Error 'iCloud isn't set up for this Apple ID' when trying to access iCloud photos on Apple TV model: A1469.

I had the same problem and found a work around. On your Apple TV (mine is Model A1469) go to Screen Saver - Photos - Choose Photos. Under that will be options, mine show National Geographic, Animals, etc. At the bottom is Computers, under which is (Your name's) Library. When I initially chose this it told me to open Itunes on my laptop, go to File - Home Sharing - Choose Photos to share with Apple TV. There I got options to choose from my laptop or iCloud, I chose what I wanted and now it works perfect.

If we are getting this issue: Settings > iCloud on their 3rd Generation Apple TV, using Apple TV Software version 7.9. They are receiving an error stating "iCloud isn’t set up for this Apple ID account For more information, go to iCloud - Official Apple Support".

Apple TV 3rd Generation no ***ger meets the minimum requirements to support iCloud features and signing in may not be possible

Meaning, if we users, who are using an older Apple TV 1st, 2nd, or 3rd gen (I am using a third gen) which can only update to tvOS 7.9 (current one), we can no longer use iCloud Photos on these devices or sometimes, even sign in with your Apple ID

tvOS 17 on my newer Apple TV 4K lets me use iCloud Photos

Which means, we gotta buy a newer Apple TV to enjoy iCloud and it's benefits

Surely Apple has a compatibility statement publicly available online (rather than pointing users towards a support phone call)..

System requirements for iCloud – Apple Support (UK)

Here is the minimum spec required for an Apple TV to run

iCloud Shared Photo Library

iCloud Shared Photo Library is available on iPhone, iPad, Mac, PC and Apple TV.

• iOS 16.1 and iPadOS 16.1
• macOS Ventura 13 
• Windows 10 with iCloud for Windows 14
• tvOS 16

I receive the same error stating that ICloud isn’t set up for my Apple ID when trying to login on my Apple TV and I suspect that’s because I am running an older Apple TV SW version that what is listed above as the minimum requirement…

I was repeatedly getting this error message for iCloud sign in even tho iTunes Store sign in worked. It took me all night but I finally figured out that I didn’t have “Home Sharing” turned on from my System Settings on my Macbook.

I went to General -> Sharing and switched on Media Sharing — but I had to click the information icon next to it to find out that, even though media sharing was now switched on, Home Sharing was not. That specific popup allowed me to turn on Home Sharing and that exact moment my Apple TV just… logged me in. Suddenly my music and photos showed up on the screen.

Perplexing to me that Apple would make the Home Sharing switch, a setting that’s integral to using their products, so hidden and so hard to find.

Hope this helps! ❤️

I've also been getting this 'iCloud isn't set up for this Apple ID' message with Apple TV model A1469 when I try to sign into iCloud on it.

In my case, I wanted to just use the device to AirPlay from my iPhones and MacBook Pro, but it would not appear on my list of available devices.

I was able to log into the App Store, but still not able to AirPlay.

When I checked in Settings > General > About at the bottom it read "Activation: Failed".

I used an older MacBook Pro (late 2013) with Apple Configurator 2 to resolve my issue.

I connected the Apple TV (plugged into power, but not HDMI) to the MBP using a micro USB cable, opened Apple Configurator 2, and it recognized the device. I clicked on the Apple TV and then on the left side of the screen I clicked "Apps". Then I followed the instructions onscreen to activate the Apple TV. Once I did that I unplugged the micro USB cable from and plugged an HDMI cable connected to my TV into the Apple TV.

It worked.

I wanted to see what would happen if I did a factory reset and it failed activation again, so I just repeated the above steps and it worked again. My iPhones and MacBook Pro can see the Apple TV and AirPlay to it.

So if anyone just wants to use this model of Apple TV for AirPlay, you might be able to at least get that working again.

HTH.

Please contact Apple Support for their compatibility statement for the combination of iCloud services (Photos) and your model Apple TV. Recent changes to iCloud may have affected compatibility for some services with legacy models.

There have been a few changes to iCloud that may affect this.

1. My Photo Stream has been discontinued for all users.
2. Advanced Data Protection for iCloud as an account property may invalidate some iCloud services on devices with older software. ADP could have been activated through another Apple device (e.g. iPhone) when updating that (v16.2 or later). It is possible to deactivate ADP if needed.

its called a 'decorated password' if you have older software that is not inept to two factor prompts- you must sign in with the user name- enter the password (do not press sign in/submit) -generate the code from settings- name- sign in and security- two factor- get verification code. and apply that directly after your password. this is how two factor is used on older software for sign in.

I spent one day trying to solve this exact issue today. Telephone support with Apple included, which offered no help, they said it's impossible to log in with Apple TV 3rd gen, nothing to do. I was ready to throw the device in the garbage.

What finally worked was downloading Configurator for Apple, connecting my Mac with the Apple TV through the micro USB port with a cable, choosing the connected device, "profiles" : "activate". Magically it started to work again. Copying an image provided by another user which helped me solve the issue.

anabelle2025 wrote:

Need to set up iCloud apple tv remote

Please specify the model of your Apple TV box.

As stated in other replies in this thread, iCloud services are no longer available on the legacy models.

Identify your Apple TV model - Apple Support

Find your Apple TV model number - Apple Support

As on 25th of October, icloud is not working (This device is not configured for iCloud error)

Indeed, as described in previous posts, this happened at the end of 2023.

Also Netflix is not available anymore.

Indeed, as Netflix announced in June or July, to be effective per August 1.

and airplay vanished.

That should still work, for services that support this model (some may require an AirPlay 2-compatible receiving device). Verify that the device doesn’t say “Activation: Failed” in Settings>General>About>

What's going on? I haven't used my apple TV for months, and now all these issues.

Content providers changed their device support, iCloud has changed when some legacy system software didn’t change with it, the activation status may have changed from reset or different account perhaps.

Speculation: Apple has just discontinued "My Photo Stream." They have not discontinued shared albums for users not using iCloud Photos. They have not accounted for that on (at least legacy) Apple TV devices. I too was using a shared album to display photos on my older Apple TV, and I don't use iCloud Photos. Now I can't get this shared album on my Apple TV because of this "able to sign in, iCloud isn’t set up for this Apple ID" garbage. Apple would need to update the OS on the legacy machine to deal with this. I'm not holding my breath... though Apple has done updates for machinery that's no longer supported in the past (case in point, adding AirPlay 2 to the second-gen Airport Express).

I have the same issue with an Apple TV A1427, so I called Apple Support. The analyst plugged the device serial number into her system and said something like, "Aha! This is a known issue - and we are working on a fix."

As a natural cynic, I asked, "That's great! How long has Apple been working on this?" That information was not forthcoming, but she said it was being actively worked on and should be fixed within a few weeks. She was unable to say if the fix would be rolled out via firmware updates or changes on their side.

So I plan to periodically check for a firmware update and attempt to login.

Wish me luck...

That could happen to me as well. I use one Apple ID for my iCloud. I use a different Apple ID for my purchases. I cannot use iCloud photos for my store ID because I have never set up iCloud for that account.

Same issue here w/ AppleTV 3 (A1469). I also tried a full restore which did download an “update”, but the error remains. Given that a code is sent to my other devices when connecting to iCloud, the issue is likely on the iCloud authentication backend and shouldn’t be difficult for Apple to address.