Video stuttering while watching recordings with latest AppleTV App Store Release

Channels Apple TV
#1

I just updated to the latest stable channels release on my AppleTV today and now video stutters while watching any recording from the library. I had zero problems with playback prior to the update. The video starts stuttering every few seconds, and gets worse the longer you watch the playback, eventually becoming completely unwatchable. The weirdest part of this is that I can watch the same shows on a Virtual Channel without any stuttering at all, it only happens when selecting the videos from the library. It doesn't seem to matter whether the show is an imported show located on a network share, or located within the local DVR hard drive. I've tested the latest beta version and I'm seeing the same behavior. I've deleted the cache from within the AppleTV app, no change. I updated the channels server to version: 2023.05.25.2140, with no change. Watching the shows via web browser on a computer is fine, no stuttering, and live TV is fine, no stuttering. I've moved my bedroom Apple TV to the living room so I can watch TV while this gets sorted out, as the previous release version of channels DVR works just fine.

Ideas?

Chief

#2

Strange. Are you able to go back through the previous builds in the TestFlight app and find which build introduced the issue?

#3

I did a post a few days ago about stuttering. Mine would stutter all the time no matter the content. I rebooted ATV, no luck. After reboot I force quit channels and then reopened. All stuttering stopped. Crazy that a reboot didn't change anything but quitting did

#4

I'm currently stepping back through the beta builds to find out, I'm back to 5.11.x as of now, with no change.

#5

I went back through all the previous versions in TestFlight that were available, through 4.26.2351, no change. I also deleted the app, reset the appleTV, reinstalled the app from the App Store - still stuttering. Not sure what else I can do on this end to figure this out.

Chief

#6

That would seem to suggest its not the app but something else that's causing the issue.

Does changing the Settings > Playback > Advanced > Video Driver make any difference?

#7

No change with the legacy video driver, that was one of the first things I tried. Watching videos from the library this morning was just fine, only thing that changed was when I checked and updated the app from the AppleTV App Store, absolutely no other app installs or updates occurred, so it is definitely tied to updating the app.

The apple tv that is working has the channels app version 5.5.11 on it, the one that isn't working is version 5.6.3. Wish I hadn't of applied that update today :wink:

Chief

#8

Makes me wonder if your getting full speed to the player. Once in a while my switches auto negotiate to a slower speed.

#9

Is there a TestFlight build that is exactly the same as build 5.5.11 from the app store, or are the TestFlight builds different in some way?

Chief

#10

No other issues with other appletv apps that rely on the network, only with channels DVR. Besides, already moved the appletv to a different leg of the network with no changes.

#11

Streaming quality set to Original on that player? Also is it using the home connection or Away from home. Just wondering if transcoding might be happening.

#12

Streaming quality makes no difference, in-home connection. It's not a network issue, or the other appletv (which is now connected to that same spot on the switch) would be experiencing problems too.

#13

Well transcoding wouldn't be networking. That would be server processing power at that point. Sorry just trying to help.

#14

The only other thing that comes to mind is that they AppleTV that started stuttering after today's update is model #A1625 (4th Gen Apple TV HD) and the other AppleTV is a model A2169 (Apple TV 4K). Given that the newer apple TV is the only one working properly right now (on version 5.5.11), I hesitate to update date it to see if the model numbers make any difference. I don't want to risk losing the only thing working right now. Is there a possibility that there was something added to version 5.6.3 that requires the 4K version of the apple TV to work properly?

#15

No worries, I was just pointing out that I had already tried changing the Streaming quality settings.

#16

Is there a previous release version available at the app store?
5.5.11 was from January

Version History
5.6.3 May 22, 2023
• NEW: Support for stream links for live Custom Channels
• IMPROVED: Performance with large numbers of recordings
• IMPROVED: UI performance of viewing guide
• IMPROVED: Error messages when tuning fails and live TV streams disconnect
• FIXED: Server Side Sources and Inherit Source Priority settings were not working reliably

5.6.2 Apr 22, 2023
• IMPROVED: Performance improvements for large libraries
• IMPROVED: UI performance when using HLS
• IMPROVED: Performance optimizations for non-DVR uses
• IMPROVED: Performance of guide viewing
• IMPROVED: Performance improvements when connecting to a remote DVR
• FIXED: Make Harmony Remote Windows Keyboard Delete key trigger Jump To Last Channel
• FIXED: Server side source ordering was not working properly
• FIXED: New recordings would not always be shown in the show listing when coming back from the background
• FIXED: Momentary display of incorrect error message when searching
• FIXED: ATSC3 slow tuning issues
• FIXED: PIP window gets bumped up on video player due to timeline
• FIXED: Unusual crashes

5.6.1 Mar 14, 2023
• FIXED: Seeking could cause playback to restart with certain recordings when Home Streaming is enabled
• IMPROVED: Small performance improvement

5.6.0 Mar 6, 2023
• NEW: Downloading now works over cellular data. Use Settings to enable it.
• NEW: Downloads can now optionally use lower qualities to save space. Use Settings to adjust it.
• NEW: Optionally force video delivery to use Streaming (HLS) or Direct (default) when using original quality
• NEW: Spoiler Free mode: Hide episode images while browsing so that they do not spoil anything
• IMPROVED: Performance of UI with large libraries
• IMPROVED: UI performance across the app, including when downloads are downloading
• IMPROVED: Error message when HDHR disconnects due to signal issues
• FIXED: Downloaded watched items would not start from the beginning when played again while device was offline
• FIXED: Virtual channels could start at the wrong place if episode/movie had been previously partially watched
• FIXED: Don't display an error when specifying a URL with a trailing slash At Home
• FIXED: Laggy issues when using HDHR guide data
• FIXED: Guide view would sometimes have missing show blocks in the middle

5.5.11 Jan 19, 2023

#17

I don't know of a way to grab an earlier version of an apple tv app, when you delete the channels DVR app, it only gives you an "Install" option on the button. To tell the truth, I'm not sure when I last updated the app on the appleTV that isn't working properly after the latest update, probably a month or 2 ago, it was likely sitting at 5.6.1 or 5.6.2.

The 4K apple TV that is working properly was sitting in an unused bedroom, so that's why it was still sitting at 5.5.11.

#18

You need to be on the beta testflight version to be able to roll back/forward

#19

If tvOS is like iOS, it only goes back to 2023.2.27 (in my iOS testflight)

#20

Yes, and I've already tried all the versions that are available on Testflight, but you only have access to about a month back on versions in Testflight.