AppleTV option as audio output when on phone call

Can someone from Apple tell us whats going on? is it being fixed?

It’s a bug for sure, even if I wanted to use it, when I press the Apple TV option can’t hear anything on the Apple TV.

This is so annoying. Disabling wifi at home is not a solution.

Does someone here uses the Beta program and can report this issue through the Beta app?

If this is truly Apple's response to this issue, it's horrific, Microsoft-level bad user design. The audience for "want to use my AppleTV to answer phone calls" <<< "the audience who uses iPhones frequently for calls and needs a simple speakerphone button". Assuming that users want to use their additional devices for functions unrelated to their core use is behavior I expect from other OS providers.

What's especially infuriating is that Apple's already done this once, in earlier implementations of Continuity where they eventually added the ability to control phone call forwarding across iCloud devices at device level. Why can't they do the same for phone call audio? There's certainly plenty of feedback around the Web indicating a large cohort of highly irritated users.

Turning off wifi, removing the AppleTV from iCloud, removing AirPlay 2 (which theoretically requires the AppleTV as its hub) or disabling remotes are killing a fly with an elephant gun. Recommending removal of primary function is not "expected behavior".

However, disabling my iPhone from the AppleTV remotes menu, as mentioned elsewhere in the thread, does work, but only temporarily. It does kill the Remote continuity that Apple designed and force me to enter passwords via the iTunes remote. But it eventually fails as a fix anyway.

To add insult to injury, the AppleTV button under Audio in the phone call screen does not even work anyway. Pressing it does not route audio to the AppleTV; it just pauses and tries to do that for a few minutes and then kills the audio entirely.

So what you are saying is while I am at home if I am wanting this to not be selectable I can’t use my home Wi-Fi??? Or Bluetooth which is also used by my Apple Watch! I honestly can not this is an actual fix. Please Apple fix this issue. I work from home and use speaker phone regularly. This is beyond annoying for an AirPlay device to be in that list.

This clearly shows arrogance of Apple’s designers who assumed that they know better than a user when he/she is making a phone call. That user is a grown adult and a paying customer, you need to give them a choice.

I use WiFi calling on my iPhone as cellphone coverage is spotty in our area. When calling into work meetings in an upstairs room, downstairs TV is the last thing on my mind, then why it keeps showing as an option which I have to deal with?

But the Apple TV shows up even when you are not connected to the same WiFi. I still get the audio button and not the speaker phone button when I am in my car or at work miles away from my Apple TV and connected to a different WiFi. I use speaker phone about for 95% of my calls. Why can’t I push only one button to get there? Apple! Please fix this!

I’ve put in a complaint. For people using the phone with one hand, adding that extra step is really bad from an accessibility perspective. I should not have to choose between having iCloud features on my Apple TV and accessibility on my phone.

I realize once I’m out of a cast I won’t care as much but while I am, this bug is REALLY annoying.

It's not even my Apple TV. It is my roommate's. I don't have access to it to remove it. It isn't signed in under my Apple ID either so there's no way to "Remove" it. This is a ridiculously stupid and clearly unwanted feature.

My apple TV is showing up as a speakerphone (audio) option when on a phone call. The only way to disable this is by turning my wifi off on the iPhone, which is obviously unacceptable. I have tried removing my phone as a remote from the apple TV settings menu, restarted both the apple TV and my iphone and the apple TV still shows up as an audio out. Please fix this!!

Which method did you use to pair? Did you pair from the Apple TV using the “bring close to Apple TV” option or did you pair using the remote app on the iPhone?

Also which method did you use to unpair? Remove from the Apple TV or uncheck the Apple tv on the iPhone app?

Thanks for the breakdown, but it still shows up. I did as you suggested, even added additional steps.

1.) Paired and unpaired as you suggested above.

2.) Multiple reboots of both ATV and phone after variations of pairing and unpairing.

3.) Kept a long enough distance (30ft) so there was no possibility of my iPhone picking up the ATV proximity pairing.

4.) Removed and reinstalled the legacy remote app on my iPhone.

Here are my thoughts, and would love if Apple can chime in here as well.

1.) My ATV is being used as an Apple HomeKit hub. So without even me pairing my phone to the ATV, it automatically keeps prompting me to type on my iPhone whenever a text entrance is required on the ATV.

2.) With WiFi disabled on my iPhone, the problem disappears.

3.) With WiFi disabled on my ATV, the problem disappears.

4.) Even my wife’s phone has the same problem and her phone has never been paired with the ATV. It has never shown up in the remotes and devices pairing list on the ATV.

This is driving me crazy and is such an inconvenience when switching over to speaker and having the other person to wait a few seconds of silent pause to do so.

People suggesting this as a solution have not realized that this does not always fix it. I believe this only works if your appleTV is not a hub for your HomeKit devices. There is still not a resolution to this problem, its crazy. This is going on since launch of ios 13.

My wife has this issue on her XS Max. One of our Apple TVs shows as an audio source during a phone call. Even when away from the house and using cell signal only. How can this be fixed?

I have tried that as well. It works for a short period (less than a day) then the problem comes back.

Yep, you’re right. It came back within a day of going away. Pretty frustrating.

same problem here!

Did anyone solve this? So annoying.

Someone from apple may answer maybe?