AppleTV + Homesharing + 2 iTunes Accounts?

Actually, we'd like to authorise individual computers.

That's how it worked with the old Apple TV, and we'd prefer that functionality back.

Does the 5 computer limit apply to homesharing?

You are not authorising for iTunes content to be played, just to setup homesharing.

Yes, Home Sharing limits 5 computers to playback content purchased with a single account.

My response to Max was with reference to authorising individual computers to stream to Apple TV via the old 'PIN code' method, as opposed to using Home Sharing.

Unfortunately, with Apple's new method of streaming to Apple TV, you can no longer stream content from other, non-home shared computers (e.g., a flat-mate or partner who has a different iTunes account, even though their content appears in iTunes)

I wasn't asking whether it limits playing of purchased content.

If you want to play purchased content you have to AUTHORISE iTunes for that account. That is limited to 5 computers.

Homesharing is a different procedure. I am asking whether the 5 computer limit applies to that (i.e. can you have 6 or more computers sharing content with the Apple TV).

It's not a situation that many will come across, but on the previous page someone seems to be indicating that the 5 computer limit applies to Homeshare, and I'm wondering whether that is correct.

Has anyone tried it?

By the way, my first post wasn't directed specifically at you. I just hit reply. It was a general response to the thread and I couldn't be bothered to go back to page 1 to reply to the OP.

Message was edited by: KeithJenner

Yes, Home Sharing is limited to 5 computers.

If you try to turn on Home Sharing on a sixth computer, you are told you must first turn off Home Sharing on another.

That does seem like an odd restriction, but one that will only effect a small minority of users, so I suspect they won't rush to review it.

The reason for the restriction is because Home Sharing is primarily designed to share purchased content between your computers.

Purchased content is automatically sync'd (whereas content you add from other sources, such as CDs, must be manually copied)

As Purchased Content is limited to 5 computers, Home Sharing follows the same rule.

Spot on.

As the Apple TV is a streaming-only device, it's unfortunate that it's now limited to streaming from computers of just one iTunes account, a step backward compared to the previous Apple TV.

So I've read and re-read this thread and just don't understand the issue. Here's my experience...

I have an itunes library that's used to share content from two acounts between several computers and ATV's (1st and 2d gen). When my daughter visits with her laptop, which is not authorized or shared to the house library in any way, she connects to the home network. From there she can select any apple tv from her laptop itunes (i.e. Airplay) to stream content. No itunes cross-authorizing required.

Of course, the atv1 won't airplay video but it will audio.

Maybe There's something more folks are trying to do that's not clearly explained in the thread but airplay appears to work with any itunes library on the same network regardless of itunes authorization.

You do know that I said I have both Apple TV 1 and 2?

And I can stream to EITHER regardless of account authorization on the source machine. But yes, Homesharing does enable the explicit library listing in the Apple TV menu. Again, my daughter has her own itunes account on her laptop and is NOT authorized on my account. Yet, when she connects to my home network she can stream HER library content to the Apple TV 2. No cross-pollenation of iTunes accounts needed.

Homesharing is not necessary for sending content to an Apple TV 2 if the source machine is present on the same network. All it takes is to simply toggle the appropriate Apple TV (or AE) as the Airplay output from iTunes program. Again, WITHOUT using Homesharing.

You're talking about Airplay but this thread was about Home Sharing. Yes, you can Airplay anything in iTunes without cross authorizing. But that's not what this thread was about. This thread was about have the iTunes libraries showing up on the Apple TV with Home Sharing so you can access the content from the ATV using it's menu system and the aluminum remote rather than the method you are describing where you select what to play on your computer and push it to the ATV with Airplay.

Nope. I disagree. To quote frustrations or misunderstandings from this thread:


"I have several at home but frankly might not want to use a Home Sharing activation on some of these especially if they were for serving non-protected content of my own."

"in my house, our iTunes account is our MobileMe account, so authorizing more than one computer under the same iTunes account potentially exposes the password for mail, address book, calendar"

"The fact that this thread exists shows that this whole home sharing thing is more complex than it needs to be."

"If the Appletv even allowed multiple home sharing accounts to log in and stream from"

"How come i cant have my computer/itunes library/home sharing account and my mates computer/iTunes library(account)/home sharing show up together on the appletv home sharing without having to use the same iTunes account?"

"Exactly, why would i want to authorize my account on another computer I don't use just to stream content?"

" iTunes account is my Apple ID, which is my MobileMe information. Home Sharing asks me to authenticate to my iTunes account. When I enter that username and password into someone else's machine, that information is saved somewhere"

"My wife and I have our own music collections on different profiles. We want to easily play our media on the ATV2. From what I have read and experienced with home sharing what we want cannot be done?"

"Unfortunately, with Apple's new method of streaming to Apple TV, you can no longer stream content from other, non-home shared computers (e.g., a flat-mate or partner who has a different iTunes account, even though their content appears in iTunes) "

"As the Apple TV is a streaming-only device, it's unfortunate that it's now limited to streaming from computers of just one iTunes account"

Just because you don't like or understand the feature doesn't mean its not a viable solution. Saying it can't stream from "other" accounts just isn't so.