I am trying to watch my home movies that weren't bought on iTunes on my Apple TV 4, but everything I try, you have to have your computer open. Can't I just save the videos to my Apple TV?
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How do you watch Home Videos on Apple TV 4 with out having computer open?
- Thread starter Morganmc92
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1st, no you cannot store your videos on the AppleTV 4 (or AppleTVs 2 or 3 for that matter either). And, you cannot hook anything up to the ATV as an external device. It is 100% a streamer.
You say "that weren't purchased on iTunes" but do not say where those videos reside. I am assuming that your videos are actually stored on your computer's hard drive. Is that the case? If they are on the computer's hard drive, then yes the computer has to be powered on.
But if those videos reside elsewhere, let us know where and we can help direct you to other options.
You say "that weren't purchased on iTunes" but do not say where those videos reside. I am assuming that your videos are actually stored on your computer's hard drive. Is that the case? If they are on the computer's hard drive, then yes the computer has to be powered on.
But if those videos reside elsewhere, let us know where and we can help direct you to other options.
Sort of... like the other poster mentioned, there's Infuse which will store some of your videos. The way the ATV4 manages memory, any videos you have copied over will get dumped if storage is needed for something else. You'd need to turn the computer on to copy them back over.
If you use iCloud Photo Library, that will also work with the next tvOS update -- I've been using it in the current beta, very consistent streaming performance. Once you play one of your IPL videos, it sticks around on the ATV4 until space is needed for another app. The only catch is the video needs to be in an Apple compatible format (if you can play it in iTunes, you can use it in iCloud Photo Library). If you're using the free-level of iCloud, you'd probably need to start paying for more space.
Another option is Plex, but you'd need to use the paid version. You don't need to worry about video or audio formats, Plex handles transcoding if necessary for a specific platform. For all it does, $40 for a year of use is very reasonable, or, try it for a month for $5 and then buy the yearly or lifetime ($150) license if you like it. PlexPass offers Cloud Sync which lets you store all or parts of your media library on one or more cloud services. Currently it works with:
- Amazon Cloud Drive
- Box (requires paid Box account)
- Dropbox
- Google Drive
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I just don't want to turn on my computer (for home sharing) every time I want to watch a movie from my iTunes (that wasn't bought on iTunes, but that I copied from my own DVDs)
It does not have to be much of a hardship: If you leave iTunes running and Wake for Network Access turned on, you can put your computer to sleep and the Apple TV will wake it up, play your movie, and put it back to sleep when it is done (1).
A.
1) I do not have an ATV4, am making the wild assumption that it works the same way as the ATV3.
I like dropbox and airplay. Seems to be the best way to send a video to the apple tv. And accesible from an iPad or an iPhone
HobeSoundDarryl
macrumors G5
No good option OP. If you want to sync videos, look to other 
TV-like boxes OR find a first generation box which did allow videos to be stored on it's internal hard drive. A "jailbreak" could even make that first generation box work with hard drives up to 2TB (and maybe more). I've long believed Apple should cover this base by normalizing the USB port on a new version of TV and resurrecting the ability to sync media files to whatever size storage someone wants to attach... AND/OR make TV optionally work with NAS storage options.
But Apple knows best... even when Apple rolled out an earlier version with this feature (and were right and lauded for doing so) and then took it away in subsequent updates (and were right and lauded for doing so).
There are many other options for locally storing media files. You might even check into whether your TV or satt/cable box offers an option for you to attach a hard drive full of media to either of those. Some of those can do that. That may be the best way.
Else, if it has to beTV you need to embrace having some computer in the home "always on" running iTunes to have always-available home movie content for TV. That's the way Apple wants it to work so that is the one and only right way for it to work.
