For years, I've been able to access my library of movies on my Apple TV and on the iTunes app. I used to be able to see them as well when iTunes because TV, but for some reason, I can't see them any longer in the app. I see movies I've purchased from Apple, but not my own library. I've gone into preferences and pointed the the right folder, but they still don't show up. What could I be doing wrong? Thanks.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Ripped DVD Library no longer showing up on Apple TV app
- Thread starter michaelsaxon
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Apple may have removed that ability. Never used apples in house app for personal streaming. Luckily there are alternatives. You can use VLC, which is free. Or if you want something a little more fancy, you can get infuse. It’s free unless you want it to decode surround sound and play some odd formats. Advantage to those 2, is your not limited to just mp4 or mov. They can also play almost any format you throw at them like Mkv and old avi files.
Are you referring to using the Computers app on Apple TV? It should still be working. I use it all the time. Maybe Home Sharing got turned off?
Yes, this. Unless I'm mistaken, Mac OS X disaggregated a bunch of stuff and created the TV app, which shows movies I've purchased from Apple, but I no longer can link to my own home library with it (i.e., it won't show my ripped movies). Yes, home sharing is turned on in the System Preferences. Thanks.
What version of MacOS are you using? Starting with Catalina, you need to enable Media Sharing in System Preferences > Sharing on the machine that contains your library. If you are trying to access a shared library on another computer in the new TV app, that's pretty confusing. In the app, at the top of the sidebar on the left, click the "Library" button. A menu should drop down where you can choose between "My Library" and any shared libraries on other Macs. When I first switched to Catalina, I couldn't figure this out and had to Google it.
I purchased a cheap Dell Micro Form Factor PC and run Plex on it (an old Mac Mini would suffice too). FAR better and the Plex app is available on AppleTV, SmartTVs, Mac, PC, iPad, iPhone etc, and can be accessed anywhere I have 3G/4G/5G or Wifi access.
You have to set up sharing in system preferences on your Mac
it’s slightly different when you use the newer disintegrated apps from Catalina onwards, unless you are continuing using iTunes ( which is a whole different conversation)
I have tons of stuff ripped/saved from the web - movies/musical instruction etc etc. I used Plex for years until I discovered "emby" a couple weeks ago. The day after I found emby, Plex was gone and I have not looked back. It is absolutely incredible, give it a try. https://emby.media/
Started looking at Emby myself
Started the install and was concerned.
Just about to install Emby on my iMac but I paused on the options for Metadata in the new Library
I didn't want any changes to be made to my media files or their metadata ( update artwork etc ) and was concerned that this would do just that. How should I set it up option wise if I don't want Emby to make changes to my files and folder structure and where then is the Emby library stored ?
emby has never touched my original media, it stores all the information it displays locally (under the emby install.) I can't speak for Mac as I'm running the server on Ubuntu but I'd suspect you can tell it to 'not touch' your original data. I just checked again and nothing has changed with or around my original media. I'm seeing timestamps back to 2014 and beyond with nothing else in my media directories, all my media sits on a Synology NAS. Go check out the emby forums, very active with lots of friendly support from the devs: emby forums
Also, I was so impressed I bought an emby premiere pass so I could use a SiliconDust HDHomeRun Flex 4K for OTA live tv/DVR. I am running the emby app on multiple Apple TV 4Ks in the house, it is excellent. Both of my old OTA TiVOs have been disconnected. I've been a cord cutter for years with no regrets. Good luck!
Also, I was so impressed I bought an emby premiere pass so I could use a SiliconDust HDHomeRun Flex 4K for OTA live tv/DVR. I am running the emby app on multiple Apple TV 4Ks in the house, it is excellent. Both of my old OTA TiVOs have been disconnected. I've been a cord cutter for years with no regrets. Good luck!
Thanks for the reply. During set up the first thing I see is the metadata options, do I deselect all those so it doesn’t store any ?
I don’t remember exactly it’s been a few weeks since I installed the server but I seem to remember taking the defaults.
Why don’t you just make a copy of some of your media to a new location, do a test install, point emby to the test media location and see what happens? If it does what you want, delete the server and do a real install pointed to all of your media. Actually you don’t even have to reinstall the server unless you’re OCD, you can manipulate the media locations anytime, it is very straightforward you just have to play with it. Good luck.
I upgraded my iMac from Mojave to Big Sur this week and this indeed confusing ... I hd to re-add all my movies, both ripped DVDs AND iTunes purchased ones in the TV app on the Mac, and now they all show on my ATV in the computer app, but:
ripped DVDs sho under Home Videos
iTunes purchased movie show under moviea
Is the way Apple designed this? For example I have some franchise, eg Star Trek, all the originals and TNG ones I had on DVD, the reboot I have in iTunes - so when I want to watch a Star Trek movie I have to look in 2 places?
So I basically have to keep a manual list to remember which movies was on DVD vs iTunes for a complete list?
Is there another solution? and I'm not looking for a 3rd party one like mentioned above or something like Plex ...
ripped DVDs sho under Home Videos
iTunes purchased movie show under moviea
Is the way Apple designed this? For example I have some franchise, eg Star Trek, all the originals and TNG ones I had on DVD, the reboot I have in iTunes - so when I want to watch a Star Trek movie I have to look in 2 places?
So I basically have to keep a manual list to remember which movies was on DVD vs iTunes for a complete list?
Is there another solution? and I'm not looking for a 3rd party one like mentioned above or something like Plex ...
