Q: Home Sharing - A Story of Struggle

Redicoulous that they are saying this problem could be with people's wireless networks, which is just passing data.  No, the problem is on the server-side and  they need to FIX it on THEIR end.  This is just like the "Back to my Mac" issue with the TimeCapsules a couple weeks ago.  It was on THEIR end.  They did finally fix that issue, in the "Apple way": quietly with no mention of it. 

KD000,

You are right that this is a ridiculous answer. My problem absolutely cannot be the wireless network. I just created home sharing with a different Apple ID and it worked.  Something on the software side is blocking my Apple ID. Others in this thread have reported similar results.

In fact, this has created a workaround for me.  But having to discard an Apple ID is not a long term work around.

Mine can't be wireless network either as I am wired

Can you go through how you just created a home sharing account with a different id. I can't see that option. Only the option to turn it on or turn it off. Cheers.

My wife has her own apple ID, so in iTunes on my computer, i just used her Apple ID when signing into Home Sharing. Then signed into Home Sharing on all my devices the same way. I'm still signed into my devices and icloud with my ID, just Home Sharing I'm using hers. Seems to work, I can see all music, movies etc on Apple TV and other devices.

So not having somebody else's account I used my US account and since that hasn't had its password changed in a long of course Home Sharing switched on. It remains switched on now I'm back on my UK account. So how is it being paid for?

brightonjohn wrote:

 

So how is it being paid for?

Home Sharing isn't a paid service.  It's just a feature of iTunes and the various other media playing apps from

Apple.  It requires an Apple ID, but those can be created for free.  Home Sharing is separate from iTunes Match, iTunes in the Cloud, Apple Music, etc.

Cheers - so I'm actually paying for iMatch then. The people on the phone seemed to think I was paying for homeshare. Still, as you say, this solution works and my iMac and two PCs are all playing nicely together now. Thanks for your help.

brightonjohn,

I think you are confusing home sharing with one of the paid services Apple offers, such as Apple Music.  Home sharing is just part of the operating system, and there is no cost use it. Home sharing simply is design to allow members of the same household to use an accounts iTunes files while on the same network. For example, all the iTunes files on a Mac can view home viewed on an authorized iPad or iPhone on that same home network.

Home sharing is similar but different from Family sharing, which is also free. Family sharing allows iTune purchases to be downloaded and shared by anyone authorized as part of the Family sharing. There are some additional requirements for Family sharing.

Pathetic, if the Apple support are confusing iMatch with Home Sharing. This may hint at the reason for the problem. iTunes has been set up to support these paid systems and to protect intellectual property rights of the music owners, and that does seem to have created problems for legitimate, unpaid shared uses of iTunes content.

I just bought a new Apple TV4 to upgrade from my Apple TV2.  Now nothing works.  I cannot enable Home Sharing on any device I own - iTunes on PC, iPhone, 2 Apple TV2s, and an Asus tablet.  All of my movies and TV shows are on my PC hard drive, so this is really ******* me off, especially after buying a new unit.  The tech on the phone was cavalier and basically told me I was screwed and that they were aware of the issue and are working on it.  I have the identical problem of everyone else.  I can access every Apple service with my validated on Appleid.com Apple id and password, save Home Sharing.  Urgh.

Niemand911, despite not being able to use Home Sharing, I have been able to use AirPlay on my iMac to play my movies and TV shows on my AppleTV4.  It isn't the most convenient since the computer is in the den and the TV in the living room put it has been working.  My Apple Watch keeps reminding me to get up and move around every hour anyway.

Sme issue here. I had to login to

post this so obviously I know my credentials. This is really bad. My remote just died. Why they couldn't make the remote rechargeable is really beyond me.

Thanks for getting this issue out there!  I've recently been experiencing it myself, and haven't done even 1% of the troubleshooting that you've already done. Now that I know that most of the troubleshooting that I would have done wouldn't work, you've all saved me a lot of headache. Having said that though, I think I can help by just offering some info on how my circumstances are different than the others here.

For starters, this issue began for me when I was setting up a separate iTunes library on an external drive. After adding all the media I wanted, I went to turn on Home Sharing, and got the exact same error as everyone here. All of my other devices are still signed into Home Sharing, as is the original iTunes library that is run from the same computer as the new one. Unlike seemingly everyone here, I have not changed my Apple ID password in the history of Apple ID and its predecessors (Yeah, I know. Don't judge.). I did however recently activate 2 Factor Authentication on my account, even while keeping my password the same. All else being equal, I think that may be where the issue lies. I've read through all of the posts on here, and I think we all agree that the issue occurs somewhere, somehow, and somewhen after the Apple servers authenticate your actual password. Right about when any other Apple ID sign in would normally prompt my umpteen other devices to give their consent to my sign in. Maybe there's something there? Food for thought.

[Edit: Okay, so I missed that Jim tried this after disabling 2FA. Still makes me wonder though.]

My home sharing is now working!!!!  I just tried it and it works....

Saw your message Lynne6750 and tried.  Mine, miraculously, is now working, too!