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No more iTunes "home sharing" with the new TV App?

G

gpspad

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Feb 4, 2014
698
47
maybe I am missing something.

If I have iTunes runnning on my mac I can open the TV app and watch the movies I put in my library.

When I try to do the same thing for with my iPhone I get nothing showing up in my video library. Shouldn't I be able to watch videos from my iPhone?

Did they take that feature away?
 
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The feature is still there, it should work. Sounds like it may be time to give AppleCare tech support a call.
 
gpspad said:
maybe I am missing something.

If I have iTunes runnning on my mac I can open the TV app and watch the movies I put in my library.

When I try to do the same thing for with my iPhone I get nothing showing up in my video library. Shouldn't I be able to watch videos from my iPhone?

Did they take that feature away?
Click to expand...

You need to use the Computers app, which is specifically for local streaming. This feature has been there for ages and is separate from the TV app.

On iOS, home sharing is part of the TV app.
 
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BeforeTheMeds said:
Ok, dumb question. What is the COMPUTERS app.
Click to expand...
Icon looks like this on screen:
tvOS-9.2-Computers-Repeat-Media-Apple-TV-screenshot-001.jpg
 
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On the Apple TV you have to use the computers app. You must be signed in to home sharing on both the computer with iTunes up and running, and on your AppleTV. I seem to have issues with them dropping the connection to each other and I have to sign out and back in on both of them to get it working again.

On the iPhone/iPad you supposedy use the TV app, but I haven't been able to get it to work. I haven't figured out how to watch the movies stored locally on the iPhone/iPad either. It seems to want to stream everything from the iTunes store all the time.

Pretty annoying on both devices right now in my opinion. My internet service isn't the greatest (5 Meg WISP service) so I prefer to stream everything from my Desktop so I don't end up with buffering or macro blocking.
 
Beerstalker said:
On the iPhone/iPad you supposedy use the TV app, but I haven't been able to get it to work. I haven't figured out how to watch the movies stored locally on the iPhone/iPad either. It seems to want to stream everything from the iTunes store all the time.
Click to expand...

On iOS you have to use the Video app. It works fine if your iTunes library is small. However for reasons never clear it works horribly with large libraries (unlike the Apple TV apps). So if you have more than 1000 videos (not uncommon if you've ripped all your DVDs and BluRays) it'll time out before getting all the file names. I've reported this bug to Apple numerous times but they've yet to fix it.

For the AppleTV though it works wonderfully and I find it superior to alternatives like Plex. (Although others disagree) I have a very large library in iTunes since I prefer to rip BluRays rather than buy off the iTunes store.
 
clarkgoble said:
On iOS you have to use the Video app.
Click to expand...

One problem. I have no more video app on either ios device, it will not show up in the app store and I found a link to it, found it in the app store and it's greyed out so as not to be able to download it. Didn't they do away with it?

Beerstalker:

On the iPhone/iPad you supposedy use the TV app, but I haven't been able to get it to work. I haven't figured out how to watch the movies stored locally on the iPhone/iPad either. It seems to want to stream everything from the iTunes store all the time.

Pretty annoying on both devices right now in my opinion. My internet service isn't the greatest (5 Meg WISP service) so I prefer to stream everything from my Desktop so I don't end up with buffering or macro blocking.
Click to expand...

My problem exactly. I am in a small pueblo in mexico with 3 meg. I understood you are supposed to use the tv app and it is not connecting to my library, nowhere near 1000, at all. It shows to be connected to sharing. pita.
 
Yep, Computers app only exists on AppleTV.
You need to use the Videos app on iPhone/iPad to watch locally stored iTunes Home Shared video files.
For audio/music, you need to use the Music app. You just need to make sure, your homesharing appleID is correct in Music/Videos app settings. Especially, if it's different from what you use personally to purchase items.
AFAIK, Videos app comes standard with iOS and is not available separately.
Restoring iOS might do the trick.
As TV app is not available in my region, I have no idea on how does it impact your iOS.
@BeforeTheMeds - did you delete Videos app yourself, or does TV app really replace it?
 
priitv8 said:
Yep, Computers app only exists on AppleTV.
You need to use the Videos app on iPhone/iPad to watch locally stored iTunes Home Shared video files.
For audio/music, you need to use the Music app. You just need to make sure, your homesharing appleID is correct in Music/Videos app settings. Especially, if it's different from what you use personally to purchase items.
AFAIK, Videos app comes standard with iOS and is not available separately.
Restoring iOS might do the trick.
As TV app is not available in my region, I have no idea on how does it impact your iOS.
@BeforeTheMeds - did you delete Videos app yourself, or does TV app really replace it?
Click to expand...

