Apple TV app with MBA not working properly

[cucharared]

Hello, new/old user here. Back before I retired 23 years ago I used Macs extensively in the office. At that time I was very comfortable with the system. Upon retirement I took the cheaper route and got a Windows based laptop. About 10 years ago I started migrating back to Apple - first with an iPhone, then an iPad, then an Apple Watch, and now finally back to a MacBook Air. So, that's the backstory. It's taking me awhile to re-accustom myself to the Mac operating system. All to say that my problem could possibly not knowing what to do to correct my situation.

The problem - I took advantage of the free Apple TV trial and have been very pleased, and I've watched both movies and TV series without incident. However, about a week ago something changed and regardless of what I attempt to watch the start screen will initially appear to begin the movie or series normally, but then will abruptly flip back to the initial selection screen. I can select the movie or whatever again but it will cycle back within seconds. Not that it matters but I had gotten through three episodes of "Dark Matter" when this began with episode 4. I've now tried to load movies, other series, later episodes in the same series, earlier episodes in the same series, series that I've already watched - everything jumps back to the selection screen after 3-4 seconds. Sometimes I'll get a little of the refresh or intro screen but never more than a few seconds.

So, I'm close to the end of the trial period and I'm trying to decide whether I want to continue Apple TV by subscribing, or dumping it because it doesn't work. Surely I've done something that changed a setting or such but I can't find it. I've quit the app several times, I've rebooted the computer several times, restarted/shutdown then reboot. Nothing has worked.

help, please
Ron

 

[cucharared]

Wow, 126 views and not a single suggestion for me to try. At least tell me if my situation wasn't described well enough...

After posting I had the bright idea to see if Apple TV+ worked on my iPhone and iPad. Yep, both work perfectly. That's the thing - it also worked perfectly on my MBA for a couple of weeks, then bonked.

Anybody??

thanks,
Ron

 

[raythompsontn]

not a single suggestion for me to try

Sign out of your Apple account. Then sign back in. If that does not work, delete the app and reinstall the TV app from the App Store. Make certain you have enough free space on your MBA. Power cycle the MBA.

 

[cucharared]

Sign out of your Apple account. Then sign back in. If that does not work, delete the app and reinstall the TV app from the App Store. Make certain you have enough free space on your MBA. Power cycle the MBA.

Thanks, Ray. I think I've tried all these except deleting the Apple TV app. Haven't done that because I cannot find that app in the App Store to replace it with. Doesn't make sense to me but it's just not there. is it maybe under a different name?

Brand new MBA and plenty of space in every direction. I got 32G RAM, 1 TB SSD, latest IOS.

I'll go thru each of your suggestions again just to be sure.

Ron

 

[raythompsontn]

I think I've tried all these except deleting the Apple TV app. Haven't done that because I cannot find that app in the App Store to replace it with.

I looked on the App Store and found the Apple TV app. This was on my iPad and it should be no difference on the MAC. All of Apple’s apps are on the App Store.

I had a problem with the mail app on my iPad where mail would not load, could not connect. Not consistently but enough to be irritating. I deleted the app and reloaded and all was OK.

 

[cucharared]

You're going to think I'm nuts...

After reading your reply I immediately got my iPad and went to the App Store. Yep, there they all are, including Apple TV.
So, grabbed my iPhone and went to App Store. Yep, there they are.
So, picked up my MBA and went to the App Store...
Nope, not only are they not there, now I can't get ANYTHING to come up. Every selection returns "Cannot Connect, This page cannot be loaded. Please try again". Which I have done several times.

I think this thing is going to drive me insane. There's got to be something wrong with something but I'm just not well versed enough with Mac yet to be able to recognize it.

About the signing out of my Apple Account on the MBA. I get several messages that sound sorta like a doomsday thing. "Do I want to save copies of my Contacts, Calendar, etc". And, "You are about to lose all data regarding your Apply Pay cards, etc".

