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

Learn about Use Home Sharing to share iTunes content with other devices
prk72

Q: iPad home sharing videos duplicated

On my daughter's iPad the shared movies are being duplicated.  I'm not sure when this happens or why, but it seems the only fix is to disconnect her from the home sharing iTunes account, restart her iPad then reconnect to home sharing.  This is becoming so annoying that it was time I asked for some help.  Why does this happen and what can we do to prevent it?

 

Thank you

iMac

Posted on Jul 28, 2016 8:41 AM

Close

Q: iPad home sharing videos duplicated

  • All replies
  • Helpful answers

  • by ERocket06,

    ERocket06 ERocket06 Jul 28, 2016 9:15 AM in response to prk72
    Level 1 (17 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jul 28, 2016 9:15 AM in response to prk72

    I've had this happen with music in iTunes due to syncing purchased music from my computer instead of downloading to my devices from iTunes.

     

    Try this on the iPad showing duplicates

    1. Go to Settings

    2. Scroll down and tap on Videos

    3. Turn off "Show iTunes Purchases"

     

    That should eliminate displaying purchased content on iTunes that is available for download.

  • by prk72,

    prk72 prk72 Jul 28, 2016 9:39 AM in response to ERocket06
    Level 1 (5 points)
    iPad
    Jul 28, 2016 9:39 AM in response to ERocket06

    Thank you for the quick reply, but this does not pertain to movies or music purchased via iTunes.

  • by ERocket06,

    ERocket06 ERocket06 Jul 28, 2016 10:44 AM in response to prk72
    Level 1 (17 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jul 28, 2016 10:44 AM in response to prk72

    Personal photos and videos can be hidden as well:

    Hide photos on your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, or Mac

    Note: If you're using iCloud Photo Library, photos and videos should hide across all devices.

     

    I had this happen when I imported a bunch of photos/videos into Photos on my Mac. I don't use iCloud Photo Library so I have Camera Roll and My Photo Stream. That way I can edit My Photo Stream for the AppleTV's screen saver and it isn't all of my Camera Roll.

    When I was taking my photos/videos, they were automatically backing up to My Photo Stream, creating an online copy. Once I imported all of the photos/videos into Photos on my Mac, Photos automatically added all of them to My Photo Stream again as duplicates. Doubled the storage Photos was using on my iPhone.

    I went into My Photo Stream from Photos on my Mac and deleted everything from My Photo Stream. Then I just added the items I wanted across all of my devices back into My Photo Stream from the Mac.

     

    Note: If you are using iCloud Photo Library, deleted photos and videos should delete across all devices. So be sure to back up your photos/videos first. iCloud Photo Library is located within iCloud and is not backed up or restored using iCloud Backup on your iOS device.

  • by prk72,

    prk72 prk72 Jul 28, 2016 10:48 AM in response to ERocket06
    Level 1 (5 points)
    iPad
    Jul 28, 2016 10:48 AM in response to ERocket06

    These are movies that I've added to my Mac's iTunes library and have full meta data information so they are categorized correctly.  Nothing to do with iCloud.  Thank you for the suggestion.

  • by ERocket06,

    ERocket06 ERocket06 Jul 28, 2016 11:55 AM in response to prk72
    Level 1 (17 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jul 28, 2016 11:55 AM in response to prk72

    A shot in the dark:

    Double check that the duplicate displayed files only have one instance on your Mac/network.

    Speculation is that when a video was imported into iTunes, a copy was created within the iTunes Media folder but the original still exists on your Mac/network in a shared capacity (like within a shared folder or within the iTunes folder but not the copy referenced by iTunes) and is being dually indexed for media sharing.

     

    First and only time I encountered this:

    I saw this once previously from a Mac that didn't support AirPlay, so Home Sharing was the option for media playback through AppleTV. Imported home videos created in iMovie yielded duplicates on the Home Sharing playback side. The variable that never got resolution was that the shared content originated from a NAS, was shared to a Home Sharing Mac, and then shared to an AppleTV for display.

    Speculation was that the content existed to the computer on multiple instances: iMovie (for creation), iTunes (imported for Home Sharing), and the file storage for iTunes was on a NAS (in a shared capacity for iTunes access).

    Never got further than speculation though.

  • by prk72,

    prk72 prk72 Jul 28, 2016 12:28 PM in response to ERocket06
    Level 1 (5 points)
    iPad
    Jul 28, 2016 12:28 PM in response to ERocket06

    iTunes

    Screen Shot 2016-07-28 at 2.21.19 PM.png

    iTunes file structure

    Screen Shot 2016-07-28 at 2.22.26 PM.png

     

    This is how it looks on her iPad

    IMG_6210.png

  • by ERocket06,

    ERocket06 ERocket06 Jul 28, 2016 1:57 PM in response to prk72
    Level 1 (17 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jul 28, 2016 1:57 PM in response to prk72

    Thanks for the pictures.

     

    What I see in the screen shots:

    You have the movies downloaded to your Mac and the folders are where they should be.

    Your share to the iPad appears to be coming from something labeled "USB Drive". Typically is displayed as "First/Last name's Library" by iTunes.

    Under the Shared option in Videos, the iPad should only list the movies currently loaded onto the Mac.

    The iPad picture has duplicate movies with cloud icons, showing they're available to download to the iPad from iTunes.

    Through Home Sharing, the iPad will only show what is already on the Mac and won't display available downloads for the host library.

    Based on that, there seems to be something out of line in your Home Sharing setup on the Mac. Triple check your Home Sharing settings on the Mac with these steps. Ensure the library is hosting from the right place in your Mac by going to iTunes Preferences>Advanced (the gear icon, top right) and verifying the iTunes media folder location is the one from your screen shot.

     

    Double check the iPad's access to the Mac's shared library by opening Videos on the iPad and tap Shared. This should populate a list of all available libraries to access through Home Sharing. (If you don't see your computer's library as an option, redo Home Sharing setup on the computer, ensure you are connected to the same network as the iPad, make sure you have iTunes running on the Mac, and that the Mac is not asleep or in standby) Choose your Mac from the list and your content should index and display.

     

    For the duplicate icon displays:

    On the iPad, instead of logging out of Home Sharing, try logging out of iTunes & App Store.

    Once logged out of iTunes & App Store, verify the titles with the cloud icon have disappeared from the iPad.

    Log back into iTunes & App Store to verify duplicates are gone and available downloads have reappeared in Videos.