Apple TV freezing after update

The ball is Apple’s court. This is a known bug! They broke our Apple TV’s and with over 500 replies they need to fix this. Many podcasters have been reporting the same issue. So seems like a universal problem. Does any real person from Apple monitor these forums?

They are not forcing you to upgrade. It’s just a low priority right now. Actually the problem started in 7.5 because Google changed something with YouTube that caused this issue to happen, so then Apple actually went and made a fix on the Apple TV side for our model to fix it in 7.6.1. But my assumption is that Google was also at the same time getting some complaints on their end, maybe other devices were affected too, and Google went and reverted their previous change to fix their bug they introduced. Unfortunately what that means is that the fix that Apple did out of support for us users is that their fix to Google’s bug is now broken! Apple already took the time to fix a bug that was not theirs and it is very unfortunate that now their fix is causing the same issue that Google’s bug was producing.

Anyways, long story short:

• Google messed up and broke YouTube on 7.5
• Apple created a workaround to address Google’s bug with 7.6 or 7.6.1 to get YouTube to work again
• Google fixed or reverted their bug for YouTube
• Apple’s workaround for YouTube in 7.6.1 no longer works an now has the bug
• Apple now has to undo their workaround and release another update with the original YouTube 7.5 player code base

As you see this is why it might be taking a long time to fix. Apple released a fix to already fix the problem of Google’s in response to support their customers in good faith. Google got their act together and fixed their bug which now makes Apple’s fix the bug. Unfortunately the bug that we see in 7.6.1 is the same symptom that Apple already thinks it fixed in 7.6.1 and are probably not aware that their fix doesn’t work and just assume that people that are having this problem haven’t updated to version 7.6.1 because the symptoms are identical.

This is also why downgrading to 7.5 now fixes the problem. Originally 7.5 didn’t work, Apple fixed it with a workaround in 7.6.1, Google reverted and fixed their bug, Apple’s workaround is now broken, Apple now has to revert with a 7.7 or 7.6.2 with the 7.5 YouTube code inside.

So no Apple is not out to make our devices useless, in fact they actually tried to do the opposite, it was actually Google’s fault this whole cycle started.

I assume that eventually Apple will fix this issue again, they just need to be made aware that their original fix isn’t working now and is actually now the one causing the problem it tried to fix for us.

It will be important for us all to let Apple know that this is the cause so that it doesn’t get tagged as an issue that they already fixed.

I used to be a program developer, and when dealing with interfaces and APIs between systems, especially when they are between two different companies. A vendor breaks your access to their system and you gotta do a fix on your end because you have no idea how long it will take them to fix it, if they will fix it. The vendor fixes their bug and now your fix becomes the bug and now you got to revert and fix your fix. Finding the time to do that for a product that is not made anymore will have to find a way into their development cycles. Until then we need to let them know and fix their fix with our own fix by downgrading to 7.5.

Got it?

Apple is not out to junk our Apple TV’s, in fact they were doing the opposite. Apple just released iOS 14 and macOS Big Sur and M1 Mac’s, they have their hands full right now. Our time will come… eventually. Reporting will bring this up on the issue stack, nothing else will because they thought they already fixed this.

The same thing is happening to our Apple TV (A1469 7.6 (8130)). Could it be Planned Obsolescence has been rolled out in this category, small though it may be, for the sake of Apple shareholders? Or is it just another ripple in the September of errors which Apple has experienced? So many questions and so few answers. 🙄

This is extremely bad on Apple’s part. I eventually resorted to downgrading to the previous version. This was especially troublesome as I no longer have the original remote so the setup was painful and time consuming. However, despite disabling automatic updates, it has somehow updated itself back to the latest buggy 7.6 (8130) version. Prior to this it would periodically prompt us to upgrade and we had to continually select to update later. I couldn’t find anyway to avoid this prompt. I can only guess that as the default option was to update or enable automatic updates that this has been inadvertently selected whilst the tv was on a different hdmi input. So just a warning to anyone that does downgrade, be wary of it updating itself again.

This kind of behaviour and the fact that Apple refuses to acknowledge the bug or provide a fix, really puts me off buying more apple devices, which is a pity as we have many. I think we will use an alternative manufacturer from now.

YouTube is freezing on my iMac- no Apple TV being used. It doesn't always happen but it happens enough to be a real pain. A video will play for 30 seconds or a minute and then it freezes. In about another minute it plays catchup and quickly scrolls through the video to catch up to the audio. Pain! (Catalina 10.15.7, iMac 2012)

Seem to have a similar issue. Been happening last few weeks. Never had an issue with my Apple TV before. Have 350 Blast service from Xfinity. But lately Youtube has become hard to watch. Blurry or pixelated videos, issues with pausing and then it hangs up.. like random times. One night was so sporadic and blurry that I couldn't read the words in the video. I shut it down in frustration only moments after starting. Thought it was my service. Looks like youtube is the culprit or this 7.6 update (checked - Have 7.6 on A1427 unit). Happened again last night.. fine for like 2 hours.. then started to see some blurs and pixelations.. then paused for bathroom... locked up!

Very Frustrating!

I downgraded to 7.5, YouTube works again, but now Apple TV+ doesn't… it wants me to "upgrade" before I can use it.

Argh.

