Hi all,
I’ve been searching for a clear answer for hours but can’t find a definitive answer. I’m looking into getting a WD TV HD Hub. What I’d like to do is use my laptop to put movies and music on the hub. This laptop is not around all the time. I’ve read that the hub acts as an iTunes server. Is it possible to pull up my iTunes playlists and song library *in the native iPad music app* from the hub without a computer present? I would then be sending to speakers that are hooked up to an Airport. Thanks!
Glennard wrote:
… Is it possible to pull up my iTunes playlists and song library *in the native iPad music app* from the hub without a computer present?
No. An iTunes server requires a PC with iTunes and HomeSharing be enabled to access it from iDevices.
Glennard wrote:
Hi all,
I’ve been searching for a clear answer for hours but can’t find a definitive answer. I’m looking into getting a WD TV HD Hub. What I’d like to do is use my laptop to put movies and music on the hub. This laptop is not around all the time. I’ve read that the hub acts as an iTunes server. Is it possible to pull up my iTunes playlists and song library *in the native iPad music app* from the hub without a computer present? I would then be sending to speakers that are hooked up to an Airport. Thanks!
I’m not real sure I follow what you are envisioning. But, if your question is, can you copy your music and movies from the laptop’s iTunes folder onto a Hub drive and access them, you can. For example. I have my entire iTunes Media folder (and playlists) on a HDD connected to my WD Live Plus. Via the media player, I can choose a playlist and it will play the music (or video) to the TV or stereo – depending upon how I have it routed. I also have iPad apps that can access this media on the HDD and play it on the iPad. You could tap off the iPad headphone jack to input the music anywhere you have a connection.
BTW, I have no copy-protected music or video on the HDD, so it doesn’t need to pass through iTunes to play – the stuff will play on (or to) any appropriate device. Copy protection would be an issue, otherwise.
Hi Mike,
From what I’ve read you can connect to the files with the native iPad music app only when you have a PC on running iTunes (basically what Tony confirmed definively). I generally don’t like the look of the other apps so I was hoping to use the default iOS music app.
Basically it would be this: download DRM-free music on my laptop, put it on the hub. Shut the laptop off completely and remove it from the equation.
Now with the laptop off I was hoping I could access my iTunes playlists on my iPad on the native music app so that I could have it go through speakers via airplay (hooked up to an airport express). From what I gather and what Tony said it’s just not possible to not have a computer running iTunes and have this work. I think I’m going to have to end up getting a tiny monitorless computer just to run the iTunes program to make this work.
Just get a used laptop to run iTunes. It’s kind of hard to see and know what’s going on without some sort of monitor.
I find that having all my iTunes music on a HD connected to the WD player works great, AND a PC doesn’t need to be on anywhere. Although I have almost 8000 albums in iTunes, I do not have ANY music taking up valuable space on my iPad, since my music is accessible various ways at home or away via the iPad. Add this ability along with using the media player’s accessability, and I have no issues playing my music anywhere on anything.
