Apple Watch Remote for Music still doesn't work after OS 6.1.1 Update

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Apple Watch Remote for Music still doesn't work after OS 6.1.1 Update

Well there's good new and bad news.

The good news is that after the lastest Catalina and ios update the remote app on my iphone works! This was the biggest problem with Catalina for me, but now it's fixed. Huzzah!

The bad news is that on my watch series 3 the remote still does not work. The Music app on my mac sees the watch request happily enough, and I enter the code given by my watch. A message appears on Music saying the remote will now control music on my mac. Except it doesn't, the app on the watch has the controls visible but they do nothing and no track information appears.

No issues with controlling Apple Tv on the remote on my Watch, just MUSIC running on my Macbook Pro.

Any ideas?

Posted on Dec 13, 2019 11:50 PM

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Answer 1

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Juzzy3 Author

Level 1

10 points

Dec 20, 2019 6:11 PM in response to Juzzy3

SOLVED!

Have got this working now with a bit of a workaround. Not sure if this is really how it should be but for now it works.

Steps

On MAC turn off home sharing.
Rename your home sharing library. Perhaps add/remove a word. I added HOME to mine so I could clearly identify it.
On Watch, Remote, add device. Pair with MUSIC app using the code provided. You should immediately see this now working.
Turn on home sharing.
Take a look at your list of devices on your remote and you'll see both the original library name and the renamed one. Use the original name everytime and it works.

This worked for me and perhaps it will for you too.

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Answer 2

mario49

Community Specialist

Dec 17, 2019 1:37 PM in response to Juzzy3

Greetings Juzzy3,

Thank you for using Apple Support Communities. It seems like there is trouble with the Apple Watch not controlling Music with the Remote app. It seems like you have already set up the remote app with the Music app.

Are you able to see if the Apple Watch is set to control the correct Library?

Also, see if you can remove the library and add it back.

"Choose a media library to play from

If you added more than one library: Tap the one you want when you open the Remote app on your Apple Watch.
If you’re already playing music: Tap at the top left of the playback controls, then tap the library.

Remove a media library

Open the Remote app on your Apple Watch.
Firmly press the display, then tap Edit.
When the device icons jiggle, tap X on the one you want to remove, then tap Remove.

If that was your only remote device, you’re finished—otherwise, tap to finish editing."

Use Apple Watch to control music on a Mac or PC

Use your Apple Watch as a remote control for your Apple TV or iTunes

Please don't hesitate to let us know if the steps resolved your issue or if you need additional assistance.

Take care.

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Answer 3

Juzzy3 Author

Level 1

10 points

Dec 20, 2019 5:35 PM in response to mario49

Hi, thanks for the reply. Unfortunately these steps did not resolve the issue for me.

Here's what appears on my Apple Watch

My Library

Apple TV

When I follow the procedure to remove My Library it edits and removes, except it doesn't remove. I still see My Library. When I go to edit again I can't. It seems My Library and Apple TV are just there and can't be edited.

If I add a device the remote code number comes up and appears in the MUSIC app on my mac. I enter the code and the message says I can now use my watch to remote control the music. Except it doesn't it just appears as before with the controls not working and no track listing of what's currently playing. I can then edit and remove this library from my watch, but as before it does this once and the library still is present.

This issue is only on the watch, not on ipad or iphone. Also the remote on the watch works just fine with the APPLE TV, just not the music library.

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Answer 4

Dec 24, 2019 4:00 PM in response to nate.thelen

Yup, only works for me when Home Sharing is disabled. Completely frustrating, since I like to use my Watch to control iTunes on my Mac, and like to use my Mac to serve movies to my Apple TV and iPad over Home Sharing. Maybe Apple is trying to get me to buy a second Mac 😡

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Answer 5

Juzzy3 Author

Level 1

10 points

Dec 24, 2019 5:03 PM in response to Joe Hanna

Works for me without disabling home sharing. I turned it off, renamed it, turned it back on. Home sharing works with Apple TV etc, but I connected to MUSIC using add device from Watch and it finds the name of my MUSIC library which is different to the Home sharing one. So I get to control all the things.

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Answer 6

Jan 18, 2020 12:54 PM in response to Juzzy3

This also fixed things for me. Seems to be a bug that iPhone/iPad Remote app properly picks up the Home Sharing instance, and it works and persists between app launches. The Apple Watch Remote app, on the other hand, seems unable to properly connect to the Home Sharing instance, and it appears to just lose the connection to a music library once the app is quit for a period of time.

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Answer 7

sterling r

Community Specialist

Dec 21, 2019 9:06 AM in response to Juzzy3

Hey Juzzy3,

Thank you for using the Apple Support Community. Due to the nature of your issue, you may find more information by using another one of Apple's support resources.

Get Support

Take care.

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Answer 8

Dec 23, 2019 4:25 PM in response to Juzzy3

It worked for me with Home Sharing completely disabled on my Mac. So if you don't need home sharing for anything else you can just do items 1 and 3 above.

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Apple Watch Remote for Music still doesn't work after OS 6.1.1 Update

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