Apple TV 2.02 Just Released

[MagnusVonMagnum]

It does not fix the problem where Apple TV won't show up in iTunes devices. At least not on my mac.

Have you tried rebooting? Any time I have a problem with AppleTV not showing up, a reboot cures it every time. Apparently, there's a problem with iTunes if you start/exit it too many times in MacOSX (memory leak or corruption?)

In any case, I'm leaving my software where it is until I hear all problems are solved. 2.0 works fine here anyway and HD movies are ready to start within 1 minute on a 5Mbit connection. I haven't upgraded iTunes or Quicktime either since I read a lot of people got far more new bugs than they solved. Apple needs to fix old bugs before putting in new features that create a whole new set of bugs, IMO. I'm basing a whole house wireless audio system off iTunes, so it needs to be stable. iTunes 7.6.1 running off Tiger 10.4.11 with AppleTV 2.0 works fine and is perfectly stable (so long as I don't exit and restart iTunes too many times at which point a reboot fixes it like I said above).

I think my past problems with AppleTV not working right were caused by the devices not registering properly across the Internet. That's the only thing the Apple Store really did (adjust the account some how) and then both have worked fine ever since.

 

[MagnusVonMagnum]

They did this because it isn't necessary to own a computer if you own an  tv; you can have an  tv an no computer at all, just use it as a set-top box. For those people who have an  tv and no computer, how would they update the  tv? For purposes of keeping things streamlined, the update process is within  tv.

So what? They could offer BOTH options you know. iTunes is fully aware of what version of AppleTV you're using (it reports it in the summary window). There should be an option to upgrade it there as well as in the AppleTV menu and which way you do it should be your choice, IMO.

I can't believe AppleTV doesn't even have a search option for your OWN music. They have one for the iTunes store, so why not one for your own library? You can see where their priorities are (to encourage you to buy MORE music even though it's a pain to access once you have it. My iPod Touch running either Signal or Remote Buddy and AirTunes works much better overall, although WiFi is a major battery drain on the iPhone/iPod Touch so I keep an AC charger ready at my listening locations so I can plug it in when I use it and it doesn't use the battery at all then. I can also leave the screen on without a time-out then as well and manually turn it off when I'm done instead (so I don't have to keep turning it back on, which is a hassle if you just need to pause/stop the music really fast or move forward a track or whatever).

 

[ceehjayem]

I dont really notice a difference except that scrolling runs more smoothly.

 

[e.zaharias]

Is youtube really fixed? That would be huge for us having the stall issue and the very slow downloads. Can anyone second the previous poster that claims it's fixed?

 

[vansouza]

For the ones who drop the signal and AppleTV doesn't show up in iTunes, what do you do to get it back. It happens to me once in a while, and I just unplug the AppleTV then plug it back in. I find it annoying as well. How do the rest of you get back up and running? Thanks.

I use an AirPort Extreme also so figured they would work more semelessly.

Two ways, first I do it from the menu and get tired of doing it again and again. My final solution was to connect to my g network and take it off of the n network. The N network is an Apple Time Capsule ... I hope one of these work for you. Good luck.

 

[vansouza]

My AppleTV is still on 2.0, and iTunes won't detect that there's an update for it...

I thought the same thing but you update from the Apple TV not iTunes... I can't remember the steps but you can find the update in the menu structure. Good luck.

 

[vansouza]

Well I just turned on my Apple TV for the first time since I applied this update a few hours ago and it dropped the wireless STILL!!!!!

Are you on an Apple router using the N whatever? I switched to my G netgear router and it is now rock solid. But I wish I could have it on my N Apple router for all the obvious reasons... speed.

 

[TheBigS]

.

I can't believe AppleTV doesn't even have a search option for your OWN music. ....

THANK YOU!!!! THANK YOU THANK YOU lol! I have requested this time after time. Sent it in to the apple request site for product improvement and started threads over it. Yet no results. you would think it might be common sense but apparently not. If u forget the artist of a song but know only the name, it takes a while to scroll through songs when you have a few thousand loaded Please apple please!

 

[brucebrendon]

Podcast Chapters...?

Podcasts should support 'Chapters' functionality. Has this been sorted in the update?

