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Apple TV App Up Next not updating

The Up Next tray in the Apple TV App on my Apple TV device has extremely inconsistent updating behavior. I have updated to the latest software version, and I am not running beta software.


I can watch an episode, of let’s say "Mythic Quest" for example, get maybe halfway through the episode and stop watching by hitting the home button or choosing to watch something different, or by turning off the TV. When I return later, and launch the TV app, I see the Mythic Quest episode card in the "Up Next" tray showing the progress bar halfway finished. This is expected, and not the problem I'm reporting.


I then click it to continue watching until the episode is completed and the credits roll. I then click the home button and watch a different show (either via a different streaming app like HBO Max, Hulu or whatever) or turn off the TV.


The problem is, when I return to the TV App screen later, the Mythic Quest (or whatever show it is) card still shows the same episode number, and the progress bar is still showing only halfway watched instead of being done and gone, or having moved to the next episode. This happens most of the time, regardless of the app (Apple TV+, Apple Channels, Hulu, HBO Max, etc.).


This behavior happens about two-thirds of the time it would seem. I cannot figure out why it happens sometimes and not other times. The only way at this point to get the Up Next tray to update is to use app switcher and force close (swiping up) the Apple TV App. I have seem posts where other people are experiencing very similar behavior.


It seems to have gradually gotten worse over the last year or so. This automatic updating used to work flawlessly.


This undesired behavior happens across ALL streaming apps, including Apple TV+ shows, Apple TV Channels content, HBO Max, Hulu, Disney+, Peacock, etc.


I have used app switcher to close all apps, which does not fix the problem, except of course, when the app I manually close is the TV App itself. I have restarted the Apple TV device via the Settings “Reset” option (after closing all apps). I have restarted the Apple TV device by unplugging it and waiting a while before plugging it back in. I have rebooted my internet modem/router in combination with the above steps, repeatedly. The only thing I have not done is reset the device and reinstall tvOS. That is next, but before resorting to that I thought I would make this post.


Any ideas?



Apple TV 4K, tvOS 14

Posted on Jun 27, 2021 8:15 AM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Jun 28, 2021 2:54 PM

I think I discovered what the problem is, and it is apparently a bug. Perhaps a year of more ago, I changed a somewhat obscure tvOS setting:


Settings > Apps > TV > Top Shelf


The default value is "What to Watch". I changed it to "Up Next". What this setting controls is the home screen tray and dock, where you can have your five favorite apps stored. I personally have the TV App, Hulu, HBO Max, Prime Video and Fitness+. If you have the TV App as one of those, this setting controls what hovering/activating (not clicking) the TV App icon does. By default, you get a What to Watch random pick card or "ad." If you change it to "Up Next", it mimics the behavior of inside the TV App's Up Next tray.


Apparently, this setting change causes a problem. As a programmer myself, I suspect the Up Next "update event" (for lack of a better term) is hijacked by the Home Screen when you change the setting like I did or perhaps doing so just breaks the connection to the TV App update event or whatever and the event doesn't propagate to the TV App, and hence, the Up Next tray doesn't get updated.


I don't remember that me changing this setting caused the problem back when I changed it. Perhaps a tvOS update in the interim introduced a breaking change.


Regardless, changing this setting back to "What to Watch" did the trick. If you are having this same issue, be warned that you will have to exit the TV App and relaunch it once after changing the setting, AND for some reason, Apple TV+ shows will have to be played, exited and played again before they will start immediately updating the Up Next tray.






Similar questions

2 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Jun 28, 2021 2:54 PM in response to bailier

I think I discovered what the problem is, and it is apparently a bug. Perhaps a year of more ago, I changed a somewhat obscure tvOS setting:


Settings > Apps > TV > Top Shelf


The default value is "What to Watch". I changed it to "Up Next". What this setting controls is the home screen tray and dock, where you can have your five favorite apps stored. I personally have the TV App, Hulu, HBO Max, Prime Video and Fitness+. If you have the TV App as one of those, this setting controls what hovering/activating (not clicking) the TV App icon does. By default, you get a What to Watch random pick card or "ad." If you change it to "Up Next", it mimics the behavior of inside the TV App's Up Next tray.


Apparently, this setting change causes a problem. As a programmer myself, I suspect the Up Next "update event" (for lack of a better term) is hijacked by the Home Screen when you change the setting like I did or perhaps doing so just breaks the connection to the TV App update event or whatever and the event doesn't propagate to the TV App, and hence, the Up Next tray doesn't get updated.


I don't remember that me changing this setting caused the problem back when I changed it. Perhaps a tvOS update in the interim introduced a breaking change.


Regardless, changing this setting back to "What to Watch" did the trick. If you are having this same issue, be warned that you will have to exit the TV App and relaunch it once after changing the setting, AND for some reason, Apple TV+ shows will have to be played, exited and played again before they will start immediately updating the Up Next tray.






Jun 28, 2021 9:38 AM in response to Koop67

Hello Koop67!


From your post we see you are running into some trouble with the Up Next que on your Apple TV not working properly. We are happy to help! You have done some awesome troubleshooting so far, in this case restoring to factory defaults and testing once more does appear to be the next best step: Reset or restore your Apple TV to its factory settings.


If the issue continues after that process, then you will want to get in touch with Apple Support directly: Get Support.


Take care!

Apple TV App Up Next not updating

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