What is the fix to a PS4 controller connecting to Apple TV (14.6) but does not work.

Thank you buzzart!

This was driving me mad. I bought a third party ps4 wireless controller to use with the Apple TV as I had a trial of the Arcade after purchasing an iPad. I have an Apple TV 4 which is up to date with tvos 15.1

First I tried with a borrowed genuine ps4 dual shock controller and all seemed ok but didn’t use it for long.

I then purchased a cheap Powerextra Ps4 controller which connected fine but after 10-30secs would lose connection. I sent it back for a replacement but that was the same. Then I found this post which solved the problem.

This works for me…

1. with the apple remote connected, pair the controller.
2. turn off the apple remote (tv and volume down for a few secs)
3. press the ps button on controller to turn on the controller and it works!
4. when finished playing I just turn the apple remote back on with any button and the controller just disconnects. No need to re-pair anything, just have one connected at a time.
5. I tried connecting two ps4 controllers at the same time and the same thing happens, one drops out. Not sure if it’s possible to have more than one connected?

In conclusion, there’s obviously a clash between the ps4 controller and apple remote, maybe it’s because I’m using a third party controller (which was half the price of an original), but maybe it’s a bug for apple to look at. At least I can use the controller to play games, just not as seamless as you expect from apple.

Hope this helps others.

I am experiencing the same problem to get the Dualshock 4 to work properly. Although this controller gets connected easily, it stops working as long as the Siri Remote is connected to the AppleTV. Both of these controllers cannot be connected at the same time. Since there is no way to unpair the Siri Remote, to disconnect it will cause it to reconnect back automatically as long as the Siri Remote is in range. Even disconnecting it and shutting out the power of the appletv doesn’t solve this issue. As soon as you turn on appletv, it reconnects back to the Siri Remote when it is in range. The only solution is to have the Dualshock controller stays connected, disconnect Siri Remote and move the Siri Remote out of range from the appletv before it reconnects back. Unfortunately, the distance you need to have is pretty far apart. This problem can only be fixed with a software update or if Apple ever provide a way to allow users to unpair the Siri Remote.

Yep, can confirm that this is the case. I have a Apple TV 4K and a new 2021 Apple TV remote paired with it. When connecting my PS4 controller, it'll break the remote. Turning off the PS4 controller fixed the remote. So as Chuck_3rd mentioned, just power off the apple tv remote and use it the PS4 controller, and once done with the game, turn off the PS4 controller (press and hold the centre PS button for 10 seconds till the light turns off) and press any button on the apple tv remote so that it re-connects to the apple tv.

Annoying. Also have to delete and re-pair the ps4 controller if I want to use it again. Definitely a software bug.

I have the same issue - new 2021 Apple TV - and have tried with 4 different PS4 controllers and had the same proplem. They work perfectly well on my older Apple TV HD. The issue is 100% with the recently released Apple TV, not the controllers, not the battery levels.

Thanks for posting to the Apple Support Communities buzzart,

We understand you're having trouble maintaining a connection between your Playstation 4 controller, and Apple TV after they've been successfully paired.

Testing the controller with an iPhone was a good step to narrow things down. To isolate the issue a bit further, do you have access to a different Playstation 4 controller you can try pairing to the Apple TV?

The "If your controller doesn't connect or work as expected" section of the following page also provides steps hat may be helpful: Pair a PlayStation controller to your Apple device

Cheers!

Thanks for keeping the thread up to speed buzzart,

We wouldn't want you to purchase another for testing, but if you can borrow the use of one, let us know the result.

We'd also recommend reaching out to the manufacturer. They'll be the most familiar with potential different versions of variations of the controller, and may be able to offer additional assistance.

Take care!

I’ve tried it with 2 new PlayStation controllers and they keep “dropping out”. This is very disappointing and frustrating as I have to continually re-pair the controllers. Simply not good enough from Apple TV! My Apple TV is brand new and so are my ps4 controllers.

I’ve tried it with 2 new PlayStation controllers and they keep “dropping out”. This is very disappointing and frustrating as I have to continually re-pair the controllers. Simply not good enough from Apple TV! My Apple TV is brand new and so are my ps4 controllers.

I presume you are referring to the beta version of 15.1 - because version 15.0 of tvOS definitely didn’t fix this! I wonder if any of the apple engineers even play any of the games using a dualshock 4 when they develop the support for this? This is such a shockingly bad way of supporting something they claim it works.

Hi I’ve a similar issue so posting here to keep updated on any fixes.

have three ps4 controllers and have been using on older Apple TV with some issues, not disconnecting but sometimes remote doesn’t work properly eg up Direction seems to get stuck so you can’t select anything or remote or controller stop working in games.

bought the 2021 4K version thinking new hardware would fix but it’s worse!! Now when a controller connects the remote barely works and the controller doesn’t at all. Will send back if there’s not a fix soon

Same here without apple tv 4k A1842 and tvos 15.1.1 19J581 still have the issue. Turning off the remote does not work.

Was trying to connect ps4 dualshock 4 for playing with steam remote play. Tried 2 ps4 controllers.

Please apple guys feel free to ask anything you need to fix it. It has been around for too long now...

I have the same problem, except your solution doesn’t work. I feel it may be because I don’t have battery on my controller, except I have had it on charge for hours. It could be that my controller is old, but I’m not really sure.

Same issue here. New ATV -21. Worked great even with 4 PS4 controllers in the beginning. Now not even with one of them with the rest unpaired. Please Apple!! Help!! Also tried disconnecting remote. Not the solution for me.

same situation here.

-I tried with all the other devices, that have a Bluetooth connection, turned off.

-I unpaired the dualshock to all the other devices (mac min and an Ipad pro)

-turned off the Apple remote

—>nothing worked.