appleTV keeps asking for appleID, password and authentication code circularly

Accounts will be able to login with 2FA using the “append code to the password” technique described in other posts.

That's correct except many people have a long password and cannot complete the process in a timely fashion. (the two-factor code expires after 30 seconds). The method you mention often fails as it takes some users a long time to enter a pw on an AppleTV (using the remote) and the two-factor code is useless by the time you complete it.

You need to go to your iphone and get a fresh code after you type the password and before you put in the original code. Do this by....

(On iphone or ipad)

• go to settings, iCloud
• click on your iCloud ID at top of screen
• click on "Password & Security"
• click on "Get Verification code"

Then type this fresh code in, appending to the end of the password you already typed in, and it will work

I also apologize as it's the second and third generation AppleTVs that need the "append the Validation Code" trick.

Once again, though, are you actually seeing a screen asking for the Validation Code rather than just the password?

On the 3rd generation, Instead of selecting option to get verification code from trusted device, you can go to settings>iTunes store>Apple ID>sign out, then add new Apple ID and sign-in as normal then should be able to access your content (I.e. Movies &TV shows) also if you get error can't connect to iTunes during ANY of the sign-in process you need to reboot modem/router w/ Apple TV un plugged from power and keep unplugged until network is back online

Hi fancynancy2. If you mean "how do you turn off 2-factor authentication?", you can do it by logging in to appleid.apple.com, and change your Security settings. But, if you're using a recently-created icloud.com ID, that may not be possible.

You should be able to login without turning off 2FA, using the method already posted several times in this thread, for example, this link: Re: appleTV keeps asking for appleID, password and authentication code circularly.

I agree it is not an anti-consumer decision, however none of this has brought success to my 2G Apple TV. I can easily log in to the iTunes Store using the method of appending the 2FA code to the end of my password as well as iCloud the same way. This certainly suggests that 2FA is supported on a 2G Apple TV, as long as it has been updated to 6.2.1 as also seems to be the case with people who have had success in getting Home Sharing to work on 2G Apple TV's by appending the code.

As far as connecting to Home Sharing - that has been a complete no-go for me. I have Reset the Apple TV more than once and even changed my Apple ID password just to ensure everything was the same. So far nothing has brought joy with my 2G Apple TV. Extremely frustrating and disappointing that I now have a very limited use Apple TV.

I cannot understand why random Apple TV owners get things to work by appending the code to their password yet many others do not. One person in a thread I was reading has just said, "it does work," which does not help the many people for whom it absolutely does not work. Perhaps people should state that, "it should work."

I do understand the frustration of the poster who initially said "anti-consumer" because I am right there in frustration but disagree about it being an anti-consumer decision on Apple's part.

William Kucharski wrote:

Which is basically the procedure outlined here.

I understand you referencing the procedure you outlined and I followed your specific set of instructions more than once, but it brought no success for me. Perhaps that simply highlights why many people still struggle to get their Apple TV's working.

As I said though, for me, once I waited for my "trusted device" to pop up the alert that a connection was being attempted and subsequently, once it was allowed and provided an authentication code, then once I used that authentication code it worked for me.

Actually quite a bit, as the AppleTV 2nd Generation is on the Obsolete list and as such is no longer supported and is unlikely to ever receive a future software update.

I'm just happy Apple added support for 2FA at all as it wasn't widely used then.

Vintage and obsolete products - Apple Support

Unfortunately, as William Kurcharski pointed out:

‘Because when they added this to the firmware of that generation AppleTV (2FA wasn't widely used then), it was already beyond its end of support date.

They could have just done nothing, but instead they did this.’

it’s unlikely that Apple will help older Apple TV models and, when it comes to after care service, it seems that Apple; though they kindly did this patch up provision, are choosing not to put together a webpage in their website containing screen shots along with instructions to further assist customers with the older models (including myself who only owns an ATV version 3 box).

i too submitted suggestions even asking if they could somehow create a second window to enter the code at the end of the password (especially because of the 30 second time limitation) but that landed in death ears too just as the additional screenshot instructions page will. Alas, the Apple organisation from the days of Steve Jobs (RIP) standards of customer Carr and service have long passed and now like Microsoft et al. It’s more focused on short term financial gain and loyalty has no meaning in its its corporate goals. A sign of the time I’m afraid.

You can no longer turn it off once you have turned it on, now. I found out the hard way

I found a nice work around for the Apple TV (2nd Generation). If you have an iPhone or iPad, just download the Apple TV remote app. Once you download it and link it to your Apple TV, you are good to go. The phone will allow you to authenticate without any issues.

Hope this helps? No. It doesn't.

This is Apple TV, not the next release of The Room.

Instructions should be clear and easy to follow and not rely on undisclosed hacks like some of you have laid out. Apple is losing customers because they can't deliver a product that should be simple to use.

Did you follow the instructions above to do it at Settings/Sign-In?

I know it's frustrating, but it does work as can be seen by the many here for whom it has.

If you continue to be frustrated, you can take your device to an Apple Store and they may be able to help you.

Genius Bar Reservation and Apple Support Options - Apple

This is insanity. 3 years, and there's still no proper solution to this, doubtlessly because it forces people to upgrade hardware that would otherwise be perfectly functional. Apple creating extra waste. Nice work guys.

I am having this problem now too (despite having moved to 2-factor ages ago). On my 3rd Gen ATV it started refusing to log-in to home sharing. Because I use 1password my Apple ID pw is a 32 digit random string, and I realized that there might have been a problem with what dash the screen on the ATV was using (seemed dubious but worth trying), so I reset my password to only letters/numbers.

Still couldn't get it to log-in, so logged out of apple everywhere (iPhone, PC, ATV) and tried again. No problems logging in on the phone or PC, but the ATV still wouldn't go. So I restored the ATV and downloaded the newest software. Still wouldn't log-in. Discovered this "hack" of adding the verification code from my phone, carefully inputted the pw then generated a new code and added it then clicked submit, but still nothing. Very strangely, my ATV logs into iTunes just using my ID, pw, and then 2-factor code that it asks for (and my phone automatically shows). So without using the password hack, I can log the ATV into iTunes, but nothing else (with just the normal pw or with the fresh verification code added to the end). I thought I would disable 2-factor, but Apple won't let you do that, which is also pretty troubling.

People claim that the 2nd and 3rd gen ATVs can't handle 2-factor authentication, but they obviously are somewhat able to, as it works perfectly logging in to iTunes. Just not home sharing or iCloud for some strange reason.

I am at a complete loss here. Everything I find when I search this either explains generating a code on your phone and adding it to the password, or else clarifying that when doing that you need to generate a fresh code to add once you've inputted the pw but before you click submit, so that it hasn't expired. But none of that is helping. I'm beginning to think the obvious choice here is to replace the ATV, but obviously it won't be with an Apple product, as I couldn't care less about the actual Apple software; it's really just an easy way to watch Netflix/Prime/YouTube on my not-smart TV.

Any other suggestions?

I was having this same issue with an older (likely first generation, ca. 2012?) Apple TV: I was able to log into iTunes okay but couldn't get into iCloud as it kept rejecting my password and the 6-digit verification code. This issue seems to have cropped up over the past couple of months so I presume there was perhaps a software update issue...(??) After reading about the workaround to beat the 30 second timeout for the verification code, I was poised and ready, BUT...this time it worked without any further input! So thanks Apple, for apparently fixing this bug and allowing me to steam music and photos once again through the Home Network!