Terrible Apple TV experience since updating

DaveWT

Well-Known Member
Just in case this helps someone else... (Warning, long whining ahead!)

I updated the AppleTV software this week after the latest version was made available. I then went into the Apple TV box settings and saw an alert that "some services may not be available until I sign in again." but no clue as to where to do this. So off to the Accounts area and I found three possible areas that might require me to be signed in.
1. The first account is the one used for purchases etc. It showed the proper AppleID I use for that.
2. The second account is the one used for iCloud syncing I think, and it showed the proper AppleID I use for that.
3. The third area was for Game Centre and since I have no interest in that I was not signed in there. So I chose to ignore the warning and carried on.

Tonight we wanted to catch up on Ted Lasso so headed off to the Apple TV+ choice and it offered me a free trial rather than taking me to the stuff I have been paying for since the free subscription finally ended a few months ago. So back into the Apple TV box settings and tonight I found that the first area, the one for purchases etc, was no longer signed in, Thinking I had surely found the problem I laboriously signed in again with that little remote, one character at a time. But then when I went back to the Apple TV+ service it again only offered me a free trial and not my paid for stuff.

So back into my Apple TV box settings and this time I tackled the AppleID used for iCloud stuff. In spite of it showing as logged into the corrrect AppleID, I signed out and then started to sign in again with the same AppleID (and the same fiddly remote control). But this time it was going to use 2 factor authentication and sent a code to my iPhone. This was not received, so I had it send a code again. Again not received so I went back and told it exactly which phone number for it to send the code to.

Eventually I found the code on the iPhone but it was the first attempt so it no longer would accept that code. When I then found the second code, it accepted that one and signed me back in. Now back to my Apple TV+ service where I found it still offering a free trial. While I was sitting there fuming and thinking I would have to call Apple, it finally just refreshed and took me into my Apple TV+ stuff properly. (I guess it took a few moments for my newly signed in account to propagate that info through the system.)

So I think all is well again, but all this grief could have been avoided if Apple could just indicate WHERE I needed to sign in again. If any one else has a similar warning perhaps you can save yourself some time and just sign out of any thing you are signed in on and then sign in again.

As my wife commented, any Apple TV box user that wasn't comfortable with technology would be absolutely lost trying to resolve this.
The night was shot so Ted Lasso had to wait. Fortunately my Acorn TV subscription was not affected. (I will have to ponder that at a later date.)
 

chas_m

Well-Known Member
Having multiple IDs definitely complicated matters, but yes it usually takes a minute or two for the Apple TV to refresh once you verified the correct account.

Apple will usually ask for verification after a system update, so any user of any Apple, Android, Google or Microsoft device will always need to have their password for the affected account handy and the phone number for a device that can receive text messages register with said service so as to verify.

Someday it will all be biometric verification, but till then … it may be a bit of a hassle for some, but the alternative is a loss of security.
 

DaveWT

Well-Known Member
Yes, having two AppleIDs is definitely a mistake I wish I could take back, but in this case even if I had only one Apple ID it wouldn't have helped much as I had no clear idea of where I had to use it. The fact that it displayed the AppleID in one field and I had to actually sign out to remove it and then sign back in again was unexpected. And then there was the issue of the verification code not showing up on my iPhone at first when I went looking for it. I sometimes wonder how useful 2 factor is, especially when I am on my iMac doing something that requires it and it displays the code on my iMac screen as well as the iPhone at the same time. Sort of defeats the purpose in that case. Bring on the biometrics!

And I trust my next iMac will have Touch ID at least.
 

DaveWT

Well-Known Member
Yes, but I am waiting for the bigger iMac to be announced. I am presently on a 27"iMac and while I can in no way justify a better, faster iMac for how I use it, I still don't want to go smaller. My brain may get over-ridden...
 
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