Use Home Sharing for music, movies, and other media

All about Home Sharing: Share media libraries between devices

Home sharing is different from family sharing. With Home Sharing you are free to share media within your own network at home, on all devices on which you are logged in with your Apple ID, but also with housemates and guests who are logged in to the same network. Home Sharing gives you the ability to share, stream and import media from five computers connected to the same Wi-Fi network.

• Enable home sharing
• Use Home Sharing on a Mac
• Use Home Sharing on an iPhone or iPad
• Use Home Sharing on an Apple TV
• Share media library with others

Enable home sharing

iTunes has always made it possible to share your music collection with others. Thanks to Home Sharing, it has become even easier to share music, films and other content with housemates.

This is how you enable Home Sharing:

1. On your Mac, go to  > System Settings > General > Sharing.
2. Turn on the switch for Media Sharing.
3. Tap the (i) behind Media Sharing.
4. Enter your Apple ID and password. Then click on Turn on home sharing.

You now have access to all computers on the home network that work with the same ID. This allows you to play music from one Mac, iPhone or iPad on another Mac. You select the library by choosing the shared library in the Music app (or another suitable app).

You can also specify some options when switching on, such as whether the play counts should be updated and whether you want to share photos via the Apple TV. With the latter option you can also indicate whether you only want to share certain photos or folders.

Use Home Sharing on a Mac

You can use the Home Sharing feature to access shared media libraries on different computers, as long as they are on the same Wi-Fi network and use the same Apple ID. To view a shared library on an iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, or Apple TV, you must be signed in with the same Apple ID and connected to the same Wi-Fi network as that computer. With Home Sharing, you can not only access your media collection on different computers, but you can also stream media such as music and videos between authorized computers. Please note that these computers must be turned on and the Music app or iTunes for Windows must be running.

Here’s how to access Home Sharing on a Mac:

1. Open the Music app.
2. If you haven’t already done so, sign in with your Apple ID.
3. Click ‘Library’ in the sidebar.
4. Click on the media library.

To return to the music library, click Delete Media in the sidebar. On a Windows PC, click Music in the top left corner of the iTunes window to see all your shared libraries.

Use Home Sharing on an iPhone or iPad

To access your computer’s media library via Home Sharing, do the following on your iPhone or iPad:

1. For shared music, go to Settings > Music, and for video, go to Settings > TV > iTunes Videos.
2. Under ‘Home Sharing’, tap Log in.
3. Sign in with the Apple ID you always use.

Now that you are logged in, make sure that the iPhone, iPad or iPod touch is connected to the same WiFi network as your computer. Then open the Music app or Apple TV app.

In the Music app, tap Library, then tap Home Sharing. You can now choose one of the shared libraries. In the TV app, tap Library and also choose a shared library.

Use Home Sharing on an Apple TV

You can also access your computer’s media library on an Apple TV. To do this, log in to Home Sharing on your Apple TV.

1. Go to Settings > Users & accounts > Home Sharing.
2. Select Turn on home sharing.
3. Sign in with your Apple ID.

Once you’re signed in, follow these steps to access your computer’s media library on your Apple TV:

1. Connect the Apple TV to the same WiFi network as the computer.
2. On a computer, open the Music app, Apple TV app, or iTunes for Windows.
3. On Apple TV, go to the Home screen, select Computers and choose a shared library.

Share media library with others

You can share your media library with other computers on the same network, even if they belong to roommates. Others can only access your media library when your Mac is turned on.

This is how you enable it:

1. On your Mac, go to  > System Settings > Sharing > General.
2. Click on the (i) behind Home Sharing and switch on Media Sharing.
3. Make sure Share media with guests is enabled.
4. Click Options and indicate which options you want to activate, for example if you require a password and whether you want to share only selected playlists.

Tip: Home Sharing can also be used to activate automatic downloads for apps. If you use the same Apple ID for App Store purchases on multiple devices, all purchased apps will automatically be installed on all your devices. This can be useful, for example, if you use a shared iPad in a household.