My Apple TV 4k is not sleeping..

A simple solution I previously overlooked; make sure your sleep timer is *later* (or different) than your screen saver time.

My ATV4K was never sleeping and it was driving me mad. I went through multiple settings dealing with CEC, HDMI pass-through, resetting the Apple TV, etc. and nothing worked. It would never sleep. I would just turn off the rest of the AV gear and walk away.

The one thing I noticed is screen saver was always running in the background when I would return to the ATV. I checked and my screen saver setting was 30 minutes and the sleep setting was 30 minutes. Both the same. I changed screensaver to 5min & sleep to 15min. For the first time in 4 months of owning this thing, the ATV turned off on it's own! Duh.

Disable the Samsung remote from using or having access to the AppleTV. It did the trick with mine. Under source. Universal remote, delete

I followed the advice of someone that suggested turning off the TV notifications and it worked perfectly.

Hi Diana.McCall! I guess this is a lesson to fully view a thread before commenting! 😊 Thanks!

That did work and my ATV4k is working properly. It's the AnyNet+ setting on Samsung tvs that was the problem. Thanks again!!

I have a setup with a newer 4k HDR Samsung and a 4K Apple TV and I had the same issue. I tried to delete the Apple TV from the "hub" (on the TV where you see all the menu options, connections etcetera) / remote, but then I just had a generic HDMI input displayed on the TV which I didn't like. I digged around a bit in my settings and turned off the "Hub" at startup and also turned off where the TV should resume from the last used channel when turning on. It still fires up on the correct channel when I turn on my Apple TV and now it sleeps properly.

Cheers,

Massimo

I have a new Sony 4K TV so I decided to replaced my old AppleTV4 with AppleTV4k. The new 4K does not go to sleep, but the older model worked fine. Settings are identical on both units. If I simply disconnect the new unit and place the old one back in service, it goes to sleep in 15 minutes. Switching back to the new unit, it never goes to sleep. You can force it to sleep, but it will come back on and ignore the 15 minut setting. I believe that there is a bug in the AppleTV 4K that is the source of the issue for everyone. Apple needs to step up and address this.

I’ve tested this theory on 3 separate TVs, 2 Sony and a Panasonic plasma and in every case, when replacing the AppleTV 4 with the AppleTV 4K the problem appears. Placing the old units back online and the problem goes away.

Until Apple fixes the issue, I’ll just put electrical tape over the LED.

Go to source, universal remote, then delete Apple TV. That will fix it but u will no longer be able to access Apple TV on your tv remote.

This is a known issue, as in the internet is littered with endless posts asking the same thing. There is no solution. Apple TV will eventually stop going to sleep. I ended up getting a simple switch for the electrical outlet where I can just turn off the thing for real.

I spoke with Apple support today. We discussed the possibility that my Logitech remote might not have been setup using the Apple TV 4th Gen 4K device. However it was. I will report back to Apple support stating there's some sort of issue between everyones TV manufacturer and the Apple TV device where as the sleep function has somehow been compromised. A few weeks ago I purchased my 4K and the sleep function was fine. In the interim I unfortunately have to click the TV icon on the Apple TV remote which instigates the Sleep command. When deployed both the Apple TV and my Samsung TV shutdown. Crazy for sure. I also thought that by adding my Apple TV 4K device directly to my router was the cause. Initially that was not the problem because it went to sleep after my setting of 15 minutes. Conclusion, why can't all Apple TV devices simply have an off toggle??

Yes, it is quite flustrating but we will never know the reason from Apple why the ATV 4k operates. The unit is basically on all the time BUT you can make it sleep by holding down the TV/Home button and select sleep with the touch pad. To turn in on, select any button to actually wake it up. I have a Harmony controller deleted my old activity and installed a new ATV 4K activity. It doesn't wake it up. What I have observed when I put the ATV 4k to sleep and turn the TV off and the amplifier off, while asleep it is still listing to the Ethernet and so maybe there something with my COX or modem that cause the ATV 4K to wake up. Possible things to try: a) Teach the Harmony the Sleep and wake up commands or talk to their tech support. b) Reset the modem. What I am doing now is manually putting it to sleep and wait for the screen to go blank then shut down the TV and amplifier...leaving the Ethernet connected. The ATV 4k stays off (mostly). Haven't quite figure this out yet and I am now sure there is any harm it is on all the time since it has a cooling fan. Everything else has an ON/OFF except Apple prefers to SLEEP for its ATV 4K. for reasons unknown to its users.....

