple.com/itunes/itunes-match/
The FAQ has not been altered and songs are still matched but watermarked upon redownloading and if previously in lossless format, they are converted to 256kbps.

So no worries, the scenario you describe is not applicable here. The subject at odds here is the removal of Home sharing on iOS devices. With or without Match, you can not stream music FROM your master iTunes computer TO your iOS devices in 8.4, except via remote control using Airplay enabled 3rd party devices. A lot of us have built-up an eco system around the home sharing function. With iPod/iPhones in speaker docks around the house pulling music off of the master library.

The bone we have with Apple is to restore that functionality you have to subscribe to their pay-services and use up data that for many is capped.

Maybe it's been answered somewhere, but is it working in iOS9 developer release or not ?

 

[tentales]

Oh well, it never worked anyway. Even though i have the latest Airport Extreme, it took forever to load my music library on iPhone...

It's been working great for many years for me. After the initial loading time (about 3-5 mins) of 12'000 songs, access is instantaneous for me.

 

[Lounge Deluxe]

It's been working great for many years for me. After the initial loading time (about 3-5 mins) of 12'000 songs, access is instantaneous for me.

Sure 12,000 songs may work fine, but to those of us that have libraries of 50,000+ songs (mine has 74,000) it doesn't work and never has, probably due to the library file size.

 

[GlastoEls]

This may have been covered, but can I now not AirPlay my (CD ripped) mp3s from iPhone to Apple TV?

 

[tentales]

This may have been covered, but can I now not AirPlay my (CD ripped) mp3s from iPhone to Apple TV?

No you still can. Home Sharing is different from AirPlay. Any iOS Device on 8.4 cannot stream music from your Mac based iTunes Library via Home Sharing. So if your total Music library exceeds the capacity of your iOS Device to store it, you will now have to selectively sync your Music that you want to play on your iPhone/iPod/iPad unless you pay Apple a fee to do so from the cloud instead.

 

[GlastoEls]

No you still can. Home Sharing is different from AirPlay. Any iOS Device on 8.4 cannot stream music from your Mac based iTunes Library via Home Sharing. So if your total Music library exceeds the capacity of your iOS Device to store it, you will now have to selectively sync your Music that you want to play on your iPhone/iPod/iPad unless you pay Apple a fee to do so from the cloud instead.

Thank you - appreciate the reply a lot.

 

[George Bailey]

What does Apple music have to do with the fact that I OWN all the music that is in my computer so I should be able to share it with anyone in my HOME? It's not like I can share outside of my network. Stupid.

You still can. Surprisingly, your computer was not affected by the iOS update.

 

[paysdoufs]

I've honestly had it with Apple: Un-upgradeable computers, (almost) forced and (definitely) irreversible yearly OS updates, and now no more home sharing...

In the short term, this means no iOS 8.4 and no iTunes 12.2 for me (not sure about iTunes though since probably no one tested the combination iOS 8.3 with iTunes 12.2). In the long term, this means no more Apple products for me, besides the occasional refurbished iPod Touch and iPad. Remembering that I once thought about getting a Mac Mini as a "Media Center server" sends shivers down my spine.

I really hope that MS gets things right with Win 10 (so far it doesn't look too bad). And my personal learning from all of this is: Never put all your eggs in one basket, i.e., don't trust a single company for your hardware and software and content!

 

[baruch]

You Americans and your lawsuits....mess.

Apple are not limiting anything. Sync your music if you hate Apple Music. Home Sharing was only for the home anyway, how you gonna listen to your library outside?

Not the point. Apple cannot take away functionality related to me accessing files I own. That's not OK. Legal precedent has already been set. As for your criticism...feh.

 

[JoeShades]

I've honestly had it with Apple: Un-upgradeable computers, (almost) forced and (definitely) irreversible yearly OS updates, and now no more home sharing...

In the short term, this means no iOS 8.4 and no iTunes 12.2 for me (not sure about iTunes though since probably no one tested the combination iOS 8.3 with iTunes 12.2). In the long term, this means no more Apple products for me, besides the occasional refurbished iPod Touch and iPad. Remembering that I once thought about getting a Mac Mini as a "Media Center server" sends shivers down my spine.

I really hope that MS gets things right with Win 10 (so far it doesn't look too bad). And my personal learning from all of this is: Never put all your eggs in one basket, i.e., don't trust a single company for your hardware and software and content!

NO MAC MINI!! consider in the fall a mini PC like the compu stick or HP stream mini

 

[Glideslope]

In this case, Apple is playing catchup to Spotify and other streaming services, after suffering from Steve Jobs' legacy "People want to own their music". (Jobs also insisted that people wanted smaller phones) So Apple had to launch a streaming service, because streaming has proven to be so popular.

I still believe based on the release notes that both home sharing and genius playlists will come back. Remember, Apple really alienated its pro user community when it released FCPX. Now, 3 years later, most of the features that were originally left out have come back.

Yes, and this is the major disfunction with todays Apple. Throw the Minions some ********, and see if any are intelligent enough to fight back. It's abusive, corrupt, and morally against the pre Tim era. Apple has become a "My way or the highway company." With many half assed projects lately. Most notable the AW which will be History by this time in 2016 as I predicted. Nothing but an iPhone accessory. In fact most of Apple products these days are nothing but accessories. Take away the iPhone and Apple goes away quickly. Very dangerous, very risky, and IMO not a company with any remote vision for the future, PERIOD. Tim is nothing but a COO in a CEO position. He still runs Apple as a COO. Counting shipments, quoting margins, supply chain outlooks, inventory time lines.

Bull Crap. A CEO is the Visionary Leader. Tim delegates everything to the Senior VP's, then watches numbers, margins, inventories, markets shares.

It's gotta change, or The AW failure will sow real seeds of doubt in investors.

Yes, I freakin miss Steve. So what? A company with no Soul is Lost. Period.