Retune FAQ

I have iTunes 11 and am seeing some weird issues.  What is going on?

Retune 1.9.0 for Android now supports iTunes 11 and later.  You’ll need to upgrade to have full support.

My device will not play songs or videos from iTunes, how can I fix this?

Sorry but Retune does not actually do this.  Retune is just like a remote is for your TV.  It will only control it, and is unable to play songs or videos from it.

I am unable to pair with iTunes.  What can I do to fix it?

  1. Make sure your device and the computer running iTunes are on the same network. They have to be on the same network, if they are not iTunes will never see your device.
  2. Temporarily turn off your firewall on the machine running iTunes and then try the pairing process.  If this fixes it you will need to add a firewall exception for the iTunes app and turn your firewall back on.  (Instructions for configuration your firewall can be found below.)  If it doesn’t fix your problem keep it off while you are trying the other steps.  Make sure to turn it back on after you have finished troubleshooting.
  3. Make sure iTunes is set up to look for Remotes.  You can do this by going to the iTunes Preferences and under devices you should see a the option there.  Make sure it is checked.
  4. Turn off any proxy settings on your machine running iTunes.  This is only needed for the pairing process.  You can enable them once Retune is paired.
  5. Some routers, by default, disable communication between connected wireless devices and wired devices.  I have seen this setting called “Wireless Isolation”, there may be other names for it.  This option will need to be turned off.  You should be able to do this by logging into your router and looking for it under the wireless settings.
  6. If you have a Windows machine make sure the Bonjour service is running and installed.  By default this is installed with iTunes; however, I believe you can disable/remove it.
  7. You may also try running iTunes as Administrator if you are using a Windows machine.  Others have mentioned this has worked for them.  You can do this by closing iTunes, Hold shift and right-click the icon.  Choose “Run as administrator”
  8. Last try restarting both your computer and your device.

How does my firewall need to be configured?

Retune requires the iTunes and Bonjour applications to be allowed through the firewall.  You can also open the following ports and that should work:  1900, 3689, 5350, 5351, 5353.

To enable iTunes and Bonjour through the firewall on Mac, you shouldn’t need to do anything.  Apple keeps these open by default.

To enable iTunes and Bonjour through the firewall on Windows 7 and 8:

  1. Go to Start -> Control Panel
  2. If you are viewing by “Categories” go to “System and Security” -> “Windows Firewall”.  If you are viewing by “Large icons” or “Small icons” just double click “Windows Firewall”.
  3. On the left side click “Allow an app or feature through Windows Firewall”
  4. Click “Change Settings”.
  5. Click “Allow another app…”
  6. A new window will appear.  Click “Browse…”
  7. A new dialog will appear.  Navigate to:  C:Program FilesBonjour
  8. Click “mDNSResponder.exe” and then click “Open”
  9. Click “Add”
  10. A new row called “Bonjour Service” will appear in the table
  11. Make sure the checkbox under private for that row is checked
  12. Click “Allow another app…”
  13. In the new window press “Browse…”
  14. A new dialog will appear.  Navigate to C:Program FilesiTunes .  If that location is not there then navigate to: C:Program Files (x86)iTunes instead.
  15. Click “iTunes.exe” and then click “Open”
  16. Click “Add”
  17. A new row called “iTunes” will appear in the table.
  18. Make sure the checkbox under private for that row is checked
  19. Click OK
  20. Your firewall is not setup

To enable iTunes and Bonjour through the firewall on Windows Vista:

  1. Go to Start -> Control Panel
  2. If you are viewing by “Categories” click “Allow a program through Windows Firewall”.  If you are viewing by “Large icons” or “Small icons” just double click “Windows Firewall”.
  3. Click the “Exceptions” tab
  4. Click “Add program…”
  5. A new window will appear.  Click “Browse…”
  6. A new dialog will appear.  Navigate to:  C:Program FilesBonjour
  7. Click “mDNSResponder.exe” and then click “Open”
  8. Click “OK”
  9. A new row called “Bonjour Service” will appear in the table.
  10. Make sure the checkbox to the left of the row is checked
  11. Click “Allow another app…”
  12. In the new window press “Browse…”
  13. A new dialog will appear.  Navigate to C:Program FilesiTunes .  If that location is not there then navigate to: C:Program Files (x86)iTunes instead.
  14. Click “iTunes.exe” and then click “Open”
  15. Click “OK”
  16. A new row called “iTunes” will appear in the table
  17. Make sure the checkbox to the left of the row is checked
  18. Click OK
  19. Your firewall is not setup

I enter my pairing code into iTunes and it doesn’t work.  What’s going on?

