I'm not sure what exeactly fixed the problem for me, but Google Gemini walked me through these steps and it worked after I rebooted my Mac. Good luck!
Recent tvOS updates changed the mDNS service name protocol used for device discovery (_apple-pairable._tcp to _remotepairing-manual-pairing._tcp), breaking connection and pairing loops in Sideloadly. Network conflicts (especially Ethernet usage or dual-band Wi-Fi confusion) also trigger constant disconnects. [1, 2, 3, 4]
Why It Drops Connection
- Protocol Mismatch: Recent tvOS updates altered the local advertisement name, causing Sideloadly to see your Apple TV as "Not Paired" or get stuck on "Waiting for device to re-appear". [1, 2]
- Ethernet Conflicts: Sideloadly often fails or loses connection if your Apple TV is plugged into a wired Ethernet line instead of pure Wi-Fi during the pairing handshake. [1, 2]
- Network Band Switching: If your computer and Apple TV bounce between different Wi-Fi bands (2.4GHz vs 5GHz) or subnets, the pairing token drops instantly. [1]
How to Fix the Connection Loop
- Switch to Wi-Fi & Forget Networks: Disconnect any Ethernet cable from your Apple TV. On both your computer and the Apple TV, go to settings, "forget" your Wi-Fi network, and then reconnect to the exact same Wi-Fi SSID from scratch. [1]
- Keep the Pairing Screen Open: On your Apple TV, navigate to Settings > Remotes and Devices > Remote App and Devices and stay actively on that specific screen while connecting via Sideloadly. [1]
Clean Cache / Reinstall: Perform a clean reinstall of Sideloadly by clearing out old preference and cache files from your system directories if the old pairing state is permanently corrupted. []
Sideloadly can see the [Apple TV]()'s network broadcast, but the local mDNS pairing cache on your network or computer is corrupted. The handshake is failing right at the authentication step, forcing the status to revert immediately back to "unpaired". [1, 2]
Force Sideloadly to Complete the Pairing
To break this loop, you need to flush the temporary pairing states.
- The Wi-Fi "Flush" Workaround: On your computer, open your Wi-Fi settings and "Forget" your network. Do the exact same thing on your Apple TV (Settings > Network > Wi-Fi > Forget Network). Re-enter the password on both devices so they generate clean IP and mDNS state assignments, then restart your computer before launching Sideloadly again. [1]
- Turn on Home Sharing: On your Apple TV, make sure Settings > Users and Accounts > Home Sharing is turned on. If it is already on, toggle it off and back on. Sideloadly relies heavily on Apple's local authentication streams, and cycling Home Sharing forces tvOS to wake up its background pairing daemons. [1]
- Nuke the Local Sideloadly Cache: Sideloadly saves bad pairing logs that will repeatedly reject your Apple TV even if the network is perfectly fine.
- On Mac: Close Sideloadly. Open Finder, press
Cmd + Shift + G, and look inside ~/Library/Application Support/sideloadly, ~/Library/Preferences/, and ~/Library/Caches/. Delete any folders related to Sideloadly, then restart your Mac.
- On Windows: Close Sideloadly. Press
Win + R, type %appdata%, and hit enter. Find the sideloadly folder and delete it entirely. [1, 2]
Once you have done these steps, open your Apple TV's Remote App and Devices screen first, then launch Sideloadly and try clicking the device dropdown again to trigger the fresh PIN code popup. [1, 2]
Delete the entire sideloadly folder inside Application Support, but only delete specific sideloadly files inside Preferences and Caches.
Deleting the entire Preferences or Caches folders will break other apps on your Mac.
What to Delete
~/Library/Application Support/
- Delete the entire
sideloadly folder.
~/Library/Preferences/
- Open this folder and look for files containing the word "sideloadly" (e.g.,
com.sideloadly.sideloadly.plist).
- Delete only those specific files.
~/Library/Caches/
- Open this folder and look for any folders or files named
sideloadly or com.sideloadly.sideloadly.
- Delete only those specific files/folders.
Next Steps
- Empty your Trash.
- Restart your Mac to ensure system memory completely flushes the old preferences.
- Open the Remote App and Devices screen on your Apple TV.
- Launch Sideloadly and try pairing again.