AppleTV tvOS 17.4 (21L227) major issues loading content

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8 points

AppleTV tvOS 17.4 (21L227) major issues loading content

After the 17.4 update I have noticed that there are more frequent issues loading content in AppleTV+ as well as in the Youtube and Netflix apps on AppleTV.

If I play a movie through without using "skip intro" or any fast forward/backward it will generally run, but use any such functions and it will often throw the spinning wait icon forever. I then usually have to exit the movie entierely, double click and swipe up to end all apps and/or system restart and it will work again.

Netflix app will sometimes throw an error code when not being able to load content 2003329396 or spinning icon.

AppleTV+ just "problem loading content" check your internet...

Youtube app will show spinning icon much more frequently. Additionally after the very latest 17.4 update starting commercials will often just hang, not play, wait icon spinning and duration info for commercial being frozen in time at 40 sec, 30 sec or whatever the length of the commercial. Starting a video repeatedly the various advertisers will cycle through with different advertisments but all stuck at start. Until finally it may skip the advertisment. May of course be a Youtube problem as well, but never experience this on my PC/Chrome based play. IMO if advertisements seize up and prevent you from viewing the content it is double bad both for the advertiser and content creator on Youtube.

In sum AppleTV OS 17.4 seems much more unstable and prone to hang. I use 4K HDR 50Hz and degrading to 1080p improves it a bit but does not solve it. Wifi strenght should be ample with 5 out of 5 Wifi signal strenght

Apple TV 4K, tvOS 16

Posted on Apr 3, 2024 11:39 PM

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Answer 1

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runejw Author

Level 1

8 points

Apr 22, 2024 2:40 PM in response to runejw

Another observation is that the issues with freezing/stopping to load content seems to affect all apps on AppleTV

I do think this is a programming error in Apple TVOS 17.4 (21L227)

Had no issues with AppleTV until the last few iterations of TVOS 17.x where pause/play FFWD FBKWD etc started messing up.

Playing the same apps on other units works, so the conclusion is that it is TVOS 17.4 (21L227) that is seriously FUBAR.

Very annoying as I am also subscribing to Apple TV+ and the problems are the same there.

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Answer 2

Owenkl

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12 points

May 11, 2024 7:59 AM in response to runejw

Just bumping this thread have also noticed the same issue. It’s near constant, can’t watch a film without resetting. It’s the worst update I’ve seen for some time. (Also created a problem on my phone with CIV 6 but that’s resolved now) an update is required asap to resolve

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Answer 3

runejw Author

Level 1

8 points

Apr 11, 2024 1:33 PM in response to runejw

As Netflix continues to show error 2003329396 after I just do some fast forward I found my LG TV remote and tried running the Netflix app that is available directly on this smart TV (from 2017) and absolutely no issues. Could skip forward and backwards in the movie without any problem loading content.

So that should eliminate internet/bandwidth issues.

I really do not know what the AppleTV developers are doing with each TVOS version becoming less reliable and failing for what used to be basic backwards/forwards skipping in the movie...

Will try to submit a support questions.

*Edit* Think I was able to submit a problem, but it was like they have asked ChatGPT to design the most convoluted way to report actual issues that are not in the self-help/user manual section. Sigh...

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Answer 4

Odd-Jobs

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4 points

Apr 28, 2024 9:11 AM in response to runejw

I have been having the same issue but primarily with Youtube TV. Once it does a “buffer freeze” the only solution is to restart the ATV box. Tried reloading the App. No help. Moved from Ethernet to WiFi. No help. This started with the update before last. No issues with our iPhones, iPads, Roku devices, or even the otherwise crappy LG OS. Might have to wait for the soon to be released gen 4 box and if that doesn’t solve it, will return it and move to Roku Ultra.

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Answer 5

runejw Author

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8 points

May 8, 2024 9:15 AM in response to runejw

Problems are persistent. Since last time also configured AppleTV for SDR instead of HDR but did not help.

Watching "Sugar" latest episode there is pre-roll commercial for "Dark Matters" and if I skip that then again the same issue with "Unable to load content" have to restart the Apple TV+ app to progress. Same with any pausing.

Really disappointed with Alpple. Will end my subscription for AppleTV+ if this issue continues.

