Apple TV (4th gen.) won't turn off; light stays on

Samsung QLED TV with Apple TV 4. Had this same issue, put AppleTV to sleep, TV stays off, AppleTV light comes back on. Long (LONG...) story short. It was the Samsung remote. Took out the batteries and no more issue. Looking into the best way to use AppleTV remote and/or a universal, or maybe a call to Samsung to see if they have a fix. But that was the culprit.

Happy to help! As an update, by going into the Samsung TV settings and turning off the HDMI-CEC, you disable the device control between the Samsung and Apple. So, you can have the Samsung remote functional for power on/off and source selection. Downside is if you're going straight to AppletTV, you can't just grab that remote and go, you have to use the TV remote as well.

I have the exact same issue after installing the latest update. Haven't tried covering the remote sensor. Seems silly that is doesn't work the way it always has. Sounds like another buggy Apple update. What is going on with my fav company and all their software update error issues in late 2017, sad and.......very frustrating

Trickitee

I have a new (2017 version) Samsung 4K UHD model UN40MU6300 with the same issue. I tried turning of HDMI-CEC but that did not work. My only alternative was to take the batteries out of the Samsung remote. That is a terrible work around. It isn’t clear if this is a Samsung issue or an ATV issue, but someone needs to address it. Clearly this is a known issue.

Yes, this works for now until someone fixes this bug. Have the source not on the Apple TV, then it will shut down if you hold the Apple remote button for 5 second then click the pad. So the same steps but you just can’t see the ATV menu since you’re on a different source!

Sadly, this did not work for me. The Samsung remote seems to be the issue. It continues to send a signal to the AppleTV which powers it on. I have several Samsung TV's so I used another, older remote which allows me to "sleep" the ATV and control the TV without re-awakening the ATV. I have taken the batteries out of the newer Samsung remote that came with the 4K TV and now I have no issues :/

Thanks for this tip! I disabled HDMI-CEC on my Samsung TV but did not make any difference at first. But i noticed that my Samsung Smart remote was still able to control the Apple TV. I disconneted the HDMI for the Apple TV and plugged in a different port on my Samsung TV. Now the Samsung Smart remote was not able to control the Apple TV, and my Apple TV was fineally able to get some well needed sleep. My Apple TV remote is still able to power off/on my Samsung TV after this change, like it was before i disabled HDMI-CEC. Seems all i needed to do was make the Samsung TV rediscover the Apple TV after HDMI-CEC got disabled on my Samsung TV. Thanks!

I have the same issue. Have a Samsung 7 series tv and I’ll constantly put Apple TV in sleep mode but the light will turn back on a few seconds later (the tv turns off and remains off)

The solution that worked for me is turning off the Samsung universal remote for Apple TV. You can find this under the Samsung Home menu bar. Select source and select universal remote and then delete the universal remote connected to Apple TV. My Apple TV light remains off when I put it in sleep mode.

As far as my research the ATV is a bully. It wants to run the whole show no matter where it's plugged in. I turned off the CEC on the ATV so it wouldn't constantly take control of the TV and change inputs even though it's not being used. Also I have the sleep set the minimum time and it still stays on long after that time. Even after 8 hours it still stays on. So what's the use of that feature? And that is a bright little light in the dark. Another thing I have noticed was that even when the light was on and supposedly the ATV is "on", I would not get a picture from it, but it takes many button presses to get something to come. Several times it takes so long that my TV went back to the last active input.

This morning when I turned on my KS8000 there was ATV and I had left the TV on the satellite. So it was on all night, although the TV was off. Once again not shutting off after a designated time of inactivity. But this time, for once, I was able to "put it to sleep". I used the ATV remote to go to and selected sleep and as it went out, I switched to the input for my sat box using the Samsung remote still set up for ATV. The light has been off since, all day. Only CEC on the ATV is off. CEC on my TV is on to run my sat box.

This is a software issue. I just saw where all the OS's, except tvOS, where just seeded to devs. That could mean several things . . .

As of the past couple of days mine has been behaving with my KS8000. The only thing that is turned off is CEC on the ATV and the unit is set up in the TV the same as all other devices. The remote is set to control the ATV as it does all other devices. CEC is still on in the TV to control other well behaving devices. I noticed it the other day when I went to put it to sleep and switched back to sat, the light stayed off and has been off as it should be. ALSO, after a one time failure to wake, I had to pull the power, it now wakes as expected. Now that I have said this it won't work right anymore. Fingers crossed that it will continue to behave.

Thank you all! My issue started when I upgraded to a Samsung 4K QLED TV. (Both devices power off/sleep but then about a second later Apple TV light comes on but doesn’t display an image.) Disabled the Samsung “smart” remote for the Apple TV and all is well. HDMI-CEC is still enabled on both devices and the Apple TV remote successfully turns off the TV. Not sure if this is a Samsung issue with the remote or an Apple TV issue but I sure hope it gets fixed!

To disable the function on the remote, on the Samsung TV go to home, source, universal remote. Then select Apple TV and press Delete. Note: this will rename the input to Unknown. Simply go back to sources and under that input hit edit, change the name to Apple TV. Now all is back to the way it was except the universal remote is disabled for the Apple TV and the Apple TV sleeps normally!

nickhorn1, tried that and got nothing but more problems. Am now wiping everything and starting over. Even had to power cycle the ATV. The power/activity light blinked when either remote was used, but the ATV would not respond.

I've done some testing and found that Apple TV wakes up when a connection is attempted on port 5000 (UPnP). You might look for a media server or player that supports UPnP.

Diana.McCall, I've just discovered that this blasted 10.2 upgrade has not only given my device insomnia, but has broke my third party Airplay too! 😠

Hi l.bonfante. This is not a problem that affects all users, so Apple may not know about it. You can let them know by reporting it at this link: Feedback - Apple TV - Apple.