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itunes is currently unavailable

My Apple TV 3 has been playing up for a few days, possibly since the latest update - not sure.


Basically, i can no longer play any purchased TV/movies or iTunes Match music via the Apple TV (still fine via my other Apple devices - Mac, iPad 2, iPhone 4S) and the following message appears, accompanied with a black screen and yellow triangle "iTunes is currently unavailable. Try again later."


I've searched the forms boards and found a bunch of possible solutions that haven't worked: reset and/or restart Apple TV, Sign out and back in to iTunes on both the Apple TV and my Mac, switched Dolby Digital from Auto, On and Off - nothing has worked.


Could this be an Apple server authentication issue? On purchased movies and TV, it's at the authentication stage that things seem to stop.


Any help/advice would be hugely appreciated. Right now, iTunes Match and Apple TV aren't doing the job I paid for.

Posted on Nov 21, 2014 3:33 AM

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Posted on Nov 21, 2014 7:09 AM

Try the following steps, check whether things are working after each step where appropriate, before trying the next.


  1. Restart the Apple TV (Settings > General > Restart).
  2. Restart the Apple TV by removing ALL the cables for 30 seconds.
  3. Restart your router. (Also try removing it’s power cord for at least 30 seconds)
  4. Reset the Apple TV (Settings > General > Reset > Reset all settings)
  5. Restore the Apple TV (Settings > General > Reset > Restore)
263 replies

Nov 22, 2014 10:07 AM in response to 3DVN

When I contacted Apple via the online chat, the technician checked my account and confirmed that there is no reason my account should be experiencing any problem whatsoever. If you're able to bypass the problem by using a different account from the same location, I wonder if different accounts go through different servers or routers. If that is so, it's possible the problem lies with particular hardware we (those of us experiencing this problem) have in common in our access. Maybe?

Nov 22, 2014 10:11 AM in response to AppleNovice

There's deffo an issue


Odd though, as I can access everything via my Mac Mini & watch it that way but can't access it via my ATV3!


However; I have 2 ATV3's (one for UK and one set with a different DNS for the US iTunes & Netflix versions) and the latter (US version) has no issues whatsoever!!!


I cant even connect to my ATV's via iTunes on my Mac and AirPlay as it pings up with the same error message

Nov 22, 2014 10:53 AM in response to Moakle

I'm having the same issue in New York. Everything plays on my Apple TV except content from the Itunes Store. Previews play of purchased content but not the purchased content. It hangs at authorizing after clicking PLAY, then I get the error: Itunes is currently unavailable. Try again later. Been going on since last night. I've tried all troubleshooting suggestions and the guy who installed my system is stumped. This is definitely NOT an issue with my equipment or my network.

Nov 22, 2014 10:56 AM in response to AppleNovice

The only things potentially unique are the fact that I have everything behind a DDWRT firewall, and I've been using it to block TWC's caching servers. removed the block and even bypassed the DDWRT firewall going wired into my modem... No change; two accounts work, one does not on my ATV3's only.


I have a hard time believing that it's something within my network given all the traffic appears to leave my network in the same way, to similar IP ranges. No drops on my side.

Nov 22, 2014 3:01 PM in response to Moakle

just gonna copy paste my response to most of these threads as apple needs to be made aware of this.


same issue here and I once again have gone through all the steps of resetting my router and atv3... still no change... also tried the dolby digital trick to no avail. This issue needs to be resolved from apples end, it's absurd that we cant view/listen to our payed for content.


//W

Nov 22, 2014 6:14 PM in response to Moakle

Ok. Having same issue. something that tells me it's a server issue: I have two apple accounts an old one with movies and the one i was forced to create some years back with a majority of my content. I get the error with my main account. Then when I switch to the old account I can stream no issues. Needless to say this is very frustrating

Nov 23, 2014 7:24 AM in response to sodrock

SSame issue. London uk.

nnoticed that I am not able to play anything paid from iTunes on my most recent appletv. Signed out, signed in. No change. Noticed new update. Installed- no change. Found this forum, reseted all settings, no restore. Sign in to iTunes, no change. Turned off for 30s. NO CHANGE! Still not able to play anything

aall other devices working Properly.

bbugs are happening to everybody- ok. But how come such a big, hq company has not fixed this problem yet?

frustrating.

Nov 23, 2014 8:44 AM in response to Moakle

HHaving same issue for 2 days, nothing works on both my atvs whereas all other networked gear is fine. Definitely problem at point of authorization. Similar to another poster here, I tried updating my MacBook to Yosemite recently. It failed, and ever since atv had been stuffed. Don't apple have a Twitter account or something where they can say "hey guys we hear you. There's a problem and we're working on it". Feeling abandoned by this corporate giant, again.

Nov 23, 2014 9:15 AM in response to Moakle

Same problem here (Frankfurt, Germany): iTunes Match access works fine from iPhone 6 / iOS 8.1.1, MacBook Air mid 2012 (OS X Yosemite) and iPad 3 (iOS 8.1.1), but not from Apple TV.


So i don't think it's a problem in my iTunes match account but in Apple TV server or however. I think there was an Apple TV upgrade last week, and for me it seems the problem occurs since updating the box.


Trying to play a song from Everything else works fine, all songs are displayed too, but no chance to play them: "iTunes ist derzeit nicht verfügbar. Versuchen Sie es später erneut" (iTunes is currently not available. Please try again later.)


Already resetted the Apple TV completely, signed out and in again my iTunes account - didn't work.


I'm glad to hear I am not the only one with this problem - but now i would be very thankful for any ideas or a perspective from Apple.

Nov 23, 2014 9:49 AM in response to Moakle

SO - I was having this issue a lot. FINALLY it got so bad, NOTHING would load. Nothing. As soon as it got to Authorizing, it would bomb out with this error message. Ii was able to fix it by:


1. Going into Settings

2. Select your AppleID

3. Logout

4. Log back in and reenter password


THIS WORKED for me after many days of the issue. There was nothing wrong with my ID, but I think it was getting caught up with the authorization for some reason. I hope this works for you! 😉

itunes is currently unavailable

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