After the Channels DVR app on multiple of my Apple TVs running tvOS 16.6 updated to 5.8.0, I can no longer get any of my channels or recordings to play. Whenever I try to play a channel, I get a “Connection Lost” error. This issue seems to be isolated to tvOS 16.6, as I can use Channels perfectly fine on tvOS 17 and on my iOS devices and Mac. I haven’t updated my other Apple TVs to tvOS 17 because of the HomePod issues, but now I can’t seem to use Channels at all after this latest update. I hope a fix will be issued soon for those of us still using tvOS 16.6!
Please submit diagnostics from the app after you experience this. I'm not exactly sure how there could be any issues with video playback on just 16.x.
I would implore you to update to 17 though, as it will soon be the minimum supported version of tvOS. For now, we'll look into what's going on.
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Thank you for your support. I just submitted diagnostics from the app on both of the Apple TVs that are experiencing the issues. I will definitely keep your suggestion in mind for the future. I’m hoping that the HomePod “quirks” will eventually get worked out on the latest tvOS. Thank you for your help!
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@bmjackson2 Thanks for the report. It looks like we had a regression in our build process that is causing the issue you're seeing. If you go to Settings -> Playback -> Advanced -> Deinterlace Mode and change it away from Hardware it should resolve your issue until we can figure out what's going on.
This Testflight beta should fix this issue.
If someone is on iOS/tvOS 16 and can try this out and confirm it fixes the Hardware deinterlacing, I would appreciate it.
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I am having the same issue.
Is there a way to install a specific beta version? I checked for beta update, and it installed v2024.02.10.0353. This version still has the hardware deinterlacing bug on tvOS 16.
Client beta available via TestFlight app
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You can join our TestFlight beta program by visiting Channels — Beta Program from an iPhone or iPad and then downloading the TestFlight app on your Apple TV.
If you do not have an iPhone or iPad please email your Apple ID email address to [email protected] and we can add you.
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Could someone with this issue please confirm if the fix works?
We immediatly investigated, potentially fixed the issue, and are prepared to release it to the App Store, but we need confirmation from those that are seeing the issue.
Without confirmation, it will just be broken for those that have not updated to the latest tvOS version.
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Yes, I just installed the TestFlight beta version of the app on tvOS 16, and it has fixed the hardware deinterlacing issue. Thanks for the quick fix!
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Yes, thank you so much! It seems to work great now!!! 
Thanks for the feedback everyone! 5.8.1 is on its way through App Review with the fix for everyone.