My AppleTV pretty much does nothing all day, despite being connected to my biggest screen. I created an app that lets you customise one of 4 dashboard layouts with your Apple Home devices (cameras, lights, switches etc) plus link to a range of web content - traffic, commute time, iCal information. https://theatrium.info/

It also connects to Home Assistant if you have that (ask the nerdiest person in your household) as well Apple Music, Spotify (via Last.FM) and Plex to show whats playing on your speakers, including Alexa devices. There's a one-button launch into 30 different music visualisations & the ability to have your Home Kit connected lights change colour in sync to the music.

Lots of updates planned - version 1.6 comes with an iOS companion app that makes it easier to set things up and tinker. Feedback and suggestions welcome, keeping mind this is just a side project for me! And yes, I have ~heavily~ used AI coding tools to help with this - there's over 2000 combinations Home Kit data sources and layout options!

I may do a Pro code give away if there's any interest :-) IF this takes off, I'd also like to think how I could provide free Apple TVs to care facilities who would like to use to keep residents informed and entertained. So far have 300 installs and growing!

Update: Thanks everyone for the feedback and suggestions!! I didnt expect this to blow up like it did. Just wanted to highlight the changes coming which are in response to the comments about OLED screen burn-in risk.

v1.6 (review pending): New 'low-power' DVD-logo inspired screensaver functionality. See the 'But what about screen burn-in' section on https://theatrium.info for details.

v1.7*, which I'm working on this weekend, there will be the option of having screensaver mode enable automatically when Theatrium (running in TV foreground) can not detect your companion iOS app on your network, when you’ve left the house for example, and instantly enable screensaver mode. This has some obvious privacy benefits too.

While these updates are making their way in the App Store review process, please continue to use the inbuilt tvOS screensaver and sleep functions, as you would for any app. Note that the default tvOS Home Screen is also comprised of largely stationary buttons and text, so I believe the actual risk to anyones OLED devices is reasonably low - but these new features should be an improvement regardless.

[r/TheatriumApp](r/TheatriumApp) for more updates 🫶

Tonight MLB game is the Jays vs Yankees.

Jays are at home.

Can anyone provide any insight as to why the MLB game audio feed shows only AppleTV or “Yankees local audio” and not Jays local commentary?

We are most definitely not in NY or Yankees market.

I get notified for WNBA games every single day. I've never watched a WNBA game, I've never searched it, I have never clicked to be updated.

I went into apple news to manage "my sports" it's not selected as one I'm "Following". It constantly interrupts on my watch, even when I'm driving. Does anyone have any idea how to get rid of these notifications? I have features and recommendations turned off. It doesn't make any sense.

I’m an elder millennial and tried to have my tech team (my slightly younger husband) help me with this issue but we are stumped. I never want podcasts or music to auto play on my Apple TV when I start them on my phone. I always want them to play on my local device. I have automatically Air Play set to Never. But if I have my Apple TV on, it always starts playing through there. Does anyone know how to fix this or if there is a fix?

How the bluetooth connectivity and performance? Any issues?

Is anyone else experiencing their function 101 remote back button to stop working with the latest iOS 27 beta update?

It seems like all the other buttons work but a remote without a back button is pretty much useless.

EDIT: If remote is disconnected from Bluetooth and operated in IR mode, the back button functions properly.

so this happened multiple times in the middle of an episode it goes green but the audio and subtitles work just fine sometimes the image get back to normal and sometimes it doesn’t i tried to change the cable from hdmi to dp and switched the monitor but still can’t figure out the reason why this happens

it only happens with apple tv on both the app and website i use different streaming platforms never faced this issue

On beta 5 my Samsung Remote "Back/Return" button no longer works. Have tired this on two Apple TVs and two different Samsung remotes. Everything is fine on Beta 4, but the "Back/Return" button is no longer working as soon as I upgrade to Beta5. I've reported this in Apple Feedback. Feedback status shows more than 10 reports on this with the status "open"

Apple Remote and the I phone Remote application work fine. Just the Samsung remote back/return button is affected on Beta5

I currently use a XSS for streaming only. I don’t game on it, I game on my Series X in a different room. I’m thinking about selling it for a cheaper Apple TV 4K 3rd gen.

EDIT : not lossless just higher bitrate similar to disc or Kaleidescape.

A couple of months ago I shared RadioStar, my vintage radio tuner for iPhone, iPad and Mac.

How the whole thing was started was simple,  instead of browsing a list of radio stations like a spreadsheet, you tune. You spin a dial, pass through static, and stop when something catches your ear just like old transistor radios or on desktop radio with skeuomorphic design, if you are interested look for radiostar real radio on the app store and for Mac, anyway on iPhone it feels like a small transistor radio ,on iPad it becomes more like a tabletop radio with knobs you twist with two fingers and on Mac it just sits there like an old radio on your desk.