Setup an appointment and took my ATV 4K to the apple store yesterday and after waiting for about 20 minutes to be called, the not so "genius" looked at the device asked me what was going on and what all I had done to troubleshoot and without doing any testing on it, handed me a slip, asked me to leave and bring the device back in a few days after my replacement arrives. My work order however states that the guy "observed the issue", which is not true. I asked if I could pick it up at another store and the answer was that none of the 6-7 stores in the area had one in stock, which I find extremely hard to believe.

Needless to say, I was ****** about having to drive back 30 miles to collect my replacement, but I went home and plugged it back in and it has slept in 15 minutes on 3-4 tests I did last evening. I hope it stays this way and the not so "genius" keep the replacement for himself.

Hello,

Here is what I'm going through, and what I think is causing the problem (I just don't know how to fix it).

TV Model - Samsung UN65JS8500

Note - Prior to buying the new 4K Apple TV, I did NOT have this problem. The previous generation Apple TV (same size box just not 4K) would go to sleep as you would expect no matter what state my TV was in.

Now, with the new 4K Apple TV, the auto sleep functionality, and screen saver, will only activate if my TV is currently using the Apple TV's source input. So for instance, if I'm using the Apple TV, then walk away without changing sources or touching anything, the ATV and TV will both be off, asleep after the allotted time.

However, if I finish using the ATV, and switch to my cable source (or any other source), the ATV will stay awake forever. It also appears the screen saver will not activate. This leaves me to believe, my TV is sending some kind of signal to the ATV when the source is not activated, forcing it to stay awake...... it just didn't behave like this with the last ATV, so it leads me to believe something changed in the hardware. Also odd, is when I turn my TV off while being on a different source, the ATV still stays on.... so I have no idea what the "turned off" television would be doing to the ATV to keep it awake.

As I type this, the ATV still has its status light glowing since yesterday evening....

If anyone has any insight into this, recommendations, similar experience so we can at least vent together, I'd appreciate it.

Thanks!

I have the same problem with my Apple Tv 4k when connected to my Samsung UHD tv. When the apple Tv 4k is connected to an old Insignia HD monitor in a playroom, it works perfectly. Also, I have had an Apple TV 4th gen connected to my Samsung UHD for 18 months and it works perfectly. Ironic, but the Apple TV 4k model doesn't work properly with a 4k tv but functions with an HD set. My local Apple store replaced my original 4k model, so this is actually my second unit...both doing the same thing. I have to believe it is a setting, but have not been able to locate which one it is to correct the problem. I see on forums this is becoming a bigger and bigger issue. it's beyond frustrating.

Sounds like turning off the Samsung universal remote setting is working for people. 🙂 I kept the Anynet+ feature on so my Samsung turns off when I sleep my Apple TV. However whenever I wake my Apple TV and my Samsung turns on, it turns on to the Live TV source, which displays a “No Signal” message because I do not have an antenna or cable box connected. Apple TV is the only source plugged into my Samsung (HDMI 1). Is there any way to make the Samsung turn on to Apple TV/HDMI 1? Has anyone else had this issue with their Samsung TV?

I may have spoken too soon about this fix for my unit. It will only auto sleep when: 1) the TV is powered ON, and 2) I have the source set to TV. If it is powered OFF and left on the HDMI port with the ATV4k, the ATV4k unit will not auto sleep. I do NOT see this problem with my ATV 4th gen unit, which works perfectly with my Samsung UHD TV regardless of AnyNet+, source, or power status and has sense the moment of installed it about a year ago. The sleep problems I see are solely with the 4k version. When connected to another non-UHD TV the 4k unit works perfectly, so it seems like it is something between the Samsung UHD tv and the ATV4k that keeps them from fully playing nice together. Beyond frustrating.