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Mark.g4

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Mar 13, 2023
343
349
Good Morning,
I have enjoyed using Apple Music and iTunes and the remote app for many years.

With the remote app, a very convenient function is to be able to control iTunes from your iPhone.
My use is very simple, when I use iTunes I put the cover of the album in full screen, with the lyrics of the song on the right and I use my iPhone as a remote control to change songs or manage the volume and therefore also to display album covers and song lyrics on the mac screen.

I have an Apple subscription and would like to do the same thing I do with iTunes and Remote, but I can't.
When I use Apple Music, I can stream music from my iPhone to my Mac (Airplay), but I can't see what I'm listening to on Mac screen, I can't see any covers or lyrics. In short, I can only manage the music, because the album cover and lyrics can only be seen on the iPhone, but not on the Mac screen.
I hope I was clear.

Is there a solution to this problem?
Thank you.
 

Eric Idle

macrumors 6502a
Jan 4, 2020
593
473
Good Morning,
I have enjoyed using Apple Music and iTunes and the remote app for many years.

With the remote app, a very convenient function is to be able to control iTunes from your iPhone.
My use is very simple, when I use iTunes I put the cover of the album in full screen, with the lyrics of the song on the right and I use my iPhone as a remote control to change songs or manage the volume and therefore also to display album covers and song lyrics on the mac screen.

I have an Apple subscription and would like to do the same thing I do with iTunes and Remote, but I can't.
When I use Apple Music, I can stream music from my iPhone to my Mac (Airplay), but I can't see what I'm listening to on Mac screen, I can't see any covers or lyrics. In short, I can only manage the music, because the album cover and lyrics can only be seen on the iPhone, but not on the Mac screen.
I hope I was clear.

Is there a solution to this problem?
Thank you.
Do you know that there is a Music app on the Mac? It does all you want.
 

Mark.g4

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Mar 13, 2023
343
349
Do you know that there is a Music app on the Mac? It does all you want.

Of course and I use it, but I can’t control Music App on my Mac by my iPhone, as I can control iTunes with my iPhone.
 

Arctic Moose

macrumors 68000
Jun 22, 2017
1,599
2,128
Gothenburg, Sweden
Of course and I use it, but I can’t control Music App on my Mac by my iPhone, as I can control iTunes with my iPhone.
I used to have a headless Mac mini in a closet running iTunes controlled exclusively through iTunes Remote on mobile devices.

The reason was primarily that AirPlay on iOS did not have support for streaming to multiple speakers at once, but iTunes did.

Since upgrading all my speakers to AirPlay 2 the use case sort of fell apart, and one day when the Mac mini fell off the network I turned it off and just never turned it back on.

However, I just downloaded iTunes Remote and tried it with Apple Music on Ventura, and it works fine. I can see cover art and title with the visualizer in full screen, and if I switch to "MiniPlayer" in the Window menu of Apple Music and set it full screen, I can see cover art and lyrics, and control it all as expected with the iTunes Remote on my phone.
 

Mark.g4

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Mar 13, 2023
343
349
Thank you, for your reply, but you can't do this.
When you use Remote app, on apple music, you can see cover art and lyrics but only about your music library, if you haven't songs in your library, you don't, because remote app must connect to your music library and not to apple music, to work correctly.
Remote app works only with your library and in fact when you open the app it asks you which library to connect to.
I apologize for my English language, I hope I was clear.
 

pup

macrumors 6502a
Dec 31, 2009
514
499
Ah, I get what you’re saying now. And yeah, I don’t think it’s possible. If you could Airplay to the phone from the Mac, you could do it in reverse, but that’s probably not in the cards. Same with apple updating the remote app to work with streaming. My understanding is that the remote app has been kept alive literally by one or two people at apple working in their spare time.
 

Arctic Moose

macrumors 68000
Jun 22, 2017
1,599
2,128
Gothenburg, Sweden
When you use Remote app, on apple music, you can see cover art and lyrics but only about your music library, if you haven't songs in your library, you don't, because remote app must connect to your music library and not to apple music, to work correctly.
Not quite true.

I just navigated to the New Finnish Rap playlist on Apple Music, contents of which are definitely not in my library. I can see the album art and lyrics in full screen on my Mac, I can see the art mirrored in the iTunes Remote app, I can navigate the up next list and I can choose new songs from it in the app. I can also control volume and even which speakers to output the audio to.

The one thing I cannot do is find new music to play in Apple Music, the search function is restricted to the library and there is no access to the Listen Now, Browse or Radio tabs. Maybe there is some other way to get what you want started in Music if you need to do that, perhaps through VNC, and then control it from iTunes Remote once it is running?
 
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pup

macrumors 6502a
Dec 31, 2009
514
499
I think that if you airplay to a separate speaker from the Mac, then you can switch to controlling that speaker in Music on the iPhone and get at least album art if not lyrics. I say think, because I just wasted two minutes trying and getting nothing out of airplay but 'can't connect' errors or saying it's connected and playing but no sound. Apple Music $ Airplay are...just...so...friggin...frustrating.

So, I end up right where I always do with these topics - pull out your checkbook, go buy some Sonos speakers, and save yourself an aneurism.
 

Mark.g4

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Mar 13, 2023
343
349
The one thing I cannot do is find new music to play in Apple Music, the search function is restricted to the library and there is no access to the Listen Now, Browse or Radio tabs.
exactly that, what I would like to do.
I would like to use iphone as a remote control on apple music on my mac, because where I listen to music I have a mac connected to the TV and I would like to see the lyrics of the songs, but currently, if I use my smartphone, I can only stream music.
 

pup

macrumors 6502a
Dec 31, 2009
514
499
OK, I figured out a way to do it. But you have to have an AppleTV or HomePod for it to work.

1. In the Music app on your iPhone, tap the airplay icon and then 'Control Other Speakers & TVs'.
2. In that menu, select the AppleTV or HomePod that you want to be the source.
3. Then tap the airplay icon again and add your Mac to the speaker list.

Your Mac will start playing the music and can display the cover art and lyrics; and even through the music is being airplayed from the third device, you'll have full control from your phone, including access to all of Apple Music.

It's a hassle, but I just verified that it does work.
 

Mark.g4

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Mar 13, 2023
343
349
Thank you for your reply.
I haven’t got Apple TV or HomePod..
 

Eric Idle

macrumors 6502a
Jan 4, 2020
593
473
OK, I figured out a way to do it. But you have to have an AppleTV or HomePod for it to work.

1. In the Music app on your iPhone, tap the airplay icon and then 'Control Other Speakers & TVs'.
2. In that menu, select the AppleTV or HomePod that you want to be the source.
3. Then tap the airplay icon again and add your Mac to the speaker list.

Your Mac will start playing the music and can display the cover art and lyrics; and even through the music is being airplayed from the third device, you'll have full control from your phone, including access to all of Apple Music.

It's a hassle, but I just verified that it does work.
Sounds like an utterly horrible way to listen to music. God awful.
 

pup

macrumors 6502a
Dec 31, 2009
514
499
Sounds like an utterly horrible way to listen to music. God awful.
In airplay’s defense, it’s more convenient than gathering a troupe of minstrels to play for you.

I’m sure that apple will eventually switch entirely to a streaming/controller model and when they do it’s *possible* that it might even be better than Sonos/Spotify connect/etc in that - if they’re smart - they’d allow you to choose your source, local or cloud.

Lol, I kid. Apple doesn’t do choice.
 
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