I was hoping for this in the previous update, no.

Then tried on Downloaded Podcasts, no.

Yeah i know this could be tricky via the remote, but a 5sec hold on a button or a Skip once Paused to take into Chapters menu would be nice.

I really miss the changing chapter pics and stuff, helps me remember tracks podcasted.

 

[paulmoscow]

Now they just have to push some content.

I recently noticed that they remove some content. For example, several Disney cartoons are now available as "buy only." Among them are Mulan, Pocahontas and Hercules.

 

[Parky]

Is the HDD still powered in standby mode? ...I'm still waiting for them to straighten that out.

That is not a bug, it is designed that way specifically.
With the Apple TV in stand-by mode it can still accept content updates from iTunes because the HDD is not shutdown.

 

[Parky]

The update is applied from within the AppleTV menu system NOT through iTunes like an iPod. I'm not sure why Apple did this.

They did it because you no longer need a computer to use the Apple TV.
You can buy an Apple TV and use it to buy music, rent movies, watch Podcasts, look at Flickr and .Mac photos all without a computer.

To update the software via iTunes means that you would need a computer to do it.

 

[Parky]

AGREED! And how about the ability to sync with iMovie! I have tons of movies in iMovie that I would like to share with guests through the AppleTV. Why in the world would you not be able to access that stuff through the AppleTV? CRAZY!


I agree that this would be a GREAT standard feature. As a workaround, you can point iTunes to your iMovie events and have the clips available for viewing on AppleTV. I have many family movies available that way. Not as good as direct integration, but an option.

The content in iMovie is not playable on the Apple TV as it is in to high a quality and would not be able to be transferred to the Apple TV fast enough.
iMovie content in DV format would be impossible to convert to Apple TV format on the fly to stream to the Apple TV. Content needs to be converted to Apple TV format first.

 

[Parky]

So what? They could offer BOTH options you know. iTunes is fully aware of what version of AppleTV you're using (it reports it in the summary window). There should be an option to upgrade it there as well as in the AppleTV menu and which way you do it should be your choice, IMO.

I can't believe AppleTV doesn't even have a search option for your OWN music. They have one for the iTunes store, so why not one for your own library? You can see where their priorities are (to encourage you to buy MORE music even though it's a pain to access once you have it. My iPod Touch running either Signal or Remote Buddy and AirTunes works much better overall, although WiFi is a major battery drain on the iPhone/iPod Touch so I keep an AC charger ready at my listening locations so I can plug it in when I use it and it doesn't use the battery at all then. I can also leave the screen on without a time-out then as well and manually turn it off when I'm done instead (so I don't have to keep turning it back on, which is a hassle if you just need to pause/stop the music really fast or move forward a track or whatever).

Why offer both options when the Apple TV update works perfectly well for all users? Why would you want to download to iTunes first and then have to get the update transferred to the Apple TV from iTunes. That would take longer and serve no additional purpose. It would be an extra step for no benefit.

 

[Almightyguru]

Well I just turned on my Apple TV for the first time since I applied this update a few hours ago and it dropped the wireless STILL!!!!!

As mentioned earlier, this does not happen when you switch off wide channels in your Airport Extreme.

 

[williedigital]

Actually, it is not at all an odd thing to leave out. Next time you play something using a DVD player, see if you can control your volume using your DVD player!! You have to use either the TV volume or a stereo/surround receiver volume. Now, AppleTV is nothing but a DVD player of the 21st century. So, why should it act any other way. Also, there is a simple reason for not allowing volume changes in AppleTV. The sound output in AppleTV is line level (pre-amp level), not speaker level. Sound levels should never be messed with before amplification since you will affect the dynamic range and signal to noise ratio.

Use either your TV or your amp or receivers volume control. Get a universal remote!

Two issues.

1) They let you adjust volume within Itunes when using the AppleTV as an airtunes node, so apparently they aren't obsessed with line-level issues obviously.

2) Every person that has used my AppleTV has tried to adjust the volume using the apple remote. Then they turn to me and go "why won't it let me turn the volume up/down?"

