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Anyone Having Lag Issues With Netflix Menus on Apple TV 4K?

D

donster28

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Oct 5, 2006
1,726
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Great White North
I've reset my Apple TV a couple of times but Netflix menus become really slow to navigate shortly after. Is there anything I'm missing?

Running the Apple TV on an LG C8 OLED. Thanks for any help.
 
I’ve had that lagging issue for Netflix on my 4th gen ATV for a long time. Rebooting the app does help but it’s only a temporary fix. It’s a bummer to hear that it also happens on the 4K version. That was going to be my excuse to upgrade.

I’m thinking the blame lies with Netflix. Not having the option to shut off their stupid automatic trailers while browsing drives me bats**t.
 
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Edd70 said:
I’ve had that lagging issue for Netflix on my 4th gen ATV for a long time. Rebooting the app does help but it’s only a temporary fix. It’s a bummer to hear that it also happens on the 4K version. That was going to be my excuse to upgrade.

I’m thinking the blame lies with Netflix. Not having the option to shut off their stupid automatic trailers while browsing drives me bats**t.
Click to expand...
I'm glad to hear I'm not alone on this. I'm currently just using the LG app on the TV and it runs really fast. I'm hoping there will be a lot of people putting this forward either to Apple or Netflix but knowing that Apple TV Plus is just around the corner, Apple will probably not care and the now this falls on Netflix's hands unfortunately.

Thanks for chiming in.
 
Edd70 said:
I’ve had that lagging issue for Netflix on my 4th gen ATV for a long time. Rebooting the app does help but it’s only a temporary fix. It’s a bummer to hear that it also happens on the 4K version. That was going to be my excuse to upgrade.

I’m thinking the blame lies with Netflix. Not having the option to shut off their stupid automatic trailers while browsing drives me bats**t.
Click to expand...
I don't have any issues using the Netflix app on the TV, just when using the same app and the Apple TV. I may get rid of the Apple TV one of these days because I am getting tired of all the ID, password, and verifications it continuously asks for.
 
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I have the same issue. Using apple 4k tv and everything runs super smooth, just netflix has issues.
 
I finally got rid of Netflix. Had the same issue. Speedtest was erratic and had to reboot the router regularly. Felt like someone or something stealing my 200Mb and leaving me with a 1/10th. I originally blamed ISP. Throttling?
 
Check if you have Match Frame Rate option enabled in Settings > Video and Audio > Match Content.
Turning this option off fixed the slowdown issue for me. I was searching for a solution for a long time.
 
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donster28 said:
Netflix menus become really slow to navigate shortly after.
Click to expand...

I'm wondering if you have some sort of network issue? There are millions of Apple TV's running Netflix without that many reports of problems which would point to some local configuration problem, such as

IowaLynn said:
Speedtest was erratic and had to reboot the router regularly.
Click to expand...
 
We’re now having lagging show up on the Prime app as well as Netflix. It comes and goes with software versions. That with the constant having to sign in over and over makes for an awful viewing experience. Our Match Content was already off. I turned it on to see if it made a difference and it didn’t. We have to watch both services on out xfinity DVR.
 
GeneB said:
Check if you have Match Frame Rate option enabled in Settings > Video and Audio > Match Content.
Turning this option off fixed the slowdown issue for me. I was searching for a solution for a long time.
Click to expand...

Just checked. Mine has been off and I still have the issue. I think it’s pathetic that Netflix won’t allow you to shut off the trailers while browsing. I called them months ago about it.
 
HDFan said:
What are the results of the Speediest app on the Apple TV when you are having problems?
Click to expand...
All apps and speed tests sites report 240-280 mbps download speed. Our Apple TV is connected to the internet via LAN cable.
Updating the software to 13.3.1 beta did not fix the lag on the Netflix app.
 
If you run Netflix on other devices (iPhone, iPad, Windows, ...) do you get the same lags?
 
