Can I share iTunes libraries between two accounts on the same Mac?

Hello,
I have an iMac on which I began making iTunes purchases. I failed, initially, to set up a separate account for my kids, who are still to young to operate the computer by themselves, but old enough to watch "Arthur" - anyway, now that I have set up a separate account to manage for them, I don't have access to the library in our "big person" account. I've tried putting files in the shared folder and the drop box, but neither of these works.
Please help!
Thanks.

Jim, sorry, I should have mentioned that permissions issue.
I have a similar setup on a Mac mini. I have the entire iTunes library in the shared folder and on each user account, I point it to that iTunes library file. That way there isn't a permissions problem when multiple accounts are connected to it.
The only problem with that is that each user account connected to that iTunes library can make changes to the library file (ratings, playlists, etc.)

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How can I share a folder between two users on the same mac?

Hi all,
I would like to share a folder between multiple users on the same macbook without having to transfer the folder to the Public/Shared folder.
Is there not a way, using the the folders shared permissions, to allow shared folders from one user to be visible and usable by another user on the same mac without having to move the folder to a designated shared location?
Regards,
Caleb

jrwood116 wrote:
Thanks, but do you have to do that every time you share a folder?
No, you just need to do it once and that's it. Anything that is in the Shared folder is accessible by all user accounts within the same Mac.
jrwood116 wrote:
I've read numerous 'how to share a folder' blogs and they just say it's as simple as clicking 'share' and allowing specific users to access it...none have mentioned this (not saying your advice is wrong at all, just don't get why no-one else has mentioned what appears to be a key step!)
Can you give me an example of such a blog. I suspect you may have mis-understood what they were saying but if you can provide a link, I'll look at it.

How to share iTunes library between two users on the same Mac

We have recently bought a Macbook Pro and have successfully transferred the old PC information onto the Mac. But, the iTunes library from the PC has now just gone into the old user acct. I am now confused as to which iTunes user name I connect my devices? Is there a way to merge these two iTunes through the user accts?
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I feel like I learning about computers all over again!

It's doable. As it's been pointed out Aperture has no provisions for file locking so you can't have two users accessing the library at the same time. This includes having one user having the library open only for browsing. Aperture doesn't have a +Read Only+ mode, when it opens the library, even if you make no changes to any images, the library will be written to.
This also means you can't have one user open the library and then stop using Aperture but still have the library open and then have another copy of Aperture open on the library.
Of course if you have two copies of Aperture running even they are on different libraries you'll be in violation of the license and you'll have bigger problems to worry about then a toasted library.

Share a library between two users on the same mac?

It is possible to share a library between two users on the same mac?

It's doable. As it's been pointed out Aperture has no provisions for file locking so you can't have two users accessing the library at the same time. This includes having one user having the library open only for browsing. Aperture doesn't have a +Read Only+ mode, when it opens the library, even if you make no changes to any images, the library will be written to.
This also means you can't have one user open the library and then stop using Aperture but still have the library open and then have another copy of Aperture open on the library.
Of course if you have two copies of Aperture running even they are on different libraries you'll be in violation of the license and you'll have bigger problems to worry about then a toasted library.

How can I share a folder between two users on the same iMac?

I have an iMac with 2 user accounts and I want to share a folder between them. I have gone on to system preferences>sharing and turned on file sharing. I have also got the 'Get Info' thing up, selected 'Shared Folder' and added the other user to the read and write permissions...it just doesn't show up on the other desktop (the folder is on my desktop, I would have expected to see it on the other desktop...?)
Any ideas?

jrwood116 wrote:
Thanks, but do you have to do that every time you share a folder?
No, you just need to do it once and that's it. Anything that is in the Shared folder is accessible by all user accounts within the same Mac.
jrwood116 wrote:
I've read numerous 'how to share a folder' blogs and they just say it's as simple as clicking 'share' and allowing specific users to access it...none have mentioned this (not saying your advice is wrong at all, just don't get why no-one else has mentioned what appears to be a key step!)
Can you give me an example of such a blog. I suspect you may have mis-understood what they were saying but if you can provide a link, I'll look at it.

