iTunes Remote Wont Connect to Mac

Question

Level 1

27 points

iTunes Remote Wont Connect to Mac

Is there any way of debugging why iTunes Remote on my phone (iPhone 14 iOS 17.1.1) refuses to connect to Apple Music on my Mac (Mac Mini M1 MacOS Sonoma 14.1.1)?

I am on the same WiFi network for both devices.

Things I have tried without success:

Disabling the Ethernet connection for the Mac so it's ONLY on the same WiFi as the phone.
Enabling Home Sharing on both Mac and iTunes Remote. In this instance, the library appears on the iRemote app but when I try to connect it does nothing and some time later comes back with a can't connect to your library error message.
Disabling Home Sharing on the iTunes Remote, forgetting all remotes in the Music app on the Mac and re-adding. In this instance I get to enter the 4-digit code on the Mac and it says success, but the iRemote app doesn't do anything and remains on the 4-digit code screen. When I go back to the library selection, the library is there, but again, will not connect with the same uninformative error message.
Firewall settings on the Mac is open for incoming connections for the Music App
Rebooting entire network (BT WholeHome Wi-Fi mesh), restarting Mac Mini, restarting Phone

I used to periodically get this same problem a few years ago, but it always cleared itself when the Mac got rebooted, or just when it felt like working again. Now I can't get it to work at all, even returning to the problem a couple of weeks later.

I've read numerous posts back over the years in this forum but the closest I can see to a solution involves turning on Home sharing and then connecting to "some other" iTunes installation before connecting back to the main one. As I don't have an other iTunes library to connect to, I seem to be out of options?

Excuse the frustration, but without any helpful debug messages, I have no idea what the problem might be. Is there a way of diagnosing this better than repeatedly killing apps, enabling and disabling home sharing, forgetting remotes, re-adding remotes hoping for success?

(And yes Bots, I have tried following all the steps in Set up the iTunes Remote app for Music on Mac)

Mac mini, macOS 14.1

Posted on Nov 17, 2023 08:34 AM

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Answer 1

Ataraxy01

Level 2

178 points

Nov 18, 2023 07:19 AM in response to Jemster

Remote can be slow. You can't be in a hurry.

I find if I go to it or launch it in iOS or iPad, I have to wait a few seconds before taping the circle icon to go to the music collection. Usually it shows it full color, then it might flash to greyscale, then back to full color. A few seconds after second full color, you can usually launch it. If you see none of this, then just wait at least 5 seconds.

I think one time, I had to remove it and add it back in from the app store.

But, as always be sure to restart all the devices and, your network too first.

Also, sometimes, it just will not work. So I just forget about it. Then the next day, it works. Who knows.

Remote could be a great app and nearly is. But Apple needs to pay more attention to it and look at the competition out there.

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Answer 2

Jemster Author

Level 1

27 points

Nov 20, 2023 01:49 AM in response to Ataraxy01

I 100% agree with your experience - I had this great idea in the past that I'd leave my iMac on and use it to feed iTunes via AirportExpress to my HiFi system in the living room. I could then use Remote to control iTunes from the living room on my iPad, but without tying up my iPad or iPhone streaming. It was a much more stable connection from the iMac straight over wireless anyway.

About 80% of the time this was fantastic. The other 20% ... total disaster. Always impossible to know why, on the particular day I wanted to use it, it would just not connect. I'd go round the house rebooting iMac, rebooting the WiFi, restarting the iPad, everything. And sometimes I'd get lucky and it would all come back. Eventually I gave up, ditched iTunes and went over to Tidal, then Spotify, and now I'm back at Apple Music, cos in all honesty, it sounds better. Direct-to-device streaming is the missing part.

But this is killing me. It simply will not connect. I've reinstalled the app. I've waited and waited, I've rebooted networks, I've rebooted the Mac, I've tried both my iPhone and iPad, I simply cannot get it to connect in any way at all. In other respects, my network is rock solid (I'm a long-time software engineer, I KNOW solid, and this is solid!) and I'm happy to wade through log files and work out what's going on... but I have nothing to go on here.

My gut feeling is the problem is on the Mac side of things (as both iPad and iPhone fail to connect) would appreciate any pointers at all to get this going again.

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Answer 3

Ataraxy01

Level 2

178 points

Nov 20, 2023 07:18 AM in response to Jemster

- I found that when I updated my wi-fi router from Airport Extreme (support ended this year) to eero Pro v2 (I bought 2 at a thrift store for $25, but it is supported until 2027, just had a firmware update recently too), some long annoying and pesky (Amazon) devices worked better.

- I have a small home so, I do not need a mesh so I started with just one. But, apparently, a few walls cause issues in just the right places. I found when I added the other eero to the mesh system, some pesky devices (MusicCast speakers) worked better, much more reliable.

- One morning, all my Kasa smart plugs vanished. After the usual head scratching and unplugging, nothing. I concluded: It was not me! So I reported it to Kasa and they promptly replied that, they f-ed up and a server was down but was now back. Yep. All back to normal except they wasted 2 hours of my life for nothing.

(This is where the developers of all cloud based devices need to add in a special message that is sent to all users alerting them when the cloud part is not working so we do not waste out time! Why no one has done this… ugh.)

- I found that, restarting, etc., to a point, is pointless. That is when you get smart and accept that the engineering at big firms can be less than perfect. You are the beta. Accept it.

My point being that, stop beating your engineer head against the wall with the same solutions. Look to the unobvious or things you are in denial about. This is where the liberal arts and creative part of your education is important.

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iTunes Remote Wont Connect to Mac

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