TV-like boxes OR find a first generation box which did allow videos to be stored on it's internal hard drive. A "jailbreak" could even make that first generation box work with hard drives up to 2TB (and maybe more). I've long believed Apple should cover this base by normalizing the USB port on a new version of TV and resurrecting the ability to sync media files to whatever size storage someone wants to attach... AND/OR make TV optionally work with NAS storage options.But Apple knows best... even when Apple rolled out an earlier version with this feature (and were right and lauded for doing so) and then took it away in subsequent updates (and were right and lauded for doing so).
There are many other options for locally storing media files. You might even check into whether your TV or satt/cable box offers an option for you to attach a hard drive full of media to either of those. Some of those can do that. That may be the best way.
Else, if it has to be
TV you need to embrace having some computer in the home "always on" running iTunes to have always-available home movie content for TV. That's the way Apple wants it to work so that is the one and only right way for it to work.
Currently I'm using my ATV with home sharing from my itunes library and the computer has to be on.
Is there any apps that can cache movie to ATV? For example, caching a few episodes of tv shows so that I can still watch on my ATV with my computer off.
Is there any apps that can cache movie to ATV? For example, caching a few episodes of tv shows so that I can still watch on my ATV with my computer off.
The closest I can think of is "iMovie" Theater (https://support.apple.com/kb/PH14737?locale=en_US), but I'm not sure whether that's supported on the new Apple TV yet.
I can appreciate that people may be accustomed to turning off their computers. For maximum power savings, for the benefit of getting regular reboots, for the sake of parents who may have shouted, "Do you think we own stock in the electric company?"... not the worst thing to do.
Ironically, many laptop users believe they are powering off their systems when all they're actually doing is putting them to sleep (a brief press of the power button or shutting the lid puts them to sleep, it does not shut down).
I happen to be among the many who (intentionally) never turn computers off until a reboot is required (and modern OSes can run weeks or months without needing a reboot). I put mine to sleep. For security reasons, when they awake from sleep, they're set to require my login password. As Alrescha described earlier, mine are also set to wake for network access - the display stays off, but the CPU and hard disk will respond when other devices on the network need them. That's been part of the intent with Apple TV from the beginning - the computer functions as the Apple TV's server.
I worked in broadcasting for many years, so I'm very accustomed to having electronics that run 24/7, year in and year out. And then there are all my years in computing (both in broadcasting and afterwards) - most servers run 24/7 as well. There's a school of thought that says that electronic devices last longer when left constantly on, as there are stresses put on the components when the power is applied. For modern gear, though, I'm not sure whether the stresses are all that different, whether you leave things on constantly, or power-off regularly. At this point, even "Off" is not truly off - most systems stay on in a minimal way. For the sake of near-instant-on convenience, for the sake of being constantly aware in our constantly-connected computing environment... my computers stay on 24/7, and they last for a very long time.
Ironically, many laptop users believe they are powering off their systems when all they're actually doing is putting them to sleep (a brief press of the power button or shutting the lid puts them to sleep, it does not shut down).
I happen to be among the many who (intentionally) never turn computers off until a reboot is required (and modern OSes can run weeks or months without needing a reboot). I put mine to sleep. For security reasons, when they awake from sleep, they're set to require my login password. As Alrescha described earlier, mine are also set to wake for network access - the display stays off, but the CPU and hard disk will respond when other devices on the network need them. That's been part of the intent with Apple TV from the beginning - the computer functions as the Apple TV's server.
I worked in broadcasting for many years, so I'm very accustomed to having electronics that run 24/7, year in and year out. And then there are all my years in computing (both in broadcasting and afterwards) - most servers run 24/7 as well. There's a school of thought that says that electronic devices last longer when left constantly on, as there are stresses put on the components when the power is applied. For modern gear, though, I'm not sure whether the stresses are all that different, whether you leave things on constantly, or power-off regularly. At this point, even "Off" is not truly off - most systems stay on in a minimal way. For the sake of near-instant-on convenience, for the sake of being constantly aware in our constantly-connected computing environment... my computers stay on 24/7, and they last for a very long time.
It does, there is an iMovie Theater app...I've used it quite a bit. Easiest way to get home movies on the Apple TV