Moakle
Level 1 (9 points)
Desktops

Q: itunes is currently unavailable

My Apple TV 3 has been playing up for a few days, possibly since the latest update - not sure.

 

Basically, i can no longer play any purchased TV/movies or iTunes Match music via the Apple TV (still fine via my other Apple devices - Mac, iPad 2, iPhone 4S) and the following message appears, accompanied with a black screen and yellow triangle "iTunes is currently unavailable. Try again later."

 

I've searched the forms boards and found a bunch of possible solutions that haven't worked: reset and/or restart Apple TV, Sign out and back in to iTunes on both the Apple TV and my Mac, switched Dolby Digital from Auto, On and Off - nothing has worked.

 

Could this be an Apple server authentication issue? On purchased movies and TV, it's at the authentication stage that things seem to stop.

 

Any help/advice would be hugely appreciated. Right now, iTunes Match and Apple TV aren't doing the job I paid for.

Posted on Nov 21, 2014 3:33 AM

by AmIStillaBeliever?,Solvedanswer
AmIStillaBeliever? AmIStillaBeliever?
Level 1 (10 points)
A:

Hey Whizzo

 

This may help:

 

1 Go to Settings/Airplay

2 Check option "Play from iTunes in the Cloud". Switch from Auto to Off

 

You should now be able to stream iTunes purchased music and iTunes Match music from your iPad to Apple TV as a fix until Apple find a solution to the Apple TV issue. With the iTunes in the Cloud option switchex to Auto, your iPad will hand over responsibility for fetching music from the cloud to your Apple TV. So you're back to the same situation as asking Apple TV yourself to play the song.

Posted on Nov 26, 2014 1:43 AM

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Moakle

Q: itunes is currently unavailable

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  • by Gordon Hamachi,

    Gordon Hamachi Gordon Hamachi Mar 21, 2015 1:50 PM in response to LaraCroft_NYC
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 21, 2015 1:50 PM in response to LaraCroft_NYC

    I reported this bug on the Apple TV support page, along with my additional information on how to work around the problem.  If they ever review the bug report, the development team should be able to use the additional information to diagnose and fix the problem fairly easily.  I am a software developer, so I know that all software has bugs.  Perhaps this also makes me more forgiving of bugs like this, but I will also become annoyed if--after filing a good bug report--the bug isn't fixed in a timely manner.

     

    For me the problem only happens when I attempt to play the program in one specific way: by selecting the show from the "Purchased" list.  Interestingly, it doesn't matter if the "Purchased" that I use is the one at the top of the top level menu, or if it is the the one at the top of the "TV Shows" screen: in either case there is just one episode from the entire season that fails to play.

     

    If I access the same episode by any other path then the program episode plays successfully.

    • Download the episode to your Macintosh and then stream it to your Apple TV.
    • Add the TV show to your Apple TV Favorites, and then play the show from there instead of from "Purchased".
    • Play from "Top TV Shows" instead of from "Purchased"
    • Select "TV Shows" and then search for the show.  Play from the search results instead of from "Purchased".
    • Browse "TV Shows" by network.  Select the problem show, and play from there instead of from "Purchased".

     

    If you want to protect yourself from random glitches in new software releases, you can turn off automatic software updates in your Apple TV settings.

  • by kla809,

    kla809 kla809 Mar 21, 2015 2:37 PM in response to Gordon Hamachi
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 21, 2015 2:37 PM in response to Gordon Hamachi

    Gordon Hamachi, you're a genius.  I've been trying to get my purchased show to play on my AppleTV for 3 days with no luck. After finding your post, I tried coming at the show from another direction (I did a search for it & hit Play from that result), it worked!!  I hope they fix this bug quickly.

  • by SnowDog74,

    SnowDog74 SnowDog74 Mar 21, 2015 4:03 PM in response to Gordon Hamachi
    Level 1 (85 points)
    Mar 21, 2015 4:03 PM in response to Gordon Hamachi

    Gordon Hamachi, you, sir, are the bomb!  I have AppleTV 3 and the suggestion that immediately worked was adding the show to Favorites and playing from there.

  • by CaroDyck,

    CaroDyck CaroDyck Mar 21, 2015 5:37 PM in response to Gordon Hamachi
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 21, 2015 5:37 PM in response to Gordon Hamachi

    Thanks for the suggestions to work around the problem Gordon! Accessing my purchased content from Favorites rather than from the Purchased list solved the "iTunes not available...try later" error message  

     

    Now if only I could get the latest software update for AppleTV to actually download (and successfully install) I'll be content  

  • by gsof,

    gsof gsof Mar 21, 2015 7:41 PM in response to AppleNovice
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 21, 2015 7:41 PM in response to AppleNovice

    tried t all this thing *****!!!!!!!

  • by liadaine,

    liadaine liadaine Mar 21, 2015 8:14 PM in response to Gordon Hamachi
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 21, 2015 8:14 PM in response to Gordon Hamachi

    Thanks so much Gordon!  Tried using Favorites and the Search page and I was able to load my purchased episodes.  This all seems to have started after I rented a movie from iTunes using Apple TV.  Won't be doing that again.

     

    We've gone from Rogers to Bell to Apple TV and I have to say they all have their problems.  I'm getting sick of having to Restart Apple TV every week or so.  I'm also confused as to why some purchased programs can be run from the Purchased page but others gave me the error.

     

    Oh well, hope the next glitch doesn't show up for awhile.  Thank God for the Internet and the Apple community of users.

  • by ManifestFury,

    ManifestFury ManifestFury Mar 22, 2015 8:32 AM in response to Gordon Hamachi
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 22, 2015 8:32 AM in response to Gordon Hamachi

    Excellent fix - works like a charm.

  • by PageHendrix,

    PageHendrix PageHendrix May 21, 2015 5:59 PM in response to Gordon Hamachi
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 21, 2015 5:59 PM in response to Gordon Hamachi

    Gordon,

    my problem is similar: I get the " unavailable" message only for my music content! I mean I'm listening to an album, the music stops, I get this message but if I

    move to the movies section I can see any movie I have purchased or watch a trailer.

    if I go back to the songs, they are still " gone". If I restart or reboot the ATV sometimes it works sometimes it doesn't.

     

    would really appreciate it if you have any idea whats going on because Apple sure as **** doesn't !

     

    regards

  • by Peter Ryan,

    Peter Ryan Peter Ryan Nov 21, 2015 10:19 PM in response to Chipmunksdad
    Level 1 (15 points)
    Notebooks
    Nov 21, 2015 10:19 PM in response to Chipmunksdad

    What bugs me is all my shows play but the odd episodes here and there in purchased seasons.

    Show 1-3 fine. Show 4 - no joy. Show 5-8 fine.

     

    so weird.

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