Apple TV 4 - Home Sharing Slideshows - Scratching my head...

Man I wished I read through these 4 pages of commentary and reports regarding the limitations of ATV4 before my purchase of 3 ATV4's. Mandrieu, I share your same desires and wanted to leverage various size displays with various themes. Finding out I couldn't sync music has been a pain as well, cuz like most of the posts here - I judged my purchase of the ATV4's on my ATV2. It appears that I need to wait on a developing 3rd party app. I hope they developers include the ability to recognize Smart Folders in the MacOS - another frustrating part of the Home Sharing we can't take advantage of - why have the tag feature if it can't be recognized (another thread for another time).

I have a Dream.

I have my photos stored in so many folders and I would like to be able to choose to see together the "A" folder and the folder "C", or folder "M"... while I can now see or just a folder or all together. And then, my dream would be that iTunes would allow me to choose whether to listen to the playlist "A" and the "C" playlist ... and not just a playlist or all of them together. Then I keep dreaming I want to be able to see the song title while I watch the slideshow. It's the year 2017 After Christ ... can you implore these banality? And there is no app that can do it.
Obviously I want to improvise the slideshow when I'm horrified on the couch ... I do not want to mount the slideshow and save a project ... I want to improvise it, associate the music I want and the photos I want. Vivid enough to see realized this dream?

Amen!

With all of the photos & music being created - I can't believe there isn't a dynamic means of combining the ability to mix and match these aspects dynamically. What else are you going to do with this content? The days of boring the family to watch vaca photos or just sitting around listening to music are long past. Most of the these pics mean something and the music has the ability to draw feeling and emotions out of us. Why wouldn't you have this content streaming continuously (with various themes) anywhere, anytime? Where are the tools?

Mrmc offers the ability to select folders via smb but updating, if you have many files, is very slow and the selection is tortuous which passes the will.
Infuse offers the ability to select folders but only works with videos. Why is there no such thing for Images and Music? Because? Of course if there was not Apple it would be the desert but you could do something more.

So no fix in sight, will retire Apple TV 4 to work out room TV and use Apple tv 2 in family room. Yes it was a waste to purchase Apple TV 4, it appears it can't be fixed..... or they don't care since it's not an iphone $$$

I want to join in. I just bought my ATV4 to replace my old friend, ATV1. The first thing I wanted to test was the ability to watch a slideshow with selected music (playlist). I'm using Homesharing not iCloud. And when I found out that this was not doable. I started to search the Forum and found this thread. It's amazing that such a useful feature has been removed. I really hope that it will come back in the future.

I then thought, well, I could start the selected Playlist before I start the Slideshow. And this worked for me, but.....when I during the slideshow wanted to pause it, guess what, I'll pause the Playlist!!! If I then hit the Pause button again I'll pause the Slideshow. The third hit on the pause button will then resume the Slideshow, but not the Playlist. The Playlist will be forever paused.

Best way to fix this "known bug"... buy a cheaper device, the Chromecast ONLY to put the right photos in the right place, with a very useful screen... clock, weather information... with a very nice slideshow... I used only for photos (and I payed for it!!!, my living room is better with the television working right with my life playing in the screen...).

When I need to watch or play... I took the apple tv remote and thanks God... my TV and both device are HDMI CEC compliant... so the TV switch automatically to Apple TV.

But really... photos on Apple TV... it-s was place there by enemy...

Apple seems to have a strategy of removing lots of features with a new version of a product, then adding back the ones that people care/complain about (iMovie, iWork applications, etc.). So, definitely submit feedback and let it know that yo miss that feature. Hopefully enough other people care that they will add it back.

It could also just be a bug or oversight, but again, letting them know through feedback or a bug report is the way to get it added back.

I am having the exact same problem and like you not a happy camper! I certainly hope apple restores the old slide show features!

Thanks Mandrieu,

A nicely succinct description of the problem. I have exactly the same issues, it is maddening.

But before reading your post I had called Apple Care. What I heard:

- "known bug"

- "Apple TV 4 a completely new platform for TV (in other words, not for slideshows"

- "you are using a function that not many are interested in"

- "you should send feedback to Apple to highlight this bug and hope that engineers will take note"

- "since this is a new platform for developers, please wait until someone brings out a slideshow app"

I thought I needed to share this since I found the responses condescending (although, unfortunately, not entirely unexpected).

Stupid customer that I am (paying € 250,- and then begging to fix basic features), I filed a feedback with my complaints.

Apple, if you read this, shame on you!

Agreed. Not cool. Weird also because Apply keeps advertising the photo features of ATV 4 on their website. No word that home sharing would no longer be supported...

I found a simple workaround to play music during a photo sideshow. Go into the Music app and start playing one of your playlists. Then just click the Menu key 4 times to get back out to the Apps list. Note that your music is still playing. The just go into the Photos app and start your slideshow.

Voila! Pictures and music!

Music should continue to play over any App that does not generate its own sound.