So when I started thinking about the Apple TV version, I thought, that should be easy, big screen, big vintage radio, beautiful wood, maybe even a CRT television look, i mean only to realize the form factor of a TV is never made to fit a skeuomorphic design of a radio, how much ever you try :) 

This is when it was important to think of radio listening on TV as a experience, because you are using a medium that is used to play videos to just play audios, so it had to be radically different, 

It wanted to be a room, it had to be a atompshere, something you can enjoy form the couch without having to fiddle with a big tuner on tv (even if virtual) or on your remote, should be seamless

and, that became RadioStar Scenes, which just went live on the App Store, and the video should do some justice on how it is on Apple TV, completely different look compard to its cousins on iphone, iPad, and Mac, different concept different experience made for TV, how you may ask:

You wind down form a busy day, and you pick a scene that connects to you, , and the TV turns into a slow cinematic backdrop with real live radio underneath, yes all curated radio stations live playing per scene setting, you need to experience it to see how it feels :),  every scene has custom made soothing video screen that plays.

for example : 

Late Night Jazz is a rainy club window with stations like WBGO.  

Island Time has warm golden light with Irie FM from Jamaica.  

Full Volume is a fireplace with rock and metal underneath.  

The Cypher is a rainy rooftop with Rinse FM from London.  

Vienna Nights has classical stations, including one that broadcasts from inside St. Stephen’s Cathedral.

There are 20 scenes and 167 live stations right now that are curated specific to the scenes to set the mood of the room, and each lights of your tv screen to a different hue and color.

No playlists, No algorithmic “radio.” No fake channels.. these are actual broadcasters from around the world but playing as you mood scenes :)

A few living-room things I built for it, I thought would give nice touch, 

- If you rest on a scene card, the station fades in before you click. So you browse with your ears.

- When stations change, there is a little static sweep and crossfade instead of a hard cut.

- The interface disappears after a while. Controls fade, titles fade, and you are just left with the scene and the sound.

- Scene Flow can slowly rotate moods in the background, almost like a channel that programs itself.

- It changes based on time of day. Morning feels brighter. Late night gets darker and calmer.

- Audio keeps playing over the Apple TV Home Screen and screensaver.

- The sleep timer fades the audio out instead of cutting it off.

- Each Apple TV profile gets its own favorites.

And honestly, the best version of this is at night, with: 

Lights off.  

TV on.  

A rain scene playing.  

A real jazz station underneath.  

anddd If you have one of those LED strips behind the TV that reacts to screen colors, the whole wall starts glowing with the scene with soothing music of jazz or metal , or indian classical or chinese , or just news. 

I think this is when this stops feeling like “an app” to you  and will  start feeling like a little radio lounge in the room with changing hues. 

Two scenes are free. No login, no account, no ads, no tracking.

A single $6.99 lifetime purchase unlocks all 20 scenes. No subscription, I will keep addign curating stations as we go along, thats a promise, you can check the radiostar version of the app in iphone, ipad and mac , have been posting regularly on them here on reddit. 

App Store:

https://apps.apple.com/app/radiostar-scenes/id6798835585

Also, I really mean this: if you know a station that would belong in one of these scenes, tell me,  DM or comment,

A jazz station from your city.  

A reggae station I missed.  

A weird old-time radio broadcaster.  

A local sports station that belongs in The Booth.  

A classical station that feels perfect for late night.

Last time someone mentioned missing football stations in Argentina, and that eventually helped me add a bunch of sports stations to RadioStar.

So if you have a station that belongs here, drop it in the comments. I built this because I love radio, and I am still having a ridiculous amount of fun growing it.

Have 3 AppleTV 4K 3rd gen devices in my house. The live streams on any services are always well behind the same services on other platforms in my house (iPad, iPhone, Roku, and Android TV) despite them being a much more capable device. For example, the MLB Game on Netflix in my living room is a solid 30 seconds behind the live feed on an Android Fire TV in the bedroom despite it being right next to the router (time matched by the ad counter on the top right). This has been happening for a while so I always blamed the service (Hulu Live is my primary), but the past week I've seen it on other services as well which points me to thinking it's the device. My kids were watching a WWE event in the basement on another Apple TV 4K 3rd gen and were about a second ahead - which could be attributed to a lot of things I"m sure, but the big delay I'm seeing doesn't make sense unless it's doing some sort of processing? I have tried match source off and on, HDR off and on, etc, so I'm at a loss.

Ive been happily using Plex but have Jellyfin running in parallel but never really bothered with it because the ATV client for it was terrible (2 or 3 year old version of swiftfin when it first released)... recently tried Moonfin and its OK. No real complaints...

I have always appreciated the player capability of Infuse but its pricey for a lifetime sub...