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Answer 6

Lazymogs

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8 points

May 21, 2024 3:27 AM in response to runejw

I have a feeling this is to do with how Dolby Atmos is

negotiated with your TV/receiver, it’s very repeatable for me if I pause a

program with Atmos content, let the screen saver kick in (2 mins for me) &

try to resume the program I’m watching, I can almost guarantee I’ll get the 2003329396

error - usually whilst watching Netflix content as most of our viewing is via this

platform.

I’ve temporarily altered Immersive Audo/Dolby Atmos to ‘off’ & the problem

has not repeated itself as yet, of course this is just a workaround & I’d like

to be able to have my Atmos back again once Apple fix this.

It’s still an issue in TvOS 17.5 by the way😒

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Answer 7

Odd-Jobs

Level 1

4 points

May 21, 2024 3:55 AM in response to runejw

My buffering issues went away when I reset my ATV. Unfortunately this meant I had to reload all the apps. My ATMOS sync issues went away when I connected my ATV to my receiver rather than the TV which had been passing the audio back via the HDMI/ARC connection.

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Answer 8

runejw Author

Level 1

8 points

May 22, 2024 6:20 AM in response to runejw

Just a short test now after updating with tvOS 17.5.1 (21L580) and looks to have solved the issues

But will do a longer test later... Sunny, warm weather not conductive to a lot of TV watching now :)

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Answer 9

Lazymogs

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8 points

May 28, 2024 12:48 PM in response to Lazymogs

My temporary workaround resolved the issues for a few days but now it's back 😒

Whilst experimenting the other night to see if I could fix this without having to factory reset it & starting from scratch again I noticed that turning off match frame rate & content & turning immersive audio back on again seemed to also stop the issue happening but I do like match frame rate & content to be on despite the TV having to switch it's video mode to that of ATV

neither tvOS 17.5 or 17.5.1 has resoved this for me

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Answer 10

runejw Author

Level 1

8 points

May 28, 2024 2:00 PM in response to runejw

Just purchased a movie in the AppleTV shop. Got a phone while movie was playing, so needed to stop and rewind a little after the call. Same issue "Could not load content" - so definitely still problems.

Definitely an example of software regression: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_regression

"A software regression is a type of software bug where a feature that has worked before stops working. This may happen after changes are applied to the software's source code, including the addition of new features and bug fixes."

In this instance I believe code has been added to the source code to change the behaviour of fast forward/baclward or skip to prepare for a later phase or alternative advertisement-flunded version where skipping past commercials is not allowed. This complicates the basic functionaliyt into something with a lot of lines of code and all new code has bugs - especially if quality control is lacking.

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Answer 11

runejw Author

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8 points

Jun 27, 2024 11:18 AM in response to runejw

Still issues after all this time and latest version Apple TV OS 21L580

Presumed Innocent - FFWD a little and "unable to load content"

Dark Matter series - skip pre-roll advertisments for other series/films (I never want that) and skip intor - wham bang same issue !

System restart fixes it for a little while.

Guess Apple is no longer able to attract the best heads in programming...

Will probably end my subscription as I currently feel like paying for more than I get and it is very frustrating that there is no actual way to report problems to Apple developers.

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Answer 12

Lazymogs

Level 1

8 points

Jun 27, 2024 11:18 PM in response to runejw

Reading from others I believe the ultimate fix is to factory reset your Apple TV & start again, however I have a temporary fix which has been 100% effective for me & that is to force the audio to 5.1 in settings, this does mean that I've lost immersive audio such as Dolby Atmos but until I can find some time to reset my Apple TV & start over I can live with this.

or...I'm hoping that Apple can resolve it with a bugfix in a later tvOS version without me needing to reset my ATV 🤞

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Answer 13

Lazymogs

Level 1

8 points

Aug 6, 2024 12:07 PM in response to Trojanpirate

very much still an easily repeatable bug for me & was hoping that 17.6 might have fixed this issue, sadly not.

I'd rather not factory reset my ATV & start again but it's looking increasing like that's what I'm going to have to do to (hopefully) resolve it

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Answer 14

runejw Author

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8 points

May 28, 2024 2:32 AM in response to runejw

Still some issues with loading content in AppleTV+ subscription but frequency of issues are lower in 17.5

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Answer 15

Aug 5, 2024 6:28 PM in response to runejw

Latest update 17.6 problem still not fixed, what is apple doing this problem has persisted for months.

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