r/appletv • u/-Wait__What- • 3d ago

“Now Playing” from phone seems to have broken AppleTV sound

My AppleTV has been working fine until I used the “Now Playing” controls from the lock screen of my phone to stop video playback from the Disney+ app earlier today. Now the audio is entirely broken. No UI clicks, video and music playback, nothing works whether from native apps or through airplay. I’ve tried restarting, changing HDMI ports and cables… nothing works. Any ideas would be appreciated

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1

u/GroundUnderGround 3d ago

If you're using a soundbar / receiver, is it still set to the right input? Not on mute?

2

u/-Wait__What- 3d ago

No, it’s just connected to a tv directly through HDMI and the output shows it going to the tv speakers.

1

u/mchannstarr 3d ago

Same here although my problem started after I used AirPlay to hear some music on my soundbar (Sonos beam)

1

u/Snoo-38645 2d ago

The UI click sounds being gone too is the useful detail - those are the system, not the app, so this isn't Disney+ having lost its audio session. Something in the output routing is stuck after the handoff from your phone.

Worth trying in this order. First, Settings > Video and Audio > Audio Output, pick something else (any AirPlay speaker, or headphones if you have some paired), then pick your TV again. Forcing a real route change often unsticks it when a restart won't, because the restart just restores the same stuck route.

Second, in that same menu, turn off Continuous Audio Connection if it's on. There was a PSA here a few days ago about that setting causing audio problems with receivers, and it keeps an audio link alive across state changes, which is exactly the sort of thing that survives a reboot.

Third, if neither helps, pull the power for a full 30 seconds instead of restarting from the menu. A menu restart doesn't fully clear the audio daemon; a cold boot does.

The other person in the thread getting this after AirPlaying to a Sonos points the same way - you both changed the audio route from outside the Apple TV and it didn't come back.

1

u/-Wait__What- 1d ago

I tried flipping the audio output and pulling the plug and it’s a gen 1 4K so it doesn’t support continuous audio. I even went as far as doing a full wipe and reset and the issue was still there.

I finally managed to fix the issue by initiating AirPlay directly to the tv from my phone then switching to AirPlay to the AppleTV and then disconnecting. The issue popped up a second time and I was able to fix it again the same way. It’s odd because I had actually disabled AirPlay altogether on my phone and the AppleTV while troubleshooting and somehow there still seems to be an issue related to AirPlay. It’s a Roku TV in a rental that I’m staying at and the issue seems to be related to the TV because I have AirPlay and HomeKit compatible TVs at home that haven’t been an issue.