Many of the Skifta team are Mac users, and so we though we should explain how to use Skifta with iTunes and iPhoto.
First, some background. Apple uses its own proprietary protocols for sharing iTunes libraries on a network and not UPnP/DLNA. The good news is, there are many products out there that can fix this, and allow your iTunes/iPhoto collections to be used with Skifta, but we'd recommend you start with XBMC.
XBMC is a great general purpose media player and server available for Windows, Mac and Linux. Its quick to install and easy to set up with your iTunes/iPhoto libraries to make them available as a UPnP/DLNA media source. Its open source and free and can be found at http://www.xbmc.org
Once you've got XBMC installed, you just need to do a couple of things, and you're ready to go.
First, start XBMC, and go to Music. Select iTunes from the menu on the right of the screen and you'll see the option: Import My iTunes Library. This will do the business, but don't worry: it won't actually copy any files or move anything.
Once that's done, go back to the main menu by pressing <ESCAPE> on your keyboard, and select Settings. Select Network, and then look over to the left of the window, and you'll see UPnP Settings. Select this, and then turn on Enable UPnP Server and Autostart UPnP Client.
You're nearly there, just one last step. Now, on the UPnP Settings page, select Manage UPnP XXXX Shares (replacing XXXX with music, video or photo as required) and select iTunes from the popup dialog, and then OK.
You're done! XMBC will now allow Skifta to see your iTunes/iPhoto collections, and take them with you wherever you go.
Forums
A community for Skifta users to learn and share.
I've got a Mac, how do I use iTunes with Skifta?
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Posted 3 years ago
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Posted 2 years ago
jlacy
MemberHave you used tvmobili? I was unable to get XBMC working (didn't see this forum at the time).
I am using tvmobili on my mac mini, but having a few issues. Don't know if they are related to tvmobili or to Skifta.
When streaming to my Android phone, I get frequent errors and have to acknowledge the error message and go back to the media and select another song to start it playing again. Don't know where the problem is. Eventually the song will play, so it isn't an issue with that particular song.
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Posted 2 years ago
mcmc08
MemberThe version of XBMC I just downloaded seems very different from the one in the original post above. There is no option to "Import iTunes Library". There are also no options for UPnP, just enable or disable.
Is there any way you guys could update this post with the new version of XBMC?
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Posted 2 years ago
Yes, Apple changed a few things in that time, as did the XMBC programmers.
I share my itunes directory via XBMC instead and find it doesn't make a whole lot of difference to me:
Open XBMC > music > Add source > Browse > choose my itunes directorySystem > Network > Share video and music libraries via UPNP.
Hope that helps!
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Posted 2 years ago
januchowski
Membersorry for the dumb question, but will i have to convert my itunes library to mp3? what about the tv shows?
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Posted 2 years ago
Skifta doesn't do any processing on any media. If your target device is capable of playing the files, then the answer is 'no', you won't need to do any conversion.
As I recall, the native format of iTunes is AAC for audio and mp4 AVC for video. -
Posted 2 years ago
towny777
MemberI do this, but skifta says "no media files found". I can see the folders, but nothing that is in them. This goes for video too. Have all different kinds of media types. It does not see any.
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Posted 2 years ago
Hi Towny777 - we haven't got a lot of information from you here, but if you're interested in investigating this, drop us an email to support@skifta.com stating the equipment / OS you're using, handsets / android version, which types and quantity of media file. You can also take logs when the issue happens- install the free app 'log collector' from the Android Marketplace, and open that app after the issue occurs. Including the logs will assist us in diagnosing.
Thanks! -
Posted 2 years ago
brucey
MemberSounds like I have a similar issue to towny777.
Using my macbook intel 2,1 intel core 2 duo running osx 10.67...
Set up all the libraries on xbmc correctly (I think - can see listings of songs/videos in dirs)...
HTC Desire running Android 2.2... running skifta:
Picks up xbmc... finds music and video library (no picture lib though) shows album/artist/genre etc but when entering those dirs they are empty.PS3 is the same, finds xbmc but can't browse content.
Incorrect share setting somewhere in XBMC?
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Posted 2 years ago
Ok - I've been testing this today to isolate this issue. I've been using XMBC 10 and the confluence default skin on my Mac as the DMS, serving up via UPNP.
MLPlayer Lite on iPad 2, and Skifta on Android as a clients.
I'm consistently seeing 'no items found' on all devices for my media collection.
I switched to using TVMobli as the server, same media files, same clients (iPad 2 / Android). The media is now available.
Then I realised that my version of XBMC is serving using Library mode by default currently - and chances are you are too.
So - try this; you'll want to include the files in your library this way:
*In xbmc, select 'videos'. Add source, choose a videos folder and give it a name.
*Right click your new video folder. Set content. I've chosen 'movies'. Click a 'scraper' (such as IMBD).
*Select 'run automated scan' and 'Scan recursively' if you have multilevel folders.
