Play From USB on Apple TV
By
Staten Island, NY Posted: 10/3/2015 1:00:00 AM
Why doesn't Apple TV let you use the USB port for your own files?
When the first generation Apple TV was released in 2007, there weren't many streaming services, so they focused on the ability to store your own movies on it the built-in hard drive by syncing with iTunes. They originally offered a 40 GB and 160 GB version, but they eventually dropped the 40 GB version so people could store a lot more content.
When the next generation was introduced, they eliminated the hard drive entirely, so they could focus on streaming from online services. Without the hard drive, it became more complicated to play your own movies, because you had to setup your computer as an iTunes server.
Although there has been a USB port in every generation of Apple TV, it can't be used to play your own content. Apple claims it's there for "diagnostic purposes", which is odd, because they could easily put a diagnostic connector on the inside, or connect to it from the network.
Since the new Apple TV lacks internal storage, the USB port would be the perfect way for people to plug in their own external drives, but to this date, Apple has never allowed it.
Hackers have taken advantage of the USB port by releasing their own software to play content from the USB port by "jailbreaking" Apple's software. People shouldn't have to hack their Apple TV just to play their own files, it should be a built-in feature.
Joe Crescenzi, Founder
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