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Remote app not working

I have the latest watch OS on Apple Watch 6 and latest MacOS on Mac Mini M2 Pro. When I select Remote I see my music library and tapping it brings up the Play triangle and the skip ahead and back icons, but tapping any of them does nothing and it does not display what my Mac Mini Music library is currently playing.


The Remote app used to work fine. Not sure when it stopped, but probably in the past 3-4 months.


I have tried disconnecting all devices from Wifi then reconnecting - no change.

I have tried deleting the Remote app powering down the watch, restarting and reinstalling Remote - no change.

I have tried deleting the music library from the Remote app, but often it won't even let me do this. When I press and hold down on the library it often will not start jiggling and I cannot delete it. Every once in a while it will let me delete the library, but when I add it again, the same result - doesn't work. 


The Remote apps on my phone and iPad both work fine.


Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

Mac mini (M2 Pro, 2023)

Posted on Apr 16, 2023 7:44 PM

Reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Jan 15, 2024 10:11 PM

Hi,


I assume that you cannot remove the Music library and re-add it again on the Apple Watch, correct? Also, trying the re-add the Music library without deleting the previously saved library (via the 4-digit code) route does nothing as well, right? I am also experiencing the same issue.


The workaround I found out is to force quit the Remote app on Apple Watch, then re-open it while music's playing on your Mac. It should work afterwards. HOWEVER, if you click back ("<" icon on the Watch's upper-left corner) and select your Music library again, the problem will unfortunately return - nothing will be displayed on the Apple Watch and the app cannot control the music on your Mac. It's an inconvenience, but that's the only troubleshooting I found out.


FYI: at the time of writing, my Apple Watch and Macbook Pro are on watchOS 10.2 and macOS Sonoma 14.2.1 respectively.


Hopefully Apple takes notice of the issue and has a fix in the near future. To be honest, the Remote app should have an overhaul. The application hasn't been updated (even a "facelift") for ages. Personally, I would prefer if they extend the functionality of the Remote to control the whole Mac's system - mouse/trackpad remote usage, system-wide volume adjustment, etc. There are remote apps, specifically the "Remote⋅Pro" app, that actually do that. It's still a pretty handy app, it just needs a little bit of love from Apple engineers.

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2 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Jan 15, 2024 10:11 PM in response to DanielStripedTiger

Hi,


I assume that you cannot remove the Music library and re-add it again on the Apple Watch, correct? Also, trying the re-add the Music library without deleting the previously saved library (via the 4-digit code) route does nothing as well, right? I am also experiencing the same issue.


The workaround I found out is to force quit the Remote app on Apple Watch, then re-open it while music's playing on your Mac. It should work afterwards. HOWEVER, if you click back ("<" icon on the Watch's upper-left corner) and select your Music library again, the problem will unfortunately return - nothing will be displayed on the Apple Watch and the app cannot control the music on your Mac. It's an inconvenience, but that's the only troubleshooting I found out.


FYI: at the time of writing, my Apple Watch and Macbook Pro are on watchOS 10.2 and macOS Sonoma 14.2.1 respectively.


Hopefully Apple takes notice of the issue and has a fix in the near future. To be honest, the Remote app should have an overhaul. The application hasn't been updated (even a "facelift") for ages. Personally, I would prefer if they extend the functionality of the Remote to control the whole Mac's system - mouse/trackpad remote usage, system-wide volume adjustment, etc. There are remote apps, specifically the "Remote⋅Pro" app, that actually do that. It's still a pretty handy app, it just needs a little bit of love from Apple engineers.

Apr 16, 2023 9:02 PM in response to DanielStripedTiger

Sorry to hear that you are having trouble with the Remote app on your Apple Watch. Here are some suggestions that might help resolve the issue:

  1. Make sure that your Mac Mini is turned on and connected to the same Wi-Fi network as your Apple Watch.
  2. Check that your Mac Mini has "Home Sharing" turned on. To do this, open the Music app on your Mac Mini, go to Preferences, and click on the Sharing tab. Make sure that "Share my library on my local network" is checked.
  3. Try restarting both your Apple Watch and Mac Mini. This can sometimes help resolve connection issues.
  4. Check that your Apple Watch and Mac Mini are both running the latest version of their respective operating systems. If not, update them and see if the issue is resolved.
  5. If none of the above suggestions work, try resetting your Apple Watch to its factory settings and setting it up again from scratch. Note that this will erase all data and settings on your watch, so make sure to back up any important information first.

If the issue still persists after trying these suggestions, it may be worth contacting Apple Support for further assistance.

Remote app not working

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