This isn't new, ripped DVD's have always shown as home videos by default. Go to the options tab and change the media kind to either TV show or Movie as needed. TV shows will then appear by season/episode, provided that you enter the appropriate info on the details tab. You can also create movie and tv show playlists, which are nice for series since they play continuously in whatever order you choose. Movies and TV shows have always been treated separately though and can't be combined in a single playlist.
But one annoyance is that shared video playlists don't work correctly on Catalina, the list appears but it's blank. Same playlist works fine on the Apple TV however. Haven't used Big Sur, maybe they finally fixed this? Also, the iOS TV app doesn't show shared playlists at all.
But one annoyance is that shared video playlists don't work correctly on Catalina, the list appears but it's blank. Same playlist works fine on the Apple TV however. Haven't used Big Sur, maybe they finally fixed this? Also, the iOS TV app doesn't show shared playlists at all.
at least in iTunes my ripped DVDs and iTunes movies were in a single list ...This isn't new, ripped DVD's have always shown as home videos by default. Go to the options tab and change the media kind to either TV show or Movie as needed. TV shows will then appear by season/episode, provided that you enter the appropriate info on the details tab. You can also create movie and tv show playlists, which are nice for series since they play continuously in whatever order you choose. Movies and TV shows have always been treated separately though and can't be combined in a single playlist.
But one annoyance is that shared video playlists don't work correctly on Catalina, the list appears but it's blank. Same playlist works fine on the Apple TV however. Haven't used Big Sur, maybe they finally fixed this? Also, the iOS TV app doesn't show shared playlists at all.
View attachment 1798764
But thanks for the tip, or maybe reminder, to go to options, when I change that on my ripped DVD from "home video" to "movie" it is moved to the Movies section on the Mac TV app ... 360 more to go ... will have to check how the saffects the ATV
well, you are my hero for the day!This isn't new, ripped DVD's have always shown as home videos by default. Go to the options tab and change the media kind to either TV show or Movie as needed. TV shows will then appear by season/episode, provided that you enter the appropriate info on the details tab. You can also create movie and tv show playlists, which are nice for series since they play continuously in whatever order you choose. Movies and TV shows have always been treated separately though and can't be combined in a single playlist.
But one annoyance is that shared video playlists don't work correctly on Catalina, the list appears but it's blank. Same playlist works fine on the Apple TV however. Haven't used Big Sur, maybe they finally fixed this? Also, the iOS TV app doesn't show shared playlists at all.
View attachment 1798764
Changing the type to "movie" on the option tab (and you can just select all and do a batch update) not only works on the Mac TV app but also on the ATV, in the computers app - now I have all my movies (ripped DVDs and iTunes purchases) in a single view/list again!!
THANK YOU!!!
Did the metadata fix Boyd01 mention above fix it? If not, I'm presuming you tried dragging the files into the TV app, right?
The app I've used for years for converting the container to something Apple friendly (without resampling) and adding in all of the metadata (also supports batch mode) is
Last edited:
Yes, that will fix it. Because without tagging the Media Kind (any MP4 metadata editor will do that, but also iTunes, TV App or Subler), the library will allocate all video media under Home Videos.
So one needs to create the Media Kind tag and set it to Movie, TV Show or Music Video to allocate the clip to another group in the Library Browser on any Apple Device.
Just now getting back to this... verified that media sharing is on. Also verified the drop down on Library has "My Library" selected. No change. I think I might just have to re-add everything. Was hoping not to have to do this because I had all my metadata set up (artwork, genre, actors, etc.) and I don't want all of that to disappear. Thanks everyone for helping out.
Also considering the Plex server route.
Also considering the Plex server route.
I'm a little confused about what you're trying to do. You don't need to turn on media sharing unless you want to access your library from another Mac/Phone/Apple TV. When you do, you should see it on the other Mac's dropdown menu. All my media is on a Mac named "iTunes Server" and this is how it appears in the dropdown menu in the TV app on another Mac on my network.
If I choose "My Library", then it will only show local media files (plus purchases "in the cloud"). So, are you saying that your ripped media doesn't show on the host Mac, or that you cannot access it from another Mac (or AppleTV, etc)?
If I choose "My Library", then it will only show local media files (plus purchases "in the cloud"). So, are you saying that your ripped media doesn't show on the host Mac, or that you cannot access it from another Mac (or AppleTV, etc)?
Yep. I thougt it gives more context if I expand on your thought and not the OP's question.
AFAIK, enabling Media Sharing is the only way to make your Library on a Mac visible to other devices, including the AppleTV. That means, using the Computers app.
Parts of your library may be accessible also over Music app, but not via TV app, via Library syncing.
TV app library shows only your purchases, not your local media on your Mac or PC that shared iTunes Library in your home.
Last edited:
I have no experience of Emby but I have been using PLEX for years and can see no reason to look elsewhere. I particularly like the Client/Server capability of Plex which allows you to manage your content on one device the server. I have multiple devices that run the Plex client some locally in my home and others at remote locations. I also have other family members who run their own Plex servers and we are all able to access all of the servers.
I'm confused by this, are you saying the TV app doesn't show DVD's you have ripped? On my Mac (running Catalina), the TV app shows ripped DVD's that I have added to the local library. It's not necessary to turn on sharing for this to work. You only need to turn on sharing to access media on other devices.
But yes, the TV app will only show movies, TV shows and home videos. You need to use the Music app for your ripped CD's and iTunes purchases. It also has a dropdown menu where you can choose shared libraries.