Just updated my 4k and now I cannot watch any of my movie purchases. Says to authorize my computer. Have done that. Still won't let me watch purchased movies. Anyone else?
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- Thread starter bearcatrp
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I haven’t had any issues with purchased movies. Probably just a glitch. As @Gonza advised, restart the ATV by unplugging it for 20 seconds then plugging it back in. I would NOT do a full factory reset though unless you want to spend hours reseting all the settings and apps. A full reset rarely fixes anything anyway. If a restart doesn’t work, call Customer Service.
I did log out of my apple account, then logged back in. Still wont. My older apple tv plays my purchased movies just fine.
So when you say ‘purchased movies’ are you meaning purchased via iTunes/ATV store purchases or movies you have stored on your computer?
I’ve got two AppleTVs myself with iTunes purchases and it should just be a case of going into Settings - Users and Accounts and signing into AppleID, then click on that user and just make sure that it’s also signed in under Store under the Apple ID list.
After that you should just be able to open the Movies or TV Shows apps and all purchases will be under the purchased section or via the library section of the ATV app.
I’ve got two AppleTVs myself with iTunes purchases and it should just be a case of going into Settings - Users and Accounts and signing into AppleID, then click on that user and just make sure that it’s also signed in under Store under the Apple ID list.
After that you should just be able to open the Movies or TV Shows apps and all purchases will be under the purchased section or via the library section of the ATV app.
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All my ripped movies play fine. The purchased movies from apple and movies that came with a code to download into iTunes won’t play. I just bought a movie from apple 2 months ago and that won’t play. This is only on the 4K ATV. My other ATV plays all of my purchased movies just fine. The M1 mini doesn’t have iTunes. I’ll take a picture of the message and post it this weekend. Should have known better to do a update. If it’s not broken, no need to try fixing with an update. The movies with that code can get ripped but a few of these movies are direct purchased from apple.
Re did all my settings. Had a brain cramp. You have to use the ATV icon on the Apple TV 4K to watch purchased movies. Was going through computers icon to access my movies, which works for ripped movies, but not for purchased movies. Also, since I’m using a external drive due to almost 2GB of movie files, had to change the setting to point to the external drive. Am good now. Thanks folks.
You have two options for playback, the ATV app and the Movies app.
I mostly use the Movies app myself.
I think you are correct, I just ran into this same problem last night. I use a Mini as an iTunes server with over 2tb of ripped movies plus a lot of downloaded iTunes movie purchases. This has always worked fine until last night. I am seeing the exact same thing as you now.
When I choose an iTunes purchase that was downloaded to the Mini using the Computers app, I can select the movie and it even gives me the option to continue watching from where I left off or starting from the beginning. But when I click the play button, it "thinks" for a few seconds and then puts up an alert to the effect "this movie cannot be played on this device".
As you said, all my own ripped movies still work fine in the computer app. Yes, I can still watch the iTunes purchases in the TV app, but that is something completely different, it is streaming the film from Apple's servers over the internet instead of playing the downloaded file on the Mini.
Very annoying, I hope this is a "bug" and not a "feature". This creates several gigabytes of internet traffic instead of just using my local, downloaded copy. But I also have a lot of movie playlists - for example, I have one called "1950's Science Fiction" organized by release date. The downloaded iTunes purchases no longer work in these playlists now.
I didn't check to see what version of TVOS is on this AppleTV, I assume it's the new one since it's set to auto-update. I have a second AppleTV in another room and everything still works properly on it, so it probably has not auto-updated yet. I tried restarting the AppleTV and that didn't help. Have not tried restarting the Mini yet or doing any other troubleshooting yet, so maybe this is just a glitch? But it's certainly something new, never had this problem before.
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When I got my mini M1, and set it up with my external drive, had issues watching purchased movies. Then I tried the Apple TV icon and it worked. Totally forgot about that. Racked my head for a few days until I remembered it. It’s nice not having to use iTunes as I think apple is getting away from it. Had to use it on the pc side until I bought the new mini. Another thing I found out is you can’t double click on the purchased movie to watch on your monitor. You have to use the ATV on the computer or you will get a digital error. Funny my older ATV will go through computers on the screen to watch both. My guess is apple will EOL the older ATV’s soon.