My workaround until Apple fixes this is to AirPlay Apple TV+ from my iPhone to my Apple TV 3.

(Search TidBITS for instructions and read all the comments for correct links.)

Just bought my Apple TV 3rd Generation from CEX so didn’t pay big money but everything was working great until I tried YouTube and the pausing and freezing then shutting down on its own was happening. When I first turned the device on I had no option than to update it. I thought it was my remote but noticed the white light was flicking when pressing my buttons. Then I went to Google I read the update was causing this issue. Since then I’ve tried screen mirroring my YouTube to my screen with Apple TV, working great and pausing too without problems but it’s not playing a full song it will bring on a advert freeze and then shut down to the main menu. Definitely a YouTube problem and sounds like the update is causing the issues. Think I’m gonna send this one back to CEX and buy a 4th generation one instead, don’t need the 4K one as my TV isn’t 4K so pointless spending the extra money for that!

Apple get it fixed!!!

Apple need to fix this bug! It has been too long already! It gives the (I hope wrong) impression that Apple is doing this to force you to upgrade to a 4th generation Apple TV. I rarely complain about Apple, but this time, its bad!

Sent my Apple 3rd generation, back to CEX and bought a 4th generation and all working no problems now, but it’s still bad what they’ve done. Fix it  these machines are a lot of money to just stop functioning properly.

Hi Andrew,

Thanks for the thorough explanation. I've been an Apple fan forever so these kinds of happenings surprise me hugely. I guess what happened here is just an unfortunate coincidence, and as you mentioned, not a priority for Apple. I feel relieved knowing what actually happened. I'll downgrade to 7.5 as many users have. Thanks again for taking the time!

My perfectly working Apple tv Gen3 gets an update window popping up (you don’t get the option of telling it not to bother you & it’ll keep coming up frequently) & very regrettably I did the update & since then it freezes if you paused while watching YouTube (Doesn’t freeze while an Ad is playing btw) plus I get green pixelation messing up the picture. This doesn’t happen with Amazon prime or Netflix. Very upsetting

I did buddy Through the laptop finder & while it solved the freezing issue it unfortunately caused the device to act up (like leaving the YouTube app & going back to the main screen!! I have posted this just to add the count of the calls to Apple to undo the problem

No, Apple does not and never has monitored these forums. This is a place for fellow users to help each other.

An interim solution has been posted on how to downgrade to a working version of YouTube.

It works. I’ve been downgraded for the past month with no forced upgrades except for the Apple TV+ and in that case I just AirPlay from my iPhone.

Also instructions have been added on how you can report this to Apple via their Feedback page or vis their Feedback app (which is the preferred method as you can track the number of others reporting and its assignment status).

I’ve reported it, the resolution status is “Open” which in developer-speak means that they know about it and will eventually get to it. It does not say “Closed” or “Will not fix”. But there are less than 10 folk that are reporting this issue. So that means that most of these 500 replies have folk that are not reporting. So report it if you haven’t. Submit a good report, a helpful one, not one saying “fix it!” followed by cursing; that will not help. A developer is going to want to see step by step process and situation for being able to see the error. The easier you make it for them to find it the better they will be able to identify the issue and fix it. Especially when it used to work and around when it stopped. (See my aforementioned post as to how this was a fix to Google breaking YouTube on this device.)

Keep in mind that this is a discontinued product, they have just had major releases of iOS, macOS, tvOS and iPadOS and busy fixing bugs revealed in those. Plus the holidays are coming. The chance of a pre-Christmas fix is slim to nil.

Yes, they do know about the issue and I’m sure that they will fix it eventually, but I’m sorry to say that we are near the bottom of the queue! They don’t have developers just sitting around waiting for something like this to happen and fix, nor are they evil and got a maniacal laugh for us suckers that are still using these devices.

Just like you walk into a hospital’s emergency room, they implement a system of triage. First issue in is not the first fixed and, to again reiterate, our devices will have to wait until there is time to attend to our serious, yet not life threatening issue. An Apple TV is not used for any critical, emergency response, or business systems like a Mac computer or iOS device can be, devices that people rely on for their livelihood. It is merely an entertainment device and as such as we all know in these days that ensuring access to entertainment is the least of our priorities right now.

Our devices are on the bottom of the queue and we will just deal with it and nurse it as best as we can until Apple can turn their attention our way. Yes we need to remind them with helpful reports, but yelling and screaming won’t get us any further up the line and in fact might push us further down the pack.

Get a new device, or if you can’t,

report it and Deal With It…

Wait until Apple can get the time.

No, it did not fix it. The green pixelation issue remains after the update.

Here is my experience this year:

Version 7.5: no green pixelation issue, but some rare videos instantly reboot the device.

Upgrade to version 7.6: introduced the YouTube crash on pause.

Revert to version 7.5: fixed the YouTube crash, but noticed the green pixelation issue. No more rare videos crashing though.

Second Update to version 7.6: YouTube crash i back and the green pixelation issue is back.

Second revert to version 7.5: YouTube crash is gone, but the green pixelation issue remains.

Final Upgrade to version 7.6.2: YouTube pause crash is fixed, but the pixelation issue remains and some rare videos instantly reboot the device.

So, overall we are not even back to where we were before this whole madness started!