Apple TV (2nd Gen) screensaver photo shuffle

I loved the way the photos were displayed on the Gen 1 device. Apple really need to release an update so we can continue to have this functionality.

Otherwise another step back in what is becoming a disappointing Gen 2 device.....

I too have the same issue. I spoke to AppleCare and got elevated to 2nd tier support to discuss this issue. They had me test a bunch of different albums to display, including both smart albums and regular albums. No matter the album, the issue persisted. They elevated it to engineering and are to come back to me with their thoughts at some point this week. I will plan to post any solutions they provide then.

You're not missing something. I just received my Gen 2 ATV and am having the same issue with the screen saver "Floating" option. I've fought with it for the past three days and even put all of my photos into one Event in iPhoto upon a recommendation from Apple tech support to no avail. It keeps reverting to the oldest photos in the library and cycles them just as you said. I've tried every option that I can think of, even going into the Photo slide show setting to see if that has an effect. I've concluded that it doesn't exist. It was a breeze in the first generation ATV and I can't believe it doesn't work in this version. It's a disappointment and I hope there is a fix forthcoming.

Same problem here. This is a MAJOR step back in function from ATV 1. The random display of photos on my living room plasma from my 15,000 odd photo library was close to the best feature of ATV 1, for me at least. If this isn't fixed pronto, ATV 2 will be a "don't recommend" to anyone I speak to. I'm hoping it will be fixed soon with an update, but if not it's off to eBay for my ATV 2 and back to my trusty ATV 1.

And while I'm at it, why the **** won't Steve let us attach a hard drive? It's not going to cost him a cent and is a much better solution than streaming if you don't have brilliant WiFi coverage or don't like leaving a desktop computer running 24/7 as a streaming source - heard of global warming Steve?

Does anyone think maybe the problem is that since the new Apple TV only has a small amount of RAM and no hard drive to store them on it's only loading a certain number of photos and then randomizing those?

Noticed the issue too. Have about 9k photos and it's showing the really old slide scans. Most of those are 4k dps tiff too so they maybe chewing up a lot of space.

I'm seeing this as well. I have 40,000+ photos and the screen saver seems to only load a few albums. Mine aren't chosen by date though, it seems to pick from the folders at the top of the long list.

The Apple TV has 8GB NAND onboard, so you'd think that Apple could use a bit of that to maybe cache a filelist and maybe some metadata to improve the shuffle of the screensaver.

I'm also disappointed that iTunes must be open on the computer to use my photos for the slideshow. I understand that they're moving to a streaming model, but it would be cool to be able to use some of that 8GB of NAND to store a few albums to be used for the screensaver if my iTunes computer is off.

It's a real problem and while I can understand Steve wants to keep ATV 2 cheap, hence no Hard Drive built in, why the @#$!!!@* can't he allow the USB port to attach a hard drive of our choice? Multiple issues with the device as it now stands would be solved for those of us who don't want to, or can't always stream. Not only wouldn't it cost him a single sale, it would make the device a much more attractive proposition for many people.

As Apple probably doesn't read these forums I suggest we all submit bug reports to let Apple know formally that we want this problem with randomly streamed photos fixed.

Apple wants us all to "trust in the cloud". Like you said, wouldn't hurt if they made it possible to add our own USB HD.

I also noticed the second time my screen saver came on that the photos were in the same order. Wasn't even watching for it. It was that obvious.

Also I want control over the shuffle of audio content. It shuffles on songs, I'd like albums. I don't see any control over that either, it's just shuffle or not shuffled.

Bought my Mom an ATV2 last night and set it up for her. I used my MobileMe gallery album for the screen saver, and hers too randomized the photos every time the screen saver came on. I even tried the new screen savers - Reflections, Ken Burns, etc. - and they randomized every time as well.

I'm using photos from my Aperture library, not from the web. It's good to know that it works properly with MobileMe, but I'd like it to work with other sources as well.

Add me to the "I want shuffle back on the floating screensver" list. It was one of my favorite features of the original ATV.

Here's hoping they'll add it back in a future software update.

This has been bothering me for a few days, glad to see I'm in good company. The screen saver in ATV G1 helped convince my in-laws to go Mac tins summer, it's a great solution for seeing all those digital pictures you never get around to printing. ATV G2 was going to be under a few trees, until I noticed this problem. Here's hoping an update fixes this soon!

This is such a disappointing omission. The random screensaver photos from my collection of 20,000-plus was THE best feature of ATV1 in my view. Let's hope Apple puts it right very soon!

If I select a specific folder within my photo library, it plays them randomly, with new pictures starting each time. If I select the ENTIRE photo library, it randomly picks photos from the the folder it starts out with, so it can take quite a while to get to a different group of photos. Probably the best way to do it is select the best pictures you would really want to have on the screensaver and put them in a folder. It would take some time and perhaps eat up some extra hard drive, but it would have the advantage of not showing EVERY picture.

Add me to the list of individuals experiencing the issue of limited pictures being displayed in the screensaver. I have a large library of photos hosted in iPhoto and the screensaver favors some older scans and never shows my newer, digital photos. As others have said, this was one of the best features of tv1. I am glad someone was able to get this escalated to Apple Engineers and look forward to a quick fix.

Have others noticed the limited presentation of movie posters when setting on Computer / Movies menu selection? Similar to the screensaver issue. Only a limited set of movie posters show in the rotation.