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Why did Apple TV forget the Alphabet?

Since updating to iTunes 10.6, Apple TV 2 has developed a new and seriously crappy little quirk.


When I go to my TV shows on Home Sharing, they're no longer in alphabetical order. That's 115 different shows split up into who-knows-how-many seasons -- and they're no longer in alphabetical order. Different seasons of the same show are often split far apart around the list.


This is true on the one Apple TV 2 that I upgraded to the new software, and it's also true on the Apple TV 2 that still has the old software.


It's unacceptable.


Help!

Mac Pro (Nehalem), Mac OS X (10.5.7)

Posted on Mar 8, 2012 9:55 AM

Reply
21 replies

Mar 8, 2012 11:31 AM in response to VodkaPundit

It certainly seems to be sorting by date added (although at least one person disagrees with me on that).


I'm sure Apple will fix it but that could take a few weeks.


In the meantime, you could go back to he old version of iTunes. Either restore from Time Machine, or check out one of he other threads here where you should find details about how to revert back to the previous iTunes.


Another solution, if you aren't fussed about play tags (ie whether watched or not) is to delete the shows from iTunes (make sure you don't delete the files), then re-add them. This will put them back in the order added which will be near enough to alphabetical. Any new shows you add subsequently will go to the bottom, but hopefully a fix will come along soon which so that should just be temporary.

Mar 8, 2012 12:21 PM in response to KeithJenner

Appreciate the options Keith and whilst I agree these are all viable, something as simple as TV sorting should work in a release version of firmware. This isn't a developer preview (I'm not even sure if it ever was!).


As for new shows being placed at the bottom, surely they would be best at the top! That's my view anyway but maybe others prefer them this way.


I've seen great things from Apple and will most likely continue to buy their hardware even with silly little bugs like this. I agree that Apple will fix this shortly but would have preferred this to have been tested fully before release.

Mar 8, 2012 12:24 PM in response to Simon Wellings

Simon Wellings wrote:


As for new shows being placed at the bottom, surely they would be best at the top! That's my view anyway but maybe others prefer them this way.

That would suggest that this was deliberate. It think that the fact the sort field is "by show" would clearly suggest that this is a bug. It's nothing to do with what people would prefer.


Agree totally about the fact that this shouldn't happen. However it has, and we have to work with it until they fix it.

Mar 8, 2012 5:01 PM in response to VodkaPundit

I too am having the same issue. I just got off of the phone with apple support and was told that I am the 1st person to call and complain about this problem. Tech couldnt fix the problem, but he did take a trouble report and said that he would report my complaint to the next level. UGH. Maybe if more people take the few minutes to call Apple Support and complain, we could get this fixed more quickly???

Mar 9, 2012 6:16 PM in response to KeithJenner

KeithJenner wrote:


In the meantime, you could go back to he old version of iTunes. Either restore from Time Machine, or check out one of he other threads here where you should find details about how to revert back to the previous iTunes.

There is an easier way.... use playlists (or Smart Playlists).


For example I create a Playlist Folder, then populate it with the individual seasons for a TV Show. Like This:


The X-Files

Season 1

Season 2

Season 3

ETC.


This has the advantage of putting my TV Shows back in Alphabetical order, puts the Seasons in the correct order, and plays the episodes one right after that other with no input from me. Just be sure and set Show Playlists to ALL in Settings > Audio & Video.

Mar 9, 2012 8:03 PM in response to Michael Allbritton

Not realistic...this is a bug that was in an early versions of the atv2, and its come back again. I'm stunned that the regression test didn't catch a known bug ( or frankly that they would have made a change that removed the code). The atv ui developers missed a big one. Until, this is fixed, unless you revert (which im planning on doing) it's useless for watching tv shows.


I was going to upgrade to the new version, but now there isn't any point....can't take that version the firmware that works.

Mar 10, 2012 12:00 AM in response to buzzprostar

buzzprostar wrote:


I completely understand that people are coming up with solutions to resolve this by creating playlists, but the bottom line is that we shelled out 100 bucks for this thing to work! It worked fine before I updated, so I will wait until Apple come up with another update or solution.

You are absolutely correct that this is for Apple to solve, and it certainly shouldn't have happened.


However, it could easily take them a few weeks to get it fixed, and in the meantime the ATV was pretty well unuseable for watching TV series on. As that is the main thing that we do with it, the hour I spent on Thursday fixing it was well worth it.


That may not be the case for you, but it would be s shame if people were put off taking some fairly simple steps to resolve the iddue (deleting and re-adding your shows can just take minutes for example) and therefore didn't use the thing for weeks.

Why did Apple TV forget the Alphabet?

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