Can I share iTunes library between different users on the same pc

I want to know if and how I can share an iTunes library with other user accounts on the same laptop? Can anyone help please.

Jim, sorry, I should have mentioned that permissions issue.
I have a similar setup on a Mac mini. I have the entire iTunes library in the shared folder and on each user account, I point it to that iTunes library file. That way there isn't a permissions problem when multiple accounts are connected to it.
The only problem with that is that each user account connected to that iTunes library can make changes to the library file (ratings, playlists, etc.)

Sharing itunes library between two accounts on the same imac

We just got a 27" imac and my wife and I have our own log on accounts. We share our itunes library. I have moved our itunes library to the shared folder so both of us can see its contents and pointed itunes on both user accounts to that shared folder. But, if she or I purchase an app or music it doesn't go into that shared folder. So I have to copy and paste it into the shared folder. Am I missing something there should be an easier way? I just want us to share the music and iphone apps we purchase.
We are using the same itunes account on the same imac, we just have different user accounts on the imac. Thanks

levidan wrote:
We just got a 27" imac and my wife and I have our own log on accounts. We share our itunes library. I have moved our itunes library to the shared folder so both of us can see its contents and pointed itunes on both user accounts to that shared folder. But, if she or I purchase an app or music it doesn't go into that shared folder. So I have to copy and paste it into the shared folder. Am I missing something there should be an easier way? I just want us to share the music and iphone apps we purchase.
We are using the same itunes account on the same imac, we just have different user accounts on the imac. Thanks
hi levidan and welcome to the discussion area !
take a look at this read for information.

Sharing iTunes libraries from two accounts on the same physical box

I have two users set up for fast user switching on a single box. both users are active. each has its own copy of iTunes running, each with its own library, each set up to share. the firewall has iTunes sharing enabled.
from a separate copy of iTunes on a different box, I can see both libraries posted for sharing. if I try to open one of them (belonging to the administrator account), sharing works as advertised. if I try to open the other, loading times out, and the share fails with error code 3359.
is the problem that only one copy of iTunes on a physical box can be shared at a time? or is there some other configuration issue I've not taken account of?
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G5 Mac OS X (10.4.5) iTunes 6.0.3

thanks for your response.
if you've submitted a feature request, it may be a lost cause for the moment. what I find, however, is that if both are logged on and active, it's the one that started first that's available.
regards.

How can one share iTunes Library across two machines at the same time?

**I have setup 1 of 2 machines to host all the songs in my iTunes library. I then went to machine 2 of 2 and held down option key on start up of iTUnes, changed the location of the liobrary on machine 2 to a shared folder on machine 1.**
**This works awesome and I can use itunes on each of the machines 1 and 2 with no duplicate library in my home.**
**Problem: I can only run one machine at a time. I can not run itunes on both machines at the same time. The error message from machine 2 is ITUNES library is locked and cant write to the folder. iTunes works correct if I QUIT iTunes on machine 1.**
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*Thank You Troy*

Troy Yoho wrote:
Can iTunes run at the same time on 2 machines and access the same library?
in a way, yes.
set up _*Home Sharing*_ on both machines.
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Sharing iTunes library between two users on the same Mac

I recently bought my parents a new MacBook Pro (they switched from Windows). I was able to get all of their songs over and into my dad's iTunes library. My mom and dad each have separate accounts on the MBP, but they'd both like to be able to see (and listen to) the same iTunes library, not at the same time, obviously.
Is that possible? If so how? Is it enough to point my mom's iTunes to the same folder? Do I need to put special permissions on that iTunes folder while logged into my dad's account?

