Cannot Log in to YouTube or Search

I have Apple TVs 1&2 both of which accessed YouTube fine until yesterday, both now give the same message about not able to connect. Everything else works fine, so it's obviously an outside source that has caused it or something funny has happened to both boxes at once. I never used a password and never had a problem so why the focus now on passwords. My IPad works fine accessing YouTube without a password. I hope this can be sorted out quickly.

This is it ! :-)

Great thanks !

I have discovered the combination that worked with my ATV (gen 2) is the Youtube Username (without the email appendix as suggested above) with the custom Google password I generated for my iPhone and iPad to connect google services to devices that CAN'T do 2-step authentication.

It's a randomly generated password that Google has you set up if you are using gmail and Youtube on an iPhone or iPad. Users may have set that up for their iPhone or iPad but are still trying to use their PC standard password on the Apple TV. The standard password will fail every time.

This "create a channel" solution does the trick! Thanks!

This helped me so much, thanks for the info!

This was helpful. However I found that I could sign in with a me.com account as well. The main thing I never created was a username. I thought originally my username was my email address. But the problem was that I didn't have a username. Once I created one I had no problem. This also solved the login error I kept getting on the YouTube app.

None of the sugestions in this and other threads worked for me, and I have had and used a user name for years...it no longer is the way to sign in. My regular google password did not work either. Suddenly google on my new phone wasn't working either. When I went to sign into google today, it asked me to set up a sub password for gadgets that don't work off of a browser. So I did that. I went back to my phone, and this password worked. So I went to the apple tv, and tried the password with my user name...and it did not work. So I tried it with my gmail sign in address...and it worked! I have an earlier Apple TV. My only problem is that when I now click on history, my ownly option is to delete my old history from my user name. It now shows my account as being my gmail address, not my user name. However, this version on my Apple TV is now more in sync with the one I use on my PC.

Actually you have to activate the 2step verification under settings. This allows you to set up access for each device.

Login to YouTube

Click on your user name in the upper right corner

Click accounts

Click on security (left side)

For 2step verification, you want to turn this on

From there follow directions and they will generate codes for each device.

Go back to your apple device and use your gmail login and the new code. This is a one time code so you don't have to remember it.

Yeah, I found that suggestion on a forum too, but it didn't work for me.

If you have set up your YouTube account to have the 2 step verification process, then you need to register this new devise in and the put in the password it generates into your AppleTV. Took me a while to figure it out! But I am logged in now!!! :-)

I used a second Gmail email account on Apple TV in the past fine. But I used a second account. I realized, I wanted all my YouTube to happen on my main Gmail account. So I signed out on Apple TV and signed in with my other active gmail account. But after entering the correct password, it said it was wrong.

So I went to gmail and youtube on my iMac and, it worked fine. But I changed the password just in case (resetting it). Again, Apple TV said it was wrong.

After repeating the password over and over with that horrible hand cramping little aluminum remote, I came to this posting. Created a channel with a new name (instead of the gmail address) which, is a total pain the rear and not at all easy to figure out or do.

Then I entered the new channel name instead of my email plus the password I had tried before and it logged me right in.

So this is a FLAW in Apple TV!

Having trouble logging in to YouTube? Create a channel (user name) and log in with that.

Ironically, I used to have a YouTube user name but when Gmail bought it, I lost it. Now, of course, no sane sounding user names are left.

I have struggled for almost whole day. Had Apple Support on the phone for more than a hour. The rep said they had never heard anything about this issue!!!

THIS IS HOW APPLE "LISTENS" TO ITS CUSTOMERS. I DOUBT IFTHEY EVER READ THE USERS FEEDBACK HERE!

Well, after a lot of research, I made it to work. Two keys:

1. You need to log in to YouTube and create at least one channel because this is where Apple TV stores your stuff there.

2. In your gmail account, turn one the 2-step verification. Gerenate a new application-specific password for Apple TV. This password is 16 characters long with no speces in between, although Gmail displays it in 4-letters per segment on the screen and speparates them with spaces.

Then log in YouTube on Apple TV with your gamil address and this password (not your gamil password).

Hope this would safe Apple TV buyers some time configuing their YouTube accounts.

Good luck!

Wow..! after several DAYS of struggule I'm finally in thanks to Toby Oreo.... I created the channel but then I had to go back and use my gmail address a not the channel name I just created and generate the pass word. Still dosen't make sense....

Tried all of the various methods to allow me to view saved YouTube playlists on my Apple TV. I can login to YouTube no problem, have set up a channel, tried the two factor authentication. All I get is a message "This account cannot be used with Apple TV. Try again using a different account."

Hopefully someone else has had the same problems and found another way to fix this.

I'm not that impressed with the Apple TV. YouTube keeps buffering (its ok on IOS and OSX devices) - there are various threads about this problem.

This ATV could be heading for ebay at this rate.

Jim

Toby Oreo's recipe finally helped me. As pointed out, there are a couple of keys.

1) a Youtube channel must exist

2) two-step verification must be turned on in your gmail account and a new application specific password generated

when logging in Youtube on Apple TV, use the gmail address (not the channel name) and that application specific password.

I confirm that this recipe works on Gen3 (Model A1469).

thanks Toby!