I think all this missing files stuff will resolve itself once I've done it, signed out and then shutdown fully, then rebooted. The final info referred to everything showing up again once I've signed in again and iCloud has downloaded again. It's just that 'New User of Mac' thing where I don't really know how this works yet so don't have the confidence I used to have with machines I'd used for years.

I don't have a clue why the App Store is not returning any info on any apps. That just doesn't make sense but sure makes me think there's something rotten in Denmark, and my MBA. I'd just take it to the Apple Store and get a Genius to solve my problems but that's kinda hard being the sole caregiver for my wife (Alzheimer's).

Thanks for listening and trying to help.
Ron

 

[MrAperture]

Did you try this help guide?

Sign in to your Apple Account in the Apple TV app on Mac

To buy or rent movies and TV shows, or subscribe to channels in the Apple TV app, you need an Apple Account.

support.apple.com

 

[MrAperture]

You can also try streaming on the web for now:

Apple TV+

Browse all movies, TV shows, and more from Apple TV+. Watch all Apple Originals here and on the Apple TV app across your devices.

tv.apple.com

 

[cucharared]

Did you try this help guide?

Sign in to your Apple Account in the Apple TV app on Mac

To buy or rent movies and TV shows, or subscribe to channels in the Apple TV app, you need an Apple Account.

support.apple.com

Thanks - I’ve been hunting through this guide but haven’t found the secret yet.
Ron

 

[cucharared]

You can also try streaming on the web for now:

Apple TV+

Browse all movies, TV shows, and more from Apple TV+. Watch all Apple Originals here and on the Apple TV app across your devices.

tv.apple.com

I’ll give this a shot and see what happens. It’s not that I can’t watch the stuff I’ve gotten into, as I can do that on my iPad or iPhone, both of which are working perfectly with Apple TV. The problem is I’ve got this brand new MBA that Apple TV worked fine on for a couple of weeks then went belly up. It’s taking the shine off my first ever personal Mac laptop.

Ron

 

[splifingate]

Wow, 126 views and not a single suggestion for me to try. At least tell me if my situation wasn't described well enough...

After posting I had the bright idea to see if Apple TV+ worked on my iPhone and iPad. Yep, both work perfectly. That's the thing - it also worked perfectly on my MBA for a couple of weeks, then bonked.

Anybody??

thanks,
Ron

All things being equal, your situation appears like problematic WIFI. Since ATV works on your iPhone/iPad, maybe compare your connections?

ATV works very well on my M2 Studio (Ethernet), and on my family-room LG (WIFI). I'm receiving my M4 MBAir on Friday, and will give it a go.

 

[cucharared]

So, anyone interested in the solution? The only thing wrong with getting the issue resolved is the not knowing exactly what was wrong, and that's what happened this time.

I finally decided to ignore all the warnings about losing this and that and having to set up my Apple Wallet again and blah, blah, blah. This morning I just signed out of my Apple Account, shut the computer completely down, waited about 20 or so minutes and fired it back up. Sure enough, I've been re-entering some of my info while iCloud has taken care of the rest. Turns out it's no big deal - I just wasn't sure before and now I have that little bit of new experience and am more comfortable doing it.

First thing I noticed was that the App Store now works like it should. First thing I did was to search for the Apple TV app. What'd you know - it is NOT available on the Mac App Store. Must be a thing with how it's provided by Apple. So, that part of the plan (delete old Apple TV app and reload) was not an option. Hmmm. And, I'd tried actually deleting it just before signing out of my account and it would not delete.
At this point I think I was just simply putting off clicking on the tv app out of fear it would not work. As I dallied around I was in the MacBook system settings and noticed a message about 15.5 being available and would auto update tonight. Hey, that's what I've been waiting for! I immediately clicked update.

Bottom line - now everything is working like it should. At least everything I'm aware of. I can't say if the signing out/signing in process with my Apple Account did the trick, or if it was taken care of by the system update. I suspect the latter but I'll never really know because I didn't try the TV app before the system update.

My thanks to those that ventured possible solutions.
Ron