Mute / Volume Interaction

Channels Apple TV
#1

I'm using a 1st gen AppleTV 4k along with a sofabaton U1 as a bluetooth remote, and sound through a connected AV amp.

When I use other apps, the mute / volume up & down interact as you would expect - after muting sound, I can press any of the mute, volume up or volume down buttons and the sound unmutes properly.

The channels app behaves differently - it appears to be keeping track of the mute state in the app seperate to the device state, and can get out of sync with the device.
After muting channels, I can unmute normall by pressing the mute button.
If instead of this I unmute by pressing volume up or down, the apple tv unmutes and sends the signal to the AV amp to unmute, but the channels app stays muted (continues to show the on screen mute icon) and I get no sound. Once in this state, pressing mute again will toggle the mute state on both the channels app and the device, which means they continue to remain out of sync and there is no sound.

The only way to get them back in sync is to toggle the mute so that the channels app thinks it is unmuted but the amp is still muted, then press volume up or down again.

This behaviour is not seen with any other app on the AppleTV, only channels. The sofabaton is defintely not talking direct to the AMP - it is only programmed to operate the AppleTV

Anybody else seen similar? Have I missed a setting somewhere or is this a known issue?

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#2

I’ve definitely had this happen. Didn’t occur to me that it could be Channels specific though.

My setup is a bit unique since I’m using a monitor that has no internal speakers. So
I usually use Bluetooth > small speakers for most TV and AirPlay > Amp for when I’m listening to music or watching something where I care more about the audio quality.

Though I’m not consistent about this so can’t say for sure if I see it only with BT, only with AirPlay or both. And since I don’t use mute a ton, I thought it was just intermittent. I’ll see if I can reproduce the issue when I get a chance.

#3

Ok, just tested and can reproduce with both BT and AirPlay audio when using a BT remote (Spectrum ATV remote). And it’s specific to Channels as @nigelh stated - doesn’t happen for me in other apps.

“volume muted” on screen thing appears to be Channels specific?

Like I said, I don’t use mute that much so it’s only been a minor annoyance. Plus I’ve been swapping remotes to see if I prefer the Spectrum or the Siri so never put this all together.

There may be a reason for the different behavior but seems odd that Channels would be different than other apps as far as the mute button goes.

#4

Channels is intercepting the Mute command from the remote. This is intentional.

You should program your remote to control your amp directly for volume controls, which is the sound source.

#7

Please try this build:

2 Likes
#8

Don’t have a Sofabaton but it fixed the issue for me with the Spectrum BT remote for ATV.

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#9

Thanks for looking at this. I haven't tried a beta build before, but will go read the instuctions :slight_smile:

#10

Confirmed fixed in the latest beta - this is much more consistent with other apps.

Thanks for the quick turnaround, it shows a real interest in customer service.

1 Like
#11

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