Cannot clear “Update tvOS to join your Home” message

I had this for a while, finally got fed up with it and found a fix for mine. Hopefully it will work for anyone else experiencing the problem. It's been a few days and the error has not returned.

My AppleTV is a model A1842 (64GB), upgraded to tvOS 17.0. After noticing the error message in version 16.5 I installed the new tvOS 17 upgrade but it didn't affect the issue. I checked the "AirPlay and HomeKit" panel and noticed it was constantly searching iCloud for a 'Room' under HOMEKIT. After checking my iPhone and Apple computers, I could not make a change to HomeKit that would recognize the AppleTV.

I decided to perform a factory reset, I first confirmed I had the passwords for the apps downloaded from the tvOS App Store and took the plunge. Resetting is pretty straightforward, on the AppleTV it was Settings>System>Reset>Reset. Resetting the device took about 5 minutes, I was presented the 'Hello' screen and started going through the setup by using my iPhone to answer the initial setup questions (AppleID account, WiFi, etc.). The only issue I had was when it asked for my TV provider. I use Hulu and the setup was not happy with my credentials because I do not subscribe to Hulu's Live TV service. I backed out and selected "Not now". After that the system dutifully showed me the default apps that come with a new AppleTV.

I logged into the tvOS App Store and downloaded Hulu. Going through the Hulu app allowed me to properly provide my login and password credentials. After I performed the first app download, tvOS continued by downloaded all of the other unique apps I had on the device prior to resetting. Each app that had a password associated with it required re-authentication but, so far, it was just a simple matter of providing the proper password from my iPhone.

This also fixed the issue where my M1 MacBook Pro could not access the AppleTV as a second or mirrored display. Connecting to the AppleTV is now done through the Display System Preferences and SideBar panel, prior to resetting trying to connect to the AppleTV would simply fail with no error. It's not as convenient as the menu bar widget but I'll adapt.

Thanks, this was the solution for me as well. I think the Apple TV got into a “stuck” state with the rooms that can be found in the Apple Home app after I tried to add and change some room assignments. Reset and setup of the unit fixed it.

I'm on the same boat. Also, ever since I have that message in my settings the AppleTV disconnected from my Home and now I can't add it again.

Thanks. This worked for me.