How to get Apple TV 4 to mark a watched video as watched?

Question

Level 1

96 points

How to get Apple TV 4 to mark a watched video as watched?

My older Apple TV would clear the blue dot once I had viewed a video. The new Apple TV 4 leaves the dot blue, even after I have played the entire video.

Yes, I can force it to be marked as "Watched" with a long press. But I'd much prefer for the watched state to display properly on the Apple TV without my override. (Note that when I look at the video list in iTunes I *do* see the proper markings on the watched and unwatched videos.)

Apple TV

Posted on Nov 13, 2015 7:35 PM

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Answer 1

Protodd

Level 4

2,092 points

Nov 14, 2015 10:33 AM in response to cloudmeister

This is a user forum. i suggest sending Apple your complaints http://www.apple.com/feedback/

personally I love the new ATV and while I do agree that there are bugs I have been an Apple user long enough to know that most if not all of my complaints will be addressed through software updates. I like getting those updates and playing with a "new" toy all over. But maybe the first release isn't a good option for you and why returning it is always an option. Then down the road if/when the functionality better meets your needs you can decide then if you want to purchase it. No need to get upset over a device designed to entertain you...

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Answer 2

PKolb

Level 1

4 points

Apr 9, 2017 12:59 PM in response to keriah

In my favorites list i have one show with literally 72 unwatched shows on my banner. It is counting all of those goofey 2 minute shows. It seems when in favorites it may be different with respect to the "mark as watched" option. I have found no way to nuke the Unmatched banner.

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Answer 3

Rassilon

Level 1

48 points

Nov 14, 2015 8:31 AM in response to keriah

A long press on what,exactly? Holding the pad down while highlighting an episode does nothing on my new Apple TV. Nor can you select seasons. Some fool at Apple managed to make a poor interface (the original Apple TV) worse.

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Answer 4

Nov 14, 2015 8:49 AM in response to Rassilon

My words exactly ... Apple TV 4 is just a huge disappointment

- boring looking interface

- white background distracts from the content!

- connecting a bluetooth keyboard is not possible!

- forcing me to use the slider type to type my password for every app download has just one effect ... I have NOT downloaded a single app because it is just too cumbersome!

The whole thing just looks like somebody was just doing their job ... and performing really really badly ...

HUGE DISAPPOINTMENT

One question I do have ... Have you guys ever actually used Apple TV 4 before shipping?

It's not fun to use. It's the first product by apple that is really really boring to use!!!!

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Answer 5

keriah Author

Level 1

96 points

Nov 14, 2015 10:22 AM in response to Rassilon

Rassilon wrote:

A long press on what,exactly?

When viewing the list of shows (where the blue dot is displayed next to the show's name), a long-press on SELECT (either by pressing down & holding on the touchpad, or by clicking the SELECT key if you've set up a different remote) will bring up the option to "Mark as Watched" (or "Mark as Unwatched").

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Answer 6

keriah Author

Level 1

96 points

Nov 14, 2015 1:24 PM in response to Protodd

Protodd wrote:

...do agree that there are bugs ...

So does this sound like a bug to you? Are you finding that the "Watched" (non) dot state is shown when you have fully watched a video?

My original question was asking whether this was simply something I did not understand how to do with my new ATV (whether others were having this situation) or something to report to Apple.

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Answer 7

Nov 14, 2015 7:25 PM in response to keriah

How do you get the interface to show the list of shows with the dots? Mine just shows all episodes in a horizontal scroll and i can't change it to show the list by seasons.

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Answer 8

keriah Author

Level 1

96 points

Nov 15, 2015 11:29 AM in response to keriah

keriah wrote:

...a bug ...

More insight on this.

The old ATV interface would refresh the viewed list immediately. For example, just this morning we had finished watching one part of a two-part show and I 'dropped' the second half into the iTunes Library. On the old ATV, that show would then appear on the list displayed on the screen. With the new ATV the list stayed static; I had to exit up a level in the menu system and then reselect the Genre to see the newly-added video on the list. And when I did that I saw that all the Watched/Unwatched dots were now correctly rendered.

So this appears to be a function of the displayed list not refreshing immediately as it has in the past. And (IMO) something to be reported to Apple.

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Answer 9

keriah Author

Level 1

96 points

Nov 15, 2015 11:36 AM in response to robshanahan

robshanahan wrote:

How do you get the interface to show the list of shows with the dots? Mine just shows all episodes in a horizontal scroll and i can't change it to show the list by seasons.

Hmmm... I don't do anything special. I just select the desired Media Kind (in the example below it's Home Videos but it's the same for the others) and then I see a list of the videos, with and without the dots. Like this:

I don't have an option to see in other than a list.

Another complaint I have about this view is that the 'tab' at the top always reverts to "By Name" -- in the old ATV it remembered my last selected tab (By Genre), which I would prefer it to do here. Another bug/feature request.

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Answer 10

BARSTL

Level 1

13 points

Nov 30, 2015 6:07 PM in response to robshanahan

I Have the same experience.

I would really like to mark episodes as watched again. I would also like to be able to view by season instead of scrolling through seven season horizonally.

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Answer 11

keriah Author

Level 1

96 points

Dec 1, 2015 5:21 PM in response to BARSTL

BARSTL wrote:

...I would really like to mark episodes as watched again. ...

As I reported back on Nov. 15, it turns out that the watched episodes ARE being marked as such -- for example, if you view the shows in iTunes that's immediately visible. What is not happening on ATV/4 is that the watched state is not reflected until you leave the list (go up a level in the menu) and then come back in. THEN you will see the appropriate shaded watched/not watched dots.

Personally, I feel this is a 'bug' (i.e., new behavior and not an improvement or feature). So hopefully it will be fixed in a future release.

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Answer 12

BARSTL

Level 1

13 points

Dec 3, 2015 9:22 PM in response to keriah

Watched episodes are marked as such? That is not the point. Using the earlier version of Apple TV, I could marked episodes as watched or unwatched myself. (If I had seen one elsewhere, I didn't have to play through it again to mark it watched.) On the Apple TV 4, I find no way of doing that. They tell me at the Apple Store that a long press of the Play/Pause button will bring up a menu that would allow me to do it, but that just doesn't work.

This is a real flaw. Not being able to view a show by seasons was a design blunder. (I do not want to scroll horizontally through 20 seasons of "ER" to find out of George Clooney returns in the final season.)

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Answer 13

Jan 26, 2016 1:48 PM in response to BARSTL

You can...simply hold down the select button (the middle of the touch pad) and it will come up with the option.

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Answer 14

Jan 27, 2016 7:33 AM in response to bikkies11

A long press on the "trackpad"/ "select" button does nothing! Needs software update.

I'm right there with you BARSTL. Apple needs to get things in order on this 4th gen Apple TV.

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Answer 15

Protodd

Level 4

2,092 points

Jan 27, 2016 8:28 AM in response to OmniCamaro

When you are on the list of movies/tv shows, a long "click" of the trackpad brings up the "mark as" options of "watched" or "not watched". I have been using that since release day. I primarily only watch the "unwatched" list of movies/tvshows...

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