Apple TV screensaver tvOS13

Yep - Same issue - Things have gotten incrementally worst with the ATV. Up until a few days ago, I managed to make it work, not sure how, although it would take a reboot or restart to go back to aerial. But out of nowhere it stopped working about 2 weeks ago and no matter what I've tried I get the "black screensaver of death"... I even tried downgrading to TVOS 10.x (using itunes and a cable). Of course it worked under v10. As soon as I updated to the latest, back to the same problem. No screensaver from my home sharing photos, no more ATV. I'll be looking for a Roku or something else.

Same issue here,

It seems everytime the device restarts (power loss etc) it loses the screensaver parameters and defaults to ariel.

I have tried several times in a row.

Removed power simulating a blackout - defaults to ariel

Restart apple tv via settings menu - defaults to ariel

Very very frustrating.

Just upgraded to 13.5 and I was able to (again) select albums to be used as screensaver through Homesharing. I'll cross my fingers and hope it will stay like that.

PS I haven't tested if it reverts back to default after a power off/on or reboot though, as I always have my ATV powered on or in standby mode.

The screensaver problem is far worse in 13.3. Now trying to use Home Sharing/Photos results in the spinning wheel of death. The TV app is worse, too - the Up Next list gets populated with stuff you may have watched a long time ago, and it no longer syncs at all with iOS or macOS devices. That a total mess of a release.

My Home Sharing Albums from my Photos was working until last weeks update to 13.4.

Now exactly the same problem -- even though all of the Selection Criteria is Spot On and Preview Works

When is goes back to Main Screen -- Black as Black with an Occasional White Screen flashed for a sec the Back To Black.

Have Reset by pulling out plugs

Have Reset by Going to Settings and System Restart

Nothing Works

I totally agree that its Totally Disappointing -- one of the Main Reasons we purchased the Apple TV Gen 4 was the ability to have personal photos as a Screensaver.

APPLE LAND GET IF YOU READ THESE POSTS -- please get your Techies onto it.

Caroline Cairns in Western Australia

Yes I agree. It is working to push photos, but Aerial overrides upon reboot which means this is still broken. Also, if you have folders in Photos, unless you sync the entire library, it won’t work. If you select specific folders it won’t sync anything. This is a known issue with Apple since Catalina. Also, check your album covers in Music. Catalina has deleted over half of my album artwork in my library. Just garbage.

To All Who Bothered to Write about the Glitch with Home Sharing Photos Screensaver !!!

HEAR HEAR !!

Obviously Apple Tech Department Don't Give a Hoot

Sad But True --- Come on Apple 🍎Get Onto It.

I really Miss My Albums as a Screensaver so just put them on as a SLIDESHOW --- that works but we should have a choice.

Susan from WA

Yes, if you power off your ATV it will revert back to "arial". So don't:-) Just let it go on standby.

Having exactly the same problem. I used to use "Homesharing" and then select a any given album in my Photos library as Screensaver. And prior to TVOS13 it worked just fine. Now it just shows a black screen and after a while it reverts back to the default "Arial video". It must be a bug, so I'll hope it'll be corrected in a future update.

That's interesting, since there is other threads that discuss Home sharing not working.

I started one of these threads. My Home Sharing option is available, but it does not list a photos option.

Even though I have Turn on Home Sharing and specified the folder for the photos to be shared, the Apple TV does not display this folder. IT does not even have the listing for Photos.

I even tried this on a fresh Mac Mini. Wiped it clean, installed Catalina, Logged in with My Apple ID for iCloud, etc, Connected it to the same Wi-Fi network as the apple TV, Turned on Home Sharing, specified the folder of Photos to be shared.

Still nothing on the Apple TV.

Same problem here. If I go into my photo library in home sharing it seems to create a black image where any screenshots or non-jpegs are. There’s TONS of them now. If I disconnect home sharing, the issue remains. I’ve found if I disconnect, reimport said photos, it’ll work. But it’s hundreds of photos. If I clear the cache in the apple tv library in Photos, it will just remove them from home sharing entirely! They’ll still be in my Photos library but completely gone in Home Sharing. No black box, just gone. The photos library home sharing screensaver will populate the black boxes in the mix. Then, after a sleep of the box it reverts to Aerial screensaver anyway. What a complete mess. I’ve called Apple numerous times and literally spent hours troubleshooting with the Cloud team. Nothing. They told me to upgrade to cloud photos so I did. Same issue remained, just more money spent. Also i’ve found the iTunes screensaver no longer plays music when you click on a specified album artwork. When I asked Apple they said “that’s now the iTunes Artwork Screensaver and no longer plays music.” Even though there’s a play icon, they don’t fix it, they just rename it and keep the broken functionality. Ridiculous that there’s no fix after a year and no plans to in site. Apple has been going downhill significantly lately. I miss Jobs. I think it’s time to head to Google.

Ugh... upgrading to Catalina seems to not help either. Home Sharing is now in System Preferences and if the connection to the computer/laptop is severed, it doesn’t work. So frustrating. New OS and it’s buggier than ever.

Thanks for your research and sharing it. For me, it didn't work, uninstalled two potential apps, neither Home Sharing nor My Photos stayed on when switching off/(on) power, it's in either ways back to Aerial.

Hope you all report this annoying bug on https://www.apple.com/feedback/appletv.html

There seems to be light now at the end of the tunnel, as a user in this thread reports that the tech people at Apple are "aware of the problem" - which IS a great start, considering the fact that is has been only around for three months and there must have been hundreds of bug reports and annoyed messages.

Hi greendevil16

Am very up to speed with the selection of Screensavers on the Apple TV Gen 4 Settings

Also the fact that Home Sharing is now found in SETTINGS in the "Sharing Folder" in Catalina.

This same problem is happening to me along with all who have posted.

Selection Made from my own Albums

Preview all fine

Waiting the 2 minutes

Black Screen

Pressed the Menu button on Remote

Goes to AERIAL ????

Have restarted iMac

Have restarted Apple TV

APPLE YOU HAVE A BUG - Get onto it from all those who rely on the stability of "APPLE"

PS: This has been working fine since upgrade a few months ago to CATALINA but only started with problems 48 hours ago.

Cheers Susan in Western Australia