I want Front Row Back

Plus (why FR and not ATV)

The content accessed by ATV needs to be managed via iTunes on the Mac computer. This is very tedious and inflexible. With FR I use file aliases to place new videos in folder named new in my Movies folder. FR accessed this with a couple of clicks. With ATV I have to work my way through endless menus to find a particular video (provided I remember to add it to iTunes and manually set the genre when i save the MP4 file on the imac)

I am still running snow leopard on my media imac so that i can use FR. It is also the server for my ATV. I am playing around with Airplay to stream the FR video & audio to the ATV but it is not perfect. Airplay makes it worth having an ATV as other mac and ios devices can stream video and audio.

I *wanted* Front Row back, I was one of the first posters here and I have kept watch on this thread for a long time.

Now, I'm glad it's gone. I have adopted the following:

* iFlicks to import movies and TV shows into iTunes. Most downloadable movies are already h.264 so this only takes a few seconds, plus it gets the artwork

* Remote app on iPhone to browse and control media. It's so much better than scrolling through hundreds of items on the big screen with a push button remote. With fullscreen support now, iTunes works perfectly

I experimented with this method while I was waiting for Apple to beef up their TV, or release a new version of front row, But before I knew it I didn't miss front row at all. Even though I had it sitting on Snow Leopard in my media room, I hadn't used it in months, so I just upgraded to Mavericks. I highly, highly recommend others try this way. iFlicks is a beautiful piece of software, as is Apple's Remote app.

I use the Apple remote app too for my Apple TV. It's great and it's the reason I made our entire family switch to iPhones from the more capable Samsung smart-phones we all used to use (I miss text voicemail). Nice apps, but that doesn't solve the question of the interface on my television screen. My wife for example REFUSES to use or even install the remote app on her phone...period! I can't get her to change her mind - she simply refuses to use her phone as a remote control and she won't let me buy her an iPad.

Nice options, but we still either need Front Row or a real Apple TV with a Front Row like interface.

Thank you for your hint. Sounds interesting...

Unfortunately I did not found a demo version (one major problem of the AppStore in my opinion) do give it a trial. And I searched all web sides to get further information, but did not found the answers.

So I would like to ask you for further informations: most of my movies are DVDs or EyeTV movies - can iFlicks handle this? And do I need another 2 TB harddisk for that?

iTunes might support fullscreen, but it is totally new for me that I can activate this mode with my remote. I will give it a try - but as far as I know, iTunes is far away from a media center solution.

And I have one more problem which might be uninteresting: if I use an application which re-organizes my folder structure by adding my movies to albums: how much work is it (and how can I simplify it) to keep my already organized structure? If it works like Plex or XBMC then I do not need another solution which is (in my opionion) useless.

Last but not least: if iFlicks is retrieving metadata for all movies, does it rename my movies based on these informations like Plex or XBMC do?

Sorry for being complicated and asking so many questions, but I just want a simple media center solution. And not a next trial with lots of frustrations.

If we are talking about Front Row and - may be - an alterative, I can not understand why anybody is mentioning Apple TV! May be you can help me?

Can I connect any TB harddisk to "remote play" my movies? Or can I start DVDs and EyeTV movies?

Someone mentioned iTunes to watch movies by iTunes via AirPlay on Apple TV: no EyeTV movies, no DVDs, no "direct" solution, not a remote control solution... and far away from something I could explain my wife. Or did I miss something - then please give me some help.

My wife just tried to get the idea of "... iTunes to watch movies ... via AirPlay on Apple TV..." and said: "find a simple solution, please".

And please give my an idea how can I connect Apple TV to my iMac - I bought it because we liked the idea of less hardware & cable.

Yes there's a full screen button on the Remote app. To switch to EyeTV I use Rowmote Pro, not perfect but it's pretty good. I don't even have a keyboard or mouse plugged into my mini, just iPhone.

I just keep EyeTV recordings in EyeTV and use the iPhone EyeTV app. As for DVD, I haven't used them in years so I can't help you there sorry.

My understanding is that AppleTV is mainly geared to download music and video from the internet. This works fine but most of us have many videos stored in MP4 format on a Mac (or Windows) computer or an external hard drive attached to that computer. ATV can access these videos (plus music and photos) provided that "home sharing" is activated on the computer, the computer and ATV are on the same (home) network and the video is available in iTunes on that computer. From the ATV menu the "Computer" icon is selected and any video or music that is linked to iTunes on that computer shows up in the menus.

It is similar for DVDs that are loaded on the computer - they appear on the ATV via the Computer icon. ATV will not play video directly from an external hard drive or DVD player. It also won't play digital TV broadcasts (I used to run an extension to FR that added an EyeTV item to the FR menu - allowing me to watch TV from FR). ATV is really only a slightly smart streaming device.

My main lament about the loss of FR is that, with the ATV, there are several extra steps needed to be able to play a recently recorded video. With FR I just put the file (or an alias) in the Mac computer Movie folder and it appeared in the FR menu. I will look at iFlicks for this.

I have a Mac Mini in the dash of my car and depend on Front Row. Because of the lack of Front Row in the newer OS's I am stuck with outdated software. Too bad Apple will never look back and help us out on this one. It was nice while it lasted. When it's time to upgrade my carputer I wonder what I'm going to switch to... I really wish I could say Apple xxx 😟

Then you should investigate the newly developed CarPlay from Apple.

Sorry, forgot to supply the link:

http://www.macworld.co.uk/feature/iphone/what-is-apples-carplay-in-car-ios-syste m-3505663/

I see two problems with this.

1. I'm not in bye market for a new car.

2. I like having my car independent from my phone. I have a 750GB SSD that holds way more than a phone will for the foreseeable future.

It is interesting that Front Row still appears prominently on the OSX Discussions page. Maybe there is hope yet?

yes front row would be good to have back.

I want front row back. Bring it back.

<Edited by Host>

I do not think that there is hope - neither yet nor in the future. Apple's solution is AppleTV, I guess.

But can find an alternative in the Mac App Store: nessMediaCenter

The MAS version does not offer any internet content (like movie trailers), but at its support web page you can download other versions including a demo. And these versions are newer...