 

[fivepoint]

The content in iMovie is not playable on the Apple TV as it is in to high a quality and would not be able to be transferred to the Apple TV fast enough.
iMovie content in DV format would be impossible to convert to Apple TV format on the fly to stream to the Apple TV. Content needs to be converted to Apple TV format first.

Fine, but there is an easy workaround. Have the only videos available be the ones that you've already exported as tiny, small, medium, or large. If you've exported it and it is in your 'project list' you should be able to access it!

It is obvious that the newest iteration of iMove was designed to make users 'organize' their movies more. Its constructed more like iPhoto and iTunes than it ever was before. Many of its editing functions have suffered, but to me the organizing feature was a LONG TIME coming!

Why not take advantage of its newly found capabilities? After you've created a project, exported it for sharing, and it gets the little white ticks beside it to indicate its size, why would that not be available from the AppleTV at that point? And why oh why couldn't they seperate it from the HOLLYWOOD movies? Seems like common sense.

 

[iowamensan]

Two issues.

1) They let you adjust volume within Itunes when using the AppleTV as an airtunes node, so apparently they aren't obsessed with line-level issues obviously.

2) Every person that has used my AppleTV has tried to adjust the volume using the apple remote. Then they turn to me and go "why won't it let me turn the volume up/down?"

Two words...

Logitech Harmony

 

[dXTC]

I've been reading this thread and its many mentions of volume control. Here's a "wouldn't it be neat-o-rific" solution:

Click Wheel.

You know, like on the iPod.

Okay, so I'm pipe dreaming. But hey, has the patent on Click Wheel, and the 3G nano has a small version, so I'm sure Apple could squeeze the technology into the current Apple Remote size.

Again, just a thought.

 

[ibglowin]

Tell me Obi Wan.....

I use the last updated version of iMovieHD (6.0.3) myself and I don't seem to have any type of export to TV. Have every other option you could think of.

See attached screen capture. Am I missing something?

Your wish is granted. iMovie does have an export to AppleTV, well at least iMovie '06 does.

 

[ibglowin]

Talk about burying something.......

I found it under

Export/Expert settings/....

Then Quicktime Pro Export settings popped up and sure enough export to TV is one of about 20 options listed.

Seems like they could have made the TV one of the nice GUI listed options under share instead of burying it under Expert settings.....

 

[kornyboy]

Wirelessly posted (iPhone: Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU like Mac OS X; en) AppleWebKit/420.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/3.0 Mobile/4A102 Safari/419.3)

My AppleTV is still on 2.0, and iTunes won't detect that there's an update for it...

I would restore it to Factory Settings and then look for the update then. That should work.

The update should show up in the settings menu of the AppleTV itself. I don't think of is suppose to show up in iTunes at all.

 

[frankfurter]

Two issues.

1) They let you adjust volume within Itunes when using the AppleTV as an airtunes node, so apparently they aren't obsessed with line-level issues obviously.

2) Every person that has used my AppleTV has tried to adjust the volume using the apple remote. Then they turn to me and go "why won't it let me turn the volume up/down?"

But then you're using iTunes to control the volume, or in essence, your Mac/PC speakers. Line-levels aren't affected.

And I assume by "every person" you mean your Mom/girlfriend/Grandma. If there's anyone this day and age that doesn't understand the concept of using a receiver to control the volume, they're probably using a VCR.

Two words...

Logitech Harmony

Exactly - works like a charm. Matter of fact, I couldn't imagine NOT using one. Nor would my wife let me have the system I have without. Simple enough that even williedigital's impaired friends and relatives could use it. Though personally, I prefer using the AppleTV remote.

 

[Griffy04]

Seems like its enabled me to play some of my more 'high fidelity' recordings.
Until the update I was not able to play some of my Apple lossless recordings with high bit rates such as 1044 kbps, and wav files at 1411 kbps. I'm not sure if the recordings are being played at the high bit rates, or being converted to a lesser kbps, but at least they play now

Not noticed any other changes, but I'm pretty sure about this one

 

[roland.g]

I use the last updated version of iMovieHD (6.0.3) myself and I don't seem to have any type of export to TV. Have every other option you could think of.

See attached screen capture. Am I missing something?

You choose Quicktime and in the options is an Apple TV export setting.