From what I have read and experienced, there is no easy way to sync and add music to the original Apple TV. Has anyone found a modern workaround to use this device and add music.
Not realizing what I was doing, I reset mine to factory settings trying to get it to be recognized, but lost all my content and now I can not restore it from my Mac.
The latest versions of iTunes no longer support syncing with the 1st gen. Access to the iTunes Store will also be ending next month
There was a document that outlined that but I can’t seem to find it now, will post when I do. However for those with a 1st gen running the latest version that option has been removed. Users have to revert to an older version in order to bring it back.
Syncing to a First Gen White Apple TV has not changed. It's still done through iTunes.
Read here: iTunes for Mac: Play items in your iTunes library using Apple TV (1st generation)
Ahh, I see.
vazandrew wrote:
The latest versions of iTunes no longer support syncing with the 1st gen. Access to the iTunes Store will also be ending next month
Access to iTunes Store will be ending in May for older platforms including the first gen Apple TV, but I don't believe syncing support on iTunes was ever said to be ending too for any of the platforms.
About iTunes Store availability - Apple Support
In fact the support document only refers to the store availability. No mention of syncing.
Although that is correct, Apple has actually "branched" iTunes. While iTunes "for the mass public" has gone from 12.6.2.20 to 12.7.0.166 (followed by 12.7.1.14, 12.7.2.58, 12.7.2.60, 12.7.3.46, and 12.7.4.76), Apple also released "legacy updates" in the form of 12.6.3 and recently 12.6.4, intended only for those who wanted to stay with the original 12.6.x "branch" (such as enterprise/corporate users who deploy company apps via iTunes). The 12.6.x branch continues to allow iOS app management, Apple TV management and syncing, Ringtones, Audiobooks, and the other things that were removed in the 12.7.x branch. But you get new things like iOS 11 support and security updates in the 12.6.x branch. Notably, once you're on the 12.6.x branch via at least 12.6.3, you no longer get nagged to update to 12.7.x -- you just have to know to update manually to 12.6.4 (or 12.6.5 when that happens to be released to support other new things).
You can even "sort of" hop from 12.7.x to 12.6.3/12.6.4 if you inadvertently updated. By "sort of" I mean that you have to folder surf into the "Previous iTunes libraries" folder in order to grab a .itl file that 12.6.x will be happy with.
Sources:
Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_iTunes#iTunes_12
Apple
Deploy apps in a business environment with iTunes - Apple Support
(the Apple page is slightly confusing - do not click the link text "update to the latest version of iTunes" but instead click the word "Mac" in the previous paragraph, in the sentence "If you've already installed a newer version of iTunes, you can download this version of iTunes on your Mac.")
Is Apple TV 1 of any use any more?
