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AppleTV + Homesharing + 2 iTunes Accounts?

Is that even possible?

I'm sharing a network with another family members MacBook I have my iTunes account & library and they have their own iTunes account & library.

in AppleTV it says "ComputerS" and I dont think I should have to authorize another computer to share my library again to the AppleTV, it kind of doesnt make any sense.

Home sharing is enabled on bother computers using our respective iTunes accounts but only one shows up at a time on the AppleTV. sort of annoying and counter intuitive to me that youd want to be able to see multiple various libraries.


How is everyone managing multiple libraries and one AppleTV & Home Sharing?
it just seems so crippled and idiotic....but maybe my knowledge is?



thanks!

White MacBook 1.83Ghz

Posted on Oct 8, 2010 6:03 PM

Reply
71 replies

Oct 8, 2010 7:23 PM in response to Max Stanley

You're right. It's crippled and idiotic and a complete step backwards from the previous generation AppleTV where iTunes and AppleTV communicated over Bonjour and a simple 4-digit code. Either Apple wants it this way and they don't care, so they won't fix it, or they didn't bother to test it in this common situation, and they don't care much, so they'll take forever to fix it. In any case, those of us with multiple adults in the home with separate libraries are screwed.

Oct 8, 2010 7:56 PM in response to Aaron Adams

well sh¡t, atleast I'm not the only one. I opened the box connected the little guy and thought to myself okay simple enough...and was too good to be true.
I dont understand how theyd want me to authorize my account on multiple computers...for one doesnt seem logical nor secure/safe.


I thought they had it just right with the new concept as its not a bad idea..but for the life of me dont get the shortcomings =\

luckily i have a spare machine with large drives i could probably port it to.


thanks for the input Aaron Adams.

Oct 9, 2010 1:52 AM in response to Scott Hunter

The issue here may be that different family members have different accounts:

"Note: The same iTunes account must be used to set up Home Sharing on all iTunes libraries you want the Apple TV to be able to share. The iTunes account used to purchase the content in any of your libraries can be different than the iTunes account used to set up Home Sharing."

It worked differently with the old AppleTV.

An additional issue is that I think Home Sharing is limited to 5 computers.

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.

AC

Oct 9, 2010 1:56 AM in response to Aaron Adams

Aaron Adams wrote:
You're right. It's crippled and idiotic and a complete step backwards from the previous generation AppleTV where iTunes and AppleTV communicated over Bonjour and a simple 4-digit code. Either Apple wants it this way and they don't care, so they won't fix it, or they didn't bother to test it in this common situation, and they don't care much, so they'll take forever to fix it. In any case, those of us with multiple adults in the home with separate libraries are screwed.


Absolutely stupid and ill-conceived implementation.

You'd think they would have learned from AppleTV 1 users who potentially wanted multiples user accounts or logins available on AppleTV 1 for similar reasons

Oct 9, 2010 2:03 AM in response to Max Stanley

Max Stanley wrote:
Is that even possible?


it works for me.

i have two iTunes store accounts. iTunes on all of my Macs is authorized to use/play content purchased with both iTS accounts.

on my mini, i'm logged into iTS account A while on the iMac, i'm logged into B.

mini and iMac show up under computers on TV.

the trick may be to authorize iTunes on every computer (up to 5) for all (up to 5) iTunes store accounts.

J GG

User uploaded file

Oct 9, 2010 2:13 AM in response to Jolly Giant

Presumably you log in to each user account on each iTunes as people used to before with AppleTV 1.

The issue here is that you have to use extra computer authorizations when that was only needed before if you were playing protected content from a different computer - presumably here you'd need an authorisation to be used simply to stream home movies/photos etc.

I thought Home Sharing itself only Shared content from a single account - what if you say had a Desktop Computer registered to Account A but authorised for Accounts A and B - if the second computer was a laptop that was out of the house and similarly authorised but for Account B, I assume that even if Account B content was copied to the desktop because the laptop was often not in the house, you would not be able to stream Account B content from teh desktop (authorised) as Home sharing was only enabled for Account A?

Does that makes sense? Or can you stream any account's content over Home Sharing provided the computer is authorised - great if it can but it would not make sense as it would defeat the home sharing computer limit.

Oct 9, 2010 2:27 AM in response to Alley_Cat

Alley_Cat wrote:
Presumably you log in to each user account on each iTunes as people used to before with AppleTV 1.


well, yes. one logs out of account A and into account B. then iTunes is authorized for both - indefinitly.

The issue here is that you have to use extra computer authorizations


no.

we're not talking computer authorizations but +*iTunes store+* authorizations.

a single iTunes (or, if you will, a single computer) can be authorized for up to five +*iTS accounts+*. equally, a mobile device can use/play content of up to five iTS accounts. while TV is not a mobile device per se, it works for TV just the same.

