David Gee1
Level 1 (88 points)
Photos for Mac

Q: 2 users on 1 library

Afternoon Folks,

 

Is it possible for two different user accounts on the same iMac to point at the same iTunes library ?

 

Home sharing the library that currently exists just in the Admin account does not seem to do the trick.

 

If so, would the library need to be re-located outside of the Admin users account, or not?  For example to an external drive?

 

The reason for asking is that my wife and I both wish to sync our iPhones to the same set of iTunes playlists, movies, app's etc, (and iPhoto albums, but that is a different posting) but need to maintain separate user accounts on the iMac so that we can have independent Mail and Address books.

 

I stress that this will be on the same machine, (as the laptop has died and is to be replaced with an iPad) so there is no risk of both accounts attempting to access the library at the same time.

 

Many thanks,

David.

Posted on Mar 15, 2012 6:24 AM

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David Gee1

Q: 2 users on 1 library

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  • by Limnos,Helpful

    Limnos Limnos Mar 15, 2012 6:33 AM in response to David Gee1
    Level 9 (54,642 points)
    Mac OS X
    Mar 15, 2012 6:33 AM in response to David Gee1

    I stress that this will be on the same machine, (as the laptop has died and is to be replaced with an iPad) so there is no risk of both accounts attempting to access the library at the same time.

    Actually there is the risk because if you use fast user switching you can both be logged in and running iTunes at the same time but if you are using a common library file only one person can use it at a time.

     

    iTunes: How to share music between different accounts on a single computer - http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1203 - relocating iTunes' media folder to a shared area but leaving separate library files - extra tip at https://discussions.apple.com/message/17331189

     

    or the other way

     

    Chris CA's instructions on sharing iTunes music libraries between multiple user accounts - https://discussions.apple.com/message/8974074 - Multiple users using a single library file - similar post at: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3753008

  • by David Gee1,

    David Gee1 David Gee1 Mar 15, 2012 6:47 AM in response to Limnos
    Level 1 (88 points)
    Photos for Mac
    Mar 15, 2012 6:47 AM in response to Limnos

    Looks good thanks Limnos.

     

    I'll try it tonight (at home) and hopefuly come back with a "solved"

    I just hope that iPhoto is a simple and I'm sorted.

     

    Thanks again,

    David

  • by Limnos,

    Limnos Limnos Mar 15, 2012 7:09 AM in response to David Gee1
    Level 9 (54,642 points)
    Mac OS X
    Mar 15, 2012 7:09 AM in response to David Gee1

    It looks like the new iPhoto is structured slightly differently, but I don't use iPhoto so all I know is from looking at:  iPhoto: How to move the Library folder to a new location - http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1229  I am guessing here that if you are content to use just one library file that you can share the whole thing from a shared location as you would for a single-library iTunes collection. You might get more solid information on the iPhoto forum.

  • by David Gee1,

    David Gee1 David Gee1 Mar 15, 2012 4:11 PM in response to Limnos
    Level 1 (88 points)
    Photos for Mac
    Mar 15, 2012 4:11 PM in response to Limnos

    Don't know why but moving the iTunes Media file did not work.

     

    However, somewhere I have instructions to move the entire thing to an external drive using "consolidate" I was considering doing that to free up some space anyway so I may try that anyway as it seems that as long as both accounts do indeed point to the media files I should be okay.

     

    Thanks,

    David.

  • by Limnos,

    Limnos Limnos Mar 15, 2012 5:08 PM in response to David Gee1
    Level 9 (54,642 points)
    Mac OS X
    Mar 15, 2012 5:08 PM in response to David Gee1

    Details on why it didn't work please.

  • by David Gee1,

    David Gee1 David Gee1 Mar 16, 2012 6:49 AM in response to Limnos
    Level 1 (88 points)
    Photos for Mac
    Mar 16, 2012 6:49 AM in response to Limnos

    Hi,

     

    I don't know,

     

    I seem to have both an iTunes Music and an iTunes Media folder. I moved them both (one at a time) outside of the Admin account, but when I pointed iTunes in the second account to the new location, it simply did not show any content either time.

    It may be worth noting that iTunes in the Admin account did not need re-pointing to the new location either time.

     

    I'm going to consolidate back to the hard drive over the weekend and will report back. It may be best to have it all on the external anyway, the internal drive was getting a bit full, it's only an old 250 gig drive.

     

    Cheers,

    David.

  • by Limnos,

    Limnos Limnos Mar 16, 2012 7:06 AM in response to David Gee1
    Level 9 (54,642 points)
    Mac OS X
    Mar 16, 2012 7:06 AM in response to David Gee1

    iTunes has several pieces:

     

    1) library.itl is a file which stores information about what music you have in your collection, playlists, ratings, etc.  It stores where the media file is located for a particular track/

     

    2) Media files which contain the actual music.

     

    3) Various other files and folders with things like artwork.

     

    What are the iTunes library files? - http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1660

     

    More on iTunes library files and what they do - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ITunes#Media_management

     

    iTunes 9: Understanding iTunes Media Organization - http://support.apple.com/kb/ht3847

     

    Image of iTunes folder structure Dec. 2011 - https://discussions.apple.com/message/16923545

    see also:

    Image of folder structure and explanation of different iTunes versions (turingtest2 post) - https://discussions.apple.com/message/13025536

     

    What are all those iTunes files? - http://www.macworld.com/article/139974/2009/04/itunes_files.html

     

    You have two options. One is for both of you to share the same library file. You will both see the identical thing when opening iTunes because it will be the identical thing.  The other is for you to share just media and to each have your own library file.  Which do you want?