I did not delete videos app, It was replaced by the TV app. The tv app shows nothing at all of my home sharing video library on either device. We still watch movies on apple tv so its not a problem on the mac side. It's a mess.

I was thinking about ios, I have always used "Computers" on apple tv.

I guess I will have to call apple about this.
 
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On iPad, when I launch TV, then in the menu on the top left, I can select my shared Mac Mini library. Within that smallish library was two purchased movies and all my ripped DVDs in Home Videos. Which is another menu selection within the shared library.

they seem to play fine. Does this help?
 
jsutcliffe said:
On iPad, when I launch TV, then in the menu on the top left, I can select my shared Mac Mini library. Within that smallish library was two purchased movies and all my ripped DVDs in Home Videos. Which is another menu selection within the shared library.

they seem to play fine. Does this help?
Click to expand...

I have no menu on the top left, either device. Nothing at the top at all. Just the 4 icons at the bottom with nothing in the library folder. Not even the movie I purchased. The library folder says purchased movies will show up there.
 
also interested in this, I've never understood how to watch movies on my iPhone from my mac. I do not see any additional libraries in the TV app on my iPhone.
 
Maybe I'm in a distorted universe, but let me send some screenshots. 4, showing view from TV app w/menu in upper left; Menu view showing Shared Library option from my Mac Mini; Going to Shared Library, default view is Purchased content; Selecting Home Videos brings up ripped DVDs in the Mini's iTunes Library. I've edited out the Name of the shared library in a few places including the menu, and drawn a red rectangle around Menu and Shared Library selections.

Does this help anyone?
IMG_0179.jpg
IMG_0180.jpg
IMG_0181.jpg
IMG_0182.jpg

[doublepost=1484423009][/doublepost]One more thing: Works the same on my iPhone 6s with the one exception that once connecting to the shared library, you see the Home Videos option on the screen under Movies, without having to tap on the menu.
 
IMG_0393.PNG
jsutcliffe said:
Maybe I'm in a distorted universe, but let me send some screenshots. 4, showing view from TV app w/menu in upper left; Menu view showing Shared Library option from my Mac Mini; Going to Shared Library, default view is Purchased content; Selecting Home Videos brings up ripped DVDs in the Mini's iTunes Library. I've edited out the Name of the shared library in a few places including the menu, and drawn a red rectangle around Menu and Shared Library selections.

One more thing: Works the same on my iPhone 6s with the one exception that once connecting to the shared library, you see the Home Videos option on the screen under Movies, without having to tap on the menu.
Click to expand...


This is what mine looks like on both devices. Nothing up top, nothing in folder. Purchased or library.
 
macOS 10.12.2 on the Mini. iOS10.2 on iPad/Phone. Same network. Small iTunes Library (no reason for 'time out' problem while retrieving file lists). ... Could there be a Privacy setting or authentication problem? Is the Library open on the network otherwise (e.g., music) w/o password? Is it clear that iTunes Family Sharing is operating as expected aside from this failure within the TV app? Log out of and back into iCloud on the Mac side?

(This should be wholly unrelated, and probably stupid to bring up, but things seem to work better in terms of cross device function after 2-factor authentication (not 2-step or traditional) is enabled and you're (for sure) logged into iTunes on all devices.)
 
Ipad, iphone, mac mini. itunes family sharing as I always have until apps changed. Logged out and back in on all devices, nothing. Latest released os on all, no betas.
 
OK, thank everyone for the help. I really appreciate it. I have it nailed now, maybe it will help someone.

I had done everything including sync by cable to itunes. What I had to do is I had to sync ONE movie to the phone by cable. I never do that, I just watched them all through the videos app without putting any on the phone. Obviously you need to sync one to set up the link. No idea why. Just did it on the 6s plus, now to do the ipad.
 
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Forget trying to view your home sharing library on an iOS device via the TV app. It sucks, sucks, sucks. Instead I use Air Video Server HD on my Mac and the Air Video HD app on my iOS device. It is far superior. On the AppleTV I still use the Computers app to stream my library.
 
Weird on all these variations. My Video App was replaced by the TV App on an update. It works perfectly. Whatever is in my Mac folders shows on my TV App. Can you delete the TV App and reinstall from App Store.
 
This is how it looks for me in the TV app. I can select the library I want to use, for example my Mac Mini. Maybe you guys have to go back in the Menu via the top left button?

tv.png
 
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