movies not loading or staying in memory

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Level 1

10 points

movies not loading or staying in memory

Our old version Apple TV would keep movies in memory after they would load. Does the new one still do that? Bought new Star Wars Force Awakens and watched it. Now it still needs to reload to watch it again? This unit has 32 Gb I would think that would be more than enough space. It also seems to take forever to load and sometimes doesn't at all - ends up stalling at some point and not going any further. I've tried restarting our network, (it's connected with cable not wifi) and that made no difference.

BTW - I tried posting this on my 6s and I couldn't read the text as I typed (?!) it also wouldn't end up posting anything. Sooooo I had to turn on my Windows laptop (shudder) to try and send this post.

AppleTV 2, Other OS

Posted on Apr 3, 2016 4:04 PM

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Answer 1

vazandrew

Level 8

40,348 points

Apr 3, 2016 5:42 PM in response to Flight

The 1st gen was the only one that had the ability to store media. 2nd gen and later are streaming only, with the 4th gen storage only for apps. If there are issues then that will come down to the network

What is your current connection via speedtest

Make sure DNS is set to auto (settings - general - network)

Make sure router is up to date

Test on another network

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Answer 2

Apr 3, 2016 5:54 PM in response to Flight

The silver Apple TV was designed like an original iPod with a hard drive. It stored all the content on that drive. It had some nice qualities. Ironically it had a 32GB hard drive on the base unit. They were $300 if my memory was correct.

Apple then redesigned the unit and eliminated the harddrive and replaced it with memory chips. At that point it no longer stored the content but accessed it from Apple's servers via the internet.

Apple's latest version now acts like an iPhone and allows installation of apps. Ironically the base memory is again 32GB but is now memory chips. Despite the memory size Apple does not allow the storage of content on that memory. It relies on the internet.

One work around for this is to load the movie into your iTunes computer and then set up home sharing to stream the movie from it.

Use Home Sharing to share iTunes content with other devices - Apple Support

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Answer 3

Flight Author

Level 1

10 points

Apr 4, 2016 6:50 AM in response to Vinceassociate

Thank you both for your answers. I'm wondering, though, why does our other apple TV, (not sure what version it is. small black one), if you watch a movie on it, it may take a while to load at first but then it would start right up after that if you wanted to watch it again? We have small children who like to watch the same things over and over. Before if something wasn't watched for a while, you'd need to re-download it again because it was like other things had taken its place. Also, if everything is coming over the internet, why do apps like Netflix and Hulu play instantly? Shouldn't they have the same issues as iTunes?

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Answer 4

vazandrew

Level 8

40,348 points

Apr 4, 2016 9:09 AM in response to Flight

That model didn't store media, it cached it as you viewed it and if you were to watch it again you'd be lucky to still have it in memory. Turning off the device or accessing other content could just as easily flush the movie from the system. If you plan to watch it over its best to download it to a computer and then stream (using home sharing or airplay) to the ATV. Those other services are constantly adapting to your network connection whereas itunes is at a fixed rate, higher quality and is actually loading the content (starting playback once a portion has cached)

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Answer 5

Apr 4, 2016 9:13 AM in response to Flight

If your old ATV is black it should work the same. However the file size on the old model may not have been as large since it may have been regular or 720 and not 1080.

iTunes Store: Download times will vary - Apple Support

I would suggest testing your internet speed to see what to expect:

Get help playing or streaming content on your Apple TV - Apple Support

The other services you mention all stream the video (download on the run) and reduce the resolution size based on the detected connection speed.

Apple I believe maintains the resolution based on your settings which may lead to long downloads.

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