*Select 'OK' and your video files will now be added to the library.More information here:
http://wiki.xbmc.org/index.php?title=Video_LibraryFor Audio, from XBMC home, select 'Music', add source, choose a music folder and give it a name. Right click the folder and select 'scan items to library'.
Now, when I hit with the iPad2 or the Android device running Skifta, I pick up all the library items.
Let me know how you get on!
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Posted 2 years ago
brucey
MemberConal, thank you very much.
PS3 and HTC Desire (Android) both browsing music fine, PS3 doesn't want to find movies, but thats not a massive issue.Can't get my pictures to appear on either device but the music is the main thing.
Thanks for taking the time Conal! :)
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Posted 2 years ago
Nice one Brucey!
With pictures, if you're using XBMC, the library mode doesn't handle pictures - I think your best bet is to run XBMC in file mode instead of library mode.. that may also solve your movie issue.
What is happening in these instances, Skifta will only return what's presented by the Server. If the server returns limited items, that's all Skifta will return. In just about all of the cases I've seen, when content doesn't appear it's because the 'DMS' (Digital Media Server) isn't set up the way the user requires.Got a nice test to demonstrate and reassure that XBMC is not returning all your media, if you wish to try it.
Copy some pictures, an mp4 movie and an MP3 to your HTC SD memory card.
Open Skifta, '1. choose a media source', select your HTC.
'2. Choose a player' play on unlisted player.
Then browse from your sony and you should see your HTC pop up. All of the content should be readily available.I personally find Sony's implementation on the PS3 a bit odd.
If you like the app, rating us in the app store really does help us continue our development. Thanks Brucey! :-)
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Posted 1 year ago
arossinij
Memberwhen i tapped at songs, it says that there's no media found. but when i tapped albums, artist, etc. i can see my media.
how can i access my media through songs?
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Posted 1 year ago
You're using a Mac - and which media server are you using? Is the mac the media source?
What Handset are you using?
Let me know and I'll see if I can help. Thanks! -
Posted 1 year ago
surfwiesel
MemberHi Skifta Team,
I have the following question:
Is it also possible to stream music to an Android smartphone directly from an iTunes library that is saved on a time capsule without the need of starting a Mac-book or PC?Thanks for your help!
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Posted 1 year ago
dale040205
MemberI have a mac (os x 10.5.8) using Plex as my media server. I have an Epic Touch 4g (Galaxy S II) with Skifta. For some reason I am unable to see my Plex Media Server as a source. Since Plex is built off of XBMC, it should work, right? In your FAQs you list Plex as an option for a media server. I've made sure iTunes, iPhoto, and Aperture sharing are enabled. Any help on getting this up and running would be appreciated.
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Posted 1 year ago
I've just installed the latest version of Plex media server 0.9.5 [https://plex-downloads.s3.amazonaws.com/Plex-Media-Server-0.9.5.zip] on my mac. Using a UPNP browser, I can see that Plex is *not* sharing it's library out via upnp. I can't see any options to do this in the settings either.
I'm using Lion. On my Snow leopard machine, this was working last time I used it.A glance at the plex forums shows that others are also having the issue, and the forums suggest the UPNP code has not been touched in a while in their media server. I think this is a plex issue as none of my UPNP browsers on my home network show it announcing itself.
My suggestion - install a different server (in this case try XBMC) and install using the options I mention above. If that works, it must be plex. If it is not working, let me know and I will advise what you can do next.
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Posted 1 year ago
jes_bad
MemberOk,
Configuration:
Mac osx 10.7.3
xbmc
itunes
Android with Skifta app using Sprint 4GI am able to connect to my NAS drive on my Droid using Sprint 4G. I can see my music files.
However, when I click a song to play it remains on "Buffering..." I have left it to buffer for over 10 minutes, is this normal?
What can be wrong?
TIA,
- Jes -
Posted 1 year ago
Here you go Jes:
http://forums.skifta.com/topic/list-of-isps-that-block-skifta-remote-traffic#post-2404Sprint block 'some' of our traffic and we're modding our traffic so that no longer happens.
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Posted 11 months ago
Horacio
MemberHey, I just got to know Skifta and I am having some issues. I am running on Lion 10.7.3 and installed XBMC ob both my Mac and Android HTC Incredible S. I followed the instructions, read the comments, follow suggestions, "scan items to library", etc. When I go to my phone I can see the files BUT when I try to play them I got the message: "Skifta Alert: An error has ocurred while using the media player.
What I am doing wrong? Any help will be much appreciated...
Thank you in advance -
Posted 10 months ago
shifus84
MemberHey Skifta ppl how u doin?!
i managed to connect music from my android to computer thru XBMC, but is there any way to show files in their actual folders?!!!! there are too many contributing artists and it's kinda mess :)
thx :) -
Posted 10 months ago
My expectation is that this is the way you have your content list structured in XBMC.
You are most probably in library mode - which you can turn off.
Some info here - you may want to take a look at the xbmc forums:
http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=116409you may also wish to read a few posts on organising libraries (I googled it):
http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=112001
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