iOS 8.4 and its new Music app included a few regressions for those with large local music libraries, but the biggest was the apparent removal of the Home Sharing feature. Home Sharing allows you to use your Apple ID to stream your iTunes library from your Mac to up to five other Macs, iDevices, or Apple TVs on your local network, but the feature disappeared from iOS 8.4 without much warning.
Last night, Apple's Eddy Cue stated on Twitter that the company is "working to have Home Sharing in iOS 9," confirming that the feature's removal is only temporary. That's of small comfort to the people who like Home Sharing and need to wait for the final release of iOS 9 in the fall before they can use it again, but it's better than nothing.
@inklake We are working to have Home Sharing in iOS 9.
— Eddy Cue (@cue) July 6, 2015
Not all Apple devices lost the ability to use Home Sharing last week. iTunes 12.2 still supports the feature, and the Apple TV (which didn't receive an update equivalent to iOS 8.4) can still play those libraries even though it can't yet access iTunes Music.
A public beta of iOS 9 will be released at some point this month, though the Home Sharing feature may or may not be included in the initial builds. iOS 9 should also increase the Apple Music song matching limit from the current 25,000 songs to 100,000 songs.
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