# Multiple computers on Apple tv?



## wonderings (Jun 10, 2003)

I have my MacBook Pro connected to Apple TV, and will have my iMac connected as well when its back from getting a new logic board. My question is about having other users stream to it. A friend came over yesterday with a unibody MacBook and wanted to stream some video to my Apple TV. Apple TV did not see the computer with home sharing on. Is there anyway to do this or is Apple TV locked down to just one user library?

If it is locked down, are there any hacks to allow multiple libraries? Would be nice if a friend came over and had something they wanted to show, they could do so wirelessly without need to transfer files to my computer first.


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## dona83 (Jun 26, 2005)

The 2nd gen Apple TVs allow you to connect to multiple computers for sure.


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## wonderings (Jun 10, 2003)

dona83 said:


> The 2nd gen Apple TVs allow you to connect to multiple computers for sure.


I could not figure it out yesterday, and there is not much in the settings menu. Thought there would be something to add a new computer or something to that regard. Anyone know what I should be doing to allow a friends computer to work with the new Apple TV? He had home sharing on, not sure if there is anything else specific that needs to be on.


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## Stephanie (Jul 21, 2004)

The new Apple TV can only see multiple computers if they are on the same Apple ID / iTunes ID. It does everything through home sharing, and my understanding is that home sharing works by iTunes account. So it would not be able to 'see' a friend's computer even if it were on the same network and with home sharing active.

The original Apple TV, I'm not sure about. It is synced to a single computer, and I don't remember seeing anything in it about being able to access shared libraries other than the one it is synced to.


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## wonderings (Jun 10, 2003)

Stephanie said:


> The new Apple TV can only see multiple computers if they are on the same Apple ID / iTunes ID. It does everything through home sharing, and my understanding is that home sharing works by iTunes account. So it would not be able to 'see' a friend's computer even if it were on the same network and with home sharing active.
> 
> The original Apple TV, I'm not sure about. It is synced to a single computer, and I don't remember seeing anything in it about being able to access shared libraries other than the one it is synced to.


Can I add multiple Apple ID's? Or has apple limited it to just one?


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## Stephanie (Jul 21, 2004)

wonderings said:


> Can I add multiple Apple ID's? Or has apple limited it to just one?


I'm pretty sure it is limited to only one at a time, unfortunately.


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## wonderings (Jun 10, 2003)

Hopefully the airplay is not when that comes out. I think a great part, or a potentially great part is the idea you can bring your media anywhere, iPhone, iPod touch, iPad, MacBook, and easily play it on a TV with Apple TV. I will have to see what hacks are out for Apple TV to get some of this functionality.


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## dona83 (Jun 26, 2005)

That's probably it. You could've temporarily logged into your account on that MacBook for home sharing.


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## wonderings (Jun 10, 2003)

dona83 said:


> That's probably it. You could've temporarily logged into your account on that MacBook for home sharing.


Well I tried logging in on his MacBook, but it did not show. 

I could be doing something wrong, when I log in, is it just signing into the iTunes music store with my account? Or is there somewhere else I need to do that?


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## Stephanie (Jul 21, 2004)

I think you'd have to do it the other way around - log in to his account on the apple tv, then you could see his home-shared content. Then afterwards you'd have to switch the apple tv back to your own account.

Logging to your itunes account on his laptop might let the apple tv see his laptop but there'd be none of your content on it, right? The goal is to view his content, so you'd need the apple tv on his itunes account, so it could see his content.

Re. Airplay, I wouldn't be surprised if that also relied on home sharing & itunes account. I mean, just to use the free Remote app on your iphone, it has to go through home sharing on the new Apple TV, it doesn't work quite like it does with the original Apple TV. We'll have to wait till November though to find out, as there's no way to test it yet.


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## kevleviathan (Apr 9, 2008)

There's been a bit of confusion here:

The Home Sharing Apple ID is totally separate from the Apple ID used for the iTunes store.

You can have multiple computers connect to the ATV2 by enabling home sharing using the same Apple ID on all computers. This DOES NOT affect how iTunes or the iTunes Store functions, meaning you can be logged into the iTunes store with account 1 and simply enable home sharing with account 2 (account 2 being the one your ATV2 uses) and all of the content will be playable.


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## wonderings (Jun 10, 2003)

kevleviathan said:


> There's been a bit of confusion here:
> 
> The Home Sharing Apple ID is totally separate from the Apple ID used for the iTunes store.
> 
> You can have multiple computers connect to the ATV2 by enabling home sharing using the same Apple ID on all computers. This DOES NOT affect how iTunes or the iTunes Store functions, meaning you can be logged into the iTunes store with account 1 and simply enable home sharing with account 2 (account 2 being the one your ATV2 uses) and all of the content will be playable.


How do I enable this home sharing on a friends computer? He had home sharing turned on, but I could not see anything else in regards to this.


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## Stephanie (Jul 21, 2004)

The info I found on home sharing does say it needs your iTunes account id and password:


> Turning on Home Sharing. The first step to setting up Home Sharing is to select the Home Sharing item from the Shared section of iTunes’ left-hand column. You are next prompted to provide your iTunes Store account name and password and then click “Create Home Share.”


Found on this page: Confused about iTunes Home Sharing? | Ted Landau's User Friendly View | The Mac Observer

It also says this:


> Choosing an account. Home Sharing requires that the same iTunes Store account (user name and password) be used for all sharing computers. In other words, if Joe turns on Home Sharing from his Mac, Jane needs to enter Joe’s name and password on her Mac. If, instead, Joe and Jane both turn on Home Sharing using their own account names and passwords, Home Sharing will be on for both users, and all may seem okay. But they will not see each other’s Library’s via Home Sharing. Once again, this can be confusing.


Which is why I figure the AppleTV has to be 'on the same iTunes account' as the computer with the content you're looking for.


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