This is due to Bonjour not properly cleaning up stale pairing entires.  Closing iTunes, restarting the Bonjour service, and repairing will normally fix this issue.  The easiest way to do this, is to restart your computer.  I am working on ways to lower the probability of getting into this state.

In short…. restarting your computer should resolve the issue.

Why can I not add/remove/edit playlists?

Apple seems to have locked this functionality down for their own devices.  I have looked to see if anyone has reversed engineered the security for this and I have not found it.  If you are aware of anyone who has figured it out, please let me know and I could possibly add this feature.

I get a connection error as soon as the pairing finished.  What is wrong?

You are probably running an old version of iTunes on your computer.  Retune support iTunes version 10.0 and greater.  If you update iTunes to the latest version this error will most likely disappear.

39 thoughts on “Retune FAQ

    • It is, you have to install another app which supports Airplay streaming to your device. AirBubble works as well as Android Hifi. Keep in mind that you can only stream to your Android device while on the same network when doing this. If you want to sync music to play while away you can use iSyncr.

  1. Hey! I’m having problems at pairing my phone with iTunes 12.1.1.4. It recognizes the device but when I put the code, it says that it’s incorrect. I’ve tried by restarting my computer but it doesn’t work.

    What can I do?

    Thank you!

    • Sometimes (not often) routers can interfere with the pairing process. I would suggest restarting your computer and router just to be sure.

    • Retune should work with iTunes 12. Sometimes upgrading iTunes can cause firewall rules to stop working. If you are having problems it would be good to recreate your firewall rules.

        • Yeah that is true. It is due to the way Android does hotspots which doesn’t work with iTunes. You could probably work around it if you rooted your phone and messed with the routing table; however, I have never tried so I can’t say for certain.

    • Yes, Retune should work with iTunes 12. Sometimes upgrading iTunes can cause firewall rules to stop working. If you are having problems it would be good to recreate your firewall rules.

  2. I been having trouble with retune crashing on my tablet when I try and sort by album or song. I can play songs from my playlists but when I chose anything else it tells me the application retune has stopped unexpectedly please try again”

    • Sorry to hear about your problem. I’ll see what I can do to help you out. Could you answer a couple questions to help me try and figure out what may be going on?

      Is Retune only crashing when you try to sort by album or songs? Does it work otherwise? Is it only happening only when viewing playlists?

  3. Hi.
    Thanks for your terrific app. I use it on a daily basis!

    Today I updated to itunes 12.1.1.4 and Now retune cannot connect to this new version anymore.
    Is there an update coming for this issue?

    Thanks

    • I think you are experiencing problems with your firewall. iTunes upgrades can sometimes cause your firewall rules to stop working and prevent Retune from working. I would suggest deleting and recreating your firewall rules. Instructions can be found on this page.

  4. Hi, thank you so much for such a wonderful app 🙂 I faced the same troubles pairing my device after upgrading to iTunes 12 and in fact, it was due to the firewall… I troubleshoot it by disabling the firewall and then enabling it again after the pairing process but in the meantime, I had to look for this useful page by typing Squallydoc in Google, because the links within the app lead me to a page in wordpress that no longer exists… just to let you know and to thank you for your hard work and all the good support you give. Cheers.

    • Glad to hear Retune is working for you again. Thanks for letting me know about the link problem. I may have some stray links from my site move. I’ll look into it. Thanks again.

  5. my phone and laptop paired immediately. However I can only hear the music play on my laptop not my phone. even though I can control everything from my phone! What do I need to do? What am I missing?

