Apple TV keeps turning itself on after being put to sleep

Hi. Since the release of tvOS 10.2 for Apple TV 4, there have been several reports of Apple TV not sleeping. This seems to be caused by other devices on the network scanning for open ports. Try turning off (not just sleep) everything on the network, and see if Apple TV will sleep. Then turn them on slowly until you find the cause. Known culprits so far are the Plex app on Android, Stremio on computers, and the Twonky media server on some NAS devices. You should also report it to Apple at this link: https://www.apple.com/feedback/appletv.html.

Diana.McCall wrote:

Hi. Since the release of tvOS 10.2 for Apple TV 4, there have been several reports of Apple TV not sleeping. This seems to be caused by other devices on the network scanning for open ports. Try turning off (not just sleep) everything on the network, and see if Apple TV will sleep. Then turn them on slowly until you find the cause. Known culprits so far are the Plex app on Android, Stremio on computers, and the Twonky media server on some NAS devices. You should also report it to Apple at this link: https://www.apple.com/feedback/appletv.html.

hello again Diana 😉

simple test to sadly disprove your theory is to pull the network cable:

Powered up Apple TV

Pull ethernet (shows message saying networking not detected)

Press SLEEP

Apple TV goes off, LG-TV begins thinking about it.

Apple TV comes back on, TV has now gone off.

....its not a scanning thing IMHO

Its something in the 10.2 update and the only way to prevent it occurring i've found is to pull the HDMI the second the Apple TV goes off. THAT stops it waking again of its own accord.

None of this happened in the previous build.

registered twice with that link... but not hearing anything official.

Apple TV is turned off at the wall, to prevent iNsomnia 😕

your initial response seemed to overlook the fact I didn't have the problem BEFORE i upgraded to 10.2.

Diana.McCall has been actively involved in many of the posts since the 10.2 insomnia issue occurred.

Her findings definitely err on the side of it being an app scanning issue, and while my LAN setup would also support such a theory... the other ATV in my life, would not (as she knows from another post)

while I agree my television model may now be to blame, would Apple kindly remove the anti LG TV feature they added to 10.2, because I was very happy with 10.1.1 and the ability to leave my ATV plugged in and asleep.

In terms of it being a first world problem, for me it isn't as my ATV is switched off when not in use (along with the media amp)

However my parents and others who have approached me for advise as to why their's have developed this ON like status, would like to know what changed and caused it.

🙂

* I was not the original finder of the HDMI solution, I simply tried THAT suggestion (along with the many other suggestions out there) and also found a connection (or lack off) is what is required to keep the ATV off since upgrading.

I'm using the latest ATV with a 5-year ago Samsung smart tv and this started happening a few weeks ago. I also have multiple iPhones and iPads that each have the latest OS versions and the ATV app.

I can get around this random issue of it turning itself and TV on by turning the TV off with the Samsung remote, but I'd like to only rely on a single remote (ATV).

Seems like a software bug in the ATV sleep function to me.

I have been seeing this with my latest Apple TV as well. I have been able to trace down the time the Apple TV comes on to when one of the Mac's on my network boots up. It's the oddest thing, but I'm able to recreate it consistently. The Mac that causes the issue is running Mavericks because it's old hardware, I wonder if that's a consideration. I never had this with any of my other Macs.

I have figured out why this is happening ! Im using a program called NetAdmin Pro and it "sniffs" my local subnetwork for devices. Once it finds a device it will try to see what ports are available on the device... As soon as it discovers the Apple TV, it starts testing the ports that its "listening on" and the following come up as active...DAAP ( airplay ) 3689/tcp, RAOP (airplay - remote audio output protocol) 7000/tcp, Mediaremotetv 7000/tcp and 53716/tcp, Iphone Sync 62078/tcp, and Sleep Proxy server 53058/udp...

So my guess is it is definitely one of these ports that is being "ping'd" and the response is to "wake up" from the Apple TV... So if this is happening to you, either you have some device on your home network that is aware of the apple tv and is trying to wake it up so it can connect to it, or, you have some type of malware on a machine on your network, or lastly , your wifi network has been breached and whom ever it is, is sniffing around using a tool like I have to root around looking for something to "play with"

Hope this helps someone....

Found out that removing the tv remote from Apple Watch removes the problem.

Really took me ages to find this was the reason with 3 iPads, 2 phones and a mac book pro.

Apple should get this conflict closed asap.

There is no conflict with the remote app on the watch, there are 3 of us in our house with the remote app on our watches. If removing the app has helped as you think it has, then you must have been activating the app in some way yourself, such as accidently touching the screen or pressing the buttons when you bend your hand back or with clothing.

This just started happening to me this week.

I'll leave the room with my 46" Samsung tv connected to my Mac Mini (VGA), when I return my Apple TV is on and attached to the TV instead of my Mac Mini. I get up in the middle of the night and find my ATV & TV are on lighting up the living room.

Some buggy software.

"Something on your network", right. If it is something on a network, then Apple should be able to tell from a device log files what "something on your network" woke up that Apple TV. It is not like wizard of Oz waved a magic wand and the device turned itself on. No, it is not. There are well defined protocols for waking stuff up, and it is Apple's job to keep track of what's going on. Apparently Apple couldn't give a rat's rear end about supporting their products in a meaningful way. Their answer is to wipe out and reset Apple TV, when they should have picked log files and say: a device with this MAC address sent a specific WoL packet to wake your Apple TV up. Yeah, Apple support is one genius lined up next to another.

And you sound like some geek (in the computer sense that is) that thinks the TV should be as difficult to use as a computer. People like my 87 year mother are quite capable of using her Apple TV, but start putting messages like that on it and she'll soon not want to use it.

In my case it appears that 'AirPlay' may be the root cause.

While working on email, using my MacMini and 46" display, the TV was switched to ATV and showed me a message saying AirPlay needed to be a certain version to work.

I turned off AirPlay on the ATV box and it has not come back on on its own since.

I understand your point. Who cares if the device doesn't work correctly, right? I doubt your 87 years old mother would be forced to use a small PC based diagnostic utility, but whatever you say. You're the smart guy here.

I Had this problem too. The tech at the Apple Store told me to go into Settings >> System >>Reset and then choose reset and update. Problem solved but I did have to reinstall all my apps.

leadbewj wrote:

I Had this problem too. The tech at the Apple Store told me to go into Settings >> System >>Reset and then choose reset and update. Problem solved but I did have to reinstall all my apps.

thought i'd try this... but to no avail 😢

Reset and Update and the very first thing I tried once the ATV was operational was the SLEEP command.

Sadly it comes back ON before the TV has had chance to go off.

Also tried the AIRPLAY OFF suggestion floating about, which made no difference either.

...10.2.1 PLEASE APPLE ⚠