Apple TV4 and NAS

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Apple TV4 and NAS

Is there any way to play media (Music/Movies) on my Apple TV4 from an NAS, without 3rd party apps? I get around this now, by using my MacBook, but the only way I can play them on my apple TV is if my MacBook is on and iTunes is open. I don't want to do this.
I would like to build/buy an NAS, and I would like my Apple TV4 to play media from that server, without leaving the "Apple environment."
I've seen solutions involving Plex, Infuse, and VLC, but nothing about using the native apps within Apple.

Is it possible to actually install and run iTunes on an NAS? I'm not talking about just moving the library. Is there something already capable of doing this?

Apple TV 4K, tvOS 11.4.1

Posted on Sep 7, 2018 11:09 AM

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Answer 1

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Phil0124

Community+ 2026

Level 10

231,226 points

Sep 7, 2018 11:22 AM in response to Heckbound

No. There is no built in support for NAS drives on an Apple TV.

Apps from the App Store require following Apple's development guidelines and restrictions to operate which essentially mean the are in fact within Apple's own environment.

iTunes can only run on Windows or Mac. a NAS runs neither of these operating systems.

The closest you could get would be build a small media center PC, that runs Windows and iTunes and connects to your NAS to serve the Apple TV.

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Answer 2

Heckbound Author

Level 1

8 points

Sep 7, 2018 11:30 AM in response to Phil0124

That was what I was dreading. It may be for an OCD reason (I like seeing my recent movies/music when hovering over the app on the ATV,) but not to the level of going through that. I absolutely do not want to have a windows OS running all day.

I considered Linux, too.

Also, I didn’t like the bandwidth issues for movies, when going from an NAS to my MacBook, to the TV.

I guess I’ll use Plex.

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Apple TV4 and NAS

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