    • Retune is purely a remote for iTunes, like you have a remote for your TV. It does not allow you to play the music on your device directly. You can use other Android apps to do that though. I would suggest looking up Airplay receivers. These allow you to stream music to your device through iTunes. You must be on the same network (like Retune).

  6. I have paired Retune with my iTunes. Can see the name of my library in the list but when I click on it, it says “Unable to locate specified library. Please make sure iTunes is started on your computer. Error code: -10” iTunes is running on my computer. Have tried the firewall solutions on this webpage other than opening the list of ports. Any suggestions ? Thanks in advance.

    • Do you by chance have two firewalls? This can this type of problem. Others solutions to try would be restarting your router and verifying you are connected to the same Wifi as your computer.

      • have windows firewall turned off. Can see my Library listed on my Blackberry Z30 but when I click on it, gives me the same error as above. I can even go to add a library on my phone, see my phone listed in iTunes asking for the 4 digit passcode, enter it the code, phone disappears, and then get the error again. Any ideas ?

  7. I use Retune to play my Songs from Itunes on my MacMini. When I stop using Retunes my Mac doesn’t go to sleep mode. Retune has a running background process in Android which I can see in active apps. Every time when I use my tablet the mac awakes. When I kill the background process, Mac goes/stays asleep. Can You change this ?

    • Using the menu and disconnecting from your library should prevent Retune from keeping the service alive. This way it will stop connecting to your library and waking your Mac. It should only connect next time you open Retune.

    • OK, it is not a problem of Retune. It’s the same when using an Ipod. If I disconnect MacMini goes asleep. Thanks for help.

    • As of right now, no. This would require support from Apple to add into iTunes or it would require changes to how Android works with Bluetooth. Neither of these are under my control 🙁

  8. I love this app and use it every day!

    Since receiving the update to Android 5, I can no longer see current song information from the locked screen, it just says “Retune Content hidden”. This seems to be related to the new notification setting added in Android 5, where the user is able to select which notifications are displayed while the device is locked. I have mine set to “Hide sensitive content”. Setting it to “Show all content” allows Retune to display the current playing song information, however, it also shows a lot of other information I don’t want displayed on my locked screen.

    Is it possible for you to alter Retune’s notification information to be classified as ‘non-sensitive information’ in order to get the song info to show up on the locked screen?

    Thanks!

    • Yes, this is related to the changes to Android 5 (Lollipop). This is one I haven’t noticed before as I have my notifications set to “Show all content”. I’ll look into seeing what it takes to allow it to show when “Hide sensitive content” is used.

      Thanks for letting me know!

  9. Hi, beautiful app. You should be proud. I wish you every success. Though my post here does have an ulterior motive. Can I control my iTunes on Mac and tell it to connect to certain Airplay receivers? I am not interested in my Android phone doing it (rooted once and tripped Knox). I ask as I could use Autoinput + Autovoice in Tasker to use my voice to control music in all rooms.

    • Not quite sure what you are asking, but I’ll do my best to answer. Retune will allow you to control what airplay speakers iTunes should use.

      Retune will take very little input from other apps. You can play, pause, skip forward/back, and change volume. So provided you can setup the correct intents you could use your phone to do that.

  10. Great app, and I’ve been using it for years. I’ve only run into one issue since I upgraded to iTunes 12. I can no longer start an iTunes radio station from the App. If I select iTunes radio, shows an icon with the namr of my music library but I can’t select it or do anything. I can skip songs and adjust volume if I start iTunes radio from my PC first. I’m running Windows 7 and Android 5.1.1. All other functions work great.

    • Glad to hear you like Retune!

      iTunes 12 doesn’t seem to work very well with iTunes Radio stations, at least from what I have seen. I haven’t seen what you are describing. I generally see iTunes just not playing a station after a song or two.

      Where exactly are you trying to start/create the station from? The more detailed the better.

  11. I can’t seem to connect to iTunes. Using iTunes 12.2.2 and android 5.1.1. I have tried switching off firewall but there is not option of any a remote device anywhere on iTunes.

    • Have you tried restarting your devices (most importantly your router). This is the second most common problem after the firewall.

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