I thought Home Sharing itself only Shared content from a single account - what if you say had a Desktop Computer registered to Account A but authorised for Accounts A and B - if the second computer was a laptop that was out of the house and similarly authorised but for Account B, I assume that even if Account B content was copied to the desktop because the laptop was often not in the house, you would not be able to stream Account B content from teh desktop (authorised) as Home sharing was only enabled for Account A?


again, once iTunes has been authorized for A and B, it can play content of both accounts.

Or can you stream any account's content over Home Sharing provided the computer is authorised


yes. up to 5 machines, up to 5 iTS accounts.

it would not make sense as it would defeat the home sharing computer limit.


it does if you think about it. let's assume the average household consists of three folks (mom, dad, kid). Apple would of course like for each to have their own Mac and iTunes store account and purchase plenty of content. it would be silly to limit home sharing to just one account ...

J GG

User uploaded file

Oct 9, 2010 2:33 AM in response to Jolly Giant

Jolly Giant wrote:
Alley_Cat wrote:
Presumably you log in to each user account on each iTunes as people used to before with AppleTV 1.


well, yes. one logs out of account A and into account B. then iTunes is authorized for both - indefinitly.

The issue here is that you have to use extra computer authorizations


no.

we're not talking computer authorizations but +*iTunes store+* authorizations.

a single iTunes (or, if you will, a single computer) can be authorized for up to five +*iTS accounts+*. equally, a mobile device can use/play content of up to five iTS accounts. while TV is not a mobile device per se, it works for TV just the same.

I thought Home Sharing itself only Shared content from a single account - what if you say had a Desktop Computer registered to Account A but authorised for Accounts A and B - if the second computer was a laptop that was out of the house and similarly authorised but for Account B, I assume that even if Account B content was copied to the desktop because the laptop was often not in the house, you would not be able to stream Account B content from teh desktop (authorised) as Home sharing was only enabled for Account A?


again, once iTunes has been authorized for A and B, it can play content of both accounts.

Or can you stream any account's content over Home Sharing provided the computer is authorised


yes. up to 5 machines, up to 5 iTS accounts.

it would not make sense as it would defeat the home sharing computer limit.


it does if you think about it. let's assume the average household consists of three folks (mom, dad, kid). Apple would of course like for each to have their own Mac and iTunes store account and purchase plenty of content. it would be silly to limit home sharing to just one account ...

J GG

User uploaded file


I that's the case it may not be so bad.

So with Home Sharing enabled for Account A can I copy material from Account B to another computer via Home Sharing?

Oct 9, 2010 2:43 AM in response to Alley_Cat

Alley_Cat wrote:
So with Home Sharing enabled for Account A can I copy material from Account B to another computer via Home Sharing?


yep. doing it all the time.

i have home sharing on all my Macs configured to copy new purchases automatically to other +home shared+ libraries.

if i purchase a tune on my iMac using iTS account B, it is immediately copied to mini and MBP which are logged into iTS account A - and vice versa.

only content you add yourself (e.g. CD rips) has to be transferred manually.

J GG

User uploaded file

Oct 9, 2010 5:32 AM in response to Max Stanley

problem is, its too complicated and messy. something I'm not exactly familiar with with Apple.

I dont think this whole authorization thing is helping the cause of it or the simplicity of it at all, while authorization may be handy either the wordplay or functionality of it all is just a mess.

I have TWO MacBook 13" that both have separate accounts and libraries.
I can authorize my iTunes account on their computer to show up, but any content of theirs specifically they purchased wont be without their authorization.

regardless of work arounds its way too complicated for the medium ~ advanced user.
if you had a single source say a iMac or MacPro distributing the content on one iTunes account etc etc then practically it wouldnt matter to me, as i'd have that account be the main distributing account and call it a night; but i fret it may even be problematic at its own simpler state.


I might return mine as I wasnt 100% confident in it when i picked up but wanted to try it out. and isnt a MUST HAVE accessory.

Oct 9, 2010 6:17 AM in response to Max Stanley

Max Stanley wrote:
problem is, its too complicated and messy. something I'm not exactly familiar with with Apple.


it's not complicated. all you have to do is +log out+ of one account (click on the account name in the iTunes Store window and select +sign out+ from the pop-up dialog) and into the other, and then they will both be authorized.

User uploaded file

do this on all Macs and you're good to go. if iTunes on the other Macs is running, their libraries will show up under computers automatically.

regardless of work arounds


while this feature might not be commonly known, it's certainly no workaround.

J GG

User uploaded file

AppleTV + Homesharing + 2 iTunes Accounts?

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