Send and watch movies from external HDD to ATV

Question

Level 1

7 points

Send and watch movies from external HDD to ATV

Dear friends!

I have a very complex question to ask you. Unfortunately, my time is very limited to look it myself up and i am really an amateur. I could post the question to many categories, but I think Apple TV is the most suitable, since the goal is to manage to use it as i wish.

So, I share loudly my thoughts, and please tell me if i think correct, or something is not possible due to technical etc limitations. Any further proposals are very welcome

I have an Apple TV 3 and I am thinking seriously to move to 4k. Besides, I own an old airport express (7 years) for time machine backups. I have heard, that this apple product does not serve as a network HDD for sharing movies. Thus, I am planning to connect via usb my 2 Tb external HDD where I have stored some old movies and personal videos. Then, I would like to be able to watch everything from Apple TV without having to turn on computer, iphone etc. I believe that this HDD would be visible from all apple devices i have and not only Apple TV (ipad,iphone, iMac, MacBook). I don t know if I have to upload my personal videos to iTunes, in order to achive this. Will such a move from me eat up my icloud storage? Or is there a way to watch my movies from Apple TV without having to use iTunes? And if my thought is wrong, is there a way to share the movies to my personal network at home via family sharing? Additionally, will the upgrade to ATV4 let me install legally without jailbraking etc kodi? I would like to watch tv Chanels from my country without having to turn on computers or mirror iPhones.

Thank you very much for you patience

Greetings from Switzerland and God bless you

Michael

null-OTHER, iOS 10.1.1, Time Capsule

Posted on Nov 7, 2017 1:59 PM

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Answer 1

Nov 7, 2017 2:49 PM in response to doulberis

Hi. You cannot connect a disk drive to Apple TV 3, 4, or 4K. The USB connection is only used to reload the software from a computer. If you can connect the drive to the AirPort, you may be able to access it. If you install an NAS, you will certainly be able to access it.

There are apps for Apple TV 4 that can access network file shares. One of these is VLC. But I'm not sure about 4K support.

You cannot install kodi on Apple TV without jailbreaking.

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Answer 2

Nov 7, 2017 3:14 PM in response to doulberis

If the AirPort can publish your HDD as a network share, then you'd be able to access it directly from Apple TV. No need for any new equipment.

I'm not clear how you figure iCloud comes into this. You can run an iTunes server on a computer, and add your files to its library. Apple TV can then access them using Home Sharing. This doesn't use iCloud, though you use your Apple ID to make things work together. The advantage of iTunes is that it supports Apple's DRM, and access may be more graceful through the Computers app on Apple TV.

If you purchased the TV app on your iPhone, you can use it on any device that shares your Apple ID. If you purchased some sort of TV service, free use on other devices would depend on the provider..

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Answer 3

doulberis Author

Level 1

7 points

Nov 7, 2017 2:59 PM in response to Diana.McCall

Dear Diana!

Thank you sincerely for the fast and very kind reply.

My aim was to connect my WD external HDD via USB to Time Airport, not to Apple TV directly. Do you think that a NAS Drive connected to apple tv or the new Time Capsule is a better solution?

Regarding iTunes, iCloud storage and apple tv. Is there a smart way to make visible in iTunes my files, without having to consume my free storage from iCloud?

I found out that I can use my favourite TV app that I bought for iPhone to Apple tv as well. It is officially supported. Will the apple tv 4 be linked to the same account without having to pay again?

Thanks once more

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