Installing Simplify Media on an Apple Macintosh

Download and run SimplifyMediaSetup

Start Simplify Media and review the software license.

Then, create your free account by entering a screen name and password. Use your same screen name to sign in on your other computers.

Add an email address and a name for this computer.

The final set-up step: pick media to share. Only you and the people you invite can see these files.

You can select nothing, music folders or your iTunes library.

If you pick your iTunes library, playlists are shared automatically. If you only want to select certain playlists, return to the Music Sharing tab using Preferences once the initial scan is complete.

Note: it will take several minutes for your songs to start to be available, and it may take an hour or more for the scan process to complete if your library is very large.

You can select nothing, photo folders or your iPhoto library.

If you pick your iPhoto library, you can decide to only share certain Albums, Events or Faces.

Only you and the people you invite and give the photo privilege to can view pictures from your computer.

The Media List displays the status of the computers you are connected to.

To chat with friends, click on their names. The Messages tab lets you see when others are playing your music.

To change permissions for any user, go to Preferences, Manager Users.

To play music, open iTunes. Remote songs appear under Shared.

Tip: use iTunes search and browse to explore large libraries.

To view photos, launch the Photo Viewer from the main Simplify menu.

You can also enjoy Simplify pictures in iPhoto. They are listed under Shares.

If Simplify Media seems stuck at "initializing", "connecting" or "scanning" and you are using OS X 10.5.3, upgrading to 10.5.5 or later will resolve the network problem.

The Support page contains answers to frequently asked questions. If you encounter a software problem, please try the Troubleshooting option from the Simplify Media menu. If this does not address your issue, please consult the Troubleshooting web page.