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How to use Home Sharing on your iPad, iPhone, or iPod

Apple's latest software update, iOS 4.3, lets you share music, videos, and podcasts between your computers and iOS devices. Here's how to do it.

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As the Vice President of CNET Studios, Sharon leads the video, social, editorial design, and branded content teams. Before this role, Sharon led content development and launched new verticals for CNET, including Wellness, Money, and How To. A tech expert herself, she's reviewed and covered countless products, hosted hundreds of videos, and appeared on shows like Good Morning America, CBS Mornings, and the Today Show. An industry expert, Sharon is a recurring Best of Beauty Awards judge for Allure. Sharon is an avid chef and hosts the cooking segment 'Farm to Fork' on PBS nationwide. She's developed and published hundreds of recipes.
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Sharon Profis
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Watch this: Use home sharing with your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch

Before iOS 4.3, Home Sharing was only for PCs, but now you can share any computer's iTunes library with your iPad, iPhone, or iPod Touch over your Wi-Fi network. This allows you to access more music, movies, or podcasts from multiple computers without burdening your device's storage.

Once you set up your Home Sharing account on your computers and devices, sharing is easy. Here's how to do it:

Set up your Home Sharing account
To do this, you'll need iTunes 10.2 or later. Go to the "Advanced" menu, select "Turn on Home Sharing," and enter your Apple ID credentials.

Now you'll need to do the same on your iOS device. On any device, go to "Settings," "iPod," and enter the same Apple ID credentials. If you want to access a computer with a different Apple ID association, you'll have to enter that one instead.

Note: iTunes limits users to five computers per Home Sharing account, so if you've reached your limit (as Apple will tell you), deauthorize one of the computers. To do so, go to iTunes, head to the "Store" menu, and then "Deauthorize this computer."

Home Sharing on an iPhone
Make sure your iPhone is on the same Wi-Fi network as the computer you want to access. Then, open the iPod app and tap "More." Go to "Shared" and select the iTunes library name.

Home Sharing on an iPod Touch
Connect your iPod Touch to the same Wi-Fi network as the computer you want to access. To listen to shared music, open the "Music" app, tap "More," and click the iTunes library name. To check out shared videos, launch the "Videos" app and do the same thing.

Home Sharing on an iPad
Make sure your iPad and computer are on the same Wi-Fi network. Then, head to "iPod," tap "Library" in the sidebar, and select the name of the iTunes library from the pop-up window.