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Movies purchased directly on my Apple TV do not sync back to iTunes

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paulinhadrp

macrumors member
Original poster
May 30, 2008
41
0
Southfield, MI
I have my Apple TV streaming from my Macbook's iTunes, but once in a while, I like purchasing movies directly from my Apple TV remote and watching them right away.

However, those movies are not going back to my iTunes. I tried "Checking Purchases" from iTunes, and nothing... my computer is authorized with my iTunes account... so, what gives?

I'm assuming the problem is that since I am using streaming, movies are not going back where they belong.
So what should I do to get those movies in my computer's iTunes??
 
I am suffering from this same problem with all my purchases on atv for a while now, and am having an ongiong discussion with the itunes shop staff about it.

me - I'm having a problem
them- have you tried looking for a support article about it?
me- yes, I have- there arn't any
them- have you tried looking for a support article about it?
me- arrgh.

Maybe the rumoured itunes 8 will fix this for the both of us. Just out of interest though- does anyone have their purchases successfully sync back at the moment?
 
Since you're streaming only, I assume you don't have iTunes on your computer set to auto-sync. I think that may be your problem. Itunes on your computer is what initiates the sync, not AppleTV. I purchase tv shows on the ATV all the time. When I open iTunes on my computer the next day, it auto syncs with the ATV to put anything new on the ATV. However, at the same time, it also will take anything new on the ATV (and not on my computer yet) and transfer it over.

However, that being your problem, I'm not sure there is a way to sync the two devices and not have the things on your computer go over to the ATV. You may need to just purchase things on your computer only if you are streaming only.
 
I sync and stream, and believe me my purchases don't sync back. I have tried many different settings, reset my sync settings, but to no avail. The only thing I havnt tried is resetting my apple tv to factory settings- as this would delete the stuff I want on my mac! I'm gonna wait for September the 9th and if that doesn't sort things out I'm gonna go cry to my mum. Or apple, whomever I can find first. ;)
 
I'm not sure about purchased movies yet, but this would be normal for rented movies. Movies purchased or rented through iTunes on your computer are configured to play on any device (any video-capable iPod), but movies rented (and perhaps purchased) through the :apple:TV are higher resolution and purposely aren't synced back to tour computer because they're not playable on other sync-able devices, e.g. IPods. I remember this was something they made a point of when the rental service was launched: if you want universal playability rent through iTunes, if you want higher quality rent through your :apple:TV.
 
Fair point, but I am talking purchased shows here - e.g. American dad episodes.
These are certainly not anything better than SD - in fact I would almost be so cruel as to call them BD (Bad Definition!). Still maybe Steve will do something about that on Tuesday.
 
Sorry if this sounds stupid but have you tried right clicking on apple tv in your device list and "Transfer Purchases"?
 
JAWWC said:
Sorry if this sounds stupid but have you tried right clicking on apple tv in your device list and "Transfer Purchases"?
Click to expand...

No worries- this whole situation sounds simple to resolve I know, but yes rest assured, I can click transfer purchases 'til I am blue in the face with no result.
My 'purchased on appletv' playlists are only populated with items purchased before March this year.
 
Shoesy said:
Fair point, but I am talking purchased shows here - e.g. American dad episodes.
These are certainly not anything better than SD - in fact I would almost be so cruel as to call them BD (Bad Definition!). Still maybe Steve will do something about that on Tuesday.
Click to expand...

Ok, well to put that part of the issue to rest, it says on the :apple:TV TV Shows page: "TV shows purchased on Apple TV automatically transfer to your computer, ready to sync to your iPod or iPhone." That should settle that.

The OP's complaint was with movies, though. They may be treated differently. The movies page doesn't make any claims about purchased movies syncing back to your computer. In fact, it doesn't even mention movie purchases at all (only rentals).
 
cool fair enough - don't mean to hijack the thread- but just so I know, do anybody's movies sync back? I bought cloverfield for example and that seems to be well and truly stuck on my appletv box...
 
Just to make sure everybody read it right... when I had my Apple TV syncing with my iTunes, I had no problems. However, my AppleTV is now STREAMING content from iTunes (since my library is way bigger than 40GB), and movies do not go back to my iTunes, not even if I try to check my purchases or "transfer purchases" directly from my iTunes Store account.

I haven't tried buying TV shows from the Apple TV, but I would imagine people would have the same problem. Since I started noticing this problem, I made it a point of purchasing content from my iTunes only.
 
paulinhadrp said:
Just to make sure everybody read it right... when I had my Apple TV syncing with my iTunes, I had no problems. However, my AppleTV is now STREAMING content from iTunes (since my library is way bigger than 40GB), and movies do not go back to my iTunes, not even if I try to check my purchases or "transfer purchases" directly from my iTunes Store account.
Click to expand...

