HT202190: Use Home Sharing to share iTunes content with other devices

Learn about Use Home Sharing to share iTunes content with other devices
nasty gwo

Q: home sharing no longer shows up on my iOS devices (iPad, iPhone 6+)

I don't why I am no longer able to connect my phone or iPad to my home iTunes library over wifi like I used to be.

all of my devices are signed into my account appropriately, and all of my devices and software is up to date.

it has been like this for some time and I keep thinking that the next iOS/software update will be the fix that allows home sharing again. but alas, no dice.

 

is there some setting that I have inadvertently turned off? why does it not work for me anymore?

 

Windows 10 with iTunes 12.3.3.17 (64-bit)

iPad Air 1

iPhone 6+

 

help, please? and, thank you.

iPad Air, iOS 9.3.2

Posted on May 17, 2016 3:24 PM

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Q: home sharing no longer shows up on my iOS devices (iPad, iPhone 6+)

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  • Helpful answers

  • by Demo,

    Demo Demo May 17, 2016 3:31 PM in response to nasty gwo
    Level 10 (94,783 points)
    iPad
    May 17, 2016 3:31 PM in response to nasty gwo

    DId you check to make sure that you still have home sharing enabled in iTunes?

    Use Home Sharing to share iTunes content with other devices - Apple Support

     

    Are you still signed in on the iDevices in Settings>Music>Home Sharing. Settings>Videos>Home Sharing.

  • by nasty gwo,Solvedanswer

    nasty gwo nasty gwo May 19, 2016 1:48 PM in response to Demo
    Level 1 (4 points)
    iPad
    May 19, 2016 1:48 PM in response to Demo

    I have signed into all of my devices using a single Apple ID.

    I have enabled home sharing on my cpu's iTunes, and it communicates with my wife's Mac appropriately.

    Do I need to have at least one song on my device? Right now, my iPad library is empty (limited drive space).

    All software/firmware/hardware is up-to-date.

  • by Demo,Helpful

    Demo Demo May 19, 2016 1:48 PM in response to nasty gwo
    Level 10 (94,783 points)
    iPad
    May 19, 2016 1:48 PM in response to nasty gwo

    Yes, I believe that you do have to have at least one song in the library. At the expense of losing a few MB of storage, download any song to the device. If you need to delete content, there are plenty of other things that you can do. You can import photos to your computer and then delete them off of the iPad.

    Import photos and videos from your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch - Apple Support

     

    Download a song and see if that works.

  • by TMHahn,

    TMHahn TMHahn May 19, 2016 12:52 PM in response to nasty gwo
    Level 2 (384 points)
    iPhone
    May 19, 2016 12:52 PM in response to nasty gwo

    I don't have any songs on my iPhone 6+ with iOS 9.3.2 and the latest iTunes on my Macbook Pro and I'm using it right now!

     

    I don't think you need to have any sons on the iPhone for it to work.

     

    This might sound cheesy, but have you restarted your iPhone and Mac since the last update?

     

    Have you turned Home Sharing off and back on again? I would turn it off, restart, then turn it back on.

  • by Demo,

    Demo Demo May 19, 2016 1:17 PM in response to nasty gwo
    Level 10 (94,783 points)
    iPad
    May 19, 2016 1:17 PM in response to nasty gwo

    Another thing that you could try is to power cycle your router. Even when all devices can connect to the Internet, this can help. Unplug the router for about 30 seconds and plug it back in again, you may need to restart all devices again like TMHahn  is suggesting, but that's worth a shot as well.

  • by nasty gwo,

    nasty gwo nasty gwo May 19, 2016 1:22 PM in response to Demo
    Level 1 (4 points)
    iPad
    May 19, 2016 1:22 PM in response to Demo

    I went ahead and added a 2 second mp3 to my library and the options menu in the middle of the iPad library appeared, so I was able to get home-sharing after all.

    That was the problem. Cannot link to Home Sharing with an empty library. not sure how TMHahn has his working without any files, but no matter.

     

    problem solved. thanks to you both for ideas and help.

  • by Demo,

    Demo Demo May 19, 2016 1:23 PM in response to TMHahn
    Level 10 (94,783 points)
    iPad
    May 19, 2016 1:23 PM in response to TMHahn

    TMHahn wrote:

     

    I don't have any songs on my iPhone 6+ with iOS 9.3.2 and the latest iTunes on my Macbook Pro and I'm using it right now!

     

    I don't think you need to have any sons on the iPhone for it to work.

    You could be right and if you are using Home Sharing without a song in the Music App, that should be proof enough. Something struck a chord when nasty gwo  asked about having a song in the app. Perhaps it used to be that way, there is something very familiar about that, but once again I could very well be wrong.

     

    This might sound cheesy, but have you restarted your iPhone and Mac since the last update?

     

    Have you turned Home Sharing off and back on again? I would turn it off, restart, then turn it back on.

    Not cheesey at all. It's a good idea to try.

     

    EDIT - typed my response before I saw you post,

  • by TMHahn,

    TMHahn TMHahn May 20, 2016 11:45 AM in response to nasty gwo
    Level 2 (384 points)
    iPhone
    May 20, 2016 11:45 AM in response to nasty gwo

    I wanted to let you guys know, I went into Settings > General > About and it says I have 5 songs on my iPhone. I was 100% wrong.