brown_sm wrote:
I recently bought my parents a new MacBook Pro (they switched from Windows). I was able to get all of their songs over and into my dad's iTunes library. My mom and dad each have separate accounts on the MBP, but they'd both like to be able to see (and listen to) the same iTunes library, not at the same time, obviously.
Is that possible? If so how?
the easy way is to use itunes sharing. start itunes in your dad's account and enable sharing in itunes preferences->sharing. then other users including your mother will be able to listen to the songs from your dad's itunes library but ONLY while your dad is logged in. so in order for this to work both of them should be logged in at the same time. to make that possible enable fast user switching in system preferences->accounts->login options. However, this is not terribly convenient.
it's possibly (but surprisingly tricky) to use the same itunes library without having both users logged in at the same time.
Is it enough to point my mom's iTunes to the same folder? Do I need to put special permissions on that iTunes folder while logged into my dad's account?
yes. not just permissions. you need to put inherited ACLs on your dads Music folder to give both of them read+write access to all current and future files in it. so log in as your dad and run the following terminal command (copy and paste please)
chmod -R +a "username allow delete,chown,list,search,add_file,\
addsubdirectory,delete_child,file_inherit,directoryinherit" ~/Music
instead of username put the short user name of your dad's account. it's the same as the name of his home directory in /Users. then repeat the command with your mother's username instead of your dad's. after that log out of your dad's account, log into your mom's account and point her itunes library to his itunes library. to do that start itunes while holding option.

Hello there - how can I share my iTunes library between two users on the same computer? I put the library in a shared folder between both and have selected this library on both as well, but when I update iTunes with music etc it only appears on one?

Hello there - how can I share my iTunes library between two users on the same computer? I put the library in a shared folder between both and have selected this library on both as well, but when I update iTunes with music etc it only appears on one?

Thank you Joe - I tried this but it's only showing a teensy amount of music - the stuff on the second users account as opposed to the giagntic library on the 'main' account. I actually went to a Genius Bar and they said that apple doesn't really want you to share music between accounts - parents don't want to hear their kids music etc. Which seemed strange, but it might be the case sadly Thanks anyway!

How do I share music between two accounts on the same i-mac

How do I share music between two accounts on the same i-mac

iTunes: How to share music between different accounts on a single computer - http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1203 - relocating iTunes' media folder to a shared area but leaving separate library files - extra tip at https://discussions.apple.com/message/17331189

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What does 'edit pictures between different accounts' mean?
You can edit photos in each account. You can share the Library so the same library is available in all accounts. But I'm not sure what you're asking for.

Trying to share iTunes libraries between two users on one iMac

Ok, so I have two users on my iMac, but I want to share iTunes libraries between the two (so that both have the same music, movies, apps...), but for some reason I can't! So first I tried turning on iTunes while holding option key so that I can open my Library from my user that i'm trying to grab the music and everything else from. But for some reason it said that I didn't have the permissions to (which both ARE admin). So then I went to the Preferences on iTunes and tried to change the directories from where to grab the media from, but it wouldn't let me access my other users music folder, it siad again that I didn't have permissions for this. I'm really fed up, please help me.

Chris, thanks for the reply. Are you telling me that I should move the iTunes folder itself, and not merely the iTunes Media folder, as instructed by the KB article? At this point, I'd be willing to try just about anything, but the KB article specifically states:
Important: Do not move the iTunes folder, the iTunes Library file or the iTunes Library.xml file.
As I stated above, I did exactly what the KB article said to, which is to move the iTunes Media folder (called iTunes Music on my iMac, since the library has been around since pre-iTunes 8 or so) to /Users/Shared, and then go into iTunes Prefs for each user, and under the advanced tab, choose the location of the library for each user. I know that this method does NOT share iTunes library (.itl or .xml, or the other associated files), and doing what you suggest would, but I'm curious if that would cause any problems.
And yes, like I said in the OP, I did check/change all file permissions on that folder appropriately.
Thanks again for the help! Please let me know if I'm reading your suggestion right!

Can I share my iTunes with another User Account on the same Mac?

Hi There
I have created a new user account on my MacBook for my Boyfriend to have his own login, the only trouble being he syncs his iPod and iPhone with my iTunes library.
Is it possible to share iTunes across the 2 User Accounts on the same Mac?

I have followed those instructions and successfully have shared my music. Now for the next question!
How can we both purchase songs that automatically update on each others account? (For example if I purchase a song, it won't appear on his Library)

Can I share iTunes libraries between two accounts on the same Mac?

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