HDFan said:
If you run Netflix on other devices (iPhone, iPad, Windows, ...) do you get the same lags?
Click to expand...
I don't when I run them Netflix or Prime on my Xfinity DVR box. Perfect playback. A couple of months ago, when I was getting a specific error code (from Netflix) I tried changing the dns settings to something I found on Netflix's site. It seemed to help briefly, but in the end failed to control the lagging. The Xfinity apps play in HDR and, in Prime, claim to play 4K shows. It seems playback through the ATV is a little better. When you get it to playback. It sits unused now. We don't rent movies from Apple as we have three streaming services (including the old stuff Xfinity offers).

Edit to add: We tried watching the Food Network Go app last night on our ATV. The playback didn't lag but pixelated at times, which is just as bad if not worse. I haven't tried watching any of our purchased content yet so I can't comment on that. I expect it will be just as bad. Can't call Apple because I've got it on a beta. It will be a paperweight until the next beta comes along, which hopefully will fix it again.
 
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AllergyDoc said:
I don't when I run them Netflix or Prime on my Xfinity DVR box.
Click to expand...

I assume the DVR is using your cable connection? What happens if you try Netflix, channel apps on your Mac, iPhone, etc. using a WiFi connection?

What is the connection path of your wired connection to the Apple TV? I.E. Cable modem > router > Apple TV ?
 
Yes, the DVR is using the cable connection. I haven't watched anything on my mobile devices or Mac for a few months. I'll try when I get home. I've never had problems watching things on my iPads, though, in our current location.

Cable modem > AirPort Extreme > ATV 4 via Ethernet cable. I did try unplugging the ethernet cable in the past to see if it was better on wifi. It wasn't. I haven't try bypassing the AirPort Extreme.
 
AllergyDoc said:
Cable modem > AirPort Extreme > ATV 4 via Ethernet cable.
Click to expand...

Can you try attaching the ATV4 to the cable modem directly using an ethernet cable as a test, by passing the Airport Extreme?

Have you tried uninstalling/reinstalling the offending applications?
 
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HDFan said:
Can you try attaching the ATV4 to the cable modem directly using an ethernet cable as a test, by passing the Airport Extreme?

Have you tried uninstalling/reinstalling the offending applications?
Click to expand...
I'll try those this weekend. Thanks.
I successfully watched Prime for several hours yesterday, no lag. Netflix had some lag but at least the picture didn't go low-def like it did on the HGTV app. It was unwatchable. 15 minutes of show was horrible so we turned it off.
I rebooted the router, no help.
 
Yes I’ve had lagging scrolling through Netflix too, I did resolve it by closing down all open apps then loading up Netflix again.
 
So, I installed the newest tvOS beta, which helped a little. I had been filling with DNS settings, again, helped a little, but switched it back to auto.

Then, yesterday, I discovered my ATV 4 was actually plugged into the router Comcast installed with their security system, not the AirPort Extreme I thought it was plugged into. So it was modem > Comcast router > AirPort Extreme. I plugged it into the Apple router, rebooted the modem, and restarted the ATV. We watched a couple of episodes of the Dolly Parton Heartbreaks (or whatever it's called) in 4K and the picture was back to being beautiful, with no lagging. I was also able to watch the HGTV and Food Network apps with no degradation of picture or lagging.

If you decide to fiddle with DNS settings, make sure to restart the ATV.

Just set a reminder to turn off auto-install of tvOS.
 
New development as Netflix now allows you to shut off the auto-trailers while browsing.

I’ve shut mine off in settings but Netflix says it could take time before the trailers stop, for some dumb reason.

I’m speculating that shutting off the trailers will alleviate the lagging issues while browsing on the Apple TV. Time will tell.
 
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Edd70 said:
I’m speculating that shutting off the trailers will alleviate the lagging issues while browsing on the Apple TV. Time will tell.
Click to expand...

After some testing I’m convinced the lagging issues are solved, meaning not only were the trailers almost universally unwanted, they nearly crippled the app for browsing. Worst idea ever. Very glad they changed their mind but that took way too long.
 
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