So when you were syncing your purchased movies (purchased on :apple:TV) would sync back to your computer, but now that you're streaming only, your movies don't sync back? What if you set your :apple:TV settings in iTunes to 'Sync Selected' movies (instead of turning syncing off) but then not selecting any movies?
 
Well that update (itunes 8) didn't seem to sort anything out with this issue.
Anyone got any ideas?

p.s. please could someone let me know if their appletv acts correctly with purchases at the moment, just so I know this is at least an issue rather than the norm...

Thanks x
 
if syncing made it so there was no problem, you should set it up to sync again. you can just sync one video, if you are really that opposed to syncing content. i don't get why everybody is so set on streaming only. if you sync a few things, you can still stream the rest!
 
gadabout said:
if syncing made it so there was no problem, you should set it up to sync again. you can just sync one video, if you are really that opposed to syncing content. i don't get why everybody is so set on streaming only. if you sync a few things, you can still stream the rest!
Click to expand...

Content purchased on appletv does not sync back to itunes.

Sync / no sync - still doesn't work. If anyone can verify it woks for them I would appreciate it.
 
Shoesy said:
cool fair enough - don't mean to hijack the thread- but just so I know, do anybody's movies sync back? I bought cloverfield for example and that seems to be well and truly stuck on my appletv box...
Click to expand...

Had the same thing with Enemy of the State when I bought it on my ATV. Get this ... I did a full reset on my ATV when I couldent get it to copy back into my iTunes and it DISSAPEARED from my ATV !!! I had to write Apple to get another download of it. I downloaded from my iMac though and it was fine since.

So far both my ATV's are syncing back and fourth without issue. Rentels and purchaces.

LOVE my ATV's !!!!
 
EarthDawn said:
Had the same thing with Enemy of the State when I bought it on my ATV. Get this ... I did a full reset on my ATV when I couldent get it to copy back into my iTunes and it DISSAPEARED from my ATV !!! I had to write Apple to get another download of it. I downloaded from my iMac though and it was fine since.

So far both my ATV's are syncing back and fourth without issue. Rentels and purchaces.

LOVE my ATV's !!!!
Click to expand...

I did suggest to the iTunes store people that they might let me do this in just that scenario, but they just inquired as to whether I had purchased AppleCare along with my atv. I don't really want to to a full reset before getting confirmation that I could get my downloads back in an emergency. Still guess I will just have to bite the bullet soon enough. Really was hoping iTunes 8 would come to my rescue here :( oh well let's hope apple are kind to me.
 
syncing wirelessly?

I had really slow syncing over my wireless network. So, I set my Mac to share it's wireless connection over the wired ethernet port, and connected the :apple:TV directly to the Mac with ethernet cable. Set the :apple:TV to get on the internet through the wired ethernet. Syncing much faster. Note: I have not tried this for moving purchases from :apple:TV over to the Mac. Will do this and let you know if it works.

Update: this is working for me. Some TV shows I purchased directly to the device are syncing back to my computer as I type this.
 
SOLUTION for AppleTV and Mac not Syncing purchased items on Apple TV

I had to "reauthorize" my computer under the "Store" menu...

Deauthorize first... then reauthorize.

Then it starts syncing immediatly...
 
I tried this solution initially and had no joy - I had to perform a full restore in the end and then plead with apple for my downloads back. Everything fine now tho.
 
answer

Here is what worked for me; go to store and make sure you are logged in, I wasn't. So I logged in. Still didn't do anything. Then I went to account information and clicked "download now" and that did it.

I'm not exactly sure how I opened account info tab, but IThink it was by clicking my user name or something like that, it happened as i was trying different things.

Downloaded everything from apple tv hard drive (first device, not the new one).
 
paulinhadrp said:
I have my Apple TV streaming from my Macbook's iTunes, but once in a while, I like purchasing movies directly from my Apple TV remote and watching them right away.

However, those movies are not going back to my iTunes. I tried "Checking Purchases" from iTunes, and nothing... my computer is authorized with my iTunes account... so, what gives?

I'm assuming the problem is that since I am using streaming, movies are not going back where they belong.
So what should I do to get those movies in my computer's iTunes??
Click to expand...



One of the reasons I always buy Movies and Songs from my iTunes on my uMB then back them up on my external drive before using them. i found this to be a sure way of making sure I get a copy of everything clean and available for a restore in case something happens.
 
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