shuanglong

Q: ATV4 goes straight to next episode

We watch a lot of TV through iTunes and find that with the new ATV4, as soon as one episode of a series ends, it goes straight to the next episode with no pause, no opportunity to pick something else instead, no nothing. The ATV3 would return to the list of shows at the end of an episode. Surely there must be a way to choose this as an option, but I cannot find it.

Apple TV (4th generation), iOS 9.1

Posted on Nov 22, 2015 10:14 AM

Close

Q: ATV4 goes straight to next episode

  • All replies
  • Helpful answers

  • by Jon Walker,

    Jon Walker Jon Walker Nov 22, 2015 11:42 AM in response to shuanglong
    Level 6 (18,603 points)
    Nov 22, 2015 11:42 AM in response to shuanglong

    Surely there must be a way to choose this as an option, but I cannot find it.

    Unfortunately, not at the present time—i.e., until such time as Apple may decide to include such an option setting. Basically, older TV devices treated TV Show episodes as individual files while the TV4 currently treats a season of episodes as a "playlist" without any option to treat them differently. Further, in this mode, the TV4 does not automatically refresh episode playback status until either the player completes "playlist" playback of the current season or the TV4 user manually closes/exits the season currently being played. Hopefully, these are items that can probably be "fixed" once enough users provide feedback declaring their desire for a change to the current playback "strategy."

    SJAUG.png

  • by Peter N2,

    Peter N2 Peter N2 Dec 10, 2015 2:50 PM in response to shuanglong
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 10, 2015 2:50 PM in response to shuanglong

    This really is infuriating and caused me to unplug the ATV4 and plug the ATV3 back in. This is the way it will stay until this behavior is changed.

  • by Rett5,

    Rett5 Rett5 Dec 11, 2015 5:17 PM in response to shuanglong
    Level 1 (1 points)
    Dec 11, 2015 5:17 PM in response to shuanglong

    Actually, I'm VERY happy to hear this as, when binging TV shows, having to go back to the menu to select the next show is very annoying.  Sorry that you don't like the feature.

  • by shuanglong,

    shuanglong shuanglong Dec 11, 2015 5:30 PM in response to Rett5
    Level 1 (2 points)
    Dec 11, 2015 5:30 PM in response to Rett5

    That's just it, though--not all people will like it the same way, so it seems clear that there should be an option to have the ATV4 go straight through from episode to episode like you'd prefer, or to have it stop after each episode, like I'd prefer. It could even work like Netflix does, and give you a bit of a pause between episodes so you can either continue with the next show or go to something else.

  • by Mitch Stone,

    Mitch Stone Mitch Stone Dec 11, 2015 11:11 PM in response to shuanglong
    Level 1 (19 points)
    Dec 11, 2015 11:11 PM in response to shuanglong

    You can turn off the auto play-through "binge watch" mode, on Netflix at least. Log into Netflix on the web. Navigate to My Account, click My Profile/Playback Settings. On this page deselect the box "Play next episode automatically.” You will probably want to do this for every profile you've created.

     

    Now if you also dislike the postage stamp window view that Netflix automatically creates at the end of every movie and TV show, you will need to update your Netflix app to the most current version. On your ATV navigate to Purchased Apps, select the Netflix app, and click on update. The postage stamp view will still be created, but you will be able to navigate to the window and return it to full screen.

  • by Aaron Von Gauss,

    Aaron Von Gauss Aaron Von Gauss May 10, 2016 11:17 PM in response to shuanglong
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Apple TV
    May 10, 2016 11:17 PM in response to shuanglong

    NetFlix gives an option, they originally made "binge" mode forced like the Apple TV 4 but were very responsive to customer complaints and quickly added an option to control "binge" mode.  They then took it a step further and made it easy to play the next episode even when binge mode was off which was well done in my opinion.