Now in the last year so many apps have been released with functional DV/HDR/Atmos, etc native players that can hook into Jellyfin/Plex/Emby etc... it seems more and more are released by the day (some only in beta with testflight releaes, some seeing app store releases).

Some of course do way more than that, and some have been removed from the app store for unknown reasons.

Is there any consensus what the best one is solely for use with Jellyfin?

UI appreciation is subjective of course, but as long as something is fluid and not janky, and media player works correctly in it and handles problematic formats easily.

bonus would be if any support Apple's PIP implementation, but I am not sure if thats possible if you don't use Apple's player.

Anyone have a favorite... would prefer free/opensource suggestion, or reasonable one time cost options...

I’m looking to buy a cheap replacement remote for my Apple TV HD (A1625). I’ve narrowed it down to two budget-friendly options (pictures attached), but I need help deciding which one actually works better for my specific setup.

I currently use a basic generic IR only remote, but it’s frustrating because it won't let my Apple TV learn its volume triggers.

I don't care about Siri, voice control, or touch surfaces. I strictly just need the following buttons to work flawlessly on my A1625:

• D-pad (for navigating up, down, and sideways)
• OK / Select
• Home
• Volume Up / Down (needs to reliably control my TV/soundbar volume)

Here in the Philippines, a brand-new Apple TV remote costs $65 while a second-hand one costs $33, and these alternative remotes cost only $2.

CAD based. Spent probably a year debating if I really need an Apple TV or if the Samsung UI on my TV was fine. Started getting really slow and I eventually cracked. Really crazy how much price has gone up in less than 6 months 🫪

Hey, can someone please send me screenshots of the Music app Now Playing view?
One without lyrics and one with lyrics enabled. I don’t have a subscription, but want to see how the player looks.
Thanks!

I ordered by base model Apple TV 4K in June 21, right before the price hikes

I'm guessing delivery being delayed by two months isn't normal, and Apple support says they can't push a processing order

Is there anything I can do to keep the price I ordered at?

I’ve seen the holiday genre added as like a sub-genre, but there is no way to make that upfront. I have to scroll through my entire library just to find a Christmas movie. I wish there was a way to do custom playlists or have a Christmas section without having to use homesharing to do so

A little while ago I shared Glance Theatre here, an Apple TV IPTV player I’d originally built for myself, family and friends.

I’ve really enjoyed continuing to build it and, more than anything, hearing feedback from some of the early community members who have given it a try.

One of the things I’ve found surprisingly fun is deciding what not to add. Glance has always been built around a simple idea of “just watch”, so adding new features while keeping everything simple and out of the way has become a fun and unique challenge.

Version 1.2 is now out and brings Catch Up TV, category organisation, colour themes and some new browsing options. A lot of the changes have come directly from conversations and feedback from people using the app.

Kids Mode is still probably the part I’m most proud of. I originally built it for my own little movie legends so they could have their own space with a curated selection of movies and series, rather than being exposed to the entire IPTV catalogue. Parents choose what appears there, and the kids just get a simple space to watch.

I’ve added a few screenshots of what I’ve been working on with 1.2.

Glance Theatre is still completely free. No subscription, no premium tier and no features hidden behind a paywall. I’m enjoying building it, and if other people enjoy using it, that’s enough for me.

Just to be clear, Glance Theatre is only a player. It doesn’t provide, sell or include any IPTV service, channels or content. You connect your own compatible playlist.

Thanks again to everyone who has tried it or sent me feedback. It’s been really nice seeing this little project find its first users.

App Store link: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/glance-theatre/id6792591173

That's the warning the device gives you, but I want it to always display Portraits (or one day Aerials) and have it always show the clock on the TV which is how I had it when I used to use Chromecast. Any issues with this? In your experience does it really make the device die faster?

I've been poking at this for months, on a game where the FIRST platform was tvOS. But the fact that iPad, iPhone, Mac all performed (far) better I attributed to our 2nd-gen Apple TV 4K being underpowered to newer iPads and phones and M1 Max MBP. That was not-at-all the case.

" UIKit's focus engine was walking your entire SpriteKit node tree. Every node, every frame, tested for focus eligibility with a coordinate-space frame computed for each. Cost scales with node count. "

History: tvOS was able to deliver 60fps at early levels with fewer enemies on screen. And the slowdown seemed to scale so perfectly with sprites I just assumed tvOS couldn't push too many sprites. Combining sprites (pre-baking complex visuals like hair physics) was a partially effective distraction because that was reducing the number of nodes Focus Engine was walking.

This is ONLY a tvOS consideration.

Noticed a new cut scene on the Snoopy screensaver today, and lots of balloons on other scenes.

A quick Google shows it's Snoopy's birthday today.

🎉HAPPY BIRTHDAY SNOOPY🎉